farm, food & countryside

The age of

the machine

In the past hundred years British

Agriculture has seen a revolution and

much of this can be put down to the

introduction of the diesel engine.

Whereas in 1900 a large farm would employ a hundred

men with fifty horses to produce food, today the same

work can be done with two men and two tractors. Some

lament the passing of this age. They see it as a lost

halycon time when bucolic men worked the fields with

honest toil. The fact is few actually want to labour

outdoors for hours on end in all weathers doing,

The machine has revolutionised the

mundane, strenuous, dirty work.

way we produce food making farm work more appealing

The life of the Victorian farm labourer is easily viewed

and more productive. Let us look at some of the main

with rose tinted spectacles but on closer inspection it

machines that power our farms and produce our food.

was a hard life few would want for themselves today.

First the plough digs into the soil to

Then the drill accurately places the

Several months later when the

create a bed for seeds to be sown

seeds into the soil which then

plants have matured the combine

into. A hundred years ago one man

germinate to become leafy green

harvests them. It separates the

and one horse would plough just

plants. The farmer wants his crops

nutritious seeds from the stalks.

one acre in a day. Today one man

to be well spaced. This ensures

The seeds then go away to be stored

and one tractor can do forty or

each plant will capture optimum

before they are turned into food.

more.

amounts of sunshine and rain.

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