When the horses got sent out to pasture

Although true “horse power” can still be seen in many parts of the country, horsepower of the mechanical kind is the source of energy for the vast majority of American agriculture. 

Taken from the Latin word “trahere”, meaning “to pull”, the first machines to lessen the need for human power or the power of animals came along with the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. In the 1860’s in England, two steam-powered tractors on either side of a field would pull a plow along an iron cable.

John Froelich in Iowa invented the first gas-powered tractor in 1892, but it didn’t prove to be successful. That honor goes to Charles W. Hart and Charles H. Parr, also of Iowa, who came along with a successful model in 1903. One of these is in the Smithsonian and has the claim to be the oldest surviving internal combustion engine in the United States. It generated 30 hp from the belt and 18 hp from the draw bar.

Henry Ford entered the market with his Fordson tractor in 1917. By 1923 he had 77 percent of the market. One of the next important developments came the three-point hitch patented by Harry Ferguson of England in 1926. In 1938 he teamed up with Ford to manufacture the 9N tractor, which soon became the industry standard when it was introduced in 1939.

This year’s Apple Festival, planned for Oct. 6 and 7 at the Bement Billings Farmstead in Newark Valley, will include a display of antique tractors along with a few of more recent vintage.

The line up will include a 1930 McCormick-Deering 10/20, a 1935 John Deere D, a 1943 John Deere H and a 1943 John Deere LA. In addition, one of the Society members, John Howland, whose experience with tractors goes back over 60 years, will give some tractor history at half-hour intervals at 2, 2:30, 3 and 3:30 p.m. on both days of the festival. John has an agricultural engineering degree from Cobleskill, worked at a John Deere dealership and was an equipment fleet maintenance manager for many years.

The 38th Annual Apple Festival will take place on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6 and 7 at the Farmstead, located one-mile north of the Village of Newark Valley. The entry fee is $6 for adults, $4 for children, and an $18 family rate. 

To learn more, visit www.nvhistory.org.