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In its seasonal cycle of activity, the close and interdependent family
relationships, and the singular self-motivation of the farmer, the early
20th century farm carried on many of the traditions of the past. Except
for the change from slave to free labor and the marginal use of
mechanical equipment, these elements made up a world in which the farmer
of 1890, 1870, or even 1850 would have felt comfortable. But running
concurrently with these expected qualities of rural life were major
changes which jarred and fractured the constant trends of farming.
Change in attitude, technology or society occurs during all periods, but
the 1920s and 1930s were a particularly dynamic time in the field of
agriculture. Advances in the understanding of plant biology, animal
husbandry and soil conservation, together with higher living standards
through rural electrification and improved communications, were a cause
for optimism about the future of the family farm. Yet these advances
irrevocably altered the familiar rural life patterns. To maintain his
own station within this changing world, the farmer's outlook and methods
would also have to change.

* * * * *

Perhaps the most obvious modification of the traditional methods of
farming was the increased mechanization of many farm functions during
the early part of the 20th century. Not only were plows improved (by the
addition of a vertical disk which made for deeper cutting and more
thorough turning of the soil) and heavier harrows developed, but
gasoline-powered machinery began to be widely used.[92] The diesel
tractor had actually been available as early as 1905, but was not
generally adopted until World War I at which time military
experimentation improved the engine's construction and worker shortages
made the labor-efficient machinery especially valuable. The introduction
in 1924 of an all-purpose tractor, which could cultivate as well as
prepare the soil, increased the machinery's usefulness and gave an
additional thrust to its popularity.[93] The tractor was meant to
replace the work of draft horses, the large, gentle creatures who, along
with oxen and mules, had supplied the farm's power for centuries. The
saving the new machinery incurred was chiefly in time, an intangible
element of economics which farmers were just beginning to consider in
their appraisal of income and farm value. Often the use of a tractor cut
work time by half or mor