in the 1880s, and more states, such as Arizona, New
Mexico, and Oklahoma, came into the Union in the 20th century.

At the same time, a nation that was weak and underdeveloped in 1801,
had, by 1900, become the world's leading industrial nation. From
virtually no industry in 1801, America rose to leading industrial power
in 1900, with more railroads and more manufactured goods per capita than
any other nation. Involved in the industrialization, and importantly so,
was the farm implement and machinery industry. Factories everywhere
supplied farmers with the sophisticated tools and machines of the new
agriculture.

In these years urbanization also went forward rapidly. Cities of the
east grew fantastically, and even in the interior cities rose from
wilderness outposts to gigantic metropolises. Within one man's lifetime
Chicago increased from 350 people in 1830 to 1,099,000 in 1890.
Simultaneously, tremendous developments in transportation kept the
nation and its economy tied together. All of these developments had a
profound influence on farming and farmers. The rich cities provided ever
greater markets for the farmers' produce. The transportation system,
rapidly moving farm commodities, made farming profitable in remote
regions far distant from the coast. Farmers also felt the advantages of
the return flow of goods and services: the mail order catalog, the
industrially made reapers and threshers, and countless other items. City
people made a countless range of devices for farmers--from steel plows
to steam engines.

Meanwhile, as these events altered the life of the farmer, a burst of
activity took place in invention and discovery. These activities had a
delayed but considerable impact on farm methods and technology. The list
of inventions and discoveries could hardly fit in this narrative, but
this catalog of items reflects fairly well what men accomplished in the
19th century. The changes included such diverse elements as the
invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, the introduction of
Mexican Upland cotton in 1805, the discovery of the cause of Texas fever
in cattle in 1889, and the invention of the internal combustion tractor
in 1892. These and many other achievements substantially changed the
farm enterprise in two major directions: first, advances in technology
allowed farmers to do more in less time; second, discoveries in science
allowed farmers to increase the yield from the land. Farmers got more
f