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August 26, 2009
By Cheryl McCord
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All tractor owners are invited to bring their tractors to the Market on Saturday.
Be it old or new, big or small, toy or workhorse; please join us for a show of tractors.
Lunch will be provided to each person who brings a tractor.
Tractors have played a vital role in agriculture for 90 years. Tractors as we know
them today began replacing horses in 1917 with the introduction of the Fordson tractor
by Henry Ford and his son Edsel. Shortly afterwards, the Deere Company introduced
the Model “D” and International Harvester introduced the Farmall.
Ford built experimental tractors from automobile components during the early 1900s.
In 1917 the Fordson went into production. It was the first lightweight, mass-produced
tractor in the world. It had a 20 horsepower, four-cylinder engine. At a price of
$750, it was possible for the average farmer to own a tractor for the first time.
A farmer could plow about an acre per day with a horse. An 8N could plow an acre
per hour! Plus, you did not have to feed the horse, which ate about 20 percent of
whatever you plowed.
In 1923, John Deere, known for plows, grain drills, cultivators, wagons and buggies,
introduced the Model “D”. The two-cylinder tractor was a success from the start
and stayed in the John Deere product line for 30 years.
International Harvester, the manufacturer of McCormick-Deering reapers, plows, planters,
and other implements, introduced the Farmall in 1924. This general purpose tractor
was the first tractor in the United States with the tricycle design that could be
used on tall row crops such as cotton and corn.
These tractors and their successors changed our country dramatically. More acres
of land could be farmed with less manpower. Agricultural labor was freed up to help
fulfill the growing demand for manufacturing jobs in the cities. Tractors outnumbered
horses by the mid-1940s.
At the Market we will have models from each of these companies on display. Come
see the tractors and hear stories from their owners about how the tractors have
changed their lives. Photos will be taken of anyone wanting their picture with a
tractor.
Fresh produce at the Market this week includes sweet corn, grapes, peaches, apples,
green beans, blackberries, melons, tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, peppers and tomatillos.
The Kuna United Methodist Women will hold a bake sale. Come support the group and
pick up delicious homemade cakes, cookies, pies and other goodies.
Coming Sep 12--Tomato Tasting. Ask how you can enter your favorite tomatoes
into the tasting contest.
The Market is held Saturdays from 9 am to 12 noon at Sandstone Plaza in Kuna at
the west end of Main Street. For more information, contact Cheryl McCord at 922-5113
or visit the website at
www.KunaFarmersMarket.com.
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