Page 49 - Inventions - A Visual Encyclopedia (DK - Smithsonian)

Cattle-proof fencing Gasoline-powered tractor

■ What? Barbed wire basic design for barbed wire in 1868, ■ What? Froelich tractor
■ Who? Joseph Glidden but Joseph Glidden improved upon ■ Who? John Froelich
■ Where and when? US, 1874 the idea, and patented it in 1874. ■ Where and when? US, 1892
He helped turn America’s Great
Barbed wire made large-scale cattle In 1892, John Froelich invented a gasoline-
farming more practical by massively Plains into profitable powered farm vehicle. It was not a success,
reducing the cost of enclosing land, farming country. but his 1914 model was better received.
because it was much cheaper and Sharp barbs Seeing its potential, the John Deere
easier to erect than wooden fences. keep cattle company bought Froelich’s business.
American Michael Kelly invented the at bay.

Lightweight tractor Froelich’s MAKING THE MODERN WORLD
1892 machine
■ What? The Ivel
■ Who? Dan Albone Self-tie baler
■ Where and when? UK, 1903
The Ivel was created by ■ What? New Holland baler
the English manufacturer and ■ Who? Edwin Nolt
inventor Dan Albone, and is widely ■ Where and when? US, 1937
considered to be the first successful tractor designed to replace horses. It was Early machines compacted hay, but
described as a lightweight, gasoline-powered agricultural motor for general purpose. farmhands had to bind the bales manually.
In 1937, American farmer Edwin Nolt built a
Combine harvester self-tying hay baler. The idea was picked up
by the New Holland Machine Company and
■ What? Self-propelled harvester In 1836, in the US, Hiram Moore put into production.
■ Who? Holt Manufacturing built and patented the first
■ Where and when? US, 1911 combine harvester—pulled by
horses—capable of reaping,
Modern threshing, and winnowing grain.
combine In 1911, the first self-propelled
harvester harvester was produced
by the Holt Manufacturing
Company in California.
A tractor tows a modern baler
Crop-spraying drone

■ What? Agras MG-1 Crop-spraying drone
■ Who? DJI in China, 2017
■ Where and when? China, 2015
Farmers have long used aircraft for spraying
crops with pesticides, but it is expensive.
“Dusting” by drone, however, is cheap and
efficient. In 2015, Chinese drone company
DJI exhibited a crop-spraying drone, called
the Agras MG-1, which can fly for 12 minutes
at a time, before needing to be refueled.

US_046-047_308121_Working_the_land.indd 47 26/03/2018 10:55