Browse Items (1401 total)

Unidentified migrant farmworkers from Haiti, which probably dates the photograph to the 1980s and severe economic & political crises that drove emigration. This scene is at a labor camp, probably outside of a cinder block barracks where the young…

A letter to the editor of The Genesee Farmer claimed that the "drudgery and discomfort to which farmers’ wives and daughters are subjected" was even greater than the wives of laborers and mechanics. This was because farm women were responsible for…

From the popular printmakers of the 19th century--an estimated 2-3 new works per week--comes this characteristic lithograph of rural life. Its composition is striking for the angled view into a farm's domestic spaces, so viewers see what is "behind"…

Lead image of a detailed article on the best ways to lay out a farm renders a bird's eye view of a house, barn and outbuildings, fruit orchard, flower garden, penned livestock, and a field under cultivation. In the foreground a horse and wagon pass…

Migrant farmworker tossing what appears to be potatoes onto a conveyor belt at the Roy Gibson Farm in Wayland, NY. Gibson was a long-time member of the Steuben County Potato Growers Association and had a reputation as a relatively fair employer and…

Dressing flax was a complicated, labor-intensive process to remove seeds and stems so as to separate out the plant's valuable fibers. This image appears in an extensive advertisement for a mechanical dresser--or rather, three different models--that…

Illustration accompanies a suggestion by editor of the Country Gentleman, perhaps Luther Tucker, as to a simple and cheap method for picking apples. Its extremely detailed description appears overly fussy, yet shows the careful thought behind even…

During the first half of the 1800s, a boom in wheat powered growth in the Genesee Valley--especially after construction of the Erie Canal enabled its shipping as a worldwide commodity. This item combines two engravings to better visualize the rise…

While others had previously submitted patents for harvesting machine, this one designed by Obed Hussey in 1833 is considered the first workable farm implement of its kind. Two horses and two workers could harvest grains at a much faster rate than…

During a time when wheat and other grains were hand-sown, there were debates as to the most effective methods. This illustration accompanied a description of a "sowing-sheet," which was a piece of square linen folded into a kind of sling, "having an…