Homesteaders Tackling Issues Flashcards
(13 cards)
How did railroads make Homesteads lives easier?
- Homesteaders could visit relations much more easily and cheaply than before, which reduced the isolation of homestead life.
- Homesteaders could order manufactured products that made life easier
- towns sprang up at regular distances along the railroads, which gave homesteaders a place to meet each other, compare farming ideas, sell crops and buy products and access entertainment
When was the “self- governing” windmill invented and when did it get steel blades?
1854
1870 - steel blades
What was the purpose of the windmill?
they were used to pump water out of the ground to help farmers irrigate their land and make it more fertile for crops
What were the advantages and problems with windmills?
Pros:
- could pump water out of quite deep wells (up to 30m)
- in 1870 steel blades meant the windmills could stand up better to the strong prairie winds
Cons:
- not powerful enough to pump up water from VERY deep wells (more than 30m) and needed constant maintenance
- it was not until the 1880s that these problems were overcome
When was the barbed wire invented?
1874
What was the purpose of barbed wire?
used to fence off crops to protect them from livestock and other animals
what were the advantages and problems of barbed wire?
Pros:
- much cheaper than buying timber for fences
- more effective at blocking livestock than smooth-wire fencing
Cons :
- not widely used until 1880s
-early types broke and rusted
-in 1874, it was 10x more expensive than the 1880s
When was the sulky plough invented?
1875
what was the purpose of the sulky plough?
strong ploughs were used to plough up the tough weeds and prairie grass on the great plains
What were the advantages and problems of the sulky plough?
Pros:
- very strong, easy to operate, ride-on steel plough that made ploughing up tough weeds and prairie grass much easier
- 50,000 ploughs were sold in the first 6 years of production
Cons:
- 6x as many “walking” ploughs were sold in the same period - these were cheaper and farmers understood them
- early sulkies were unstable and could tip up
What did the Mennonites (migrants from Russia) discover and how did this affect farming on the plains?
-they discovered that “Turkey red” wheat grew well on their Kansas farms
-Soon farmers with good land were able to export grain, which was a major boost to settlement on the Plains
what was the problem with education for Homesteader
too far from towns w school
