Discovering Horse-Drawn Farm Machinery

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Agricultural Revolution revolutionized farming. Centuries-old methods were discarded and widespread improvements were made. One of the most notable changes was the replacement of draught oxen with the more versatile special heavy breeds of horses. The Victorian ingenuity of the Industrial Revolution produced an enormous range of horse-drawn agricultural machinery. Fields had been ploughed by draught animals for centuries, but suddenly new horse-drawn machinery included not just ploughs, but grubbers, cultivators, harrows, rollers, drills, reapers, binders, root lifters, manure spreaders and rakes. This book describes and illustrates these machines, the horses and their harness, inventors and manufacturers and lists the places where the machines can be seen today.

D.J. Smith was born in Birmingham and educated at University College, Cardiff. He took a lifelong interest in transport and the English countryside and is probably best known for his classic series of studies for Shire, which all featured his own characteristic drawings.