farming

• Farmers started dry farming - dig snow underground in the inter so when the summer came it melted and the ground would be wetter for longer
• windmills were invented to have metal blades - stronger and more efficient (compared to wooden ones)
• rust proof coating was invented to cover barbed wire - made it stronger which kept the animals out/in
• machines were invented to plough the soil and also plant seeds to the correct depth in the soil - quicker and more efficient
• mechanisation - machines were invented to make life easier
• however, not all homesteaders problems could be easily solved;

  • droughts and wild fires frequently hit the plains in the 1870 and 1880's
  • 1874 = year of the locust - swarms of Rocky mountain Locust flew onto crops in Nebraska and Kansas, stripping whole fields of crops in a few hours which left homesteaders with no food to eat, sell or plant the following year
  • if the land homesteaders claimed war poor quality, many couldn't grow enough food
  • if homesteaders weren't prepared for hard work or if the faced a personal tragedy, many wouldn't survive on the plains
• however, not all homesteaders problems could easily be solved;

  • between 1889 and 1893, 11000 Homesteader families were forced off land as it was repossessed as the families couldn't pay off debts
  • isolated communities - homesteaders often lived 100's of miles away from other people - no access to shops to buy basic supplies, no doctors or midwife (high death rate)
  • lack of law and order - there were no sheriffs taking charge of the plains, therefore bandits and IP problems were common