Скачать или смотреть John Deere: The Plow that Changed Farming

On February 21, 1865, John Deere, a blacksmith, received a patent for ploughs.

John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer of “the plow that broke the plains,” was born this day in 1804. Upon removing from his native Vermont to Grand Detour, IL he discovered that farmers were struggling to break through the tangle of roots of the native prairie grasses. Additionally, the sticky clay necessitated frequent cleaning of the wooden or cast-iron blade. Deere forged a broken steel sawmill blade into a plow that was self-scouring. It worked so well that word quickly spread, and demand grew.

Deere was an innovator in business as well. He began mass-producing the plows, rather than waiting until he had orders for them. That way the farmer could see what he was getting and did not need to wait. In 1848, he relocated his business to Moline, IL because the city was a transportation hub on the Mississippi River. By 1857, the company was producing 1,120 farm implements a month including wagons, corn planters, and cultivators. John Deere insisted on excellence stating, “I will not put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me.” His company also cared about the farmers they served. It is said that they never repossessed any equipment from American farmers during the Great Depression.

Farmers in the free states were quicker to adopt technological innovations in farming than their southern counterparts. By 1860, they had nearly twice the value of farm machinery per acre and per farm worker as did the slave states. As a result, in 1860, Northern states produced half of the nation’s corn, four-fifths of its wheat, and seven-eighths of its oats.

*The plow shown is part of the Smithsonian collection and is believed to be one of the first three plows that John Deere personally forged.

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