{"product_id":"cultivating-machines-james-rick-9780821426593","title":"Cultivating Machines: The Use and Maintenance of Technology in Midwestern Agriculture, 1845-1900","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow farmers shaped the development of agricultural machinery\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the second half of the nineteenth century, farmers in the midwestern United States and in Ontario began adopting new agricultural machines: threshers, reapers, and drills for more efficient production of grains, as well as sewing and washing machines for more efficient production within the farm household. By using, maintaining, and altering these machines within the natural and social contexts of their farms, rural people produced new technological systems of industrial agriculture. They also struggled with machine manufacturers and their agents for control of those systems--both individually and through farmers' organizations. \u003ci\u003eCultivating Machines\u003c\/i\u003e contributes to historiographies of capitalism, technology, and agriculture as it demonstrates the importance of everyday know-how and informed tinkering to the mechanization of grain agriculture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this study, James Rick moves from the middle decades of the nineteenth century, and the introduction of horse-powered machines, to the end of the century, when mechanized technologies became indispensable and central parts of farms themselves. Ultimately, large-scale wheat production, the increased complexity of machines, the need for replacement parts, and the efforts of manufacturers and their agents to assert themselves as authorities over industrial agriculture diminished the technological independence of farming people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Rick\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0821426591\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780821426593\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/21\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 284\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs","brand":"James Rick","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47072025739519,"sku":"9780821426593","price":49.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4d38e54d-5477-41c8-b3ed-8e39a252b0ac.jpg?v=1753415592","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/cultivating-machines-james-rick-9780821426593","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}