Horse-power farming machine in the Palouse in the 1920's

Horse-power farming machine in the Palouse in the 1920's

Farming was extremely labor-intensive and still relied heavily on human and horse-power. An organized harvesting/threshing team in the 1920's required 120 men and 320 mules and horses. Teams moved from farm to farm as the crops ripened. Few farmers had enough horses to pull such a machine, which required a crew of 40 horses and six men to operate on level ground. Because of this, use of combines on the Palouse lagged behind use in other farming communities in the United States.

United States Geological Survey
http://landcover.usgs.gov/luhna/chap10addfig.php

1920's