- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
Lake County Time Capsule: 1952 Ford tractor
Stones in the Field
by Kathleen Scavone
Fifty-two Ford tractor works
The field, churning up
The past
Chert, obsidian, serpentine, and
Cinnabar are
Brought up for air
Harvested like so many grand potatoes
Their presence speaks volumes
A dusty tome of time gone by
It’s official- it’s a ground-breaking.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Once upon a time, in Lake County – and throughout the American countryside – a reliable workhorse called the Ford 8N tractor could be seen tilling fields and orchards far and wide.
The most popular farm tractor in America turned out to be the Ford 8N model tractor, which was introduced in 1947.
The N-series tractors – including the 9N, 2N and 8N models – were all manufactured in America between 1939 and 1952.
Of course, our Lake County farming history starts quite some time before those dates.
The agricultural statistics of 1880 show that there were 5,520 acres devoted to wheat-growing, 3,547 acres of barley and 386 acres of oats grown in Lake County.
Corn, potatoes, hay and hops also were very viable and popular crops as were apples, pears and plums.
Counties in California began forming Farm Bureaus in the early 1900s, and as soon as 1919 California had 32 county Farm Bureaus operating, with Lake County's own Farm Bureau taking shape in 1924.
The humble farm tractor allowed for food production in a much grander scale than its predecessor the plow horse.
There were pioneer tractors such as the John Froelich gas tractor of 1892 which required skill and money to operate.
In 1910 tractor designs with a smaller size came into being and became even more popular in American fields.
These "motor plows" had two wheels and an engine, and could utilize attachments of previously owned horse-drawn implements to the devices.
Before Henry Ford's Model Ts were popular modes of transportation for the general public, Ford – who grew up on a farm – knew the value of these back-saving devices called tractors.
So, in 1917 Ford instigated the Fordson Model F tractor which could be purchased for $230.
Thank goodness for good old American know-how.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.