{short description of image}  Machines on the Land
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The land army girls were a familiar sight on most farms during the 1939-1945 war. They had to do the work that the men had previously done...

Land Army

Image courtesy of Rural History Centre, University of Reading

Click Here to Listen

[John Gresham on the land girls]

After the War….

Things would never be the same again. Labour was now even more scarce and certainly more expensive. This prompted many farmers to embrace mechanisation quite rapidly.

The tractor replaced the horse and then totally new machines (such as the combine[d] harvester) soon appeared on many farms and they replaced the farm labourer…

In the late 1940's, much of this new farm equipment was imported directly from America…

Harvesting


In 1941 there were 1000 combine harvesters in use in Britain, just 9 years later there were 11,000 at work. Many of the Agricultural Contractors were the first to buy the new machines.

Click Here to Listen[John Gresham on the new tractor] Click Here to Listen[John Gresham on the combine harvester]

 

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