Figure 1.--Here we have asteam engine driving a thrshing machine in Tuscany around 1900. The machine has wheels so it could be moved to differet farms, but stays stalionary when operating. Click on the image to see another steam endine on a farm in Grognardo, which is located 50 miles from Turin. It shows one threshing machines operated by a staionary steam engine, this photograph looks like it was taken about 1920. There are younger children present along with older children probably involved in the work.

The Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution occured millennia before the domestication of farm animals. The fist unit of work was manpower. The domestication of animals, especially the horse, significantly increased agricultural productivity. The horse was so important that when power generating machines were invented, they became measured in horse power (19th century). These machines powered industry, but agriculture continued to be limited to actual horsepower. This only began to changed after three millennia when American invented th tractor. The first tractors were steam power, but it was Henry Ford who created the modestly-priced Model-T Tin Lizzie that made the creation of a tractor possible for small family farmers. This for the most part occurred in America. We see a few in Britain where Ford set up small-scale production. Stalin used them for for collectivization. Elsewhere in Europe we do not see tractors. We do see some steam engines set up in Italy and other countries to power stationary threshing machines abut the turn of the 20th century. But these were only possible for large estates, not small holdings. There were two primary reasons. First, Italian and other European automobile companies did not want to manufacture low-cost vehicles. Second, wages ended to be very low this the incentives for mechanization was not as strong as in America. Wages varied in Italy, were especially low in southern Italy. Some areas were still virtually feudal. This dynamic did not change until after World War II (1939-45).

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Created: 7:32 AM 4/29/2025
Last updated: 7:32 AM 4/29/2025