The Tractor: Its Development and Effects on Farmers in the Pennyrile Region of Kentucky

The development of the tractor was affected by the need for farmers to do more work and do it more efficiently and, in turn, the tractor affected great changes in the way farm people lived. This paper looks at the changes that took place in farming technology that lead to the development of tractors, especially the general- or all-purpose type, and how the effect these machines had on people, particularly those in the Pennyrile Region of Western Kentucky. Their experiences were recorded in interviews that took place in the spring of 1991 and were invaluable in helping bring to life what it was like to farm without the tractor