Review of \u3ci\u3eMixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation of the Rural North, 1870-1930\u3c/i\u3e by Hal S. Barron

Mixed Harvest is a good title for a book that documents the complexity of interests involved in twentieth-century farming. A broad swipe at characterization too often substitutes in histories for a more careful analysis in which surface affinities fall apart. Barron uses case studies from selected counties of the battles fought across the East and Midwest over roads, consolidated schools, farmers\u27 grain elevators, and mail-order buying to probe a second transformation of American society following the initial spread of industrial capitalism early in the nineteenth century. This transformation was marked by centralization of the economy, expansion of state power and professional expertise, and the rise of an urban consumer culture. The story of its effect on farmers and their response to it is a nuanced one