It's being done now. But, there aren't enuf horses in the country right now; especially the draft horses. Need more Bud Clydedales. More cow ponies, cow dawgs, cowboys, and farmers , too.
=======================+==============================
Amish Farm Tools and Techniques
Farming was originally not a tenet of Anabaptism, but agriculture became important when persecution drove the Amish to the remote regions of Europe. The Amish believe that practical knowledge, hard work, and long hours create a good living from the soil.They practice a life of hard work, thrift, and self-sufficiency which they believe is substantiated by the bible. The Amish attribute their success in farming to divine blessing.
Until the practice of tractor farming came along, the differences between Amish farming methods and those of the large society were not great. Although perhaps with some hesitation, the Amish generally adjusted to technological advancement on the farm in the 19th and early 20th centuries. When horses replaced oxen as the draft animals of choice, the Amish adapted. Similarly, the Amish accepted the use of mechanical hay loaders, grain binders, and threshing machines, and even steam powered equipment.
To the Amish, the indiscriminate use of tractors was and continues to be a symbol of an approach to farming that is directly opposed to their values. Mechanized farming of large acreages dominated by a single crop may be financially lucrative in the short run the Amish say, but it does long term damage to the land. The Amish instead, prefer diversification and rotation of crops, the use of manure as fertilizer, and have found these methods superior to many modern farming techniques.
The Amish have been able to find an abundance of discarded horse farming implements and have used them even though some are over thirty years old. As they begin to wear out, Amish farmers have gone into the implement repair business. Horse drawn motorized implements still used by the Amish are the corn picker, field hay balers that pick up hay from the ground, hay conditioners, also called crimpers, which speed the drying time after hay is cut, and flair choppers, which shred corn stubble in the field after corn has been picked.
On Amish farms, horses pull plows and do much of the heavy work. The large work or draft animals used on Amish farms are typically Belgians, Percherons, or some mixture of these or other strains. In some of the Amish communities, registered horses are not allowed. In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and settlements originating from there, many Amish farmers use mules, or both horses and mules mixed on a team. These strong animals help in the harvesting of crops and in pulling the buggies that serve as transportation for the family.
scsc.k12.ar.us |
