Part 3

Although this seems like the end of the story of the binder it is important to remember that inventions are usually part of a larger story. The story of the binder must also be seen in its economic and social contexts.

Because hand grain harvesting before the reaper and binder required more labor than the farmer could supply alone, the whole family had been employed and neighbors exchanged labor with each other. To feed these extra laborers the farm wife was responsible for preparing and serving three large meals a day, and perhaps an afternoon lunch for the crew, for a week or two until the last sheaf was shocked. Using cradles it took a 14-man crew to cut up to 15 acres a day. The reaper reduced this number to about eight men and the binder to only a couple. One can envision many farm wives "encouraging" their husbands to buy a new binder even if they were hesitant to invest in the new technology.

Many wives found it easier to convince their husbands to buy these new labor saving devices that indirectly benefited their wives than to buy some of the newly available labor saving devices to cut down directly on their wife's drudgery carrying water, churning, washing, etc. A book published in 1913 by Deere & Company lamented this tendency by farmers to purchase modern technology relating to their work but not to do the same for their wives.

During the 19th century the relationship between the farmer and his labor force was changing. At the beginning of the century labor came mainly from family, neighbors, and the occasional hired help. As the century progressed there was more reliance on hired help until the advent of machines like the reaper and binder reduced the need for labor.

Labor was always a problem for farmers since there was not a steady need for it and it could be expensive. In the 19th century, for example, land was relatively cheap and labor was expensive. If a farmer wanted to expand his tilled acreage the cost of labor could be a limiting factor.

Unfortunately for laborers, the binder was emerging in the 1870s during a period of depression and unemployment. Transient workers who relied on seasonal agricultural employment reacted to the new, labor saving machines by threatening strikes or even destroying crops and machines. Farmers retaliated by forming protective associations and sometimes even shooting at transients trespassing on their land. The binder was an integral part of this changing labor relationship in rural America as fewer people were needed in agriculture and more people were needed in burgeoning industry.

This article first appeared in the Autumn 2001 and Winter 2002 editions of The Furrow, the quarterly newsletter published by the Friends of Howell Living History Farm. The contents are © 2001, 2002 The Friends of Howell Living History Farm.