Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
were limited in their production not by what they could
sow (plant), but what they could reap (harvest) because
harvesting required much more time and labor than plant-
ing. Harvesting involved laborers cutting grain with a
scythe followed by more laborers who bundled the grain
into bales. McCormick's mechanical reaper, which was
pulled by horses, both cut and bundled grain. His inven-
tion took off in the 1840s purportedly increasing yields of
individual farmers by at least ten times. McCormick's com-
pany eventually became International Harvester and now
Case IH, one of the largest agriculture implement compa-
nies in the world today.
Advances in breeding livestock enabled farmers to
develop new breeds that were either strong milk produc-
ers or good for beef. The most common breeds of dairy
cattle found in North America today trace their lineage
back to the Second Agricultural Revolution in Europe. In
the 1700s and 1800s, European farmers bred dairy cattle
to adapt to different climates and topography. For exam-
ple, the black and white Holstein dairy cow came from the
Netherlands and is well suited to graze on grass and pro-
duce high quantities of milk. Scottish farmers bred the red
and white Ayrshire breed of dairy cattle to produce milk
well suited for butter and cheese and to forage for food in
rough, rocky topography.
Innovations in machinery that occurred with the
Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s and early 1900s
helped sustain the Second Agricultural Revolution. The
railroad helped move agriculture into new regions, such
as the United States' Great Plains. Geographer John
Hudson traced the major role railroads and agriculture
played in changing the landscape of that region from open
prairie to individual farmsteads. The railroad companies
advertised in Europe to attract immigrants to the Great
Plains region, and the railroads took the new migrants to
their new towns, where they would transform lands from
prairie grass to agricultural fi elds. Later, the internal com-
bustible engine made possible the invention of tractors,
combines, and a multitude of large farm equipment. New
banking and lending practices helped farmers afford the
new equipment.
one commodity or crop gave way to another. He also
noted that this process occurred without any visible
change in soil, climate, or terrain. When he mapped this
pattern, he found that each town or market center was
surrounded by a set of more-or-less concentric rings
within which particular commodities or crops dominated.
Nearest the town, farmers produced commodities
that were perishable and commanded high prices, such as
dairy products and strawberries. In this zone, much effort
would go into production in part because of the value of
the land closer to the city. In von Thünen's time, the town
was still surrounded by a belt of forest that provided wood
for fuel and building; but immediately beyond the forest
the ring-like pattern of agriculture continued. In the next
ring crops were less perishable and bulkier, including
wheat and other grains. Still farther out, livestock raising
began to replace fi eld crops.
Von Thünen used these observations to build a
model of the spatial distribution of agricultural activities
around settlements (Fig. 11.7). As with all models, he had
to make certain assumptions. For example, he assumed
that the terrain was fl at, that soils and other environmen-
tal conditions were the same everywhere, and that there
were no barriers to transportation to market. Under such
circumstances, he reasoned, transport costs would govern
Figure 11.7
Von Thünen's Model.
© H. J. de Blij, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
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Understanding the Spatial Layout of Agriculture
When commercial agriculture is geared to producing
food for people who live in a nearby town or city, a geo-
graphichal pattern of land use based on the “perishability”
of products and cost of transportation often emerges. In
the 1800s, Johann Heinrich von Thünen (1783-1850)
experienced the Second Agricultural Revolution fi rst-
hand: he farmed an estate not far from the town of
Rostock, in northeast Germany. Studying the spatial pat-
terns of farming around towns such as Rostock, von
Thünen noted that as one moved away from the town,
g
Central City
Market gardening and dairying
Forest
Increasingly extensive field crops, grains
Ranching, livestock
