Agriculture... A History of Change
by Bruce Chapin

On September 7, 1912 in Marion County, Oregon’s first county agent was hired. Luther J. Chapin (known to me as Grandpa) had the honor of being Oregon’s first county agent but it is only fair that I mention that others where also hired the following day.

I have few memories of my grandfather but he left a collection of pictures taken at a time when agriculture and this nation were entering a time of rapid change. His pictures stand to remind us of the many changes that have occurred in the agricultural industry since 1912.

There are pictures of...

• wheat taller than a man’s head

• grain fields shocked prior to threshing

• a mint still with a condenser cooled by water from a man powered pitcher pump

• a corn field planted in checkrows allowing cultivation in multiple directions

• hops being picked by hand, heavily armed men guarding a prison crew hand pulling flax

• a home canning club with a sign boasting of cooking with electricity

• a 1913 plowing contest held where the Marion County Jail stands today showing an Ajax tractor pulling an eight bottom gang of plows and a Rudely Oil Pull pulling a ten bottom gang of plows

• a pruning demonstration where the farmers arrived by horse and buggies wearing suits and derbies

• dried corn displays promoting the raising of field corn

• horses pulling a brush burning box in an orchard

• and horses plowing a cover crop in between fruit trees.

There have been a lot of changes in agriculture since the beginning of the extension program, but one thing has not seemed to have changed, the continual battle to maintain funding for the extension program. After three years the funding for the extension program in Marion County was discontinued. Grandpa found other employment and invested in a small farm in Mission Bottom north of Salem. Today I and other family members still farm that parcel of extremely high quality land. Although I am very grateful for the series of events that have put me where I am, I find it discouraging that more people do not recognize the important role played by the extension service. The distribution of information from university researchers to agricultural producers has played a major role in the prosperity of this nation.

As I looked at these early pictures I first thought how simple life must have been back then, but then realized that rapid change makes life more complicated. I remembered a discussion I had with Granny who lived twenty two years longer than Grandpa. The discussion was about the many social, economic, industrial, and scientific changes that occurred during her life and I have since concluded life was not simple or easy back then.  

Here are a few examples of changes in Granny’s life:  1881 she was born near the exact center of Kansas. Just a few days later she survived inside of a house that was moved a considerable distance be a tornado.  Look at the other challenges and changes Granny and others of her generation dealt with in their life. 

1. Transportation:  Before she turned two she and her parents traveled to Oregon by horse drawn wagon over the Oregon Trail. She lived through the transition of farm horses being replaced with tractors, cars, and trucks. Later in life to celebrate Christmas with her grandson she flew to Texas in a 747 jet and the following year she witnessed a man walking on the moon.
2. Communication:  Evolved from telegraph to telephone, radio, and television.
3. Government:  She saw the introduction of the Federal income tax system and the Social Security system. She was active in the movement to get women the right to vote in Washington State and in moving back to Oregon on the ferry ride across the Columbia, Grandpa teasingly turned to Granny and reminded her that she had just lost her right to vote by returning to Oregon.
4. Electricity:  Farms and homes were electrified; windmills were replaced with electric pumps; indoor plumbing was installed; kerosene lanterns were replaced with electric lights; wood stoves were replaced with electric stoves; and ice boxes were replaced with electric refrigerators
5. Wars:  She lived through two world wars that evolved from trench warfare to nuclear warfare as well as the Korean and Vietnam wars.
6. Social Changes:  She graduated from college at a time when few women went to college.  In her life dresses shrank from covering the ankles to not covering much at all. The practice of doctors making house calls ended; and the small country schools and community clubs disappeared. 
7. Economic challenges:  She lived through the industrial revolution and two great depressions.  The first was much more impressive to her due to her age, than the one in the 1930’s.
8. Exploration: The North and South poles as well as ocean floors were first explored during her life time.

Most of the life style that she was accustomed to as a child vanished or significantly changed in her life time. When I think of all the changes her generation had to deal with and realize how much stress change creates then perhaps, relatively speaking, our lives are not so complicated and stressful after all.  Now doesn’t that thought make you all feel better?

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These are authentic stories from real farmers.  Any editorial content does not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Agri-Business Council of Oregon or our members.