Antique Hay Press At Dudley Farm
by D Hackett
Title
Antique Hay Press At Dudley Farm
Artist
D Hackett
Medium
Photograph - Digital
Description
Antique Hay Press At Dudley Farm by D Hackett
Until the mid-1800s, hay that was harvested for livestock was simply piled into stacks or moved into the barn for use during the winter. Moving the crop involved pitching it onto a wagon and pitching it back off at the destination. That all changed in the mid-1800s, with invention of the first mechanical hay press. Most of the earliest hay presses were stationary units built into a barn and extending two to three stories into the hayloft.
It wasn’t long before hay presses became more mobile, going to the field and from farm to farm, much like the threshing machines of the day. Consequently, the first people to own the machines were custom operators and hay dealers who would buy a quantity of hay from a farmer, then bale it before transporting it to market. A few models, however, were sized and built for private use.
In the mid-1800s, the Dudley family, progressive farmers of their time, moved from Charleston, South Carolina to North Central Florida. Three generations of the family owned and worked the then 640-acre piece of land. For over 150 years, the Dudley family successfully maintained livestock, crops and large vegetable gardens. Eighteen original buildings constructed between the 1880s and 1945. Also dating back to the 1800s are hand-stitched quilts, a large quilting frame, an 1835 Bible carried by P.B.H. Dudley through the Civil War, photographs and farm implements.
Dudley Farm is now a Florida State Park and this 325-acre historic state park offers an opportunity to see how Florida family farms evolved from the 1850s until the mid-1940s. Dudley Farm is an authentic working farm. Its buildings have been restored or are currently being restored to their original condition.
Uploaded
March 22nd, 2020
Embed
Share
Comments
There are no comments for Antique Hay Press At Dudley Farm. Click here to post the first comment.