here comes mr. weed
Who was Mr. Weed, the hay-baler in Farmer Boy? Was he William Weed from neighboring Belmont Township, the only "Mr. Weed" found on both the 1860 and 1870 census in Franklin County? The hay-baler is only named once in the published version; no name is given in the manuscript.

As I've blogged my way through Farmer Boy these past few weeks, I've often wondered why is there such a lack of published information about the characters from this "Little House" book? Think Jonas Lane, Mr. Paddock, Aaron Webb, Mr. Corse, Mr. Case, or Nick Brown. Do you have a working relationship with their historical counterparts? In some cases, do they even have historical counterparts? Maybe not. But it sure would be nice to read about them in upcoming issues of Farmer Boy News, wouldn't it? :-)

So, Mr. Weed, the hay-baler, arrives and Almanzo learns to bale hay (he won't learn any younger). But they don't bale hay the old-fashioned way; here comes a "fine, new machine for baling hay."

It was a stout wooden box, as long and wide as a bale of hay, but ten feet high. Its cover could be fastened on tightly, and its bottom was loose. Two iron levers were hinged to the loose bottom, and the levers ran on little wheels on iron tracks going out from each end of the box. The tracks were like small railroad tracks, and the press was called a railroad press. - Farmer Boy, Chapter 28, "Mr. Thompson's Pocketbook"

There were many patents granted on baling presses during the first half of the nineteenth century, which showed that inventors began early to wrestle with the problem of making up hay in compact bales for transportation. It wasn't until 1853 that H.L. Emery, of Albany, New York, began the manufacture and sale of a crude form of horizontal press, in which levers attached to plungers in each end of the baling chamber were operated by chains and pulleys. It was awkard in appearance and operation, and was only capable of making five 250-pound bales per hour, and it required two men and a horse to operate it. Then Father and the man put the cover on the press and fastened it securely. Father called to Almanzo and Almanzo started the horse. This press made a bale 24x24x48 inches.

Soon after this, around 1860, Levi and Peter Dederick, also of Albany, became interested in the hay press. Peter Dederick acquired the plans to some earlier attempts at hay presses, and he experimented until he brought into practical form a press for general use. His first attempts were an upright press that had for its power, two beams coming near together under the box (like the sides of a flattened letter A coming together). As the beams got closer, a strong piece of wood moved up towards the fixed top. This was the press used by the Wilders. As Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote, it was called a railroad press because the levers ran on little tracks.

Praised at the New York State Agricultural Fair in 1865, Dederick's Independent Lever Press (at a cost of $500) was said to be an entirely new invention in hay presses, and patented during the year. Three men and one horse could press a bale of hay in six minutes.

Mr. Dederick soon abandoned the vertical press in favor of a horizontal one, however, and well into the 20th century, he concentrated his improvements there.
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:00 PM