Skip to main content

Agricultural & Biological

Air-Inflated, Double-Layer Polyethylene Greenhouse
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: StructuresEra: 1960-1969DateCreated: 1964Foran HallNew BrunswickState: NJZip: 08901Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/air-inflated-double-layer-polyethylene-greenhouse-44.aspxCreator: Roberts, William J.

A crucial step in the evolution of modern plant agriculture was the development of low-cost, energy-efficient greenhouse structures that provide optimum growing conditions year-round. In 1964, Professor William J. Roberts developed the first air-inflated double-layer polyethylene greenhouse covering system at Cook College, Rutgers University.

YearAdded:
2004
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Dwight Sipler (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: A cat scales an air-inflated double-layered polyethylene greenhouse
Agricultural Engineering Building - University of Wisconsin
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: EducationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1907University of Wisconsin Biological Systems EngineeringMadisonState: WIZip: 53706Country: USAWebsite: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/ae-building-uw-2.aspx

American Society of Agricultural Engineers Founded in this Building December 27, 1907

YearAdded:
1982
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/James Steakley (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Agricultural Aviation
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: AviationEra: 1920sDateCreated: 1921Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry MuseumJacksonState: MSCountry: USAWebsite: https://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/agricultural-aviation-33.aspx

Agricultural Aviation Began In 1921 When C. R. Neillie Got A Military Plane To Dust Catalpa Trees Near Troy, OH. In 1922 B. R. Coad And C. E. Wollman Began Research At Tallulah, LA To Control Boll Weevils In Cotton. They Developed Equipment Using Venturi Induction, Ram Air Pressure And Hopper Agitation. G. B. Post And Wollman Made The First Commercial Dust Applications In Macon, Ga In 1924. In 1925, 18 Aircraft Treated 60,000 Acres Of Cotton Across The South. In 1928, Delta Air Service Was Organized.

YearAdded:
1995
McCormick Reaper
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: Equipment, Harvesting and BalingEra: 1830-1839DateCreated: 1831McCormick FarmRaphineState: VAZip: 24472Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/mccormick-reaper-4.aspxCreator: McCormick, Cyrus Hall

McCormick was born on the 620-acre farm known historically as “Walnut Grove Farm” in 1809.  He built the first practical grain reaper, which was successfully demonstrated in a field of oats owned by John Steele in nearby Steeles Tavern in 1831.  

YearAdded:
1972
Image Credit: Courtesy of the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center.Image Caption: The McCormick reaper was first demonstrated at the Walnut Grove Farm in Virginia.Era_date_from: 1831
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: Equipment, Harvesting and BalingEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1943National Museum of History & TechnologyWashingtonState: DCZip: 20560Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/old-red-cotton-picker-10.aspxCreator: Rust, John, Rust, Mack
"The development of the cotton picker was the most important single factor which enabled the American cotton industry to stay alive," observed Dr. George S. Buck, Jr., director of research for the National Cotton Council recenty. Some 96% of the 1969 U.S. cotton crop was harvested by machines, points out J.W. Wegener, manager of International Harvester's Memphis Works manager. "Old Red" was built by International Harvester in 1943, retired in 1959, and restored in 1964.
YearAdded:
1978
Image Credit: Photo Courtesy of ASABEImage Caption: "Old Red" now resides in the National Museum of History & Technology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.Era_date_from: 1943
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: Water Supply & ControlEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1952Pioneer VillageMindenState: NEZip: 68959Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/center-pivot-irrigator-30.aspxCreator: Zybach, Frank
Frank Zybach, a tenant farmer and inventor living near Strasburg, Colorado, received a patent for a "Self-Propelled Sprinkling Irrigating Apparatus" on July 22, 1952. The device used mobile towers to continuously move a pipeline in a circle around a pivot. Water was supplied through the pivot and distributed by sprinklers on the pipeline. Zybach formed a partnership with A.E. Trowbridge, an entrepreneur-businessman, in 1953 to manufacture center pivots in Columbus, Nebraska.
YearAdded:
1993
Image Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture photoImage Caption: The Center Pivot Irrigator transformed agricultural production throughout the world.Era_date_from: 1952
The Cotton Module Builder
Society: ASABEMain Category: Agricultural & BiologicalSub Category: Equipment, Harvesting and BalingEra: 1970-1979DateCreated: 1971Scoates HallCollege StationState: TXCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asabe.org/awards-landmarks/asabe-historic-landmarks/cotton-module-builder-40.aspxCreator: Wilkes, Lambert , Jones, J.K. "Farmer"
Cotton was once transported from farms to gins by wagons, trucks or trailers. Long waits to unload at the gin stalled harvests until haulers could return to the fields. Professor Lambert Wilkes of the Department of Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, developed the Cotton Module Builder between 1971 and 1974 with the support of J.K. (Farmer) Jones of Cotton Incorporated. The modules created by the Cotton Module Builder withstood weather, and after transport, the cotton could be easily fed into the gin. Dr.
YearAdded:
2002
Image Credit: Photo by Beaver (Thomas John Macartney)Image Caption: The cotton module builder revolutionized the cotton industry.Era_date_from: 1971
Subscribe to Agricultural & Biological

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.