Early Farming

How tough was early farming, and why did they do it?

Farming was tough in the 1800s and 1900s, with no power, no phones, and no motorised machinery - it was hard.

In the 1800s the land was covered in scrub that the farmers worked day and night to clear. There wasn't anything powered by electricity. Horses were used a lot for transport, tugging things and mostly instead of machinery.

In the early 1900s when the farmers got back from work each day there was always a wife, or mother or girlfriend cooking dinner on an open fire. They had no problem with having fish for tea because there were lots of eels in the creek. During the day the farmers would have to do their farming jobs like shear the sheep, or milk the cows and do any other things if needed. Often the women had to work outside on the farm as well.

By Pippa Y6 & Lucy Y4