question_answer

What   were   the   advantages   and disadvantages of the use of mechanical harvesting machine in the USA?

Answer:

                Advantages (i) The new machines helped in breaking the hard ground with tractors and disk ploughs in clearing vast streaches for wheat cultivation. (ii) The mechanical reaper invented by Cyrus McCormick could cut in 1 day as much as 5 men could cut with cradles and 16 men with sickles. With one of these machines, 500 acres of wheat could be harvested in 2 weeks. With power driven machinery, 4 men could plough, seed and harvest 2000 to 4000 acres of wheat in a season. Disadvantages (i) Unemployment Introduction of     machines reduced the need for labour leading to unemployment on a large-scale. (ii) Unpaid Debts Many poor farmers in the USA had bought machines by taking loans from banks, but due to increased production there was surplus of food grains and storehouses overflowed. Prices fell, export collapsed, leading to an Agrarian Depression, due to which the farmers could not pay back the bank lo So, they deserted their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere. (iii) Dust Bowl To expand cultivation, tractors had turned the soil over and broken the sod into dust. Over a period of time, overuse turned the whole region into a dust bowl, leading to terrifying dust storms called 'Black Blizzard' which blinded and choked the people; the animals were suffocated to death. The rivers were coated with dust and the fish died. Tractors and machines were clogged with dust and there was a huge damage to life and property.