Vocab 1
What is sod?
Thick roots that protected rich soil below
What are cash crops?
Crops grown to sell at market
What were the laws that controlled railroad ticket prices and shipping rates?
Granger Laws
What were some difficulties on the farm?
Locusts, drought, snow storms, difficult labor
Who founded the Grange?
Oliver Kelley
What is a cooperative?
A group that is formed to buy or sell products in large amounts to get a better price.
What is a sodbuster?
Someone who plowed the land to prepare it for farming
Who was James J Hill?
the "empire builder" who created the Great Northern Railroad
What were the first houses on the farms built out of?
Houses on the farms were built by settlers out of local timber, and if there were no nearby trees, out of blocks of sod.
Who made a large profit by buying and selling land?
Louis Fertile
What is diversified farming?
The practice of producing a wide variety of crops and livestock on a farm
What does regulate mean?
To make rules about something in order to control it.
What was one downside of the railroad for farmers?
Any 1 answer correct:
1. Takes a lot of land
2. Trains hit livestock
3. Crashes destroy product
4. Market competition drives down crop prices
What did children do on the farm?
Chores: carry firewood, gather water from the well, gather eggs, help in fields, care for younger siblings
Who invented the self-scouring plow?
John Deere
What is the Homestead Act?
An 1862 Law that provided up to 160 Acres of land to settlers who would live and farm on it for five years
What is a Grange?
An organization made up of farmers that works to support the farming industry
What was one benefit of the railroad for farmers?
Any 1 answer is correct:
1. Cheaper transportation
2. Connect with larger markets
3. Buy land from the railroad
4. Railroad opens more jobs
What did men do on the farm?
Heavy work in the field: planting, harvesting, and repairs
Why was diversified farming important?
Relying on the same cash crops drained the soil of nutrients.
What is Subsistence Farming?
A farm that produces enough food to feed one's family, but not enough to sell at the market
What is a speculator?
People who would buy and sell land hoping to make profit at a great financial risk
What is one way the railroad changed Minnesota?
Any 1 answer is correct:
1. Towns grew and changed around railroad lines
2. Railroads moved produce between East and West MN
3. Expand agriculture to more areas in Minnesota
4. Created job oppurtunities
What did women do on the farm?
Work around the house, caring for children, cooking, cleaning, tending the vegetable garden, helping in the field, laundry, sewing, and caring for animals
What were two ways a grange was important?
Any two correct answers:
1. Included both men and women
2. Discuss concerns about farming and the railroad
3. Taught new farming techniques
4. Helped farmers get better prices
5. It was a social group