Chester County Farm Visit Travels Through Time

Agricultural Antiques & Modern Machines were the subject of the Town Tours and Villaage Walks last week in Cochranville, Pennsylvania. This was quite a switch from my usual forays into the countryside to look at historic buildings.

The men and women of the Upper Oxford and Londonderry Historical Commissions gathered antique farm equipment from friends and neighbors, as well as modern air-conditioned monster machines.

We went from the wooden plows pulled by horses or mules to John Deere tractors, to monster equipment costing several hundred thousand dollars.  I can't pretend to be able to explain this machinery but one particularly large piece the size of a small cabin brought to mind one episode of "Midsomer Murders" where a victim wandering a field at night is run over by the steel knives of a humongous piece of farm equipment notable by its glaring headlights.  Scary thing at night!

But here we were in the late afternoon sunlight learning about farming from people who learned from their fathers how to run a farm. One farmer pointed out a baling machine which he said his wife took particular pleasure in running. A local farrier and his son brought their mobile forge with which they traveled  allowing them to make custom horseshoes for horses throughout the region.

We then wandered past the farmhouse porch, complete with a harpist playing heavenly music (perhaps to help erase fears of the monster machines?). Then we were introduced to what I believe was a Red Guernsey cow introduced by a dairy farmer and a troop of young'uns reading various bovine facts. The farmer showed a bucket from the old days, and then a vacuum driven milking apparatus.

We were then offered refreshments, including chocolate and white milk and cookies. A fitting ending to a country flavored lesson in farming!

I probably don't need to add that I have no farming genes, so this was mostly a real learning experience. But then, my experience is in Older and Historic Homes, so you know who to contact when looking to buy or sell a historic property in Delaware and Southern Chester County, Pennsylvania--it's Carolyn Roland!