Ohio Country Road
by Janice Pariza
Title
Ohio Country Road
Artist
Janice Pariza
Medium
Photograph - Photography Art
Description
A backroads Country Highway takes me past a working Farm in Ellsworth Township, Ohio.
Throughout history, farming has been a major component Ohio’s economy.
Prior to the 1800s, most people who called Ohio home earned their living through farming. Ohio's original settlers, the American Indians, at least partly supported themselves through farming. They grew corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins. Besides multi-colored corn, they developed varieties of eight and ten-row corn. They also grew numerous varieties of beans, including kidney beans, navy or pea beans, pinto beans, great northern marrow beans, and yellow eye beans. The American Indians planted corn and beans in small mounds of soil and often pumpkins, squash, or melons in the space between. Ohio American Indians grew many other vegetables, including turnips, cabbage, parsnips, sweet potatoes, yams, and onions and leeks. Europeans introduced the watermelon and muskmelon into North America in the seventeenth century, and American Indians in the interior were growing these fruits within a few years.
Europeans continued to rely on agriculture as the primary means of feeding one’s family as they moved into the Ohio country during the mid-to-late 1700s. Most of the original Europeans to settle Ohio raised wheat, corn, and other grain crops. By 1849, Ohio produced more corn than any other state, and ranked second in wheat production. In 1885, the most commonly grown crop was corn, followed by wheat, oats, potatoes, barley, rye, and buckwheat. Farmers in southern Ohio also raised tobacco. It was the major crop in southern Ohio by the 1830s. During the 1600s, 1700s, and the 1800s, many people believed that tobacco had medicinal qualities. Farmers in southern Ohio also grew hemp, which they used to make rope and cloth. Numerous Ohioans also planted orchards from seeds that they brought with them to the region or purchased from residents living east of the Appalachian Mountains. John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, played an important role in developing apple orchards in Ohio. Due to the climate, apples and peaches were especially easy to grow and became quite popular. Along the Ohio River, especially near Marietta, apple orchards flourished. Strawberries and Catawba grapes also grew well. Ohio farmers also raised livestock, most importantly cattle, sheep, and pigs. While all of these animals served as food sources for Ohioans, sheep also provided their wool to textile factories that opened in Ohio as early as the 1810s.
As Ohio's population grew in the nineteenth century, many residents began to diversify their economic interests. Some Ohioans even ventured into industry, but it is important to note that most early factories and industries grew out of Ohio's agricultural past. For example, by the 1810s, Dayton had a tobacco processing plant. Cincinnati became known as "Porkopolis" during the 1800s, because the city was the pork processing capital of the United States. Bezaleel Wells established a woolen mill in Steubenville in 1815, employing more than one hundred workers. Many manufacturers produced farming machinery, including Cyrus McCormick and Obed Hussey. McCormick invented the reaper, while Hussey developed an early version of the mower. Both of these men lived in Cincinnati during the 1830s. While some people developed new businesses, agriculture continued to dominate Ohio's economy. Many early businesses sold their products for grain crops. Many farmhands and skilled artisans also received payment in grain rather than in money. During the first half of the nineteenth century, a day's wages for a person was a bushel of wheat. Workers may also have been paid in corn at one and one-half bushels or in oats at three bushels.
PURCHASE OPTIONS:
Prints of this art are available on canvas, metal, acrylic and gallery prints, framed or unframed, greeting cards and iPhone or Galaxy phone covers and so many other quality items. FAA has a large selection of frames, mats and surfaces available for you to create museum quality masterpieces of your original print selections. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I can give you any suggestions! Thank you!
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Uploaded
March 19th, 2018
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