Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
From field to table
A photographic resource on
farming in the past
From field to table – a photographic resource
In the past most people in Ulster lived on small farms. They grew crops such
as wheat, oats and barley and reared livestock such as pigs and cattle. This was
called mixed farming. They produced a lot of their own food as well as some
extra which was sold at market. However, this changed greatly over the last two
hundred years. Farms became larger and focussed on one form of agriculture,
either arable or livestock. Many people moved from the countryside to towns
and then relied on farmers to produce food for them.
This resource will show you some of the changes in farming during the last 150
years. It includes photographs from the Museum collections, a brief description
of each image and some questions and ideas for further investigation.
Why not come and visit the ‘Food and Farming’ exhibition in the Ulster Folk and
Transport Museum where you can see the various types of tools and machinery
used long ago? Walking around the rural area of the Museum also allows you
to see the many farmhouses, animals and machines used in the daily life of a
farming family long in the past.
Images provided from the Green and Welch collections, National Museums
Northern Ireland.
This pack forms one of series of resources available online relating to the theme
‘From field to table’ for families and schools. To view all resources visit
www.nmni.com/uftm/learning
© National Museums Northern Ireland, Green and Welch Collection
Section 1 – The Growing Year
Seeds were generally sown in early Spring, grew over the warm summer months
and the crops were harvested in late Summer to early Autumn. Winter was a time
for the ground to rest, becoming rich in nutrients ready for planting again in Spring.
1a: Ploughing
Before crops can be planted, the ground must be broken up and the sods of
grass buried. This can be done using either spades or ploughs.
In many ways ploughs are a big improvement on spades as the ground can
be turned much faster. Over the years spades have not changed much, but
ploughs have. A drill plough pushes the soil up into long straight heaps, called
furrows. Manure is then laid down between the furrows and the potatoes are
set on top.
The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (UFTM) has a spademill from
Coalisland, County Tyrone, which is operated by a water wheel.
1b: Women with spades
Over 250 years ago, the idea of planting potatoes in drills started to become
common practice. Drills are long straight rows, equally spaced apart. Once
the soil has been dug or ploughed, crops can be planted. Cereal seed such as
wheat, oats and barley, can be spread over the surface of the ground. However,
potatoes have to be buried in the ground several centimetres deep. This was
done by hand using a spade but through time a special plough was used for the
same purpose.
Can you find the name of these three types of potatoes that were
grown in the early 1900’s?
L _ _ _ _ _
mpelur
K___
gdrnakidw
E _ _ _ _ _ F _ _ _ _ b_ _ _ lfuloabrl
A tool used for planting potatoes called a ‘Steeveen’ is on show in the Food and
Farming exhibition at UFTM. Can you see another tool to show how farmers
developed the steeveen which allowed them to make more holes at a time,
therefore speeding up planting?
1c: Ploughing
In this picture the plough is going up the middle of the furrows pushing the soil
over the top of the potatoes, making raised drills. This was also called furring.
In the table below list the advantages and disadvantages of using a
plough rather than a spade.
Advantages of ploughing
Disadvantages of ploughing
There are examples of several types of ploughs in the ‘Food and farming’
exhibition at UFTM.
2a: Planting seed
When the soil has been dug or ploughed, crops can be planted. Grain crops, like
oats, barley and wheat, were often sown by hand. The farmer carried the seed
in a bag and threw handfuls of seed over the surface of the ground. However, it
was difficult to spread the seed evenly. In the photograph, the younger person
is using horses to pull a harrow. Harrowing broke up the ground in order to
prepare it for the seed.
2b: Seed Fiddle
The man in the photograph is using a device called the Seed Fiddle which was
invented to help spread the seed evenly on the ground.
Divide the letters below into words to tell you how the Seed Fiddle was
used.
THESEEDWASPUTINTOTHEBAGATTHETOPOFTHEFIDDLEITTHENF
ELLTHROUGHAHOLEINTHEWOODENBOXANDONTOTHEMETALDIS
CBENEATHTHEFARMERPUSHEDANDPULLEDTHEBOWUNDERNEAT
HWHICHMADETHEDISCSPINBACKWARDSANDFORWARDSTHESPIN
NINGDISCTHREWTHESEEDOUTOVERTHEGROUNDINAWIDEARC.
3a: Reaping with a sickle
In Ireland, grain is harvested from August to September. For hundreds
of years the sickle was used to cut grain. The harvest worker as seen
in the photograph, held each handful of the grain stalks and then cut
through it using the toothed blade of the sickle. The grain was not
shaken during the cutting and weeds could be left behind. The stalks
were gathered into bundles called sheaves.
Visit the ‘Food and Farming’ exhibition to see examples of a sickle and
scythe.
Do you think using the sickle to cut grain was a fast or slow process?
Give your reasoning.
Find a picture of a scythe. Compare the two farm tools, sickle and
scythe. List the benefits and drawbacks of using a scythe instead of a
sickle.
3b: Reaping with a Tilting Board and Rake
In the image, the reaping machine is cutting the grain but it still has to be
bound in sheaves by hand. Although the machine is fast, the sheaf binding is
slow. Four sheaves were then tied together to form a stook (note the man on
the left of the picture) which was stood upright to allow the wind to dry the
grain. Once dry the stooks were gathered and made into a haystack.
Why could farmers not take full advantage of the speed at which
reaping machines cut grain?
Find out how much wheat can be cut per minute by a combine
harvester in the present day.
4a: Threshing corn with flails
Before seeds could be used for making flour, they had to be knocked off the
stalks of grain and the chaff or light shells surrounding each seed had then to
be removed. This process was called threshing.
One simple, but slow way to thresh the stalks of wheat was to beat each sheaf
with a flail. A flail is made of two sticks of wood tied loosely together. The
farmer held one stick and swung the other round to beat the seed out of a
sheaf laid on the ground. Even after the introduction of mechanical methods
of threshing, flailing was still used. It was seen as a way of providing winter
employment for servants and labourers who might otherwise be idle.
Visit the ‘Food and Farming’ exhibition to see examples of threshing
machines.
Look at the photograph. You will see a piece of cloth on the ground.
What was it used for?
4b: Horse powered barn thresher
Machines for threshing grain were developed in Scotland over 200 years ago.
The machines could be turned by hand, or by using horses, water or steam.
The example in the photograph is a barn thresher which was worked by horses.
The animals were outside the barn and attached to a turning mechanism
which ran through the barn wall. As the horses were walked around in a circle,
a revolving drum inside the machine turned and beat the grain out of the
sheaves as these were fed through.
What was the impact of the horse powered barn thresher on
employment in the rural community?
5: Winnowing corn among the Mourne Mountains above Kilkeel
Winnowing is removing the shells of seeds. In the past, many farmers simply
poured the grain from a tray in breezy weather. The heavy seed fell straight
downwards on to a sheet, while the light shells which were part of the seed
pods, blew away. The trays used were made of animal skin stretched around
a wooden frame, similar in construction to the one-sided drum used in
traditional Irish music. Both objects were called a bodhran (pronounced
bor-ran). Winnowing could also be done using a machine.
6: Grinding oats
By the mid-nineteenth century, most areas had a corn mill, often built by the
local landlord, where grain could be ground on a large scale. However, when
small amounts of flour were required, or when oats were being crushed to feed
to livestock such as poultry, small hand querns, stone tools for hand-grinding,
were still being used.
Visit Ballyveaghmore Farmhouse at UFTM to see a quern stone.
7: Milling
Most farms would not have had their own mill therefore the grain was taken
to a local mill to be ground (crushed). These were found throughout the
countryside where fast flowing rivers could be used to turn a water wheel to
provide power.
Alternatively, windmills used sails to power the inner mechanisms to work the
various pairs of millstones: one set for making wheatmeal, one for shelling the
grains of corn (a process which separated the useless ‘hulls’ from the valuable
‘seeds’ or grain) and a set for grinding grains into oatmeal. The mill may have
produced oat and wheatmeal for human consumption, as well as animal feed
such as shelled and bruised oats.
Can you think how wind energy could be used on a farm today?
Visit Straid Corn Mill at UFTM.
Using the list below, put into order the various stages of making flour:
•Threshing
• Planting the seed
• Preparing the ground
• Milling the grain
•Harvesting
•Ploughing
• Separating the grain from the chaff
• Bagging the flour
Section 2: Other jobs around the farm
8a: Milking
On even very small farms, a cow was essential for milk and meat and its dung
provided manure.
Visit Magheragallan Byre dwelling at UFTM where you will find what
would be considered an unusual living situation today. Look at the
trough on the floor and the posts on the back wall of the house for
clues.
8b: Making butter using a dash churn
In the past, most small farms produced their own butter. It took time and energy, but
only needed simple equipment. Buttermaking was one of the jobs often completed
by farm women. Butter is made from soured milk or cream. After the cows were
milked, the milk was left to settle in a cool place such as a large earthenware jar or
crock for a few days to sour.
The sour milk was then churned. Churns worked in different ways, but the aim was
to mix and stir the milk so that the butter separated out and floated to the top. The
butter was shaped using butter pats and then each pat was stamped with the farm’s
own brand. This meant that when the butter was sold at the market customers knew
who had made the butter.
There are many examples of butterchurns, crocks and butterpats in the farmhouses
found in the Rural area of UFTM.
Imagine you are a butter producer, design your own butter stamp.
9a: Storing potatoes
Potatoes were a staple crop in Ireland as they provided every nutrient for good
health except vitamin A which can be provided from milk. People needed to store the
extra potatoes for use later in the winter. One method was storing them in bings or
pits. The farmer dug a pit where he placed the potatoes. The heap of potatoes was
covered with straw or rushes and then a covering of earth. The end of the bing could
be opened and potatoes removed as required.
9b: Bringing home the ‘tatties’
Boys and girls were often required to plant the potato seed as well as harvest the
crop. The boy in the photograph is using a creel basket to bring home some potatoes.
Imagine you are carrying the creel of potatoes. Discuss with a partner
about where you gathered the potatoes, where you are taking them,
the time of year it is, the weight on your back, the journey, how you
feel as your journey progresses and who you meet on the way. What
traditional meals would you have looked forward to making from
potatoes? Now complete a diary entry about your experience as you
look back over your day.
10a: The cutting of the last sheaf
The photograph shows a game played at the end of the harvest. The last sheaf of
standing grain was called by many names, including cailleach (old woman), chirn,
hare or hag. There were a lot of traditions associated with the last sheaf. In many parts
of the country it was thought to be lucky to be the person who cut the last sheaf. This
person would present the last sheaf to the farmer’s wife. It was said to bring good
luck to the household and the farm in the coming year.
10b: The Harvest home meal
Look at the photograph and notice the plaited ‘last sheaf’ of oats over the table.
Celebration meals were arranged on many farms at the end of the grain harvest.
The family, farm workers and neighbours would often be included. The farmer’s
wife would often produce a meal which used many of the crops gathered from the
field e.g. wheaten bread, apple tart, oat cakes. In the evening there may have been a
harvest dance.
11: Home-made windmill
Look at the photograph and list the materials used to create the windmill. Think
about its location and why this was ideal.
Create your own windmill
You will need
• A square sheet of white or coloured paper measuring approximately 18x18cms
• Colouring pencils, crayons, glitter etc. for decoration
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors • Drawing pin
How to make your windmill
1. Decorate both sides of the square template using bright colours.
2. On the square, draw diagonal lines from each corner but do not go right through the centre point as shown on diagram.
3. Mark the centre of the square (where the two diagonals would have met).
4. Punch a hole through the centre with a sharp pencil.
5. Cut along the diagonal lines from each corner but stop short of the centre hole.
6. Take a pin and make a tiny hole in the top left of the corner of the four flaps (as shown in the diagram).
7. Pick up a flap at the corner with a hole in it and pull it over towards the middle. Repeat this for the other 3 flaps.
8. Pull the 4 corners down to the centre point.
9. Stick a drawing pin through the centre of the paper, making sure it is also stuck through the 4 folded corners. This is the wheel of the windmill.
10. Now stick the pin of the wheel into the unsharpened end of your pencil, about 2cms from the end.
Think about how you could improve the design of your windmill.
Perhaps you could use a bead, a paper fastener and a straw to improve
the spin of your windmill. Can you use other materials to create the
wheel of the windmill?
Section 3 - Turf
Peat is a soil that is made up of partially rotted remains of dead plants which
have accumulated on top of each other in water logged places for thousands of
years. It consists of moss, long roots, leaves, flowers and seeds of heathers and
grasses. Occasionally the trunks and roots of trees such as Scots pine, oak, birch
and yew are also present. Areas where peat accumulates are called peatlands
or bogs. Over four or five thousand years as much as four metres depth of bog
may have developed. This is why people have found items today such as swords,
clothing, butter and even bodies dating from the Neolithic period in peatland.
12a: Turf cutting
When a person bought or leased a plot of land, included in this was a portion
of the bog, given to the family to be used for gathering turf for fuel. The family
would have cut the turf for two weeks in spring. The scraw or plants on top of
the bog would have to be burned and cleared away before the cutting could
begin. Men would always cut the turf with a special spade called a slane. There
were several different ways to do this, depending on the area where you lived.
12b: Footing the turf
Children would have helped gathering in the turf: girls piled the turf to dry
while boys carried the dry turf back to the house in creels. Once the turf was
cut it was placed in small piles called ‘footings’. The woman would place her
foot heel down on the ground then place the turf end up around it. The pile of
turf was then left to dry.
12c: Slipe for carrying turf across the bog.
The bog was a waterlogged piece of land. Look at the image of the roller slipe
carrying the turf across the bog.
Why was this method of transport more effective for moving the turf
rather than a wheeled cart?
12d: Bringing home the turf
Once the turf was dry which would take all summer, it would be transported
back to the house in September. As the bog could have been several miles
away from the home, families had to use whatever transport was available to
them such as creels, carried on a person’s or a donkey’s back, a slide as shown
in the photograph or a wheeled cart.
A piece of wet turf weighs 1.25kg. It loses 80% of its water content
when dry. Calculate the weight of a dry piece of turf.
12e: Turf stacking
Once the turf was brought back to the home a large turf stack was built nearby.
It was built in a stepped fashion and high and wide enough to ensure the turf in
the centre of the stack remained dry.
Why was the turf stack built near the house?
13: Fair Day
Weekly markets and monthly fairs remained the most important way in which
country people sold produce and bought supplies throughout the 20th century.
As most people had no telephone Market and Fair days were also a time for
people to get together and socialize.
Appendix
Image 1b:
Answer: Lumper, King Edward, Flourball
Image 1c:
Answer:
Advantages of ploughing
Disadvantages of ploughing
Faster
Does not work well on small, hilly, rocky fields
Good on large areas of flat ground
Need to keep at least one animal to pull the plough (extra expense)
The farmer could alter the depth and Needs maintenance
width of the furrows/ridges which
allowed for various types of crops to
be planted and improved access for
machinery to harvest crops
Expensive piece of machinery initially
Image 2b:
Answer:
THE SEED WAS PUT INTO THE BAG AT THE TOP OF THE FIDDLE. IT THEN
FELL THROUGH A HOLE IN THE WOODEN BOX AND ONTO THE METAL DISC
BENEATH. THE FARMER PUSHED AND PULLED THE BOW UNDERNEATH
WHICH MADE THE DISC SPIN BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS. THE SPINNING
DISC THREW THE SEED OUT OVER THE GROUND IN A WIDE ARC.
Image 3a:
Answer: Slow, a reaping gang cut a quarter of an acre in one day.
The benefits of using a scythe:
• it could cut grain about four times faster than a sickle;
• more grain could be cut with one sweep of the blade;
• the person’s back would not be as painful at the end of the day.
The drawbacks of using a scythe:
• you could lose more seed as the crop was shaken much more during cutting;
• the straw was cut less neatly;
• it may have included more cut weeds amongst the harvest which needed to be removed;
• more people were required to follow the scythesman to bind the sheaves therefore it was more labour intensive.
Image 3b:
Answer: They still required a lot of labour to bind the sheaves which was a
slow process.
Answer: A combine harvester can cut 1 tonne of wheat per minute
Image 4a:
Answer: To collect the seed or grain.
Image 4b:
Answer: It reduced the need for extra labour.
Image 7:
Answer: Farmers can use a wind turbine on their land to produce energy to
make electricity.
The various stages of making flour:
1.Preparing the ground
2.Ploughing
3.Planting the seed
4.Harvesting
5.Threshing
6.Separating the grain from the chaff
7. Milling the grain
8.Bagging the flour
Image 12c:
Answer: Wheels may have got stuck in the water logged bogs.
Image 12d:
Answer: To get 10% of 1.25kg divide by 10.
1250grams divided by 10 = 125grams
125grams x 8 = 1000grams
Dry turf = 1250 – 1000 = 250grams
Image 12e:
Answer: The turf stack was near the house because it was easier to get the
turf during the bad winter weather. The turf was taken from the centre of the
stack because it was the driest.