What were the problems associated with wheat expansion in USA? Discuss with special reference to mechanisation and ‘dust bowl’.
In the late 19th century, there was a great expansion of wheat cultivation in the USA. With an increase in population, the expansion was made possible by new technology.
Implements and tools were modified to suit their needs. Now farmers were using tractors and disk ploughs to clear land for cultivation.
Mechanical reapers were used to reap and cut harvest. By the early 20th century, combined harvesters were being used to cut grain.
Now with power-driven machinery large tracts of land could be ploughed, seeded, harvested within a short time. But there were problems. Poor farmers were hard to pay the taxes. They could not buy these machines. The bank offered loans but most and they could not repay these loans. Many of them left their farms in search of a job. In addition, terrifying dust storms began to ****, blinding the people, choking the cattle, covering fields, rivers, and machines with dust. This was because the entire area had been ploughed and stripped of grass whose roots could have bounded the soil.
