Item MM 140993 Photograph - Harrows in a Field, South Australia, circa 1900

Summary

Silver gelatin photograph depicting a typical 'Mallee country' harvesting scene of period circa 1880s-1915. Shown in the scene are a horse treadmill operated winnowing machine that is processing a cereal crop that would have initially been removed with a stripper. This image is particularly impressive with the level of detail shown in the photo (such as the bag trollies, workers, etc) and the clarity and obvious professional composition of the views.

Although the photograph was taken in South Australia, it shows a scene and type of technology that was typical of farms in the Mallee country of both Victoria and South Australia. Both colonies had substantial agricultural implement manufacturing industries producing equipment of this type and a lot of trade occurred across the state/colonial border.

Description of Content

The image depicts a row of horse drawn harrows in a field.

Physical Description

Silver gelatin photograph mounted on dark grey card. Former silverfish activity in the form of losses at the edge of the paper mount behind the photograph.