This film is part of Free

Potato and Wheat Culture in England

Man and horse work the earth to provide produce for the English plate

1917 6 mins Silent

Overview

Three generations of technology are at work in the fields harvesting potatoes and wheat. Labouring women, men and animals remain essential to the harvest, but they are assisted by mechanisation. A plough is pulled on a hawser wound by a steam traction engine and elsewhere a petrol tractor works the land: the Saunderson A looks odd with its three steel wheels but points to farming’s future.

This film was made by the Charles Urban Trading Company, one of the foremost early film producers in Britain.

Subjects