Wheat farming: blood, sweat and seeds
Agriculture began during the Neolithic period. In the Fertile Crescent, a region spanning from the Nile to the Indus valley, the warming climate after the ice age allowed for the development of vegetation that was rich in wild cereal grasses. This is where wheat farming began
Hoe (Début du 20ème siècle)Musée du Blé et du Pain
Alongside the use of foraging sticks, the most ancient farming technique is hoeing. The hoe is a manual tool for breaking the earth. It is the universal tool of small-scale farming operations. It upturns the soil, and the farmhand works while moving ahead in a line.
Swing-plough (1ère moitié du 20ème siècle) by UnknownMusée du Blé et du Pain
The ard and plow are harnessed plowing implements. The ard produces a symmetrical result by upturning soil on each side of its frog piece (shaped central element), drawing lines in the soil. It was suited for rocky soil.
Model (1900/2000) by UnknownMusée du Blé et du Pain
In the 5th century, a moldboard (piece of metal or wood) was added to the ard to make a whole new tool, one which was asymmetrical and better adapted to heavy earth: the plow. It can dig through the earth and upturn it, burying weeds and fertilizer as it goes.
Model (1900/2000) by UnkownMusée du Blé et du Pain
Model of a plow with a moldboard and a high front axle.
Until the 19th century, the plow was adapted in line with local needs.
Model (1900/2000) by Georges GaudryMusée du Blé et du Pain
Model of a Brabant plow
Models began to be standardized thereafter. The plow's metal parts would come from village forges, then factories. These were then put together to make the final product by wheelwrights.
"Semeuse" (1850/1900) by Auguste MoreauMusée du Blé et du Pain
Seed sowers walk up and down the cultivated fields. Their hand gestures and the rhythm of their steps determine the seed distribution.
Vue du Musée 4Musée du Blé et du Pain
Wheat is one of the earliest farmed crops in history. The first known species of wild wheat is the ancestor of hard wheat varieties. Natural evolution then led to the creation of a whole new species, with more beautiful ears and larger grains: common or soft wheat.
