The tractor provides an interesting example in the adoption and diffusion of technology and the contextual factors that affected it – especially when contrasted with the automobile. The first tractors were developed around 1892 and did not arrive on more than 25 percent of farms until nearly...

Stationary gasoline engines began to appear on U.S. farms around 1895. Within 20 years later their numbers had exploded to one million; yet their use has received scant attention. This paper examines the demand for stationary power on the farm and compares alternative power sources in 1895. It...