Farming has been an important part of American history for a long time. Farming was never more essential than in the pioneer clays during the first half of the nineteenth century. Pioneer farmers, like farmers today, took risks. The only thing that has really changed since then is the farming technology. For example, if you are lucky, the proper amount of rain falls and a good harvest results. Then again, you can be unlucky, suffer a drought, and your crops wither and die. To this day, farming is very difficult and consists of hard work, dedication, and more than a little cooperation from the weather.

In 1800 seventy-five percent of the people in Illinois were involved in farming in some way. In 1850 sixty percent were involved, and by 1900 forty percent were involved. The most common crops grown were corn, wheat, barley, oat, rye, potatoes, and flax. Pioneer farmers grew a wider variety of crops and raised a wider assortment of livestock than modern-day farmers.

In 1818 the new state of Illinois had the lowest population in the nation. Only a few people lived in the northern part of Illinois. The main population was concentrated in the southern part of the state.

The first job of every pioneer farmer was to establish a garden to insure that the family had vegetables. Some of the more common vegetables grown in gardens were beans, peas, squash, pumpkins, radishes, mustard, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and melons.

Canning fruits and vegetables was an important job for many farmers' wives during the harvest season.

Every pioneer also had to be a hunter. Children aged ten and above hunted a variety of game, including rabbit, quail, squirrel, pigeon, duck, goose, and turkey. The availability of game dwindled over time as more settlers moved to the frontier.

Late November was time to slaughter the hogs. Their meat was butchered into hams, shoulders, and sides. It was then salted in barrels or boxes. The leftover parts were ground into sausage, much like today's hot dogs. Sausages were seasoned, put into long cloth bags, and hung in a smokehouse. The liver, heart, backbone, and spareribs of the pig were eaten fresh.

The lack of fresh fruit presented the settlers with a problem. Orchards and vineyards grew slowly. It also took a long time for orchards to bloom fully. While pioneers waited, they gathered wild fruits and berries, including grapes, plums, blackberries, dewberries, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, and persimmons. These were eaten raw or made into pies, jellies, or jams. Some settlers dug up berry bushes and replanted them in their gardens for convenience.

In the 1800s the way to determine the land's fertility was to look at what grew there. The earliest settlers thought that the open prairies were not fertile because any land that did not contain trees was thought to be infertile. Therefore, settlers set their farms up along forests and rivers to ensure abundant crops.

In conclusion, much of Illinois' history revolved around farming. Whether they were traditionalists or modernizers, each family did its part. Traditionalists and modernizers, side by side, in all areas of Illinois, lived separate but intertwined lives in the state's growth.—([From Richard J. Jensen, Illinois; Theodore Calvin Pease, The Story of Illinois; Robert P. Sutton, The Prairie State; University of Illinois College of A.C.E.S. http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/sare/modern.html; University of Illinois College of A.C.E.S. http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/ - sare/pioneer.html.]

40 ILLINOIS HISTORY/ FEBRUARY 2000