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USDA History Collection
Series X. Historical Manuscripts, 1785-1922. 3 cubic ft. (approx.) [ca. 100 items]
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTES: Collections "Ballard" through "Hollister"
To: Collections "Hoxie"--"Loomis" | "Marshall" | "Pennsylvania"--"USDA"
To: Series X Scope and Content Note | Series X Container List || Collection Map
The collection descriptions are arranged alphabetically by title, as follows:
- Ballard, Charles H. Diaries, 1866-1909
- Brushaber, A. D. Record book, 1914
- Clark, H. H. Record book, 1912
- Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work scrapbook, 1899-1914
- The Genesee Farmer & Gardener's Journal, Volume VII, 1837
- Hollister, C. N. Farm equipment records, 1898-1921, and n.d.
Ballard, Charles H. Diaries, 1866-1909. 35 vols., 3 folders
Yearly pocket diaries containing very short notes about work on the farm, weather, and social activities. Town most often mentioned in the diaries or on notes and receipts is Troy, Pennsylvania (Bradford County); also noted are Columbia Crossroads, Pa; New York City, Ithaca, and Elmira, N.Y. Diaries are included for all of the following years: 1866-1874, 1877-1878, 1881-1884, 1887-1904 (including the first two months of 1905), 1906-1909 (including the first six months of 1910). Boxes 10/1 and 10/2.
Notes and receipts found in the pockets of the diaries have been removed and filed separately by year in box 10/4. Items include store receipts for hardware, clothing or general merchandise; miscellaneous accounts, promissory notes, and receipts for taxes and newspaper subscriptions. A broadside found in the pocket of the 1884 diary includes an endorsement for Michael Heery, candidate for sheriff of Shawnee County (Kansas), signed by representatives of several labor organizations in Topeka; with a proposal to provide a pension for the opposing candidate, Chet Thomas Jr., and members of his family. Box 10/4, folders 1-3.
Brushaber, A. D. Record book, 1914. 1 vol., 1 item
Financial Record Book, which "Records A Copy of Accounts Kept by Mr. A. D. Brushaber, Eden Valley, New York. 20 miles from Buffalo, N.Y. For use as a Sample of the System of Farm Cost Accounting which is set forth in Farmers' Bulletin 572" (handwritten note on first page of book). Box 10/3.
A typed letter from D. S. Fox, Agent, USDA, Bureau of Plant Industry, Ithaca, N.Y., to Mr. C. M. Bennett, Office of Farm Management, Washington, D.C., July 16, 1914, was found in the Brushaber record book, explaining that these records were kept at the request of a Mr. Ladd and that these are copies of the original records. 1 item (2 pages). Box 10/4, folder 4.
Clark, H. H. Record book, 1912. 1 vol.
A book of printed forms to record Potato Production, published by the USDA Bureau of Plant Industry and kept by H. H. Clark, Suffolk County, N.Y. The entire book is filled in and records the production of 21 farmers in the area of Peconic, Mattituck and Southold, Long Island, N.Y. (town of Southold). Entry for each farmer is four pages long and records size of farms, financial investments and expenses, labor related to potato farming, equipment used, other crops planted, and additional data. Box 10/3.
Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work scrapbook. 1899-1914 (bulk 1900-1911). 1 vol.
Scrapbook of instructions concerning Farmers' Cooperative Demonstration Work, issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry, 1900-1911. Items include pamphlets, fliers, booklets, typed and mimeographed reports and letters, and clippings. Many of these were written by Seaman A. Knapp or Bradford Knapp; the most common topics are cotton, corn, fertilizers, and agricultural education. A typed index is attached inside the front cover. Handwritten note on one page says, "Property of Evva Snyder."
Most items are pasted to the scrapbook pages, which are very fragile. Box 10/5.
The Genesee Farmer & Gardener's Journal, Volume VII. 1837. 1 item (416 pp.)
A weekly newspaper/journal, "devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture and Rural Economy," published in Rochester, N.Y. by Luther Tucker. Issues for the entire year, except for no. 29, pp. 225-232. Includes an index. Each number is printed on one uncut folio sheet, folded in quarters to make 8 pages per issue. There are a few woodcut illustrations in some issues. Unbound; some tears, foxing, and rodent damage. Box 10/6, folder 1.
Hollister, C. N. Farm equipment records, 1898-1921, and n.d. 50 items (approximately)
Letters, pamphlets, booklets, fliers, cards, contracts, pocket notebooks, price lists, and other materials relating to farm equipment manufacturers and distributors, collected by C. N. Hollister of Chenango Forks, New York, an agent for the John Deere Plow Company of Syracuse, N.Y. Most of the letters are form letters describing products or policies, although there are two letters addressed to Hollister concerning specific orders. The rest of the items are advertising and promotional materials for plows, tractors, wagons, engines, harrows, sowers, spreaders, fertilizers, bulbs, plants, and other agricultural supplies or equipment. Besides John Deere, companies represented include Avery, Champion Drill, Davenport Wagon, Emmons & Co. nursery, Globe Silo, Jacobson Machine Manufacturing, Silver Manufacturing, and Syracuse Chilled Plow. Box 10/8, folders 1-3.