Published Materials
Some core resources to get you started on PA agricultural history
Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life by
Publication Date: 1950-1955Excellent starting place for an overview of Pennsylvania Agriculture.
Available both in print and online.
Pennsylvania Farming by Publication Date: 2017Pennsylvania Farming presents the first history of Pennsylvania agriculture in than more sixty years and offers a completely new perspective.
Century of Farming: A Pictorial History of Farming from 1900 to 1999 by Publication Date: 1999as presented by readers of Lancaster farming
Leaders in Pennsylvania Agriculture by Publication Date: 1957- A History of Fruit Growing in Pennsylvania by Publication Date: 1933
- The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1785-1955 by Call Number: 1959
Yesterday's Farm Tools and Equipment by Publication Date: 2010Objects preserved in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at the Landis Valley Museum,
Collections of Materials
- Pennsylvania Agriculture and Rural Life publicationsBooks and Journals published between 1820-1945 in the state of Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvania Agriculture publications located at Archive.orgFull text of many older agricultural publications from Pennsylvania, digitized by Penn State.
- Pennsylvania State University Agricultural Publications CollectionPublications from the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station, Extension Service, or various departments of the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Published by the Pennsylvania State College; or Pennsylvania State University; or Penn State.
Primary resources
- Pennsylvania Agricultural History Projectincludes Agricultural Census returns and maps
- John M. Okie collection on agricultural history (01680)The John M. Okie Collection on Agricultural History includes letters, addresses, reports, and pamphlets relating to improving agricultural methods and animal husbandry and correspondence about the disposition of these materials belonging to the Society. Letters from the 1760s relate to Benjamin Franklin's farms.
- Stevenson W. Fletcher papersThis collection includes manuscripts for Fletcher's final books, Leaders in Pennsylvania Agriculture and The Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1785-1955, as well as correspondence, articles, photographs, awards, and diplomas documenting his academic career.
- Lancaster FarmingThis digital collection contains all issues from November 4, 1955 to December 27, 2003
- PA Commission on Chestnut Tree BlightReports from the Pennsylvania commission for the investigation and control of the disease (1912-1914). 11 documents reporting the research and work of the Pa Blight Commission.
- Mira Lloyd Dock Forestry Lantern Slides468 glass lantern slides dating from 1897 to about 1902, apparently used by Mira Lloyd Dock in her lectures at the Mont Alto Forestry School
- Higbee Stream Map1965 Digitized map of Pennsylvania's 45,000 miles of streams created by Howard Higbee, soil scientist and a Pennsylvania State University professor.
Historical Statistics
- Pennsylvania agricultural statistics, 1866-1950Publication Date: 1954Compilation of historical statistics
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service: Pennsylvania Officefull text versions of their publications, including the annual statistical summary.