Sign

Title:

BETTER FARMING TRAIN

Object Name:

Sign

Object ID:

2016.033

Date:

1906

Description:

Sign, Better Farming Train. Oil on cardboard. Hand painted and lettered. Horizontal rectangle with black background. "NEW / HAMPSHIRE" in white letters on blue rectangle with brown profile of Old Man of the Mountain on left side. "BETTER FARMING / TRAIN" in gold letters in center. "BOSTON / AND MAINE" in white letters on blue rectangle on right side, with brown map of New England.

Material:

Paper

Dimensions:

H-5 W-38 inches

Provenance:

This sign was probably made by a worker in one of the car shops of the Boston and Maine Railroad, a sponsor of the Better Farming Special. It was posted on the train as it toured New Hampshire from April 9 through April 14, 1906, promoting scientific farming, agricultural improvement, and community development in rural New England. The Better Farming Train was an agricultural demonstration train that toured New England during April of 1906 to promote better farming practices. The idea was developed and promoted by The New England Homestead, an agricultural magazine published in Springfield, MA, from 1842 to 1969. A train consisting of four cars, supplied by the Boston and Maine Railroad, stopped at stations in communities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and was attended by more than 50,000 people. The train carried exhibits of new equipment, seed, and fertilizers. Experts from state agricultural colleges accompanied the train providing short, practical talks and demonstrations on subjects of interest to farmers. Each stop was about forty minutes long with half the time consumed by lectures. The idea of using special trains to promote better agricultural practices grew in popularity and spread across the United States, Canada, and Australia during the 1910s and 1920s.

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society Purchase, Katharine Prentis Murphy Fund

Subjects:

Trains, Railroads, Farming, Agricultural exhibits, Agriculture, Old Man of the Mountain