 
farming was the most important occupation during the early days of our 
country. 
to own land, that was the thing! 
the attraction of free or cheap land in the new world brought hundreds of 
thousands of european settlers to american shores. 
poor people who worked in europe as tenant farmers for rich landlords saw 
in america the opportunity to become prosperous farmers themselves. 
during the colonial period about 95 percent of the people made their 
living from agriculture. 
in the 1600's and 1700's the farmer usually grew crops and raised 
livestock to feed and clothe the family. 
it was mixed farming. 
that is, the farm produced wheat, corn, oats, squash, fruit, flax, and 
berries, and raised farm animals. 
the farmer did not specialize in one crop. 
almost everything the farmer and his family ate or used came from their 
own farm. 
later, in the 1800"s, the same thing happened in the western part of our 
country. 
immigrants and easterners poured across the appalachian mountains and then 
across the mississippi river to settle on the fertile lands. 
these pioneers laid out mixed farms. 
they turned their woodlots into cabins and barns. 
they sweated in the fields from sunup to sundown and saw little money. 
it was a hard life, but it was independent and satisfying. 
after a farmer was firmly established, he no longer was content to raise 
only supplies for his family. 
he wanted a cash crop. 
that is, he wanted a crop he could sell to others for money. 
until the farmer could develop a cash crop, he and his family would live 
on a low economic level. 
