Mule South to Tractor South

George B. Ellenberg

ISBN 10: 0817357726 / ISBN 13: 9780817357726

Published by University of Alabama Press, 2014

About this Item

pp. 240 4th Edition.

Seller Inventory # 2650983891

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mule South to Tractor South
• Publisher: University of Alabama Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0817357726
• ISBN 13: 9780817357726
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The adoption of the mule as the major agricultural resource in the American South and its later displacement by the mechanical tractor

The author describes the adoption of the mule as the major agricultural resource in the American South and its later displacement by the mechanical tractor. After describing the surprising slowness of southern farmers to realize the superiority of the mule over the horse for agricultural labor, Ellenberg strives to capture the symbiosis that emerged between animal and man to illuminate why and how the mule became a standard feature in Southern folk culture.

Having been slow to adopt the mule, southern farmers were then reluctant to set it aside in favor of the tractor. Ellenberg describes the transformation as the tractor gradually displaced the mule and the role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this process.

The work not only becomes a survey of the development of southern agriculture as revealed through an examination of this premier work animal but also follows the emergence of the animal as a cultural icon, as it figures in southern literature, folklore, and music.

About the Author

George B. Ellenberg is Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Associate Professor of History at the University of West Florida.