Harvesting corn in a $300,000, eight-row combine is a solitary, highly mechanized business. Such was not always the case. Up through the late 1930s, most corn was picked not by machine, but by hand.

The tractor coughed but didn’t catch, so the old farmer on the ground yelled up to the old farmer behind the wheel. “The black button,” Don Magee said. “You push it in.” And then it roared to life, an ...

The tractor coughed but didn’t catch, so the old farmer on the ground yelled up to the old farmer behind the wheel. “The black button,” Don Magee said. “You push it in.” And then it roared to life, an ...