Farming by Rail: Demonstration Trains and the Rise of Mobile Agricultural Science in the Great Plains

In the early 1900s, railroad companies throughout the Great Plains worked with agricultural extension personnel and land-grant colleges to design demonstration trains for rural communities. Historian David Vail examines how these “farming specials” connected field and extension science by designing mobile laboratories that traveled from town to town to promote the newest farming technologies as well as to assist landowners with threats to their fields. This article considers the intersections of science, technology, environment, and production farming to better understand how specialized agricultural science connected to experiential practices on the land.