This is an example of a riding cultivator from circa 1929, of a model produced between 1919 and 1945. Early draft-drawn riding cultivators, like their modern tractor-powered versions, were designed to either stir and pulverize the soil in preparation for seeding, or to control weed growth. For millennia prior to the development of the rotary hoe in 1912, the job of the riding cultivator was done by hand with rudimentary tools like hoes and mattocks. While many farm implement companies in the 1920s and 1930s tried their hand at producing self-propelled motorized riding cultivators, their high price point and unreliability made them less popular than the draft-powered versions like the one in this picture.