'Ploughing and Burning', c 1890.

A photograph titled 'Ploughing and Burning', taken by Colonel Joseph Gale (c 1835-1906) in about 1890.  Two teams of oxen pull ploughs across the soil, driven by the farmers and encouraged by the ploughboys standing at either side with whips. The burning in the background is probably harvest debris or shrubbery which needs to be cleared, so the land can be developed.  Horse and ox teams for ploughs were still being in used in Britain until around the time of the Second World War.  Joseph Gale specialised in naturalistic photographs of rural life and figures in landscapes. He was one of the first members of the Linked Ring Brotherhood and was also a member of the Royal Photographic Society.  From the Kodak at the National Science & Media Museum. This collection of photographs, equipment and printed material tracing the history of photography, was assembled by Kodak Limited and acquired from them in the mid-1980s. As well as approximately 200,000 photographs, the Collection includes nearly 10,000 items of photographic and cinematic equipment as well as books and printed ephemera. The Collection is especially strong in the area of popular photography. It includes examples of most of the products made by Kodak Limited and thousands of snapshots, dating back to the 1880s. It also contains work by known photographers such as Frank Meadow Sutcliffe and Paul Martin.