My pre-1900s Farm Dump

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At this dump I have found at least a dozen "keepers". Of course when you find a dump 90% or more is broken, common, or just waste. But there is always that hidden gem. Also, farm dumps are not necessarily concentrated in one area and you have to do a little detective work.
1-There is no easy answer, you just have to find out about some town history, if not redeveloped explore where the older farms were located, and explore the area. You can find some of them outside of designated park grounds too. NOT IN THE PARK... you can find yourself in a legal issue
2-I search worn paths and look for some debris like metal buckets, glass shards, or rusty iron
3-once I find an area that looks good, now the hard part begins. I start probing around with a pitchfork because farm dumps are not deep and very little digging is required. I use a pitchfork instead of a shovel because it will drive you utterly mad trying to get through all of the surface roots. Also you'll hear the unmistakeable "tink" when you hit glass. Obviously, don't be overaggressive with your probing
4-lastly, never give up on a farm dump and keep expanding your area. They dumped stuff everywhere that was not being used for harvesting purposes. BTW, I'm still finding dump spots around here for the past two years. There really was no organization in this dump and bottles have ranged in eras from 1840s - 1920s.
5-MOST OF ALL, HAVE FUN.

 

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BTW folks, this wooded area is located between a local park and a development. Make sure you're not trespassing or digging up park lands! Both of which can be very unpleasant if you're caught doing it. This particular place is public land.

 

[RoyalRuby]

The few farm dumps I've encountered so far have only held stuff from the 40's through the 70's, there's one on my sons property that I still need dig deeper as I really have only scratched the surface on this dump, I also collect "Glass Cans" and so far that was mostly what I've taken from this dump with a few other bottles of different sorts, probably pulled at least 60+ Glass Cans from there, I was just starting to find early zip-top cans and some flat-tops as well, haven't had a chance to get back at it yet, but I will come late winter/early spring, still was fun digging there though.....

 

[slugplate]

The few farm dumps I've encountered so far have only held stuff from the 40's through the 70's, there's one on my sons property that I still need dig deeper as I really have only scratched the surface on this dump, I also collect "Glass Cans" and so far that was mostly what I've taken from this dump with a few other bottles of different sorts, probably pulled at least 60+ Glass Cans from there, I was just starting to find early zip-top cans and some flat-tops as well, haven't had a chance to get back at it yet, but I will come late winter/early spring, still was fun digging there tough.....

Keep at it and expand your area. Chances are the older stuff is further away. It is a blast, you're right.