72

Originally, the factory appended to the farm-school of Trois-Croix (1832-1890) which was founded by Jules Bodin near Rennes was only a workshop for the maintenance of the farm’s tools; but it grew into a small industrial concern. In 1837, for the first time in the region, a threshing machine was used there; in 1858, Trois-Croix owned three steam threshing machines. From 1837 to 1858, over 16,000 tools were manufactured in the factory, and in 1877, it employed 150 workers. For about four decades, this agro-industrial enterprise managed to bring about increasing use of sophisticated farming tools. After 1878, the factory and the farm-school suffered from an adverse economic context, which eventually led to the demise of both.