The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-10-16
HOUSEHOLD AND FARM.
What Machinery has done for Agriculture

What Machinery has done for Agriculture.
Henry Stewart in the Rural New Yorker.
In visiting the fairs the observant person
will be attracted by the usual brilliant dis
play of agricultural machinery. II may be
very well worth while, as he views these eX.
hlbits to give passing thought to the Dene-
fits which agriculture has derived from the
genins and the labors of the mechanician.
We may go back in thought to the time when
the spade. the hoe, the sickle, and the fail
comprised the farmers store OF machinery,
and when the pillow was the rrdest contrlv-
ancc, hardly worthy to he called tool. Then
every man titled the soil or engaged IN pas
tOra pursuits because it was all one man
could do to provide himself and his depend.
ants with food Then each man was forced
to clothe himself and be his own mechanic
for this simple reason. He labored long and
with infinite pains, and the ancient sentence
that man should earn his bread by the sweat
Of his brow came home to him with unmitl-
gated force.
In course of time improved and effective
tools 50 lightened the labors Of the agricul-
turist and so increased his products, that the
opportunity to make division of labor ar
rived, because there was food to spare for the
mechanic. And so this condition Of things
became more and more firmly established
until it changed the whole social and political
aspect of human affairs. And now what do
we see? The use of the most effective agrl-
cultural machinery and the mechanical tacli-
tiles for transporting these, now 40 cheaper
products, that the whole social fabric OF the
Oldest civilized nation of :hc werld Is threat.
cned with revolution and reconstruction; and
it Is the reaper, the selt.oinder, the steam
threshing machine, the locomotive the steel
rail- and the steamship, that have III their
combined effect, brought dlsmay and dread
TO every man in Europe who lives on the
fruits of the labors of his fellow men, the
land owner who live upon rents The true
Landlord" is now not the owner OF an Eng
fish estate, but the farmer who commands an
army of farmers, with brigades of plows, reap
ers and other machinery upon the plains OF
Western America. He makes laws for coun-
tries thousands OF miles away, and his pro
ducts rule the worlds markets The genius
Of agriculture to-day is the mechanic; the
soul of agriculture is the inventor. One far
mer can now, with the help of machinery, feed
hundred men with greater ease than he could
at one time feed himself alone The farmer
supports the railroads. for stocks rise and fall
with the good and indifferent reports of what
the harvest shall be- He supports lines of
steamers with his wonderful treights OF bread
stutfs, provisions, meats, cattle and sheep. lie
maintains the millions Of artisans who clothe
one of his wants outside of the field.
The mechanical power of the age is like a
series of conccntric and eccentric circles, of
which the farmer stands out in the principal
centre. These all revolve with and about ag-
riculture, and the same force sets all in mo-
ton. 1t IS the farmers duty now to make the
most of his opportunities He should he the
foremost man of the age. His influence should
be felt everywhere. 1t Is felt everywhere, for
the wealthiest merchants and capitalists and
the most active politicians all ask themselves
how far the farmers can be depended upon,
before they make movement in their special
pursuits But the farmer should feel this him
self 1t is one thing to have power and anoth-
or thing to be cognlzant of the possession.
Let the farmers consider now their position,
and as they take view of 1t let them consider
what they owe 10 the power and influence OF
machinery.
In conclusion, one most conspicuous exam
pie OF the results pointed out may be noted
A few years ago Minnesota spring wheat was
graded very low in the grain markets and
brought low price. Unfortunately for the
Western farmers this grade of spring wheat
was the only one they could produce. "new
process" in milling was introduced. Elaborate
machinery was invented to perfect the process
The best wheat by this process was the grade
known as "Minnesota spring." heretofore de-
spised and rejected literally rejected" in
fact, in the markets. Afterward this grade be.
came sought by millers, and the value advanc'
ed to pOni equal to and sometimes more
than that of the previously much sought win
ter wheats. If Minnesota farmers produce
forty millions bushels of wheat annually, thla
advanced value, due to the new process, puts
several millions of dollars yearly into their
pockets; and what vast amount of comfort
nd honn No RIGHT
instance only of the vast confederation of cir
cumstances which points the moral here al
luded IN