Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1880-03-11
THE MECHANIC FARMER.

Besides the large amount of comparative
ly unskilled labor necessary on the farm, in
tiling the ground and taking care of crops,
there is some mechanical work that must
be performed by somebody if the farm and
its appointments are kept in anything like
ship-shape order. Gates get out Of repair,
or new ones are needed whtfletrees break;
the cattle need new drinking troughs or
new ieed boxes; a new wagon box or hay
rigging is required. or the Old one needs re-
pairing; wagons and machines need paint.
ing, and buildings need occasional repairs.
The question is-''How much Of this work
should the farmer and his sons perform
themselves?" Theoretically they should
leave it all TO the professional mechanic.
One of the aXioms III political economy is,
the greater extent that division of labor is
practiced, the better is the work performed;
also that the mechanic must be furnished
with work or he cannot pay for the arti-
cles the farmer has to SELL and so hard times
result. But most theories break when
drawn out beyond a certain limit. There
are many reasons why il is OF great advan-
tage to the farmer to know how to use tools
somewhat and be able to perform the class
Of work have alluded to himself. He US
,lally lives at some distance from the shop
of a regular mechanic. If every time a
slight break occurs in an implement, work
must stop and wait till it is taken to the
shop and repaired, it often causes great
loss OF time, and in certain cases greater
loss Of labor, and value as we'll. know of
one instance where Il slight break in a horse
rake, that any one at all handy with tools
might have repaired in twenty minutes,
caused dozen tons of hay to be seriously
injured by rain. The rake had to be loaded
on wagon and driven a mile and q half to
shop, thus delaying all operations OF men
and team for nearly half a day, and as the
result many tons of hay were damaged.
Similar accidents are familiar TO every
farmer. If the means are at hand for set
ting things right at short notice, much time
and cash is often saved. 1t does not matter
whether the work will bear the inspection
of skillful mechanic or not. so long as it
relieves the annoyances. Mechanical work
commands better pay than farm labor. The
farmer, therefore, who is able to save me-
chanics bills by doing his own work, can
hire an equal amount of farm labor done
and have money lett. Therefore he is able
to make improvements that he could not
otherwise afford. have noticed that farm
ers who are able to do mechanical work US
ually keep their farm fixtures in better re-
pair than those who cannot use tools.
There are many things that are very desir-
able but which a farmer can hardly afford
If he must pay mechanic for making, but
if with his own skill, by turning slack times
or unfavorable weather to account, he can
provide them, he enjoys decided advan-
tage. Some years ago farmer of my ac-
qualntance paid mechanic nine dollars in
cash for making a harrow, furnishing the
teeth himself The first summer this har-
row had become so far worn out as to be
nearly useless. This farmers son in the
meantime had learned to use carpenters
tools some. By working few minutes
each morning, while his brother was after
the cows, he transformed bit of oak plank
into harrow, apparently equal in all re-
spects to the original one when new, at a
cost of ten cents for rip saving and thirty