The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-02-19
What Machinery has done for Agriculture.

What Machinery has done for Agriculture.
The various agriculture shows held last
autumn in different parts of the country
cannot fail to impress all who visited them
with the extraordinary developments made
in recent years in mechanical appliances
for agriculture. 1t is well, therefore, to
notice the benefits which this industry has
derived from the genius and the labors of
the meehanician. 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
ploW was the rudest contrivance hardly
worthy to be called tool. Then every
man titled the soil or engaged in pastoral
pursuits because it was all one man could
do to provide himself and Lis dependents
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 unmitigated force. In course of
time improved and effective tools so light
ened the abors of the agriculturist, and so
increased his products, that the opportunl-
ty to make a division of labor arrived, be-
cause there was food to spare for the me-
chanic. This condition of things became
more and more firmly established, until it
changed the whole social and political as
peet of human affairs And now what do
we see? The true "landlord" is not the
owner of an English estate, proclaims
writer in Capital and Labor, but the farm
er who commands an army of farmers, with
brigades of plows, reapers, and other ma
ehinery upon the plains Of Western Ameri-
ca. He makes laws for countries thous-
ands of miles away, and his products rule
the worlds markets The genius Of agri
culture to-day Is the mechanic; the soul Of
agriculture is the inventor. One farmer
can now, with the help Of machinery,
feed hundred men with greater ease
than at one time he could feed himself
alone. The farmer supports the railroads,
for the stocks rise and fall with the good
and Indifferent reports uf what the harvest
shall be- He supports lines Of steamers
with his wonderful fIeights of breadstutfs,
provisions, meats, cattle and sheep. He
maintains the millions of artisans who
elothe and shelter him, and who provide
for every one of his wants outside of the
field
The mechanical power Of the age is like
a series of concentric aud eccentric circles
Of which the farmer stands out in the priu
cipal center. These all revolye with and
about agriculture, and the same force sets
all in motion. Its the farmer duty now
to make the most Of his opportunities.
He should be the foremost man Of the age.
His influence should be felt everywhere.
Ii is felt everywhere, for the wealthiest
merchants aud capitalists aud the most
active politicians all ask themselves how
far the farmers can be depended upon be-
fore they make movement in their special
pursuits. But the farmer should feel
this himself Ii is one thing to have pow
er, and another thing to be cognizant Of
the possession. Let the farmers consider
now their position, aud, as they take a
view of il, let them consider what they
owe to The power and influence of machi-
nery. Que most conspicuous example Of
the results pointed out may be noted. \
few years ago Minnesota spring wheat was
graded very low in the grain markets and
brought very low price. Unfortunately
I for the Western farmers this grade of
spring wheat was the only one they could
produce A new process in milling was
I introduced. Elaborate machinery was in
vented to perfect the process. The best
wheat by this process was the grade known
as Minnesota spring, heretofore despis-
ed and rejected literally rejected in
\ fact in the markets Afterwards this
grade became sought by millers, and the
value advanced to point equal to, and
sometimes more than that of the previous
F " much sought winter wheat. If MIN
nesota farmerr produce forty million bush
/ els of wheat annually, this advanced value,
due to the new process, puts several mil
lions of dollars yearly into their pockets;
and what vast amount Of comfort and
happiness may be secured by the right
use of so much money! This is but one
] instance Of the vast concatenation of cir
eumstances which points the moral here
alluded to-
1 \ gentleman was going home at late