The Red Cloud chief., 1881-06-23
Farm To,lS


"a workman Is known by his tools"
A farmer is a workman, and the infer
ence is plain enough. The criterion
consists both in the selection Of the
tools and in the condition in which they
are kept. We live la n mechanical
age. i'm which hand-work has become
obsolete. and. without machinery. Ia
Dor is only partly productive. Without
machinery to help him a farmer cannot
successfully compete with other indus
tries which are carried on By mean Of
mechanical appliances. o with those
of his brother farmers who use machin-
cry. Already Eastern farmers feel the
irksome competition of cheap products
raised on large Western farm, by the
use of sulky plows. sulky cultivators,
seed sewers and planters and harvest
ers. And the Western farmers arc
sorely beset because of the cheap wheat
grown on the vast bonanza farms If the
Northwest, where farm machines may
be seen marshaled in array with mill
tary precision. and where division Of
labor in their use is made available q
the largest extent. Division If labor is
one Of those great industrial levers
which are used To the social
world. and n farm machine il merely
an example of the dividing of the farm
labor among the hundreds of artisans
who mine the ore, smelt the iron. fash
ion it into plow-shares aud iii it into the
completed pillow. All these men work
for and with the farmer TO help him
plOw and plant and reap and carry his
1850 -. .-la t -, Chi
light. the subject Of farm machinery
may well be Of the greatest interest To
a farmer. and in considering it we may
find it useful first To take a cursory
view of what mechanics are doing to
provide machinery for the farmer. the
profit Of using machinery, and how it
should be used.
The list Of farm machinery provided
by the brains and hands of inventors
for farmers use is n long one. If We
should enumerate the whole. OF plOws
alone we have a vast array. but of this
a large portion has become obsolete.
Ii is n drawback To the grca. advan-
tages we enjoy that new improvements
are continually being made, and the
pillow of last year is displaced by one
of the present. But every good thing
has its dark side, and the luscious
Eeacn. even, has its large stone within
it which we must throw away Still,
we must consider if it is profitable To
keep an old tool ut work rather than
cast ii aside and purchase a new and
better one. Usually this is not profit
able, and the saving in labor and the
better work done with a new and I'M
proved tool may pay several times
over i'm one season tor its cost and the
loss on the discarded one. As regards
. harrows. it may well be supposed that
before long these clumsy tools will DO
dispensed with. and the soil will be
prepared and the seed sown and o
cred at one operation. But until then
we may well be satisfied with the great
improvements made in these imple-
ments. The object of the harrow is to
pulverize and mix the soil. To do this
in the best manner we require an i'm
plement that will work the surface and
not tear the manure and the buried
sOdS and trash from below the surface
and leave it On the top to interfere
with the growing crops and with har-
vesting them. This object is attained
by the use of teeth which slope back
ward and pass over these distractions.
buryinG them still deeper in the soil and
covering them with fresh mellow earth.
The profit in farm machinery consists
very much in the right use of it. 1t all
requires skill in the Use and proper care
i'm the preservation. A large manu-
facturcr of farm machinery discovered
that il was To his interest to use only
| iron and steel in the machines he made,
because farmers, rs n rule, left their
machines exposed so much that they
were worn out, not by use, but by eX-
posture, in three or four years. In
fortunately he was right, for it is rarely
that farm machines are properly taken
care of, and, indeed, it is as rare that
they are even used rightly. Cutting
edges are not kept sharp, forgetting
that it is perfectly true that ''if the iron
be blunt we must quito more strength
the bearings of machines, too, are rarely
oiled sufficiently or cleaned from dust.
And. To come to Il familiar instance, we
might ask how few farm wagons have
the axlcs kept well fabricated. and how
many squeak their protest against the
i'll usage rs they pass TO and fro on the
road? Unnecessary wear and teal
destroy more machinery than its legiti-
mate use. The same may be said toe
often of the owner, who o frequently
gives himself no better treatment than
he does his machines. But it is n poor
economy. and may be classed rs n of
the greatest wastes of the farm. that
costly machinery is neither well used
nor as well taken care of as it might and
should be. Farmers should see TO it
that their sons are made acquainted
with the principles of mechanics. They
may not be able to spend q winters
season i'm a mechanical school, but, if
possible, this should be a part Of every
young farmers education. But at least
they may be provided with a good
mechaical journal which is an excellent
educational help. and will. undoubtedly.
create a desire for further study Of
mechanics and machinery. Henry
Sf,,rorf sD AZ y yr7ueS-