The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-10-16
FARM MACHINERY.
Complicated Agricultural Implements .
Positive Damage to the Farmer.


Consolidated Agricultural Implements .
Positive Damage to the Farmer.
It was Cicero who remarked, in refer
ence to the requisites for success in his
profession, that all knowledge was inn
portant to one who would be an orator.
This observation may now be made Of
the farmer. There is no information on
any subject that can come amiss to him.
and in these days of improved labor
saving machinery. mechanical in
genuity is essential to the highest sue
cess.
Ibelieve that manv complicated agri.
cultural implements have been a posi-
tive damage to their purchasers. Occa-
siOnally farmers with q natural genius
for mechanics get hold of some compli-
Gated machine and make success of it.
For every one who does this there are
two who fail. 1t is probable that much
more machinery fails to pay its first
cost in farming than in any other voca-
ton. The growing scarcity and dear
ness of labor forces farmers to buy labor
saving inventions. especially those
necessary to the harvesting of crops.
The farmer who sees a self binder doing
good work under skillful management
does not recognize how largely this sue
cess is due to the man in charge of it.
His own grain is suffering, and he buys
some machinery which he does not COM
prehend and cannot manage.
For many farmers it is safer to hire
the use Of intricate machines, when it is
necessary, than to purchase them. 1t
may seem expensive to paw some man
$3.50, or even more. an acre to harvest
and bind grain, vet it may be less costly
than to purchase the machinery, unless
the farmer have special ability for this
work. We shall find the division of
labor in this respect as advantageous in
farming as it has been in other kinds of
business. A young man with some
genius for using machinery may profit
ably work few acres, and employ his
time in harvest in running self-binding
reapers, and after in threshing grain.
His time at other seasons can be en-
ployed in managing tile draining ma
chimes. or in removing stumps and
stones from rough land.
When we come to implements COM
plicated enough to tie knots and bind
bundles, it should be understood that
nobody without natural genius for me-
chanics or an especial apprenticeship in
the business can manage them. Yet,
they are purchased by thousands who
do not understand the first principles of
mechanics. 1t is to the credit of wo-
mans mechanical skill that SO many
and various kinds of sewing machines
are successfully run. With coarser i'm.
plements for farm use it is very differ
EN-. am certain that a number of i'm
proved harvesters which have been cast
aside could be made successful in the
hands of men with the skill to use them.
At the same time we must take farm
ers as they are. Machinery should be
as simple as possible for the average.
And yet it is the duty of young farmers
to give more attention to mechanical de-
vices. with the certainty that all the
knowledge thus gained will be increas-
ingly useful as the years roll by. More
attention should be given the laws of
mechanics in country schools. If this
leads young men away from the farm it
will he no loss. though the opportunities
for working machinery are now so great
on farm that a young man having a
liking for this business may well regard
himself as especially adapted to farm
er's life. 1t is certain that for those
possessing skill enough to manage farm
labor-ssving implements, the drudgery
of farming IS far less than it used to be
when all grain was harvested with sickle
or cradle. Yet, it is quite often re-
marked by farmers that harvesting is as
expensive as it ever was. In other
words. the larger part of the benefit
from labor-saving machinery has thus
far Injured to the benefit of those who
do the work rather than of the capital
which employs them. This is curious
commentary on the ignorant prejudice
of workmen. who. few years ago,
threatened the destruction of harvesting
implements designed to relieve them
from much of their severest labor.
When working man can be found
who has the skill to manage any kind
of implement he is entitled to and
should receive higher wages than one
equally able physically. but whose asil-
ity consists in brute strength. Really
the skillful man is nearly always the
most powerful physically. His muscles
may not be stronger, but he better knows
the use of them and makes fewer false
motions. Record.