Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-08-09
FARM MACHINERY.
Few Words About the Proper Use o
Tools and Machines.

sool ands implements upon any we'll
managed farm may be made to reduce
the cost of the products 60 per cent. at
least. Hay, for instance, may be put
into the barn at the cost of 80 cents q
ton by the use of the best machinery
mower, rake, loader and horse-fork-
while with the scythe, hay rake and
fork, with manual labor, it may cost
B per ton. The cost of wheat in the
granary is reduced by the use of all
the new machinery to less than so cents
a bushel. even with a low average
product of II bushels per acre, and it
would clearly be less than this if by
superior culture the yield was 80
bushels per acre. With all this
lessened cost of work all through
the crops farmer can afford
to spend in machinery as much
as the value of the land; considering
that the saving made is equal to doub-
| ling the profit made from the land. 1t
is the same with all crops. Potatoes
are planted and harvested by machin-
cry, which reduces the cost to one
seventh of its former expense; and as
! regards corn. although as yet we have
no means of harvesting this enormous
crop by machinery, yet it can be
grown by the use of planters and Gull
tivators for to Is cents bushel
when the maximum yield is secured
and the soil is as fertile as it should
| be for this crop. Reduced cost means
increased profit, and as the expense Of
reaching the markets has been greatly
reduced of late, there is no reason. but
extravaganza of expenditure, that can
prevent the enterprising farmer from
enjoying fair share of prosperity. 1t
is misfortune of the farmers own
making if he neglects to secure all
these mechanical aids and helps to re-
duce the cost of his crops.
But while all these aids and helps
are within reach of the farmer who
has the money to spend Or the credit to
make use of. yet there are many farm
ers who miss the full benefits from
them by want of skilful management
which is not kept in good condi-
ton works hard and wears out
quickly. 1t will not do its full work.
Perhaps it may break down under the
strain for which its strength was not
calculated, and it overworks the horses.
There is loss in every way, and it may
be that the farmer is disappointed and
declaims vigorously against the ma
chine and its maker. This result has
been recently illustrated conspicuously
! in regard to the use of manure spread
ers, machines which from the nature
of their work are very apt to be used
without sufficient knowledge and intel
ligence. One farmer finds this ma
chine exceedingly useful-as we have
done-another says it is a horse killer,
another AYERS it is a fraud and wholly
useless for the purpose for which it
was made and bought, and that his
machine is rusting in field while he
is spreading manure with forks from a
wagon. And the reasons for these OBJ
jections are, no doubt at all, that the
machine has not been kept in good con-
dition, and has not been used as it
should be in full knowledge and con-
sheraton of the work it has to do.
And the same applies to all sorts
of machines and tools in use
now or that have been used on
the farm. 1t applies to the COM
the pillow, and every tool used on q
farm. 1t was recently said that an
agricultural college was not designed
to teach the practice of agriculture
that boys could learn how to use hoe
or pillow at home and need not go to
college for this purpose We differ
wholly from that view of agricultural
tiic knowledge in the use of a mower
Or a self-binder, or in the choice and
application of fertilizers to crops. The
hoe does good work only when it is
bright and sharp. 1t is as necessary
for the hoe to be ground daily, or oft
ener, as the scythe. Moreover. it
should be smooth and bright all over.
Four times as much work may be done
with bright, sharp hoe as with a
dull. rusty one, and the same is true of
the pillow. A clean, bright moldboard
and a sharp, bright share will be
drawn one-half more easily, and will
do better work than dull, rusty one.
Unless the land is turned smoothly the
weeds and trash will not be covered,
and the pillow will push the soil before
it, making exceedingly bad work.
This is very important thing
for young farmers to understand, for
whether they work themselves Or en-
ploy laborers with tools in bad condi-
ton, they are losing from so to IS
cents of every dollar they pay out. Is
not this knowledge important enough
to be worth imparting at an agricult-
ural school. and by teacher of agri-
culture? There is doubtless more loss
of labor or of crop occasioned by the
use of poor tools or tools that are in
bad condition than by all the ignorance
or mistakes in applying the principles
of the fertilizing, the growth of crops
or the feeding of cattle. And these
are the principal subjects of study at
the colleges to the general neglect of
the others, which are of no less i'm
portance to the farmer.
And it is well and useful to mention
these things relating to the humber
work of the farm, because, while the
farmers who use hand tools may be in
the minority (but this is doubtfuD,
these farmers need all the more to be
advised and reminded of such matters.
And again as the same principle pre-
in ho of