The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1888-06-08

plow. This know. This year we
plowed in the morning and used the
team on the spreader in the afternoon,
to make it easier for them, as they had
not got used to hard work.
think you will not consider it brag.
ging, as it simply shows ordinary COM
mon sense, when / say that my spread.
er was never out in rain or dew or
in the sun, except long enough to drive
back to the barn after unloading.
When we are through using it, it is
thoroughly cleaned up, and put in its
place in the tool house. Should you
visit me, but for this letter you might
think it was new this spring. Its share
of the rent Gnterest, wear and tear,
&c) Of tool house is $2a year, as
nearly as | can figure it. 1t is as easy
to drive under cover before unhitching
as to leave tool out of doors, if one
has handy place. This we have in
our covered barn yard. which far more
than pays its rent for other purposes,
SO that really it costs us but 81 year
and little care, to keep the spreader
nearly as good as new.
Our friend wants to know whether it
will pay him to buy spreader to put
on $50 loads year. Well, hardly
like to answer that question directly,
not knowing all the circumstances but
I will tell you what was thinking the
other day about its paying me to use
one. My young SON spread all the ma
nure this spring without working more
than about nine hours day. and get
ting out from 80 to 35 loads per day
My man did the loading and forked up
into heap enough for another load
ESQ it could be handled quickly and to
make it spread better), while the
spreader was gone to the field. Now,
| do not think my man and son could
have got out any more than one.half as
much in day on wagon, and spread
it reasonably well. Then I consider
that the machine did the spreading
enough more perfectly and evenly to
well pay me interest and wear and tear
on its cost and for storage room, say
$40 year in all. I can show you acres
where you cannot put your hand down
on spot where there will not be ma
nure under it. I am putting it very
mildly, according to my experience, to
say that this is worth 10 cents load
over ordinary hand spreading.
Then again, had the boys spread by
hand, when told to put on 20 loads per
acre, they might hava got on most any
where from Is to 25 loads, while, as it
was, if the driving was done reasonably
we'll, knowing the number of loads put
on, one could tell almost to rod, how
much land was in the field, as there is
no guesswork about machine spreading.
My farm is small, which makes the
spreader pay me better than it would
one with large farm, SO that the ma
nure would have to be drawn long DIS
tance. One can draw larger load on
a wagon, if the ground is hard. With
me the spreader has come to stay, just
as much as the moving machine and
hay rake. My man expressed my SEN
timents this spring when he said:
"What would we do If anything should
give out about the spreaderS' Hand
spreading was drudgery we all dread.
ed. BY hand spreading 1 mean thor
ough work, not simply tumbling it out
In punches roughly, as one sees done
so often.
Now this is written for the farmers
and not for the machine makers. I. is
my experience and not an advertise
ment. ! paid G. E. Perkins (agent) of
Akron s92.75 for my spreader. l have
never met or heard from one of the
manufacturers, except that an agent
of theirs whom l met laat year, said
that they sold spreader to a certain
well known agricultural writer. He
sent them word that it did not work
well. They sent man to fix it, and
he was taken out in the field to a place
where a clump of weeds was grown
up. After tramping them down they
found the machine, or the ruins of it
Now certainly our southern friend can
see pretty we'll under what circumstan-
ces spreaders give satisfaction, and
what the prospects are as to its being
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