Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-06-26
FARM IMPLEMENTS.
1Scasohs That Should Govern tho Tur-
chase OF Expensive Tools.

u 1ar1n implements now pushed before
the farmer often confuse and perplex
him, especially when his purchasing
means are limited, while his needs ap-
parently cover the whole ground OF
improved farm machinery. With but
Tow exceptions all the implements,
improved and late invented, are great
labor savers, and most economical for
those who have the means to purchase,
and who have work enough to per-
form to enable such implements to pay
their cost.
The well-established farmer upon a
farm of good size, on smooth land, who
follows a system Of mixed farming,
will find it most economical to have
about him all these labor-saving i'm
plements His decreasing expendi-
lures for hired hand-labor will fully
| warrant him in the large outlay netes-
sary to furnish him with this outfit.
But with the farmer upon a small
farm, or upon rough, new land, the
case is quite different. In such cir
cumstances, it is often difficult to de-
eide whether or not a certain imDle-
mcnt or machine will prove profitable.
The moro common farm tools, such as
the pillow, harrow, cultivator, wagon,
etc., must be kept upon any farm, but
when 1t comes to the reaper, self
| binder, mower, horse-rake, tcdders,
! hay-loAdcr, secdcr, mill, power-cutter
and all those high-priced kinds not i'm
pcratlvcly necessary on the small farm,
| the question always arises: "Will it
| pay?"
Of course the agent Or dealer who is
lmportunlng the farmer to buy, figures
| it all out and shows the great gain
| that Will accrue to him (the farmer)
| through the purchase Of the particular
machine in question. Agents often
boast Of selling machines where farm
crs did not in the least need them.
l his is no doubt too often true, bat the
question of eXpcdiency is sometimes so
nearly balanced in the TURNER'S mind
that it requires but little inducement
on the part of the agent to tip the
beam in his favor. The farmer seldom
buys a machine that he has no use for,
but the question is whether he has
sufficient use for the machine to war
rant the expenditure.
We will take the sclf-binler, for in
stance. 1t is hard to say Just how
much land q farmer should have into
grain to make the purchase OF a ma,
chine Il profitable Investment. In good
harvest weather the farmer can handle
(; large area of grain with the reaper.
| even if he does not have a full binding
crew. He can cut down a few acres
and then bind them up. But if the
weather be unfavorable he is apt to
lose much through such slow means Of
harvesting. The losses in this way On
even u small farm will frequently equal
half the price of q binder. On the
other hand we must look at the chances
for hiring the use of such hich-priced
machinery on the SHALL farm, instead
of buying. In almost every neighbour
hood there are men who own and oD-
crate such machines, charging a stated
amount per acre harvested or per day.
" hon the farmer is sure of getting his
grain cut promptly when crop and
weather arc suitable, it is often much
cheaper to hire it cut in this way than
to own and opcratc q machine himself
The circumstances Of the farmer. must
determine all these such as would aris,
upon farms of small area This mach
can be said in a general way, that any
farmer who has thirty acres of good
level grain land to cut each year can
protitably own a binder to harvest it
with.
The same questions arise in the con-
sideration Of other farm Implements
The farmer who cuts but a few acres
OF grass does not feel like investing in
a mower, and yet he had often much
better do so than to waste valuable
time and hazard his crop by following
the slow hand methods. The mower
is somewhat different from the binder
in this respect. 1t seems an almost
indispensable article. 1t can be put
to such a variety of uses on the farm,
outside of the work of the hay-field
proper. Sowed fodder crops of all
kinds can be cut with it, from the
early rye to the late corn fodder.
Thistles, weeds and rank growth of
grass in the pasture may be trimmed
down with this labor-saving implement
at any time during the season. Every
farmer who cuts eight or ton acres Of
grass should have q mower of his
own. This and other uses that he can
put a mower to will make a modcrate-
priced machine Of this kind profitable
to own.
The seeder and cultivator combined is
another implement that should be
more generally fourd upon our small
farms tha,rit is. The use of the Guilt
vator portion and the evenncss of the
seeding will add bushels to the yield,
besides facilitating the work of getting
the crops in.
The hay rake, while of considerable
labor-saving capacity. should be Sec
ondary to the two machines Just men,
toned. The hay-tedder is needed only