New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-09-17

Machinery that Has Revolu-
j. Farmers, Toll and 1t Should
fake Farming More Attractive 70

j ten years the character of
II Drls has been altogether chang
Il E'tlcuiarly in the great prairie
a Us where the surface of the land
ii Its OF the easy use of complicated
Shinery. Let us note briefly the
lsracter OF the revolution in farm
Dirk, It's effect upon farming as an
lccupation, and the changes it has
{uade in the requirements of farm
}saahor
! 1t Is about ten years since it was
demonstrated by general practical
i, eest In the harvest field that the Irvine
!Jsetf-binder was a success. That
destroyed at once three-fourths of the
labor OF small grain harvest, and the
most severe labor. What had made
I us dread small grain harvest was the
bending over the 5heaves lying Ia the
sSubble, that reflected fiercely the
burning rays Of the sun, and the severe
labor OF binding those sheaves. The
self-biuder took from US all this hard
work and now even gathers together
the bundles to be shocked.
Ten years ago one-half the labor of
Shreshing was in handling the straw
In the west nearly all of it was, and
rs yet, stacked out Of doors and on the
S-sstssck was required row of men to
4 pitch the straw, one to another, and
thus remove it from the straw carrier
10 those parts of the stack where it
svas needed. This was the hardest
work of threshing and frequently it
I was very hard to get sufficient men
shat would consent to do this work.
Il For three or four years we have had
STRAW stackers' attached to the
ehreshing machines that, by means of
s an endless carrier, deposits the straw
4 ae amy part Of a semi-circular stack,
doing away with all the hard work of
pitching the straw along the stack.
Ihls gear there is being used stack
fer that by means of atmospheric pres
sure takes all the straw, chaff aud
dust from the threshing machine aud
ariVes it through a long sheet-steel
pape TO any part of the stack. This
mot only saves the hard labor Of NOV
eng the straw on the stack, but saves
the iaborers about the threshing ma
Chine from the annoyance and injury
arising from the, dust. Nearly one
ssaaatf the labor and nearly all the
specially disagreeable feature of
thseshing has been taken away.
Hen years ago more than one-half
the labor of hay harvest and the
Aiardest half was pitching the hay
8Gsuni the windrow onto the wagon and
1rom the wagon to the stack or NOW.
Il Now we have a gatherer, operated by
@ boy, that gathers from the swath or
EEindrOws, a half ton of hay, and
brings it to the Kicker, also operated
by a boy, that picks it up and puts it
ou the rick. All the hard work of
pitching is done away with and two
men and two boys will put in the rick
hay as fast as it is cut with the
mower
This sufficiently indicates the nature
OF the revolution. Much labor that
formerly had to be accomplished with
human force is now done by horse or
steam power This has materially
reduced the cost of producing a bushel
OF wheat Or of corn. Or pound of hay
OF of butter. While the expenditure
for farm machinery has been largely
Increased and it costs something to
operate these machines, yet to pur-
chase and operate them permits Of a
crop being produced ut less cost than
by the old methods. The prices for
farm products that prevailed ten or
twenty years ago, compared with the
g prices that now prevail do not furnish
At correct statement of the relative
profit In farming then and now. Farm
ing now is more profitable than this
i comparison indicates.
Farming has already become one OF
the slightest occupations. 1t re-
quires less severe bodily exertion now
@kian work in the foundry, machine
shop, blacksmith shop, or at the
carpenters bench; or than teaming or
working on the streets. Those that
drought farming was not popular and
s<genteer" because it required SO much
heavy work, must be pleased at the
revelation that has taken place in
farm work.
That which is required of the farm
aaoorer now is less muscle and more
skill Intelligence is now more i'm
portant qality than brute strengt tn.
I The farm laborer as we'll as the farm
manager must now think and develop
ingenuity aud skill. The character Of
farm work has been elevated. 1t has
become more brain work just as it
requires less muscle. Is not this
change sure to keep more of our best
young men on the farm? We have
been complaining that other calllngs,
requiriug more skill and intelligence,
have taken a majority OF our most IN
2aiEigent farmer boys; and because
they required more skill and intelli-
geace they offered better compensa.
zion. But farming is fast coming to
that condition that it requires full as
much skill as they. Will it not, then,
hold our best young men? The in
veution of labor saving farm appli
ances will soon largely help to keep
ssotar boys on the farm.
Pure Breeds for Pigs.
The bestway in pig breeding is tc
stick TO one breed. 1t takes nearly a
lie time to find out how to get the hes,
results from one breed, and if the time
is wasted in crossing the breeds and
experimenting with new ones, the
chances are that time and labor will be