The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-11-20

that are said to have banished drudgery
from the farm.
Forty years ago, the grain was harvest.
ed with tho grain cradle. as was the hay
with a soythe. and It required ten men TO
cut, rake, bind. and shock ten acres OF
wheat In day. In the ffties came the
reaper. employing eight men to cut. bind.
and shock the ten acres. This advance to-
ward higher civilization threw two men
out of employment in the harvest season
and forced them to that desertion OF the
farm which the singer OF pgans over
| the reaper has never ceased to bewail
The earlier form Of the reaper was fol-
lowed, in the sixties. by the self-rak-
Ing one, which, depositing the grain In
gavels, reduced the number required to
harvest ten acres in a day from eight to
six. and sent another brace OF sons OF tho
farm to seek fame and fortune elsewhere
In the earlier part OF the eighties came tho
table reaper. upon which rode two men who
we're able to bind the ten acres as the ma
chine travelled. and still further reduced
the force by two. who must either sit upon
the fence and watch those 80 fortunate as
to retain employment, or go TO town for
the work no longer obtainable on the farm.
Two or three years later came the wire
self-binder, which crcled the sheaves with
band OF steel, dispensing with the two men
who bound upon the table reaper, and sim
pllfled the matter by sending to the town
all but the farms owner. who operated the
machine. and the son or laborer, who placed
the grain in the shock, and also reduced
harvest wages to nearly the ordinary
monthly rate. The wire binder was short
" displaced by the Irvine binder, which has
reduced the cost OF operation somewhat,
but has not materially diminished tho
amount Of labor employed. except as the
machines are now made larger, cutting Il
wider swath.
The result OF these successive improve
ments Is that, whereas it required ten
men to cut and place in shock ten acres
OF grain forty years ago, three men
now, with the aid OF four horses, can
place from sixteen to eighteen acres in the
shock; and wherever the ordinary harvest
time Is fairly dry. the header" enables
eight men to cut and place at once in stack
thirty acres In day. the labor-saving eff
footed by the header being greater even
than that with the self-binder. while the
grain is at once secured from the detcriora-
ton usually resulting from weatheriRg in
the shock. By this progressive advance to-
ward a higher civilization, four men out OF
the five formerly employed in harvest work
have been actually and visibly pushed
of the farm and into the ranks OF those
seeking work in the towns. The work Of
the farm has deserted tho farmers son:
not the son. the work.
Equally destructive OF employment on
the farm have been the mower. the wheeled
hay rake. tho hay tedder. the hay loader,
the self-feeding steam threshing machine.
the gang plough the grain drill. the broad
cast seeder. the two-horse corn cultlvator.
the corn lister. and u thousand and one
other labor-saviug devices; and when to |
the MISUNDERSTANDING effect Of all these |
we add the reduction OF labor due to cessa- |
ton OF forest clearing, rail and stone fence |
building, and the conversion OF timber into |
fuel and its cartlng to town, we can get |
some idea OF that Irresistible force which |
has crowded so many of the sons of the |
farmer off the soil. and which but for
the enormous increase OF the number OF |
farms up till the middle Of the nineties |
would have crowded still greater numbers
into the ranks Of those engaged in manu-
and distribution. as it certainly |
will crowd them in the years to come.