The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-05-03
MODERN INVENTION.
In the Modern March of Progress the
Farmer VIII Hold HIS Own.

I'm tho Modern March of Progress the
Farmer win Hold ms Own.
In modern lfe one of the most str'k-
ing features that has bcCn and Is BENG
Developed more and more rapidly Is
the interiepen0elce OF the members OF
the human family. AS the population
increases, the hermit or qu1Si-hermt
life SO frequent years ago, when the
farmer for months in the winter saw
hardly any faces except those OF MS
own family. and when he conducted
MS farming operations In almost com
plete independence of the rest or the
world Is fast becoming an impossible
ity. In old times the farm was self
supporting world in itself. The wells,
spr ngs and clstcrns supplied water;
The domestic animals got all Their
food from It, and it produced its own
fertilizers. BY rotation Of crops, by
letting land lie fallow and by The use
of fertile NJ material produced on the
farm. the land was Gept fertile. Ram
descended from the clouds without
any human agency. Now the condi
tons are very different. The farmers
children wish to compete with city
children in education and in general
aspect. of which this Is but one cie-
ment. modern conditions affect his life
in n much broader sense. The ten.
dency now Is to work the soil in large
areas devoted to single crop. and to
use machinery in all farming opera
lions. For many years past the AM
cr.can inventor has been busy invent
ing most ingenious machines for Cu.-
t.vating the ground, for sowing the
seed and for harvesting the crops On
account of the inventors work the
Western farms, with fields of wheat
reaching to the horizon, cultivated Gy
steam drawn plows. and whose crops
are harvested by great machines dra wn
by teams of many horses, have be-
come possibility. The great cereal
crop of the United States s due to the
mechanical inventor.
In the same order of things is this
modern fertilizer. For different crop.
different fertilizers are made in fac
tories AS the great natural sources
of phosphor,c acid were overdr1wn
the European agricultur has utilized
the finely ground sag of the basic
steel process. The farmer depends nt
longer on the barnyard, but purchases
his plant food IN the most approve
form. made in factories from the mos
unpromiSing sources of supply The
Atlantic coast is patrolled by steam
ers whose occupation Is the catching
of menhaden or bony fish. After thC
oil is extracted from these fish, th'
farmer has a claim on what is left n
source of nitrogen for his crops
South American nitrate of soda Is an
other source of nitrogen. The Ger
man mines supply him with his potasl
and the blending of all the element
is effected in the fertilizer factories
whose processes are guided by tn
most exact chemical analyses of thei
materials. Even in the matter of loca
transportation the farmer is bein
taken care Of The electric road t
whose operations, needless of vestc
rights, so many highways rave bee
surrendered, bids fair TO "evolutioniz
the aspects of rural life. 1t is believe
by many that the electric road wi
eventually haul the farmers product
to the cities or railroad stations. an
the improvement of country roads ha
actually been discouraged by thos
who believe in the highest develOI
ment of this form Of traction.
Where the process of development {
modern life will end, it Is hard to Sc
The farmer, who would seem to be I'll
last to be subjected to modern sciel
tific advancements, is really, speakin
relatively, the one most affected. NJ
chancal, chemical and electric;
science have changed his entire statu
Among inventors the farmer is reco
nized as the field for most useful wol
in invention. Man may yet learn
dispense with coal, and the steam e
CINE may be relegated to the past. II
self-contained energies OF the cOSm
system may yet be used 20 replace Il
motor which during the last decad
has replaced them. Windmills al
waterwheels represent the utilizati'
Of cosmic energy, and mankind M
be driven to a more extensive use
the mechanical powers of nature. b
for food production, 1t seems as If t
soil for many years to come must
the only resource. Synthetic che
stry has to make enormous advanC
before 1t can produce palatable foe
Already ii has done something in pI
duclng glucose and saccharlne as 5
gar substitutes, but until the synthe,
on the large scale of carbon and I
drogen is effected, the synthetic che
istry will be inchoate. In the mode
march of progress, the farmer W
hold his own. The changes in
processes, the abolishmrnt Of the qu
rural life, and of the farm as an
most self-contained unit of exlSten
are brought about by the devotion
his interests of the enl ghtenment
the world, and the world in its turn
more and more dependent on him
Scientific American.
Iron Plates at White Heat.
GsNVhi1a I yVag in