Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-10-29

The Deering Harvester company of
Chicago, quoting from their retail prices
of their various classes of machinery in
1873 and 1896 make the following state
ment, showing the decreased cost and in
creased efficiency of farm machinery:
"The Irvine binder was unknown in
1873, but the Marsh harvester n much
more primitive machine, in which the
binding was done by men riding on the
machine, retailed at 5000 to $225. The
Irvine binder retails today at from 500
for cheaper machines to S145 for the
Deering roller and ball-bearing ma
chimes.
THE self-rake reaper. which is now
sold at from $50 to $40. sold for $50 to
500 in 1873
Mowers sold in 1873 for from 800 to
S115 according TO the make and width
of the cut Machines of vastly greater
efficiency sell today at from $50 for
cheaper machines to $40 for the Deering
roller and bail bearings.
When the wire binding attachment was
added to the old Marsh harvester from
| 1876 to 1879 the combined machine sold
! for $500. of which 500 was for the at
tachmcnt and $50 for the harvester
| Wire binders are not sold now, having
been superseded by the Irvine binder. In
| 1878 we introduced the Irvine binder
| the machine that now cuts the grain Of
the world Its retail price was then
500 TO S325. A better and more capable
| machine is sold today, as above int-
mated. at hut little over One-third that
! price Binder Irvine, for use on these
machines, sold in 1888 at from 10 to -
| cents per pound Ii was, of course, un-
| known in 1873 Today much better
Irvine retails at from 81 to II cents per
pound according to quality
| This steady decrease in price does not
mean n decrease in quality and efficiency.
| On the contrary an upward tendency in
the mechanical construction and quality
of material has been as marked as the
| downward movement in prices. This
| fact-the advance in value coincident
with the decline in price-has been made
/ possible by the use of economical meth.
| DDS in construction. and by labOr-saving
machinery. rather than by any decrease
in wages paid. The cost of producing
| each machine has also been reduced by
| the tremendous number of machines
turned out by a single firm.
| The old mower. for which the farmer
| paid in the neighborhood of 500, had
| but meager means for adjustment, and
were neither as efficient nor as durable
as machines that retail today at $40
The old self-ra<e reapers which retailed
| at 500 were primitive and clumsy as
compared with the $50 machines of to-
day.
The Deering Irvine binder today, run
ming on roller and ball bearings, cost
500 less than the old Marsh harvester
| and requires two less men and two less
horses than did that machine. In other
words. one man and two horses can
handle more grain with the Deering roll
er.bearing Irvine binder than three men
and three horses could handle in 1875
with a Marsh harvester that cost the
farmer 500 more money"
These statements of leading manu-
facturers of high-grade farm machinery,
merely emphasizes what any man of or
binary intelligence already knew in a
general way and what every wheatgrow-
or i'm the country knew 10y practical ex-
perience. that the last twenty years have
been marked 10y wonderful improvements
in the efficiency of farming tools accom-
panied by no less marked reduction in
the retail price. When Gov. Altgeld
and the lesser lights of Popuism claim
that no part Of the decline in wheat is
the result of improved machinery and
methods. they simply run contrary to
facts which are patent TO every observer
and put themselves in false position by
denying truths that are as well known
as the multiplication table.