The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1897-07-28
AGRICULTURAL.
Two Sides to the Machinery Question,

as IL relates 10 farmers. On the one
side there are large class of the most
thorough going and intelligent farmers
who believe in farm machinery, They
t,l 49, e..
use luaonlnery in every place where
they can. Go into their tool sheds and
you will find the best up-to-date farm
machinery. AS a rule they are sue
cessful farmers, and they attribute
large part of their success to their use
of the best farm machinery. They are
always watching the advertising pages
of the agricultural papers to learn about
the latest improved farm implements.
They buy intelligently, that is, they do
not buy a tool because some glib
tongued agent leases them into the
buying of thing they do not need or
an inferior tool which they do need,
but they read, examine, study, find out
all they can about machinery, then buy
the very best.
But there is another view of the
question taken by keen business men
which we do we'll to consider. They
say machinery costs great deal of
money. AS soon as you buy a ma
chine it begins to deteriorate. Even if
you save the interest Of your money
yearly on machine, you can seldom
get back your principal. You are al
ways liable to break your tools, and
mending always entails more expense.
Many machines wear out rapidly, new
parts have to be bought, express paid
on extras is high, in fact many ma
chimes which sell low begin to give out
in year or two, and the new parts
soon bring up the cost to much more
than the higher priced and far better
built machines. Then it takes skill to
run machines, especially the more com.
plicated ones like the binder.
There is some plausibility to many of
these objections, but a great deal de-
ponds here, as in all things, upon the
man who buys and uses the machines.
1t is true that machines depreciste rap
idly, but if they are kept under cover,
well oiled, painted, free from rust, and
carefully looked after, they will last for
years. Then it never pays to buy the
cheaply made, and the low grade ma
chimes. If a man gets well-made
machine and takes good care of it, it
will last great many years, will Or
dinarily pay for itself, interest and
principal sometimes several times over,
and it will help keep the boys on the
farm. For most boys like machinery,
and if there is machinery on the farm,
if the horses do most of the hard work,
they will like the farm far better than
when the farming is done in the old
hard way. The machinery delivers the
small farmer from the tyranny of the
hired man. The farmer who has large
areas and crops must have extra help,
but machinery saves vast sums in the
farmers pay roll.
Most farm machinery has to be
bought of agents. This is for the most
part unavoidable, but it is costly way
of buying. Half the cost of many kinds
of machinery is the cost of selling.
Deal directly with the makers, if pos
sible. In buying be sure to get we'll
made machine. The name of some
firms is guarantee of quality, guar
aGtee that what bears their mark
is good. Some time ago the writer
needed new moving machine. While
at neighbours he saw an Adriance
Buckeye. 1t seemed to him to be the
best machine he had ever seen, 80
he bought one. 1t proved to be a first
class mower in every respect, and he
was always glad that he bought that
make. When he wanted a binder, it
was natural that he should purchase an
Adriance, expecting to find it frst-class
in every respect. In this he has not
been disappointed. Most farmers cut
their oats by hand, those living in Yer
mont we mean, but if few farmers
would club together and buy an Adri-
ance binder, with corn harvesting at
tachment, they would find il to be a
very great labor saver. To see q
binder work one would think it re-
quired great deal of skill to run it,
but we have found it an easy matter
to learn to regulate the machine. On
level land with grain not lodged, it is
little more work to run reaper than a
mower. On steep hillsides it requires
little more care, and if the grain is
badly lodged and uneven, it requires
still more, but one soon learns to ham
die it with ease and almost instinctively
to do the thing that is needed. 1t is
truly wonderful to see the work of the
Adriance Binder in lodged and tangled
grain, picking up the whole and put
ting it bundle. Bound grain packs
in 30 much less room, is so much more
easily handled, and can be got in 30