New-York tribune., 1900-06-18
NETWORK DAILY TRIBUNE MONDAY. JUNE 49, 1900.

miniature mower which, when the requisite
electricity is available. traverses a diminutive
field of green in businesslike manner, and IL
lustrates the Yankee method OF cutting hay.
This same house, by the way. also makes an
interesting retrospective exhibit Of the harvest
ing machinery Of the century.
In the minds OF good many Americans the
question has arisen whether 1t is advantage
or disadvantage to have the agricultural i'm
pIements OF their country isolated in annex
while those OF foreign nations are shown in the
main building. Not so many visitors are likely
to see the former as the latter But the exhib-
itors from the United States are entirely salts
fed with the arrangement, first. because they
are confident that any one who is really inter-
ested in this class OF machinery will hunt them
UP, and, secondly, because they count on salts
flying the intelligent inquirer that American
implements superior TO all others. In va
riety and numbers the mechanical exhibits from
the United States do not equal those Of Euro
pean countries. but in durability and service
ability they unquestionably better.
For instance, one may find here plough that
surpasses the foreign article at half q dozen
different points. The share has a central layer
OF soft steel, to give it toughness. and outer
surfaces of eighty carbon steel, which enable
It to stand the wear better than the European
ploughshare VIII. There is a lever by means
regulate the distance between the burrows
Of a double plough; a spring that assists in
throwing the share up out Of the ground; a
furrow wheel whose axle is bent over so that
the wheel rides in the furrow more easily than
with other ploughs. and a rear wheel that
straightens out behind automatically. after
turn at the end Of a fUrrow. The practical
agriculturist and the foreign dealer will quickly
recognize the advantages of these features.
Something Of the same difference can be found
between American and foreign implements Of
other kinds
COPYING AMERICAN INVENTIONS.
The mower and reaper are American inven-
tious, and all foreign harvesting machinery IS
only imitation-and a poor imitation, too.
Every year improvements of greater or less
Importance are made in Yankee harvesters. so
that these keep about five years in advance of
the European article all the time. American in
genuity and fertility Of resource, manifested in
hundreds Of other ways in the production Of
machinery. are nowhere exercised more freely
than in the construction Of agricultural imple-
meuts A man who has been identified with
the reaper business for over thirty years, who
has travelled all over the civilized world. and
who represents one Of the principal harvesters
made in the United States, said the other day:
Between 625,OO0 and $4,000 harvesters are
perhaps Cne-siXth are sold abroad In some
respects The foreign market is better than the
domestic. Owing to peculiarities Of the tariff
the American mower has to pay about 81, and
the reaper about 50 more to get into France
than the German or English machine But in
spite or that handicap America secures from
two thirds to three-fOurths OF the French pat
ronege- Foreign competition is not a serious
matter. therefore
The explanation OF this commercial suprenn-
acy is threefOId: AS has been remarked already,
the American maker is continually improving
his machine every year, and thus leads the
world. The American Iaborer is better paid
and better fed and is able to do more work In
a day Finally, the American manufacturer
employs methods and machinery which are from
a quarter to half a century in advance of those
Of the Old World comparison Of ways and
means was made the other day by an American
and an English maker Of certain agricultural
implements. It was found that the latter, to
perform certain boring operations, consumed
seven minutes in drilling one hole while the
Yankee drilled twenty holes at once, and took
only three minutes to do It. The conservatism
one European nation To a certain extent it is
characteristic Of them all Hence it is possible
for the Yankee TO make a better implement than
his rival, and to make It more cheaply.
There has been much talk about transferring
all Of the American exhibits 10 St. Petersburg
from Paris at the close of the Exposition here.
A number Of manufacturers Of agricultural i'm
pIements in the United States favor the scheme
heartily In making this proposition Russia
no doubt hoped that her mechanics and manu-
faCturers would thus be enabled TO study with
profit the construction Of American machinery
OF various kinds And TO that proceeding there
might seem TO be objections. But while the
Russian was getting ready to initiate the Aneri-
can machine the American would so far i'm
prove on the article exhibited that his product
would be distinctly superior to the foreign ma
chine Besides. for reasons just given, It is
practicable to put first class implements Of
various kinds from America IN the heart Of
Russia for less money than she would spend in
making them herself An exhibition at St
Petersburg. therefore, would be q valuable ad-
vertisement for the mechanical products Of
America
FRESH APPLES IN COLD STORAGE
Mention has been made OF the canned and
dried fruits from America in the main building
devoted 10 food products. The United States
has also a fine lot Of fresh apples over in the
Horticultural building, on the north side Of the
Seine, considerably removed from the Champs
de Mars. These have been kept in cold storage
and are in an excellent condition. France ex-
hibits some magnificent fruit and vegetables
here, too. Asparagus as large as ones wrist
and Strawberries as big as ones fist attract
considerable attention. Just how they would
taste is open to question. STILL the French are
famous gardeners. Elsewhere in the Exposition
grounds one runs across another evidence OF
their ingenuity. There are numerous pear trees
whose branches are trained along a treIlis like
vine, in order that the fruit may be more fully
exposed to the ripening sunshine than would be
possible otherwise.
Nearly every European country is we'll repre-
sented in the Agricultural and Food Product
show. Germany confines herself almost ex-
clusively TO machinery, cuItivators seeders
reapers, ploughs, wfnnowing machines, traction
engines and the like Hungary gives more at