The times., 1901-03-17

by that Of food products If these did
not keep pace with the increase Of popu-
Iation. the theories of Nautilus would be
true. but he never saw a modern reaper
The steam plow was invented in Eng
land some fifty years since. but the
great use of agricultural machinery dates
from our civil war. when So many men
were taken from agriculture. 1t became
necessary TO nH their places with md
chinery Without tracing thr steps
which have led to it.. we may say that
the common type is what IS called the
binder" and is machine drawn chiefly
BOY animals. and IN some cases 10y a h-,d
locomotive.
It cuts. rakes. and binds sheaves Of
grain at one operation. Sometime
thrcshjng and winnowing machines are
combined with it. ana thr gram is deliV-
cred into bags ready for the market.
Different machines are used fer cutting
and binding corn. and for moving and
rallng hay. bJt the most important of All
is tho grain binder. The extent of their
use may be known from the fact that
,5.on tons of twine are used hy these
machines annually.
Il is estimated that there are i'm tha
United States l.5uo0J of these machines
but as the harvest is earlier IN the south
there are probably not over 100000 in
use at one time As each machine takes
the place of sixteen men. this means that
l6.01'p51 men are released from farming
Tor other pursuits.
The man with the hoe" has disap-
peared from the real world ami is only
TO be found in the dreams Of poets.
II is fair to assume that q large part
of these lG,06.0o5 men have gone into
manufacturing. the operating Of railways.
and other pursuits. The use of agricul-
tural machinery. therefore. is one explain
alton of Why the United States produces
eight-tenths of the worlds cotton and
corn. oue-QUarter Of its wheat. ,..e-third
of Its meat and iron. two-fifths of it's
steel. and oue-third Of its coal and
large part of The worlds manufactured
goods.
CONCLUSION.
1t is a very interesting question, why
was this great development of material
prosperity delayed so late? Why did it
wait until the nineteenth century, and
then all ut once increase with such rapid
strides2
II was not until modern times that the
reign Of law was greatly extended, and
men were ensured the product Of their
labors.
Then came the union Of scientists. in
=entors, and engineers
So long as these three classes worked
separately but little was done. There
was an autagonism between them. An
cieut writer's went So far as T. say that
the invention of the arch and OF the
potters wheel were beneath the dignity
Of a philosopher.
one Of the first great men TO take a
different view was Francis Bacon.
Macaulay. in his famous essay, quotes
him as saving: Philosophy is the relief
of mans estate. and the endowment OF
the human race with new powers. in
creas!ng their pleasures, and nit tc ting
5heir Suferings" These EobIc words
seem to anticipate the famous definition
Of civil engineering. embodied by Telford
in the charter OF the British institution
OF civil Engineers: Engineering is the
art of controlling the great powers OF
nature for the use and convenience Of
man"
The seed sown by Bacon was long in
producing fruit Until the laws Of nature
were better known, there could be no
practical application OF them Toward
the end Of the eighteenth century
great intellectual revival took place In
literature appeared Voltaire. Rousseau.
Kant hume. and Goethe. In pure
science there came Laplace. CavendIsh.
Layoizier. Linnaeus. Berzelius. PnestIy.
Count Rumford. James Watt, and Dr.
Franklin. The last three We're among the
earliest to bring about a union Of pure
and applied science Franklin immedi-
atcIy applied his discovery, that frictional
electricity and lightning were the same,
10 the protection Of buildings by lightning
rods. Count Rumford Cwhose expert
naeuts on the conversion Of power into
heat led TO the discovery Of the conserva-
tiou OF energy} spent a long life in con-
triviug useful inventions.
James Watt. one of the few men who
have united iu themselves knowledge Of
abstract science, great inventive facul-
ties and rare mechanical skill. changed
the steam engine from a worthless rat