Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-23
FARMHAND,S JOB IN PERIL.
Traction Engines Doing His Work
In the West.

In the West.
1.-THE farmhand's finish is in plain
sight" said man who had just re-
turned from the west. And the farm
horse is headed down the same pike.
In their stead is coming the little choo-
choo engine of the traction type.
"Out in the prairie region the tenden-
CIV is all toward big farms. The agri-
cultural unit out there has been the
quarter section or 160 acres.
Few of the farmers are satisfied now
with such a small bunch Of land, and
they are reaching out all the time for
more. Wheat and corn have been top
ping the market at such prices that
nearly every fellow is crazy to go into
raising them on a big scale. And they
have the money and the Intelligence 10
do it and do it profitably.
Fright here is where invention comes
in. On the ordinary farm, where two
or three men with the same number OF
teams of horses can do all the work, 1t
isn't really necessary to call on the
machine man for artificial aid, but
when the farming is done on big
scale it pays better to buy tractlon
engine. These are not the ordinary
big clumsy attachments to threshing
outfits, but compactly built little 1el-
lows, with gasolene as the motive
power.
with them there Is no need OF get
ting out at ungodly hours in the morn
ing to feed and water lot Of animals.
Five minutes work fills the tank and
makes the machine ready to do your
ploughing, narrowing or cultivating.
1.-The first cost of these engines Is
pretty steep. from 1000 up, but it costs
less to run them than it does to feed
horses, and they never get balky. They
last longer than the average work.
horse and they do ten times as much
work in day.
"Out in Nebraska I ran across a fell
low with a gang plough, five in a row,
hitched to one of these little engines,
and it was steadily moving across the
hundred-acre field and tearing up the
sod at a lively rate. This same man
told me that when it came to harrow
ing he tackled on two or three pig ones
and did the job in a fourth of the form
er time.
potatoes are planted and dug up
with these engines. In planting a large
dropper is used and in digging them
special kind of plough is employed.
when it comes time in the fall to
thresh the engine is coupled to sep
arator and the job is done in short Or
der. If it is necessary during the win
ter to grind feed for the cattle it is but
the work of a few minutes to fire up
and start the mill. When grain is to pe
hauled to market several farm wagons
are attached and the procession moves
off"
There is scarcely thing about farm
work that these machines will not do,
and they are growing more popular
every year. The average farmer
thought the acme of comfort and per-
fection had been reached in the sulky
plough and the riding cultivator. which
saved him many weary steps and 1t
has not been without considerable trou-
BILE that he has been induced to take
up the traction engine.
Hundreds of these are now being
manufactured ana sold every year.
The company sends an agent out to
show the farmer how to run the affair
and how to employ it in various labor
saving ways. 1t doesn't take long to
learn this, and the cost of keeping one
running is only a few cents an hour.