The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-15
FARM MACHINERY.
Its Value to the Farmer Has Become
 Beyond Computation.

Beyond Computation.
 Take the very beginning of the grain production, the ploughing. There has come into use a plough that is radically different from those of the old days. says the Tribune Farmer. It i5 composed of rolling cutters. like great steel saul cers, that turn and puIverize the ground and provide a better tillage than the old forms of making a regulation furrow. It is especially of use in the sandy soils of the prairies. The sulky ploughs of the West are of a newer construction than those of old, being lighter of draft and with many added Improvements of lev CTS and other appliances that make it easy for boys to manage them.
 Many farmers are now putting in their corn without a plough. They utilize the lister, an implement that digs a great furrow and plants the corn at the same time in the bottom of the deep ditch like stretch. The corn comes up later on with great earth ridges between the rows, but as the season advances the heaped up earth Is pulled down until, when the corn is ready for laying by," the field is level. This method makes only one operation of corn planting and hence satisfies the Western farmers idea of economy of effort.
 The sowing of small grains has also
  measured step of the sower as he walk ed up and down the field. casting in a fine shower the seed grain, to the dis persion of the seed from a scatterer, mounted on wagon and operated by a belt attached to the wagon wheel, was one step. Now the drill does the work. But it is not the drill of other days there are scores of Improvements. Some have deep-running tiny ploughs that put Io rollers following the seed dropper to press the soil above; others seek to leave the ground thoroughly pulverized. All sorts of grain, except corn. are now sown with the drill, and even some varities of corn, when planted for fodder are thus placed in the ground. As the listed corn is in rows only one way it Is frequently the case that a farmer has nowhere on his place field showing the familiar checkerboard patterns of old.
 In tending his crops the modern far mer has bewildering array of imple- ments offered to him. Dozen of cultiva- tors, weed cutters, Jewellers and pulver- izes promise to do everything that the growing plants need On each of them is a seat for the driver. and the manipu- lation of levers is so simple that the farm lad can do a mans work If the fields are not kept as smooth as a gar den 1t Is no fault of the implement deal CT.
 While the conveniences and time-sav- CTS for planting and tending crops are many, those for the gathering period are yet more perfect and embrace a wider range of improvement. It is patent that he who saves the larger portion of the crop Is the winner-this it is that crowns the year.
 Two general classes of machines are used in the modern wheat harvest-the binder and the header. The self-binder is familiar as the modern type of harvesting machine. Drawn by three, four or five horses, according to the condition of the straw, and soil, it cuts the grain. ties each bundle firmly with twine, knots the twine, clips the cord and throws the bundle to one side, out of the way of the next course of the horses. High grain or low grain, level sand or side hills, 1t does it's work well. The header Is a distinctly Western implement, practicable where each field has hundreds of acres and where there is no desire to preserve the straw-only to gather the grain as rapidly as possible It's swift moving knives are lifted high, cutting the straw only a lit- tie below the head and so saving the grain. Oats and other small grains that can be handled with binder and header are also gathered in this manner Larger BrOWtnS must De harvested OlueTWiSe
 Then comes the thrashlng. On many Western farms it IS simultaneous with the harvest, the grain being hauled di- rectly to the thrashing machine as 1t comes from the field. In any event 1t is not delayed, for danger or fire and storm makes it expedient to transfer the grain to safer quarters The housewife of old dreaded the thrashing season. The small boys of the family likewise were dis tressed. In addition to driving horses on the tiresome round of the horse pow er there was dusty, dragging work at the end of the straw carrier or at the table. The modern thrashing outfit Is revelation.
 The expense of wheat production, as in- dicated by several hundred inquiries among Western farmers during the pres ent year Is as follows
 Flowing Cor diskng) ..................N % t1drro wing e. ....,-...'''''.'.'' 70 Seed and seeding ..........'.......... go Harvesting and stacking .............. l IS Thrashlng and putting in car (2O
 pusnelS) ...... ...........'''..''''''' l oI wear of tools e. ......................,.. Zi Kent or interest ......................... O6
 Total per acre. or 20 bushels ........S 65
 With a sale of 20 bushels of wheat at 75 farmer has