The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1906-02-23

Just now machinery men are drum
lmiilg farmers and are calling attention
especially to steam plows. With the
price OF horses away up in the afr,
farmers are naturally interested and no
doubt there will be many North Da4
kota farmers who will purchase steam
Iplows this year. nj i, :..s 4 .sss 55
A, b Greig, a Canadian farmer, has
given the subject uof blowing BY steam
considerable thought and is the author
of fthe following letter. which recently
appeared in The, Orange Judd Farmer
There are two systems of cultiyating
land by steam, first that of the traction
engine drawing implements behind it
and second, the double engine or cable
system On which two engines are used,
the rlow or other implement being, ptlll-
ed to and fro by means of steel cables.
l ne former system has, however, taken
bold in Canada, although few of the
latter have been introduced The OUT
mt TOR traction engine plowing consists
OF traction engine, tepder and combined
ploW hitch. gang plow, tafk and coal
wagon" i he men generally employed
are an engineer, assistant, plowrflan and
teamSter -. - + sI&is$'F, ,s35;
The introduction of this system into
Canada was, no doubt, due to the fact
that farmers found it difficult to cope
with the Large areas and the heavy work
OF breaking without increasing the NUM-
Der: OF their horses, a source of great
expense in the winter without giving
any return. So that those owning trac-
tlJn engines commenced TO employ them
IN conjunction with the ordinary gang
(plows for fall blowing and from this
they got on to breaking, then. came,
trouble. The engines were not con-
structed for heavy pulling as breaking
demands and the result was the gears,
etc, commenced to break, much time
was lost, little work done and heavy
bills for repairs came in. In conse-
quence, many have condemned steam
blowing. | am, however, convinced that
farmers owning ordinary threshing.
traction engines OF eighteen to twenty
FIVE horse power, would in great many
instances derive considerable benefit
from their use for blowing. To do this
| would suggest their replacing the cast
iron gears with steel, adding extension
rings to the drawing wheels, using a
plow suited to the size of the engine
and not expect to plow the whole farm
up in day. AS steam ploWing has de-
veloped the size and weight of the en-
gine has increased, "a somewhat mixed
blessing. The argument used in favor
OF the large engine is that it does not
require any more men to run it than
the smallersone True, but this is not
the only point one has to consider.
There are many fields where the smaller
engine could be at work that the big
one could not negotiate at all. /, Is.
Then. again, when we come to thresh-
ing, we have a much more powerful en-.
gine than is necessary and not by any
means SO handy. i would much prefer,
on a large farm. to have two ordinary
sized engines, constructed, of course,
for steam cultivating purposes. Break
downs will happen with large or small
engines and should one be thrown out,
the. other would be doing. something,
and not leave the farmer entirely in
the hole. Then again, with the addition
of a separator, the threshing would be
run through in bali the time and the
engines get back to work on the fall
plowing. s1sl, ss22.@ y,
The greatest objection have to very
heavy engines is that they are so COM
pressing, the land that they have not
only to develop more power to propel
themselves, but they are increasing the
work to be done by the ploW. If the
land is at all sticky the soil will be
turned UP in great humps, which will
again increase the after operations upon
it before it is reduced to a good seed
bed. s. i I'd 8
There is no doubt but that the trou-.
BE IN keeping the ploW iii the ground
ISL sdtle to the hard and uneven surface.
caused by the wheels of the heavy en-
gine. The result of this is that the
ploWsE are becoming heavier aud heay-
ier. The land to be operated on is the
same as would be broken by the horse
ploW, then why SO much heavier for.
steam? Not merely on account of the
greater speed or the unlimited power
of the engine bit to cut through that
portion of the ground which has been
compressed by the engine wheels.
The drawback to the heavy engines.
may not be felt so much lin breaking
prairie, but after the land has become
cultivated. What would be the use Of