The Green Forest tribune., 1910-02-18
PREPARING FOR GRAIN CROP
Small Farmers Should Club Together and Buy All Necessary Machines
 for Harvesting.

A beautiful fall season, the high price of food stuffs, and the live at home" campaign which has been waged with our farmers have all con spired to cause more people to sow grain this season than 1 have ever known to do in any year heretofore. It is true that a number of people have made the mistake of not sowing, for which they will be duly sorry next summer, but the great increase in acreage of small grains makes it i'm portant that the people begin now to make arrangements for harvesting and threshing it. Do not make the mis- take of waiting until the crop is ready to harvest, nor the mistake of suppOs ing that you can hire somebody when the time comes" It is not safe to count on any one but yourself liar vest time is a busy time in the cot ton and corn fields, and labor will be scarce and difficult to procure.
 The old way of saving wheat and oats with cradles, and hay with scythes is better than no way at all but they are too slow and too extray- agant for our day A binder will save enough wheat which the very best cradle would lose to pay more than the cost of harvest mower is an absolute farm necessity.
 Begin now to arrange for bineer or mower, or both, if you have n@ne. There are thousands of small farmers who have not and who possibly will not SOW enough wheat to justify the expense of a binder for their individ- ual crops. In such ease two or Ghree or more neighbors should club to- gether to purchase binder. Also to buy mower and hay rake Ii they have none. Care should be taken that too many do not go in together on these tools, as each is mere than apt to want to use the machines about the same time. Three men would be better than a great number, but it were better to have six or eight buy binder jointly than attempt to save their crops with cradles.
 After your grain is harvested are you sure that you can get 1t threshed promptly? It costs too much to have your grain stand in shocks or poorly constructed stacks for months wait ing for a thresher It would be much 1 better to have a whole neighborhoOd form a joint stock company to buy one of the little combination thresh- ing outfits run by gasoline engine. They are simple, easily handled and | a 1tfrNr and do the work as well as the very largest outfits. In buying the thresh- | ing outfit a larger number of parties can cooperate than in the purchase of a binder. A dozen men who will put in $50 each will own the 1 threshing outfit complete, and the tolls saved will in short time repay the money. By all means. unless there is thresher in your immediate vicinity, get busy at once organizing a company to purchase one.
 The ideal place to begin this move ment is in your local union. Nearly all the men in the local union be come stockholders in the threshing outfit. Among the members several | SiIe1ilSi SOnipe'illSS iol lHc pul Cid9t of binders or mowers could be organ ized. By placing the orders together better terms will be secured from the manufacturers. Raise the money ii possible. and approach the manufac turer with the proposition to buy a thresher or two, three or more bind CTS, paying spot cash for same, and see how they will work for your order.
 In buying binders for the southern country it is best not to get too large a machine. The seven and eight foot cuts are all right for the prairie lands, but six foot or under is better suited for our lands and our stock.
 Better do it now than be sorry next l summer that you did not