Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-30
AUTOMOBILES.
X-ON THE FARM.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

No phase Of the automobile industry
promises more for the future than the
general adoption of power-propelled
vehicles on the farms of the country.
1t has been demonstrated time and
again that the automobile on the farm
is a paying investment. Wherever
it has been adopted in the rural COM
munities it has added much to the
rapidity with which the farm work
may be done. Those who have made
use Of il declare that next to the tele-
phone it gives the farmer more ad-
vantages than any other innovation
since the rise of harvesting machinery.
The main difficulty confronting the
automobile manufacturer in getting his
machine into the hands OF the farmer
has been the ultraconservative tenden-
cies Of this large army Of Americans.
The average farmer is especially con-
sentative in the matter Of paying out
his hard-earned dollars. While he may
use the produce Of his farm with what
seems sometimes to be profiigacy. he
dislikes to buy anything which costs
him an actual outlay of money. He
thinks nothing of feeding his stock so
we'll that they literally roll in fat,
even Wnen grain Is on Genus Dusuci
and hay is $40 a ton. But if he has
to buy hay and grain different COM
plexion is placed upon the situation.
1t Is here that a new magic circle has
been established. The law permitting
the use of denatured alcohol for in
dustrial purposes has opened a new
field of hope for the farsighted auto
mobile manufacturer. The farmer may
now grow potatoes and may utilize the
small ones for making denatured alco-
LII &c. ~ h0r
ever this has been tried 1T has been
demonstrated that 1t costs less to
manufacture enough alcohol to take
the place Of a horse than 1t does to
keep the horse. 1t doubtless will re-
quire years to get the conservative
farmer to act upon this well proved
theory, but it is believed by many
students of farm economics that in the
course of the coming decade or two
hundreds of thousands Of farmers will
adopt this method of securing power
for their farm work in preference to
the use of the horse.
It is estimated that there are nearly
30 OOO, 900 horses and mules in the United
States, and that
Takes Five Acres it takes the
to Keep the Horse. ave- acres re of
land to keep each one. The emanc; patton
of the land from the burden OF supporting
the horses would make available many
millions of acres for other purposes. VI
course, some of this land would be re-
quired for growing the potatoes from
which to make the alcohol. The net re-
suit, however, would be great saving
in the number Of acres required to fur
nish the farm power Of the United States
That the farmer may be somewhat JUS
titled in his conversation in not adopt. ing
the farm tractor for all farm purposes
is shown by few statistics of the pres
ent annual up-keep account Of the auto
mobile in the United States. leading
trade authority calculates that the pres
ent-day value Of the automobiles in this
country in money aggregates more than
double the total cost of the Panama ca
nal It is estimated that the tire and
inner tube bill of the acknowledgements
to $36,0OO.OOO year. The gasoline used
| in 1912 will cost, authorities estimate
| nearly much as it costs to maintain
the American army. Adding to this So
purposes, it will be seen that the expense
| account for automobile operation, leaving
out the matter Of repairs and deprecla-
ton, is a very heavy one.
The versatility Of the farm tractor Is
one Of the most remarkable features OF
the whole automobile business. Many Oh
them are so constructed that they can
haul a good-sized train Of loaded wagons
to market one day, the next day serve
mower for the operation Of thrashing
mach ne or a woodsaw and the following
day draw a series of harrows. rollers ana
drills over a large field While the larhi
tractor is being most widely useo IN tie
middle west, on the Pacinc coast anu III
the wheat-raising districts or Cahdaa, II
Is along with the pleasure car, gradually
| coming into it's own in the other sections
Of the country.
The worlds record for plowing has
| t..r made nv an oil-driven tractor, tried
out at
Tractor Now Holds Purd u e
Worlds Flowing Record. Hauling a
unit of fifty plows. three OF these tractors
recently plowed stubble field at that
indiana institution at the rate Of an
| core every four and one-quarter minutes.
Tn. three tractors, working together,
were found to have a greater capacity
than the three working singly. This is
explained by the fact that blowing re-
ouires a great deal Of reserve force, and
that the reserve force Of one is prac-
ticallv sufficient for all three. The trac-
tors in this experiment were operated
m a low grade of kerosene distillate,