The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-01-05
~ ISAAC L. TOTEM.

Several years ago a Canadian far
mer by the name OF Kemp got fool
notion into his head that hauling out
manure to be spread by hand with a
fork was hard job. He didn't like the
way his back behaved. OF the way his
wrist felt along about four O'Clock on
the day he began the sI~ing and fall
hauling: and he didn't seem to enjoy
that stiff-in-every join; feeling that we
all experience the "morning after
In order that he nigh relieve him
self of large part OF this tedious.
back breaking job, he rugged up an old
two-wheel OX-cart to do the work OF
spreading for him. Across the rear end
of the cart box he placed !. crude affair
of a cylinder something like the cyln-
der of a threshing machine, only his
was a roughly constructed wood cyl
inder into which he had driven several
spikes for teeth. This cylinder was
hung in bearings SO that it would re-
volve when made to do SO by means
of sprockets and sprocket chains
that transmitted power to it from the
cart wheel. We cannot recall just how
he moved the manure back to the cyl
Under; but he got it there sOmeway and
! when he put the outfit into action II
did bully good job Of spreading the
manure. In fact. it did the work bet
ter than farmer Kemp had been doing
it with the pitch fork.
| II we have been correctly informed
this tWo-wheel oX-cart contraption was
the frst mechanical manure spreadel
made. 1t was the prototype of the
many thousands of manure spreaders
that are in use today.
From the time that first oX-car,
spreader was made to the present time
a period of many years is represented
In the attempt to perfect any kind O
machine there is lot of time con
sumed in experimenting; consequent
ly, in developing the spreader it hac
to be tried out in all kinds of manure
under various conditions. Not onl!
must a machine of this kind.do suita
BILE work. but it must do it economical
ly. That is, it must show conclusivel.
that it will save time or labor and no
cost more to keep in repair than wha
it is really worth to the farmer to b'
\ relieved of the dreaded manure haul
ing job.
We often remark that some people
have as many notions or ideas as {
dog has fleas; and no doubt, if w
could see the various types of ma
chimes that were made to handle sta
BILE manure, and could be shown tn
many changes in construction tina
have been necessary to develop the OK
cart to the standard type of manure
spreader of today, we would have tt
dig up a comparison other than thu
dog and flea one to give anything lik,
a fair idea of the number of ideas thu
spreader.
Manure spreaders have been manu-
featured for the past thirty six years
but the present volume of trade o
the machine has been developed with
in the past nine or ten years. 1t wa
to the Indifferent attitude and the re
luctance recognized by the farmer o
the merits of the spreader that it
introduction was delayed and it's de
velopment retarded.
! Mr.. Kemp deserved considerabl,
credit as the father of this wonderful
machine The many thousands Of man
ure spreaders that are in use tOda.
aiding the farmer to enrich his sol
so that more bountiful crops can b.
grown pay tribute to Mr.. Kemp ant
his ox-cart spreader contraption.
Although there may be room for i'm
provement in the present type Of man
ure spreader. yet We believe that N
farm equipment should be considere,
complete today without one or NOR
according to the size of the farm ant
the size of the manure pile that &C
lcumulates.
The labor saving feature of tn
lspreader is strong recommendation
for its use. when so many of use ar
dependent on our own selves to do tn
farm work We must make every mir
ute and every move count. and w
must do our work in the easiest Wa
possible to preserve our strength an
good health.
!, II there is job on the farm, tina
has a greater tendency than the mar
ure hauling job to give us that &c
like-to-sit-down feeling" we are at
loss to think Of it now. Let us see no,
the manure hauling job goes withou
the spreader. We hitch the team to tn
wagon and haul it around behind tn
barn to the pile that has accumulated
The work does not seem so bad d
first; and. il we have help we ca
joke and laugh, and tell stories an
discuss politics and religion for
while without the least bit of ill fee
ings. And We take particular pain
while unloading the first few load
to scatter the manure just as even an