The Washington herald., 1913-10-26
H1pention Frightening
The Farmers Future

tne Iarm per AGRICULTURAL worker. sup
pose. for example. that there were a, sat
isfactory machine for picking ears OF
corn on the stalks. We are bound 10
have such a machine before very long.
Already there are rough attempts at
contrivance for the purpose. Doing the
work well and rapidly. il will save time
and money. and the farmer will be Just
so much richer.
Mechanical C0tton PicI<ers.
The mechanical cotton picker is GER
tain to arrive in the near future. A
the present time earnest and persistsnr
efforts are being made to develop such
machine. One contrivance for the pur-
pose has two big wide-tread wheels, with
an axle high enough to pass over the
cotton plants. As IL is drawn through
the neld a revolving plunger carrying
steel or1stles thrust out horizontally.
catching and entangiing the cotton.
which. when the plunger is withdrawn,
drops into a box.
Another machine Is operated by two
men. who, as they ride along. hold in
their hands revolving belts which carry
bristles. These belts they poke at the
cotton bolls; the bristles catch up the
cotton. and the latter, m reaching the
other end of the belt, Is raked on by a
row of teeth into a sack
A third machine works somewhat on
the principle Of vacuum cleaner. 1t car
ries suction apparatus, to which half
dozen long rubber tubes are attached.
Six men walk behind with these tubes,
which are about two inches in diameter,
pointing them at the cotton bolls. Up
the tubes flies the cotton. But the trou-
Bile with this device seems to be that it
sucks too much, often taking in dirt and
dry bolls together with the cotton
Cotton planting requires little labor.
but to pick a field of cotton is an enor-
nous task. Hence II comes about that
the amount Of cotton q man can produce
is limited not by the number of acres he
can seed and cultivate. but by the guam
tity he can pick. The average farm
family in the South. consisting of five
persons, can pick.seven bales In a season
800 pounds to the bale. At ordinary
prices. these seven bales fetch $50 half
Of which goes for rent-farmers who
grow nothing but cotton are too poor TO
own land-and an additional IS for the
tenants half of the fertilizer bill. This
leaves only $50 per annum for the sups
port of the family and the farm mule.
Obviously, the time of a man who
works with a steam shovel is more val
liable than the time of a man who works
with a spade. Other things being equal
the earning capacity Of an agricultural
worker Is in proportion to the amount of
power he employs. Perhaps the principal
reason for the cotton farmers poverty is
that he uses so little power-thst is to,
say. the power represented by one 600
pound mule
Multiplying the Crop.
When a satisfactory eotton-picling
machine is invented. an average farm
family in the South will be able to pro-
duce forty bales OF cotton in a season.
instead OF seven bales. The limit of
production will then be set. not by pick
ing capacity, but by the amount that
the family can plant and cultivate It.
stead Of one soo-pound mule. the grower
will use two big horses. By this simple
mechanical means the cotton farmer
will be lifted out OF the pauper class.
In the State Of Washington wheat is
grown even more exclusively-L E., to
the exclusion Of other crops-than cot
ton in the South But there power is
brought into play. What Is the result?
One man. using six horse team. can
grow 80 acres Of wheat At thirty
bushels to the acre, this means a total
OF L5Oo bushels And be can do it with
out hiring a days labor.
He can make money because he uses
a lot OF power. Take It on a basis of
days wages. A man with six horses
plows fye acres a day. At $50 an
acre, he earns $50. The cotton farmer.
with his mule, pIows poorly half an
acre per diem, or 75 cents worth. He
earns one-tenth as much, and his family
Is always on the ragged edge of starva-
ton The wheat grower. on the other
hand, rides in an automobile and owns
residence in town. His 4,5OO bushels
n hFNG Lal
If he gets only so cents, the return is
s2,7Oo.
We want a weed-killing machine, and
We are going to have it before very
long. Doing the work thoroughly and
cheaply, 1t will greatly lessen the cost
or producing tomatoes, potatoes, corn.
caboages, and other ''intertilled" crops.
1t should be understood that the main
object in the cultivating of corn after
It has started growing is to kill the
weeds. Formerly the notion was that
the process Of cultivation broke I'D the
capillary tubes in the surface soil, and
thus prevented the moisture from ris-
ing to the surface and evaporating. But
We know now that this was a mistake.
The moisture has no tendency to come
up. because the roots OF the corn alb
sorb il.
Picking Peas by Machinery.
Among other coming and much
needed machines is one that will gath
er the seed pods of cowpeas from the
vines. When it arrives the farmer, his
crop easily and quickly harvested, can
nlow the vines under the soil for a
fertilizer.
Let US not forget, in a discussion
like this. crop SO vastly important as
hay. Much loss to the hay crop, while
Il Is curing. is caused by rain. which
dissolves out more or less Of the SOL
uble nutrients contained in the hay
and diminishes its palatability. Dam
aged hay sells for low price. But re-
cent experiments have shown that
fresh. green alfalfa, IL taken imme-
iiately after II is cut and put into a
kiln to dry quick is converted in a few
minutes into the most wonderful hay
aver known. 1t retains its green col
or. anc is much better relished by
stock than hay cured in the ordinary
way.
1t Is evident that when a method
Is devised for artificially curing hay
On a wholesale scale Immediately after
cutting. at low cost. great quantities
of hay that are lost under present