El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-10-26

present generation agricultural ma
chinery has undergone a development
little short of the miraculous. Yet
other cOntrivances for wholly different
purposes are badly needed, and 1t is
gratifying to know that the efforts
which ingenious minds are even now
making to create them give excellent
promise of success in the near future
Potato Digging Machine Helpful.
Take the potato digger for nlustra-
ton The major part of the work in
volved in the production of potatoes IS
in the gathering of the crop. There
are potato digging machines. but they
are expensive, and it is necessary to
hire a lot of people to pick potatoes up
What is needed is a machine that will
dig the potatoes, pick them up. knock
the dirt off them, and sort them into
sizes, automatically. Sooner or later
We. shall have such a continuance,
which will save an enormous amount
of labor and will increase proportion
ately the acreage of potatoes q given
number Of men can cultivate.
The way to make the farmer a richer
man is to place in his hands such ma
chinery as will increase the output OF
the farm per agricultural worker. Sup
pose, for example. that there were a
of corn off the stalk. We are bound to
have such 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 viii be just
so much richer.
Mechanical Cotton Picker Next.
The mechanical cotton picker is GER
tain to arrive in the near future. AT
the present time earnest and persistent
efforts are being made to develop such
a machine.
Cotton planting requires little labor,
but to pick field of cotton is an enor-
nous task. Hence it comes about that
a n ma 90 al
is limited not to the number of acres
he can seed and cultivate, but by the
quantity he can pick The average
farm family in the south, consisting OF
five persons, can pick seven bales in
a SeaSon-50O pounds to the bale At
ordinary prices, these seven bales fetch
$500, half Of which goes for rent-farm-
ers who grow nothing but cotton are
too poor to own land-and an addi-
tional S25 for the tenants half of the
fertilizer bill This leaves only $50
per annum for the support of the fam
lily and the farm mule.
Would Help the Small Farmer.
When a satisfactory cotton picking
machine is invented, an average farm
family in the south will be able to pro-
auce 40 bales OF cotton in a season.
instead of seven, bales The limit of
production will then be set, not by
picking capacity, but by the amount
that the family can plant and cultivate
instead OF one 500 pound mule, the
this simple mechanical means the cot
ton farmer Will be lifted out of the
pauper class.
In the state of Washington wheat is
grown even more exclusively to the
exclusion of other crop-than cotton
IN the south. But there power is
brought into play What is the re-
suit? One man using a six horse team
can grow 16O acres of wheat At 80
bushels to the acre, this means a to-
tai of 1900 bushels And he can do if
without hiring a days labor
Wheat Growers Solve Problem.
He can make money because he uses
a lot of power. Take it on a basis of
days wages A man with six horses
Dlows five acres a day. At $3.50 an
acre he earns $3.50. 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 fam
lily is always on the ragged edge of
starvation. The wheat grower. on the
other hand. rides IN an automobile and
owns a residence in town. His 1900 |