Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-05-27
THE MAN AND MACHINE ON THE FARM.
A Farmer with One Man and Good Machinery
Can Do More and Better Work Than He
Formerly Could with the Aid Of Half Dozen
( Men Without Machinery.

Many centuries ago men piowsd
with a crooked stick and reapod Win
a sickle. they are doing the same
thing in the same way today In some
part. Of tho world but not In America
The development Of farm machin-
cry has been very slow. The modern
reaper IL only about nifty years old.
The automobile binder came into use
az late as 1877. Gasoline engines on
the farm were practically unknown
ten years ago and the disc harrow,
that most useful Of farm implements
has been used only since 1854.
The modern grainheader is q new
machine. Our old friend Pliny de-
scribes a header which was used
centuries ago. II was a large hollow
frame armed with teeth for driving
through standing grain 80 that the
heads were torn off and fell into the
frame. That is pretty good de-
scription OF the modern header. In
Pliny's time q slave and an OK could
harvest as much as an acre Z day II
they worked hard.
The first reaper was propelled by
horses or oxen and It was death to
animals It took four horses or two
yoke of oxen to drag the heavy
wooden machinery through the grain
and q man walked along side to drag
the bundles of with a rake.
The principles Of the first reaper
are I'M use today, with improvements
on the details. First was added seat
for the man who raked of the
bundles, then followed the self-raker.
The first harvesting machine met
with great opposition because It was
believed that the use of them would
put the farm laborer out Of business.
It took long time to overcome tho
prejudice against these machines, just
as it did to remove the objections to
the sewing machine. the cotton gin.
the automobile and almost every other
labor-saving invention.
The first power brought to the aid
OF man came from the wind and
the water. The wind was harnessed
to sails and the wind mill was born,
but 1t took two hundred years to de-
vise practical machine driven by
gas or coal or wood. The water
wheel has been In use for hundreds
OF years and is still In use In many
parts Of this country, doing its work
slowly, 1t is true, but thoroughly well.
The horsepower sweep Is only a
little more than a hundred years OLD
This was conaidered a wonderful inn
provsmer1t over wind power and the
water-wheel and men thought they
had reached the limit OF power and
invention.
Electricity as applied to power is
only Is years old. 1t is now used on
thousands OF farms where the supply
from electric railways or other large
plants is available, but the cost Of in
stallation and tho high price Of cleo
tricity has so far prevented rapid
DEVELOPMENT for farm work.
The gas engine dates from 1871. but
It was not brought into economical and
practical uso until 1882. During the
past thirty years hundreds Of patents
have been issued for gas engines ana
they are now used on thousands Of
farms in nearly every state In the
Union.
The fuel used In gas engines Is gas
oline and the cost of running these
machines has been so greatly reduced
during the past ten years. and they
are made in such a large variety Of
sizes that they are available to almost
every farmer, no matter what his re-
ouirements may be. Tho traction
en- cine has been a potent factor In tho