The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-03-02
OnaI OmO
Highway


tain points here and there In the fields,
and 1t is the opinion of many of the
most progressive farmers that within
Il very few years there will be moth
ing out In the open that n truck or
engine cannot handle more cheaply
and better. Already traction engines
are doing the most of the blowing
and doing it far better, breaking
ground that is too hard for a horse
to break. When ii comes to speed.
for long Journeys or short, about the
farm or around the neighhoring coun-
try. or carting heavy loads. there is no
comparison. The horse is so out
ctassed that the Western farmer who
has no motor vehicle is beginning to
he hopelcssly handicapped.
The farmer has this advantage: He
is his own chauffeur and his own me-
chantcal expert and there are few
cases where his truck or car is not
operated to perfection and run at the
minimum of cost and with almost no
repairs at all. The manufacturers
have found these new patrons an in
teresting study Comparatively these
country folks to the west of the Mis-
sissippi river are the best buyers of
motor vehicles today. A farmer must
he very poor or very old-faslaiened
not to have truck or car Of some
sort. II is with him half question
| of pride, half of good business, and
the new dispensation has made farm
ing much more profitable and much
/ more pleasant
The motor truck and even the ordi~
nary car has made a great difference
with the farmer boy The farm is
infinitely more interesting than in the
old horse days There is nothing that
( has done SO much to arrest the move
ment of the young men on the farms
toward the city as the installation
( of power trucks, Farming by the aid
of machinery like this seems to lose
all it's monotony and toll 1t be-
/ comes q fascinating pursuit quite as
scientific as q great factory in city,
and the hoy on the farm sees new
/ possibilities of efficiency opening, pro-
4 duction at small percentage of the
/ old-time cost, and improved methods
/ of marketing. He has a vision of a
| farm many times larger than his
/ fathers and secs himself a great fac
/ tor and a man of fortune in the new
mechanical agricultural era.
The farmer OF the West is not sat
I isfied with one type or kind of motor
vehicle. He quickly gets beyond the
stage Of n single car or truck and
sees money in fleet" each adapt
ed TO some special purpose Along
( with scientific farming has come the
study on the part of each owner 10
save time and labor cost and elini~
nate lost motion as much as possible.
Thus the progressive man nowadays
who has q sufficient number of acres
gets a traction engine for blowing and
for hauling his wheat, or whatever his
crop may be. to the railroad for ship
ment. Ho may do even better: in
stall smaller trucks in addition for
carrying bis produce speedily In any
event, ne will have, besides, several
smaller cars and q bout for his
own use In visiting his fields and su-
perintendnE Nobody walks over a
Western farm in these motor days. 1t
takes too much time and uses up al
together too much energy The big
and powerful engines do the heavy
and rough work. lighter vehicles make
the trips to market. yet still lighter
vehicles carry the workers to and fro
and run The errands that are needed.
Often half a days time can be saved
by hurried trip into the nearest
town.
The saving is enormous With his
motor vehicles the modern farmer
can split his labor cost practically
in half, Take blowing on the big
farms. With horses and men the cost
per acre could not be pushed below
seventy cents. Any good motor trac-
tor now does It for forty cents, and
has the advantage of being able to
plow ground that Is too hard for
horses and men to turn up without
immense labor.--Thaddeus S. Dayton,
in Harper's Weekly.
Factory-Trained In Service.
The Stearns company OF Cleveland,
In behalf of owners of Stearns- knight
cars. announces 1t has a nationwide
organization of field service men train
ed at the Stearns plant, so the Arm
can place al the disposal Of the own
er of a car at any point in the United
States a skilled mechanic who has
specialized on the construction of the
Stearns- Knight car.
These men are brought to Cleve-
land from the agencies, and the ex-
pensc of their training is met entirely
by the manufacturer. The men are
paid for their service when working
in the plant. The movement is de-
pendent upon thoroughly organized
school conducted at the plant. in
which the mechanics work on all
parts of the car and get special lee
lures and blackboard talks at night.
National No. sim 10 and Doing.
The first gasoline National car built
is still doing daily service, according
to word received from George NJ
Dickson, general manager OF the Ma
tional company at indianapolis. A
Wenz, IIallam, Neb., says: After be-
ing through many a smashup it was
rebuilt three or -four years ago by A.
j. Goodban. Of Cortland. Neh 1t is
considered today one of the fastest
cars in the country and is still in first