Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-02-28
MODERN METHODS IN
FARM CULTIVATION
High Cost Of Living Reduced by
Scientific Use Of Improved
Machinery on Land
BY $. $. MORTON,
Mechanical Expert, Morton Truck d
Tractor Co.

In reply TO the request of "a
Reader" in your issue of February 20,
relative to more detailed explanation
of the plans and process of a modern
method of accomplishing more and
better results from the farm. To do
this work requires the following
I equipment for four hundred acre
farm.
The first and most important is nee
essarily the power which consists of
a small four wheel drive tractor with
open faced wheels which will not pack
I tne ground and at the same time has
a tendency to puverize it instead. On
TINS Is mounted 40 horsepower oil or
gasoline motor, together with a small
generator for the purpose of driving
an electric motor on the other ma
chimes, which may be used when not
! otherwise needed for electric lighting
purposes. Next in order is four
bottom gang plow capable of plowing
ten to f1fteen acres per day at a con-
sumption of two gallons Of fuel per
acre and which requires but one man
TO do the work; next is a double disc
narrow twelve feet wide which thor
oughly levels and pulverizes from
twenty to thirty acres per day with
but gallon of fuel per acre. The
combined seeder and planter likewise
| twelve feet wide suitable for any kind
of grain and fertilizer or three rows
! OF corn covering eighteen to twenty
four acres per day with but gallon
OF fuel per acre requiring two men.
To work or cultivate the grain in
rows requires motor tricycle. cult
vator which is easily operated by one
man ana consumes less than one gal
| Ion per acre for fifteen acre day.
For cutting the grain and grass we
use twelve foot cutter bar attached
TO the tractor equipped with an cleo
trlc motor deriving it's power through
an insulated wire from the generator
on said tractor we have an attach
ment for the cutting of wheat and oats
which arranges the grain in a swath
four TO five feet wide to dry, and will
cut from twenty to thirty acres per
day at an average of one gallon per
| acre.
our thresher is equipped with an
electric motor attached to the cylinder
and is driven by a current from the
| generator on the tractor. The thresher
Is drawn by the tractor and is pro-
! vided with feeding elevator which
lifts the grain drops 1t in the cylinder
! and as the grain is separated it runs
through the elevator to a tank wagon
which is, also, attached to the tractor,
| leaving the straw in a window which
! is afterwards gathered by a hayloader
on large fiat farm wagon The tank
wagon for the grain has a capacity
! OF 100 bushels which when filled after
detaching the thresher from the en-
! gine, the said grain tank is conveyed
to the grainery which is provided with
an electric portable elevator, which
will deposit the grain in the upper
part of the grainery at the rate of ten
bushels per minutes. We can thresh and
store from eighteen to twenty-four
acres per day, depending somewhat on
the distance the grain must be hauled,
consuming two gallons per acre and
use of two men.
For harvesting the corn, the stock
is cut by hand Immediately above
the ear and preserved which part left
standing dries and afterwards is gath
cred by a machine which cuts the
stock close to the ground and passes
through the husker and is elevated
| to the tank wagon and carried through
the same process of unloading as de-
scribed above. The stalks which fall
to the ground after passing through
the husker are gathered as fuel by
the hayloader and conveyed to a con-
venient place close where the grain Is
! prepared and scalded as food for the
animals. This process requires two
men and is capable in average corn of
putting away twelve acres per day
and will consume about two and one
nan Siliolo pei Ills ACCOUNTS
for three hundred acres leaving 100
acres to be used in grass, potatoes,
etc, and which this equipment is cal
culated to take care of and which is
| the most profitable.
| Speaking of the equipment. we in
clude the tractor, plows, harrows,
seeder and planter, motor tricycle.
cultivator, cutter-bar with attachment
| threSher, loader, unloader, tank wa
gon and platform wagon, portable
electric elevator and corn husker and
picker. This equipment is separate
from the machine used to grind, scald
and prepare the grain for food but
the same power is used to do the
work.
You will notice by this process that
the grain is raised and elevated to
the grainery with less cost, but little
labor than 1t would cost by the old
method to plow the ground. We elimi-
nate the handling of sheaves and
straw by hand, the feeding of gang
! of threshermen, buying of twine to
bind the grain, the sacking and carry
ing the grain and keeping of q dozen
or more horses over the winter.
There are many other detailed de-
scriptions into which we might enter,
regarding the construction of the
grainery and the grinding and scald-
ing process which we shall be glad
to do upon request of any who are
interested, and we submit figures
showing the cost of labor and fuel for
cultivating three hundred acres: