Imperial Valley press., 1914-09-15


duce ss it is the difference between
lthis price and the amount spent IN
producing this produce. The above
experiment was apropos of the trac-
tor, mechanical way of plowing and
Of disking-a mechanical way of mas
saying the land, so to speak, and of
Idrillinp-a mechanical way of SOW
irg the seed. In the cost of raising
crop, just the same as in the cost
of making carpets, shoes or wagons,
hand power and animal power cannot
compete with mechanical power. The
mechanically prepared seed bed not
only costs less in its preparation, but
i, gives forth more in its harvest.
The War Will Make Horses Too Cost
ly to Keep.
Oats and oil are in the throes of
a little war of their own just the
same as the human back once COM
tstted with the reaper knife. This
strife is fast becoming more acute
because the already high price of
horses is being accentuated every day
by the number being sold out of the
country for cavalry mounts to be
used abroad. The drain upon the
American horse supply will soon be
such that wherever possible mechani-
cal contrivances will be used to do
their work. Were we to begin at
once, it will require five years to re-
plenish the drain which the war has
already made upon the horse supply
Of the world. The United States De-
partinent of Agriculture has estima,-
ed that it costs SIS to $50 per year
to keep horse, and in a study OF
horse utility for period covering six
years it was found that he averaged
cnly 3.14 hours of work per day as
his contribution to lessening the high
cost Of living. In contrast with this
it was found that he ate up the en-
tire yield of one out of every five
acres which he helped to cultivate. It
has been shown, too, for every hour
he worked it cost about IS cents;
whereas, full horsepower hour can
be delivered by high grade oil en-
gine for only cents per hour, in both
cases interest, fuel, food and depreci-
alton being included. Again, in plow-
ing, ( team of two horses can plow
only about two acres per day. In
Going this, they travel sixteen miles.
which is a good days pull for horses
with a load. A small tractor, on the
other hand-the kind which costs less
than six horses, weighs less than six
and with capacity of doing the work
Of twelve-will pillow fully that much
IN an hour or so. 1t will, further
more, plow it deeper and keep it up
twenty-four hours each day until the
work is completed without feeding,
resting or growing thin. While it
would not be wise to dispose of brood
mares and blooded stock to satisfy the
foreign buyers, in he end, perhaps,
the increased prices which their pur-
chases will undoubtedly brin. about
will be beneficial in forcing thousands
Of farmers to adopt newer ard '31or,
economical form of power.
Everyone who cultivates 16O acres
or more is candidate for share in
the millions of dollars which the coun-
try-wide adoption of TINS method Of
plowing will ultimately save.
Insuring the Crop in Advance.
After plowing, the eirs5 duty of a
man is to guarantee the work by
proper cultivation and disliag. With
out delving into the chemistry of
plant life too deeply, the growth Of
q plant is determined by the proper
preparation, both in the soil ami out
OF 1T, of air, water and certain salt
compounds. Rainfall, sunlight and
air IN conjunction with the soil have
knack of assembling ,hesc elements
in such a way that the plant grows; !;
or, failing to assemble them in such
4. way that the plant fails to develop.
Nature has provided for this inter-
mixture of elements for a limited
time and plant life viii go on with
out much outside int erference, but,
like sc many other forms of natural
activity, it is possible for human in
telligence to greatly increase the eff
fectiveness of Natures work. The
disc harrow is one of the leading ma
ture aiders in farming l. is said
thar, rightly used, it does more i,.
increase crop pr tits than any otl,.r
farm implement and should he used
on every farm. 1t is ona OF the sim