Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-08-03


it might take up the problem whether
old earth has changed more than the
methods OF the cultivation OF her
soil.
1t was a long step from the forked
stick to such rude implements as the
modern savage now employs. From
the power Of 100 years ago to the
up-to-date tractor Of Nebraska was
another.
Since the beginning of the use Of
tractors in farm work Fremont has
been one OF the cities where there
have been demonstrations to show
"Missourians" and others the supe-
riority of the new method. This
year the demonstration will be from
August 7 to H. Seven others in
the middle west or south are an
nouneed between July u and Sep
TENDER 8.
There were successful demonstra-
tons in Fremont in 1918, and again
in 1914 and 1915 under the auspices
Of The Twentieth Century Farmer. In
none OF the various other demonstrs-
tions has there been the interest or
the attendance at Fremont. One rea-
son for this Is the geographical loea-
ton OF the city. No town is closer
to the center of the great wheat and
corn belt, and perhaps nowhere could
be found men with the zest Of the
heads OF the Commercial club Of that
city in carrying through the many
necessary details in come ation with
The Twentieth Century Farmers big
enterprise.
The necessit. OF tractor on a big
farm Is too apparent to require
further argument. Farm help is be-
coming yearly scarcer, and more un-
certain. As the soil becomes partial
ly exhausted near the top deeper
blowing becomes essential. And,
above all. perhaps, is the element Of
time. Like the early morning and
late afternoon rushes on the street
cars in our cities, work on the land
cannot wait, II the greatest profit Is
10 be obtained. The time elapsing be-
tween blowing and planting must be
shorter. So, too, must there be greater
expedition At the time Of harvest.
ThSre has been too much waste In
the past. The use Of the tractor will
save much OF such fnisspent energy
in the future. The tractor is not eat
ing its head off in weather when
farm work is not possible. There Is
saving not only in men, but m
horses and mules.
The countries that lead In agricul-
ture are the ones that must carry
the white mans burden. And In the
fierce competition Of the present day
the latest, most-lmproved machinery
must be employed. There are por-
tons OF the world where old men,
children, and, still more frequently,
women are yoked sometimes together
sometimes to animals, in the work
OF cultivating the soil, as well ~ at
the time Of harvest. But they are not
in the competitive class.
The tractor will do the work oil
many horses and mules at much less
expense. II never takes fright and
runs away With proper fabrication
a machine will last for years. II Is
steady, reliable and powerful, and,
according to demand, pulls from one
or two to twenty plows. Il will work
when the broiling hot sun OF July OF
August makes toll by animals almost
impossible. And that 10 the time
when much OF the land ought to be
torn up for the fall-sown grain. The
machine should be Z boon to the
southerner, where summer lasts nine
months Of the year, and much Of the
negro labor 10 20 absolutely shiftless
and unreliable.
Under the old regime the blowing
of a section OF land was only the be-
ginning. II all had to be narrowed
and frequently a heavy storm neces.
STATED long intervals between jobs
Sometimes the ground should have
been plowed again, 1t was so hard
With the tractor the disc or harrow
may be hitched TO the pillow as .
trailer--sometimes also roller, thus
bringing much closer the time fol
putting in the seed.
In silo filling the tractor 10 ready
for service again. 1t may be used In
this work as in the others. co-opera,
lively, a number OF farmers owning
the cutter and with the use of the
tractor accomplishing the work with
greater facility and speed.
Time and labor are saved, too, a
threshing time. Instead OF hiring
a travelling crew, the farmer puts hi.
tractor into service. As Is wei
known, the threshing machine with
its steam engine, has in the past jour
neyed about over the wheat belt
stopping a week or more, as was nee
essary, on one farm. In the new
order of things there is cooperation
again among the farmers, the tractor
being owned at home, and only III,
threshing machine needs TO be car
ried about the country. Not onl,
are fewer men and teams used nov
to haul the grain to the elevators
but time is saved by the decreased
number of trips necessary in goini
over the land. The tractor hauls
number Of loaded wagons at one tim
to the nearest market place.
In baling hay, too, power 10 re
quired The tractor and hay pres
are taken together to the field, an,
after the timothy, clover or alfalf,
has been raked into windows, tn
tractor is Of immense assistance il