The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1917-10-12
County Agents.
SCRAP METAL ON FARM
CONVERTIBIE INTO CASH

! The shortage in the supply of the
I iron and steel, which this country
must have in increasing amounts il
! the war is to be won, has devolved
Z new source of income for the farm
/ er. and not merely few farmers but
most formers.
( The United States Geological Sur
/ vey, Department of the Interior, calls
/ the attention of farmers to the fact
that even at the recently fixed prices
/ of iron and steel it should be posi-
/ BILE for most farmers to reap an over
| looked profit through the sale of the
old iron and steel scattered about
their premises; that the saving Of
such old scrap metal will help TO
meet the present serious deficiency
in the supply of iron and steel; that
the use OF the old metal will accom-
plish savings in coke which is now
to be had only at unprecedented
prices; that the delivery of the old
iron and steel at foundries far from
iron mines and big steel centers will
correspondence relieve the excessive
strain on the mines, some of the fur
naces. and the railway and boat traf-
fic in the coke and iron producing dis
tricts. The farmer who turns in his
Junk while the present prices pre-
vail is likely not only to make a clear
profit over the cost of hauling and
freight. hut, through increasing the
iron and steel supply, he is contri-
buting to the successful prosecution
of the war.
Iron and steel are needed and must
be had for innumerable things-for
guns, shells, ships, bridges, buildings,
docks, automobiles, airplanes, rails,
cars, engines, pipe, oil-well castings,
etc, and for export to the Allies,
Italy in particular, being badly in
need of steel for all purposes. This
is the main fact
In the northeastern States scrap
metals have long been more or less
! fully taken care of, mainly by the
/ ubiquitous Junk man, and along most
railways and about most Industrial
plants they are now salvaged sys-
! Dramatically. However, in the great
/ er mart of the United States little at
tention is given to saving the old
metal scattered about the Industrial
plants of the farmers, where aban-
doned binders, plows, mowers, rakes,
etc, decorate the fence corners and
roadsides, and discarded stoves,
pumps. pipe, and small utensils rust
about the barns and sheds. A con-
siderable part of this junk is already
on wheels with tongue and whiffie-
! tree attached, ready in fact 10 be
walked on its own legs" to the
freight station.
| According to the census returns
there were in 1910 about 10000
600 dollars worth of agricultural ma
chinery alone on the 6,36l, 5o2 Amer
lean farms. Farm implements, not
including stoves, chains, tools, etc,
valued at about S165,oo0,ooo, are
sod annually. A considerable part
OF the cost of manufacturing this
farm machinery lies in the metals
useI, and the metals include not on
Inv iron and steel of various grades
and values but occasional small parts
OF brass or copper. Most binders and
mowers have one or more bearings
lined with Rabbit metal containing
tin now worth about go cents and
lead worth 10 cents per pound. On
the whole, excluding the metals used
in railroad construction and trans
uo.tation, or in city engineering and
building, by far the greater part OF
IAN the iron and steel produced in
tits country in normal years is ship
ned out to the farm. 1t has been
roughly estimated that three-fourths
Of thls metal stays on the farm. AS
10 this question, the farmer can Judge
for himself. How much OF this is
living around on your promises, Mt
ITa-mor? II you have any end You
pgOaably have plenty--it is a good