The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-09-01

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~C-EM for the welcoming arms of the
MN~ belligerent war buyers, there
@'NSM would be no one to love or
CXNN~ cherish our black beauties,
NYO and, like poor relations, they
M would have to survive on the
" husks. Farming has ever been
attractive to the city chap, and 1t has always
been extremely toilsome to the native. But now,
with the aid of mechanical hired hands, farming
in the future will be mere joy-riding. Instead
of following a team of painting, perspiring horses
and stumbling over rough clods In the broiling
sun while trying to keep under control a pillow
whose diabolical disposition is to twist and turn
from the straight and even furrow, Mr.. Farmer
can put on his automobile goggles and gloves,
seat himself comfortably in the spring seat of a
tractor, and under a canvas canopy that shunts
away the sun, guide his obedient steel steed
across the fields. In the springtime the blowing
can be done to the music of the birds, who gath
er around to watch for the luckless but luscious
worms turned up by the blades. By one turn Of
the wheel, a battery of disk plows can be made
to obey orders like soldiers.
When the blowing is done. the mechanical
hired man will as cheerfully pull a harrow or a
seeding machine, and no stops need be made In
the shade to allow the %"critter' to 'blow." A
tractor loves to work and all 1t asks In return is
that its stomach be kept full Of the spirits that
enthuse but do not intoxicate.
During the dinner hour, If the farmer follows
his efficiency book faithfully, he will connect up
his tractor engine with the pump and fill the
water reservoir, or perhaps he will turn the
churn for mother. After a long pull at the cider
barrel and the distillate tank, both master and
servant are ready to resume operations.
AS the seasons merge one into another, and
the crops are all planted and growing under the
genial smiles Of Old Sol and the sympathetic min
i~strations of Jupiter Pluvius, Mr.. Farmer, with
nothing to do but watch his grain grow, can
drive his tractor over to the neighboring wood
lot, and with the help of his husky sons, or his
neighbours stalwart sons, can cut enough cord
wood to defy the advance and siege of Jack
Frost. The modern tractor loves to be tied to q
buzz saw, and it sings right merrily while doing
Its work. When the wood is cut, the obliging
tractor will haul 1t to the woodshed, and then,
like the famous man Of history, will look for new
work to conquer.
The overwhelming advantage of the tractor
over horses Is that of power and endurance. If
the supply tank of one of these machines is kept
full of fuel, 1t will work on indefinitely without
rest, whereas beasts of burden demand time to
eat and sleep and rest. Then, too, 1t is much
easier on the farmer to sit on a seat and pillow
by turning a wheel than to follow the burrows on
foot. Consequently, the farmer with a tractor
will do all his blowing in from a fourth to a half
of the time required with horses. By e~quipping the
machines with electric lights. generated by the
motor, the surrounding ground can be made as
light as day, and blowing can go on independent
of the sun. Poor DObbins would give up the
ghost II subjected to such treatment.
The superiority of the tractor is also demon
strated by the ability to get over ground so soft
and muddy that ordinary horses and farm Inn
plements would mire in. The modern ball-tread
tractor is built to run on its own track. Being
wide and fiat, with the weight Of the machine
evenly distributed, this caterpillar type of per-
ambulator can navigate through q sea Of mud, and
by Its great traction power can pull anything
except teeth. In the rice fields of California.
where water stands upon the ground during all
the growing season, the tractor is found to be
the only feasible means of getting over the fields
for blowing, seeding. cutting and harvesting the
crop. 1t even furnishes the motive power for
thrashing the rice.
If the road In front Of the farm is rough and
needs the smoothing influence Of the tractor. 1t
will do the job and Go it right. II the hens have
been Industrious, or bossy's product has been
converted into golden butter or cheese for thu
cit folks, Mr.. Farmer can haul them to market
by hitching a trailer behind his tractor. Many
of the machines are bought for their hauling abil-
ity alone. 1t will even take the folks to church
on Sunday, If the jltney happens to break down
on Saturday night.
In fact, the tractor is as versatile as a movie
star and II doesn't mind showing on Its diverse
talents. One has even been known to rid a cellar
of rodents by coughing" the gas from Its exhaust
through a rubber tube run into the private dwell
ing of Mr.. Rat.
The development of the tractor Is a matter OF