The Little River news. (Ashdown, Little River County, Ark.) 1897-current, 1917-08-15

There Can Be Too Much Farm MA
chinery Just as Well as Too Little
--Either Must Be Avoided.
By " H Kern, Specialist in Farm I'M
plements, Extension Division,
University of Arkansas.

because OF Inc laDOT pTODIeEl, Ni.-CI
is making itself felt in our state, and
because of the necessity Of increased
food and feed production, the buying,
caring for and using farm machinery
are subjects to which the average
farmer should pay more real atten-
ton. He should realize that tho pur-
chase ot farm machinery is - much
OF business proposition as yAe par
chasing OF pure bred tull OF pure
bred Duroc-Jersey hog. The farmer
does not buy the pig merely for the
sake of having the pig, but he makes
m investment from which he Intends
to realize the greatest prOft. The
better the farmer cares for the pig, the
more net gain he realizes from his in
vestment. Farm machinery is also an
indispensable means of profit, ard the
more care taken in selecting, Using
and caring for farg Implements. y
more will be the net earnings. and the
most economic agriculture is not pos
sihle until the right kind of efficient
labor and time-saying implements as
Ine farm warrants Is used.
Too Little Machinery to the Farm.
There can be too much farm ma
chinery Just as we'll as too little.
Either Is to be avoided, and the sys-
TEN Of crop rotation and the labor
problem will largely determine the
amount of machinery necessary AS
general rule we find too little machin-
cry TO the farm in Arkansas. If firm
lug conditions are such that two-hcrse
implements cannot be used those con-
Gjtions should be changed
Implements an Index to Advancement
Of Community.
The kind OF farm implements is an
index to the advancement of COM
m1nity From the pony pillow, solid
sweep, middle buster community with
inadequate schools and churches we
pass 10 more highly developed conn
try with adequate schools. effit ent
teachers and churches of which he
community is proud The pr97er
typea, use and care of farm nipple
mcnts helped to accomplish this.
Points to Observe in Purchasing
Implements
To most farm implements the fol-
lowing purchasing points should be
applied. bearing in mind that we are
making an investment from which we
expect dividend.
Efficiency OF the machine is TO be
considered first of all. What is the
quality of the work that it will do?
How much can be accomplished? The
machine should be selected With this
in view, that the greatest possible
amount of efficient work may be
squeezed from the implement.
Construction of the machine should
be noted. Will the implement stand
up under the strain for at least eight
years. which should be the average life
with reasonable care and housing?
The implement manufacturer puts out
new machine and finds some parts
are of weak construction. When this
is called to his attention he reiaforces
these parts if his aim is to help the
farmer, If Il is not, he allows The
farmer to suffer the less. and in the
long run both are the losers.
The farmer is justified in MOI grab
hing the untried anN newest machine
nut on the market. If it is an expert
ment he can afford to wait a short
while until il is tried out. II It
proves success IS time and labor
saver he should not he TIE last TO lay
aside old methods and adopt new.
OF two equally desirable imple-
ments select the one for which re-
pairs can most readily be obtained.
Time worth hundreds of dollars can
easily be lost because of inaccessible
ity to repairs, Purchase implements
made by reliable manufacturers.
Keeping machine in proper repair
will materially lessen its final expenso
and give the owner greater satisfac-
ton. Baling wire may serve as a re-
pair part to finish the days work in
some instances but do not try to make
it take the place of the part broken.
You may run the cost of upkeep of
the machine into dollars instead of
cents, Keeping in proper repair in
cludes tightening loose nyftx$6ilirg to
lessen wear and produce less draft.
Proper Care Means Money Saved.
Even with our inadequate supply of
farm implements there are some $685.
600, 900 invested in this state. Annu-
ally the farmers lose $2,00O,00O as
nearly as it can be estimated with the
present data. Were the farmer COM
PEELED to pay Is to 20 per cent interest
on borrowed money he would feel un-
justly treated, but farm implements.
from the cheapest pillow to the thresh-
err are in most instances left in the
weather the year around Instead Of
lasting eight years or more very often
two or three years is the life of those
implements. If shed room can not be-
provided, the implements shot, be
painted and oiled at the end of the
season. Even though shed Is &C.
cessible, all wearing surfaces should
receive a coating Of grease to prevent
NEf f<.r~