Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-30

fact that the industry is at its begin
ming and that the field for it's expan
sion is enormous. There are more thai
5000. 900 farms in the United State
and venture that all the tractors nov
in use are less than 100000 in mum
Der. Suppose the machines could b.
used upon one-third of the farms. thu
possible demand would be at leas
100000, which is just about one
half as many automobiles as are nov
owned in the United States. Like tn,
automobiles. the machines of the flu
ture will be Of different grades. weights
power and prices Some will be adapt
ed to large farms and others to small
A greatly needed machine Is low
priced tractor which will use com
parativeiy small amount of gasoline
or kerosene. Such a machine should
be able to drag two or three plows
much to solve the labor and food stu
alton.
1t was when the wheat was ripe and
they were harvesting the grain that
l rode from Detroit out to Henr,
Ford's big farm at Dearborn, to see
what he had accomplished in the way
of making cheap tractor. This farm
has been turned into an experimental
laboratory and near i, will be erected
great pant WHtcn Is 10 tHe
light weight machines which have
been ordered from Europe. This trac-
tor is by no means perfect. but / am
told that it will save the work OF
many horses and plowmen, and tina,
IT VIII he of great value in increas-
ing the food supply of Great Britain
Already great part of Henry Ford
Iarm is being worked with IL. This
farm will compare favorably with
many of the European estates. upon
q 20 to .a,
II lies nine miles from Detroit and il
consists of 1000 acres. large part Of
II, am told is worth upwards of 81 900
per acre. from which you will see that
IL viii have to yield mighty big crops
to pay any kind of an interest upon
the millions involved in the invest
ment. But that. ! venture, cuts but
Iii tie ice in Mr. Ford's calculation. His
ownership of the farm is largely senti-
mental. and the same is true of his
work on the tractor. He was born
upon 4 part of the farm and he prob
ably followed the pillow horses in help
ing his father put in the few hundred
odd acres which made up the old home
stead. and. as far as | can Judge. ii
was no easy job. Much of the farm is
made up of a heavy soil, mixture of
clay and loan which would be difficult
to work when at all wet A great part
of this has been underdrained. the
surplus water being carried off into
the River Rouge. which runs through
the property. This river has now been
dredged to a depth which permits Mr..
Ford's motor boat to move in and out
by it. and I have heard 1t minated
that the raw materials for the tractors
may be brought in by this stream.
The whole farm is as fiat as floor.
The fields are large and they are sur
rounded by common wire fence. The
most of the place is under cultivation
and all the work is done by tractors
When I visited the farm they were
cutting wheat on some parts of the
estate and in others they were plow
ing for the crops of winter wheat to
be harvested next year. Altogether
there were 1000 acres in grain. and
the little tractors were dragging the
reapers over the fields, each tractor
pulling one reaper. I got on one of
the machines and drove it across the
field. 1t was where the grain was al
ready in shock and the trip was merely
to show me how the tractor worked.
sat on an iron seat as on a sulkey
plow, with a driving wheel like that
of a motor car in front of me. Beyond