Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-09-20


used of inferior size, but the mule draw
ing it as well. Hence the land is not
properly prepared for planting to be-
gin with. one man with two good mules
and a plow. of twice the size can do
practically the same amount of plowlnS
in day as two men with two mules.
The man operating with a larger I'M
plement will do far more effective work
and the results will show in the sue
ceeding crop. As a matter of fact, If a
gang pillow were used to which four
horses or mules were hitched, twice as
much land could be turned by one man
as the two teams of mules with two
men could turn. Moreover, by combin-
ing the four mules into one team, the
services of three men have been dis
pensed with, and this is the all-impor-
tant and essential proposition with
which we have to deal at the present
time on the other hand, if a tractor
is used to replace the four horses in
question a gang of three or four plows
may be handled and twice as much work
done in a day as the man with his gang
pillow and four heavy horses and mules
can accomplish. Thus in certain re-
spects the tractor may be made to do
the work now done by eight horses or
mules and eight men. In other words,
the tractor may be made the means of
saving the labor of seven men and more
effective and rapid work done in soil
preparation than, can possibly be accom-
plished through the use of the ordinary
Boy Dixie pillow or the two-horse or
gang pillow.
In breaking the land down after 1T
has been prepared it is now customary
to use a team attached to a light drill
harrow There is no reason why, say,
i I. aAoI 20
gether in a gang and pulled by any
where 1rom three to six horses. Thus
one nan may easily cover three times
as mitch ground in a DAY as does the
man who uses only a two-horse harrow
He will have again cut down the labor
item very satisfactorily.
On the average farm where manure
is to be hauled out and distributed it
is still scattered out from the wagon
bed. The manure spreader does the work
in a few minutes with great husband
ing of strength and labor. 1t would
require, for instance, less than one
third Of the time to distribute load
of manure from the spreader as COM
pared with the wagon. Thus the team
of horses and the man operating the
spreade- can really do two or three
times as much work in a day as where
the old method is employed
On thousands of plantations and small
tenant farms throughout the south the
planting is done by a single stalk drill
There is no reason why at least two
horse planter should not be used Bet,
ter work will be done and a great deal
more accomplished with half the ex-
renditdre for labor.
Cultivating cotton and other crops
witt single dragging plows is now gen.
orally practiced. Why not cultivate
at least two rows with two-horse cul-
tivator?
The binder for cutting grain, corn or
sorghum for the silo eliminates the
labor which must otherwise be supplied
through the employment of several ad-
ditional men. There are on the market
now good mechanical corn pickers that
save the labor of many men.
In many sections where trucking is
followed hundreds of men are engaged
in digging potatoes by hand. The po-
tato digger will dig many rows of po-
tatoes while a man is digging one. Here
again is a means by which labor mag
be wonderfully conserved. If all the
factors concerned in the consideration
of this proposition are, therefore, taken
into consideration and every effort made
tc hanole labor economically and ef-
,fectively through the employment OF
a maximum amount of machinery we can
meet our requirements as to maintain
ing production and stand the strain on
our labor resources successfully. There
is no country in the world so fortunate
as America I'm this respect, because the
best type of .labor-saving devices for
agricultural purposes have been devel
cped in this country and are already III
extensive use.
x X X
Sowing Alfalfa on Black Slate Land
G. VI. J., of Waeska, Ga, writes: have
black slate land which wish to
in alfalfa. What time of the year should
! SOW the alfalfa? This land is in cotton
this year. i would like to SOW it in peas
next September il this plan will work all
right.
1t is a wise and desirable practice 20
prepare land intended for alfalfa we'll
in advance of the time you expect to
seed it. This is a rather difficult crop
to establish and the success attending
it's seeding will be determined largely
by the manner in which the land is pre-
pared. The soil chosen for an alfalfa
patch should be rather friable, contain
an abundance of humus and be well