The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-02-20
rs MACHINERY

GREAT is MACHINERY
When machinery was first introduced in this country it
was largely confined to industrial centers, where the raw mate
rial was converted into the finished product, and made ready Tor
consumption.
built up great industrial centers where machines were installed
by the aid OF which one operative was enabled to do the work
OF from three to fifty. In this way America became a great
manufacturing nation. Marvellous Improvements were made
until this country outstripped all others in manufactures
Within the last decade machinery spread over the country,
and is now finding a new field in the agricultural districts. The
Western prairie lands offered the most inviting field for the
new experiment, and here the gang plows and self-binders were
used to advantage. At the present time the tractor is coming
into its own. The tractor can be hitched up to gang and disc
plows, harrows, puverizers, cultivators, drills, and, in TACT,
every kind OF farming implement that needs motive power in the
using, and the old-hme horse, mule and OK power is beng
crowded out.
So much more ground can be covered and cultivated in a
given time that on the large farms the tractor is being widely
used, 1t is such a great saving in man power as well as in horse
and mule power that it soon pays for itself, 1t reduces labor
and enables one pair Of hands and one head to do the work OF
many, Machinery increases production enormously.
Lands can be more speedily and better prepared for seeding
and cultivation can be attended to ~seasonably, so that increase
is assured. Time was when the farmer depended on the spade,
the matock and the hoe, or tolsomely followed the plow. Now
he seats himself on a spring seat, and his work is what would
have been considered a joyrde in the days Of old. Machinery
has emancipated the farmer. Lessening his muscular activities,
it has given him more time to think and use his mind, and in
this way it has strengthened and broadened his mentality, made
him think quicker and more accurately, and famiiarized him
with machinery. Psychologcaly it has given him a tirmer grip
on himself, and made him conscious OF his mastery OF inantmate
things, which he endows with life and action and almost 'ntelh-
gence,
dCnlueI II inc ldTW HOl only ieSSSHS the dTWGT 5 aDOT,
but it is doing much for his uplitt and development. In the
farmers home it has also revolutonizcd the modes Of life and
simPhiied domestic economy. On the larger farms there are
many things to be found which were formerly seen only in
communal ccners where many could unite to provide these
convenienceS and comforts for all.
The telephone, which puts The farmer and his family in
instant communication with the ~neighbors and with the town
and far-off city, is becoming a universal servant.
The tanow dip and the coal OF. lamp are giving way to the
electric light. Water may be had by turning a spigot, and time
saving utilities are manifold. This saving of time gives more
leisure for study and reflection, and ~well-chosen books on the
farm have multiplied and are being read and absorbed. Machin-
cry and invention were tardy in arriving, but they are rapidly
finding place on the farm. which is making life easier and better
for the rural population. What kings and princes dared not dream
about a few centuries ago are the commonplace on the modern
farm OF today. Machinery has done and is doing much for the
material benefit OF the farmer, and i is doing and will do much
which is applied machinery, have cut down distance between
points hitherto separated, so that the farmer can get about, be
cognizant OF everything that is going on and be an up-to-date
citizen.
The clown, the dot and the man with the hoe" have dis
appeared before this luminous and widespread distribution OF
intelligence. enabling the farmer to stand erect, and keeping him
abreast Of the foremost in progress and civilization. The present
generation does not understand when it hears about the cod-
hopper and the hayseed.
These are things belonging to an anterior age now happily
past. The genius Of America runs largely to machinery and
invention, and these are doing a large part in upbuilding the
more with less effort, and the times provide markets that pay
him more for his product than he ever received before.
As we discover and master the secrets OF nature and give
motion and power TO inaninate things, as expressed in the term
machinery, life will be fuller and better and the struggle fol-
existence will relax its tension. Indeed, it has done so already
if we only knew it. People continue doing many laboiou,
things that are not necessary through force Of centuries O
habit but we are advancing toward the condition of the bird;
Of the air or the lilies of the field, who toll not, neither do the,
spin,