The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-06-24
Tractors VS.. Horses.

Minneapolis. Mimi. June IA, 1921.
To The Mankato Free Press.
notice your columns are open for dis
cussion, Tractors VS.. Horses" and
| notice under recent issue state
nient made by Mr.. H. c. Lowry which
is, apparently a very bitter complaint
to me that possibly Mr.. Lowry has
been dealing with men that have
been given to sharp practice and
have gotten the best of him. He,
therefore, wishes to denounce all
tractors on account of his personal
experience.
In the first place, there is no fight
between tractors and horses. There
sofa for the tractor and power farm
ing. 1t has come to stay, without a
question of doubt. There Is also a
place on some farms for horses; but
the facts are, the times in which we
are living are modern and are not
such as they were when the writer
was on the farm. Without the mod
ern equipment, farming was a drudg-
cry.
1t is true that in previous years,
tractors have been made by irrespon
sible manufacturers who were willing
to take the farmers money and give
him but little for it; but the modern
tractor companies Of today are build
ing stable piece of goods and are
backing it up with service which is
unexcelled in any other line OF bust
ness.
The modern tractor can be used for
many operations on the farm. One
of the most important is proper
blowing. That is, blowing the prop
er depth. The writer was born and
raised on the farm not far from Man.
kato and knows from experience that
we lacked horse g power wi. when p It came
of August in the hot weather, which
is the best time of the year to plow.
The horses would suffer greatly from
the flies and heat and to prevent
their suffering, we would set the
pillow up a notch until we were finally
Swimming the ground. Had We had a
tractor that hot weather does not
have plowed the ground down seven
inches the depth that it should be
plowed.
1t is no secret but it is a well
known fact that hundreds Of horses
drop dead in the harvest fields from
being overheated. Therefore, with
the use of the tractor, this loss, is
prevented and It Is not necessary to
around the field after the tractor as
Mr.. Lowery states, with the horses.
It is a we'll known fact too that where
colts are being raised, the mare that
raises them is not fit for field work
during the time the colts are being
raised.
In addition to blowing, one of the
hardest operations on the farm is the
cutting of the grain with a binder.
Double the amount of work can be
accomplished with the tractor and 1t
can be operated longer hours because
it will withstand the hot weather. In
addition to this, threshing, clover
hulling, silo filling threshing, clover
seeding, discing, narrowing, moving
hay, saving wood and lumber and
many other operations are some of
the things that can be doID with the
tractor.
We would say, for instance, that
tractor would cost equally as much
to operate as horses. The work can
be done with greater dispatch with
the proper kind of tractor and, there
fore. save the loss that otherwise
would occur on the farm. It has
been said by he best of authorities
In the Country that many farmers
have paid for tractors and never got
ten them. This comes about in the
loss Of corps and the saving OF crops,
etc.