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Show MILLIONS OF BUSHELS OF HUMAN FOOD CONSERVED BY OPERATION OF MACHINES THRASH WITH CARE AND ELIMI NATE WASTE OF GRAIN. The waste of grain through 2 the Inefficient operation of s thrashing machines, though not S a serious matter to the indlvld- ual farmer, Is a matter of per- a haps millions of bushels to the nation as a whole and to the na- tlons that just now are looking a J to us for food to ward off fam- lne. When we consider that J there are 6,000,000 farms In the United States, it Is evident that J a waste of only a bushel a set would be an enormous loss In J the aggregate. J If the thrashing machines of the country wasted only three or four bushels of grain out of every thousand they thrash, the loss of wheat alone In the United States every year would equal a quantity sufficient to furnish a normal supply of bread to a million people for nearly half a year. The present pres-ent Importance of keeping thrashing machines at their highest point of efficiency effi-ciency thus is easily seen. It Is probably not possible to save all the grain, even with the most efficient effi-cient operation under the best field conditions. However, the careless operator op-erator who does not know Just what the different parts of his machine are for, or who does not watch them closely close-ly while the separator is running, may waste a great amount of grain unnecessarily. unnec-essarily. He will surely have to make frequent stops for repairs and adjustments. adjust-ments. Every time a machine stops, the whole crew, usually several men and teams, mutt be Idle until It starts again, a loss of time to everybody concerned. con-cerned. Failure to Separate. If a machine falls to separate all the grain from the straw. It Is usually due to one or more of the following causes: (1) The machine Is not being run at Its proper speed, (2) it Is being crowded beyond Its capacity, (3) the cylinder falls to thrash all the kernels out of the heads, (4) the separating mechanism is not level, or (3) the blast Is not adjusted properly. Cracked grain Is another source of waste which may become serious. Cracked grain may be due to excessive speed of the cylinder, to the cylinder being too close to the concave teeth, or to grain being returned In the tailings tail-ings elevator and run through the cylinder cyl-inder repeatedly. Loss both from poor separation and cracked grain can be prevented In a large measure by proper adjustment of the machine and attention atten-tion to it while in operation. Reduce Loss of Time. The loss of time due to stops on account ac-count of breakage and wearing parts getting out of adjustment, so frequent with thrashing machines, can be greatly great-ly reduced and the life of the separator separa-tor lengthened appreciably If the machine ma-chine Is overhauled preparatory to starting the season's work and all the parts put In good repair and adjustment, adjust-ment, and afterward watched Intelligently Intelli-gently while In operation. If the grain Is to be thrashed rapidly and waste reduced re-duced to a minimum, it Is essential that the engine should have sufficient power and the belt pulley be of the right size to run the separator at the proper speed at all times. The speed in revolutions per minute at which the cylinder should run is Invariably stated by the manufacturer In the Instructions In-structions accompanying the machine and is often stamped on the machine Itself. A variation of more than a few per cent either above or below this stated speed is sufficient to impair seriously se-riously the efficiency of the entire machine. ma-chine. . Vi Don't Guess at Speed. The operator should not guess at the speed of the machine, for a variation of 5 per cent may reduce its efficiency. The only way to determine the speed satisfactorily as closely as this is to use a speed Indicator. If a speed Indicator Indi-cator was not furnished with the machine, ma-chine, a good one can be purchased for ?2 or less. One of these will last for years! and will enable the thrasherman to determine at any time the speeds at which his machine Is running. A thrashing machine cannot be expected ex-pected to do good work unless the belting belt-ing and pulleys are kept In good condition. condi-tion. The speed at which the different parts should run and the power required re-quired to drive them are carefully calculated. cal-culated. Running Leather Belts. All leather belts should be run with the grain or hair side next to the pulley. pul-ley. The outside of a belt must stretch a little every time It goes over a pulley, pul-ley, and, as the flesh side Is more elastic elas-tic than the hair side, the belt will last longer If run In this manner. Also the grain side Is smoother and will transmit more power because It brings more surface Into actual contact with the face of the pulley. A leather belt which has become dry and hard can be made soft and pliable again by cleaning It thoroughly and applying neat's-foot oil, castor oil, or some other reliable belt dressing. The lacing of a belt should be such that It will pass over the pulleys with little or no shock or Jar. A lacing should be fastened otherwise than by tying a knot, especially If the belt runs over an Idler or tightener. Service of Separator. 4 The total amount of service which a separator will give depends more than anything else upon the care and oiling of the bearings. This Is especially true of steel separators. Before the machine ma-chine Is started on the season's work. It Is Imperative that It be gone over carefully to see that all Journals ind boxes are In proper shape and plentifully plenti-fully supplied with oil. Since the separator sep-arator has so many parts which move at a high rate of speed, and the whole machine Is subject to constant strain and vibration while In motion, any, parts that are not perfectly solid and tight are almost sure to give trouble before the season Is over. The failure of any one part will stop not only the machine, but the entire thrashing crew as well. |