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Show THE CARE OF BINDERS IMPORTANT By R. M. Dolve, Agricultural College, Fargo, N. D. I ( I' TIIR large retinue of mechanical serfs at the command of the American farmer to-day lh d-if-blndcr Is. perhaps, the most Important. Its place could not be filled by a score of men with cradles and rakes, anel, if properly manage-d, it has greater eillcie-ncy and is much more subse-rv lent to the master's will than the human slave Of old. Since the early history of the binder the necessity for great efficiency anil capacity bus steadily Increased. Not only Is the cost of labor greater, but the new soil formed at that time produced a strong, healthy t-traw that stood up well when ripe and a delay In harvesting Was not so serious. At present, on account of the ravages of rust und other ellseases, the straw often breaks badly' even he-fore the-grain the-grain Is rlpe so that the prollt of a crop is often depeneb-nt upon the dispatch with which it is harvested. Notwithstanding the fact that the succesi of an entire year's work may depend upon the binder the neglect and abuse to which It Is subjected by n large number of farmers is proverbial ll Is not uncommon 10 seo a binder stored away In tho corner of the fle-M .where It was last used, or in some exposed pnrl of the yard, with the twine box full of expensive4 pure manllla twine and the reel hoisted ns high as possible, as If It were desirable de-sirable to have il thoroughly exposed to the; breeze, Uy the time It Is to be used again tho mooter wheel will probably hnve sunk deep into tho soil, while the pole nnd neck i oke aro allowed to rest on the ground. Na- 1 and repairs without the aid of an expert. He must know where- to oil. when to oil, and how to oil. Many a good binder lias been pre ma-turely ma-turely relegated to the scrap pile because of Improper oiling. The man who gives his binder an oil bath when Plaiting and then fails to oil again until It fairly screams for more may succeed In using a great deal of oil, but his binder will soon Wear out All oil that does not get into the bearings does moio harm than good, as It serves to gather dust and grit, which will work Into the bearings The proper way to oil Is to use a little at a time anel often. All imrts of a binder do not need the same amount of oil, and the operator opera-tor should decide which parts, by virtue of their work, need the mo'-t. and give them frequent fre-quent oiling, while other parts require only eceaslonal applications. Co-operation among farmers for the purpose pur-pose of securing an equitable price for their products Is one way of making farming pay and is to be encouraged. Rut. alncc the profit from farming Is trie difference between Ihe si Illt'g price and the cost of production, an cepially efficient way of eeenrlng the desired end Is to reduce the cost of production. A great reduction can he e-ffee'ed by better care and management of such machines as thu binder, for In North Dakota nearly one-fifth of the entire value of our crop Is invested In farm machinery. If through better care and management tho average life of our form machines could be increased by a single year I a tremendous having would Lc effected. turc, as If ashamed of the deplorable shift-lessne-ss of its copartner, will often hide tho evidence of his neglect by a luxuriant crop of weeds Under these conditions It is small wonder that the average life- of a hinder Is short. While the f irmer conjpl icently measures Iti life In years, its teal usefulness may be Counted in days A binder Is used on t!i.-average t!i.-average riot iiun ll more than two weeks a year and lasts about live years, which gives it a period of usefulness of approximately Td to mo days That this time could bo Indefinitely In-definitely increased by belter tare and management, man-agement, and that iiciji ct atid mismanage ment result in shorl-llvcd mae-hlnes. Improper Im-proper work ami luge c-xpeiuca for repairs is obvious Considering the high price of binders together to-gether with their comparatively short lif,; anil the short time they arc u-a-d each year few belter Investments can be made tiy a farmer than that of providing adequate shelter, shel-ter, Re fore binders are put away after n M-ason's work they should be gone over with the same- care that a good engineer woule he. ; s tow on his i rig inc. All old gre ase and dirt should be removed from the surface as well as from the- bearings. This can be done with kerosene and waste. The hinder should be carefully oib d and all bright parts greased to prevent rusting. After the- season's work Is over Is also the proper time to repair and overhaul a binder for ne xt year At this time the operator knows, or should know, all the ihfeel.s of the- machine and what it needs In ihe line of extras anel repairs to relit it for ru-xt si ason's work. If the machine Is put away, mi the other hand, without being given a second thought until n-eeleel again, the e p- rator. if In- stlil remains on the place, will have forgotten what ihe machine most needed. need-ed. The result Is that the binder is perhaps given a h isty In-pei-tl-m, which In a majority of eases falls to reve.nl any thing, and brought euit Into the field with numerous small eh -feels thai could have, been repaired at a nominal nom-inal expenditure of time anel money. If the farmer Is too busy to attend to repairs lm-nidlately lm-nidlately utter the mason's work is cmn-pl. cmn-pl. t- d. he should iit Last find time- to do the next b. -t thing, whbh Is to make a thorough not., of all de-fee ts of the machine with a vh- w to n medying them when time' is more plentiful. plenti-ful. Hinders are often operated by Inexperienced Inexperi-enced or i-'in less persons who, knowing nothing noth-ing about the in. ii nine tiiey nre using, sit M '.-eiiely in C si at and do not'iing but drive. Such men arc as surely e-ut of place as they would be on an engine platform. A hinder 1 1 per.-; tor should be familiar with and understand under-stand the proper function of every part of his machine, r.nd. what Is more, be should be able to make all necessary ad iu-t me n tj |