Show labor costs reduced and farm efficiency greatly ore a aly increased with improved mechanical develops Deve lopi farm equipment has now mechanized farm work now no brother to an ox by geor george ft c L gillette editors note george L gillette Cil is president ident n oj the farm equipment institute toe and an pry it MH lonz one beom arcite in the manu jure fac turi and distribution ol of farm arm machinery and equipment agriculture has come a long way since the days when the forked stick the scythe and the flail were the rule rather than the exception but it was not until the advent of farm machinery a little more than a century ago that agricultural practices made any real progress even in the early century the methods used by the fellaheen of ancient egypt were still followed even in many of the more advanced countries and then in the space of 50 years agriculture made greater strides than in the preceding 50 centuries with the coming of the plow the reaper and the th e other earlier types of farm machines farming though not an easy life plow used on gen george plantation in virginia lias has wood moldboard wood standard no landside flat iron share and iron iron coulter coulier certainly became wore more attractive than it was to millets bian alan with the hoc with the development of other types 0 of equipment which have followed in rapid sul succession cession agricultures agri cultures progress has steadily continued no longer does the tiller of the soil fit the poets description of stolid and stunned a brother to the ox no longer does the plowman homeward plod his weary way ile he rides the horse drawn cultivator and grain binder have given way in many areas to the tractor cultivator and the co combine harvesting of the forn corn crop is is now performed in ever increasing measure by the tractor operated corn picker cotton costs are being reduced by the mechanical ica I 1 cotton picker the primitive pump is succeeded by the electrical ly operated water system hai hand id milking by machine milking the heretofore laborious job of making hay is becoming less of a backbreaking chore through the newer machines for harvesting and storing 0 of f this important crop such as power mowers rakes pickup pick up balers forage harvesters and so it goes each step an improvement over the old less labor in growing and harvesting of food and feed crops in livestock raising in horti culture or dairying in every branch of agriculture the story is the same increased efficiency through use of the machine reduced effort on the part of the operator more time for the better things of life impossible of attainment in former times when hen the days were not long enough even to perform the single job of raising the food for the family in discussing the part which modern farm equipment plays in saving time and labor for the farmer we are apt to overlook some of the important services which it renders in the job of food production modern farm equipment has done more than any other one thing to neutralize weather hazards it enables the farmer to both control and shorten his crop handling time thus increasing the amount of work that can be done in the hours of sunshine allotted to him weed control and eradication can be adapted to individual weeds controlled plowing depths do much to bury such insect pests as the corn borer hessian fly and the boll weevil quick and positive erosion control is made p possible through modern mechanized d farm equipment all of these tend to increase acre yields and in many cases save entire crops cost per unit decreased one hundred years ago with tools th then e n available it required several d days of man labor to grow and harvest barvest an acre of wheat today in I 1 V 0 lie original Orl Ori einal rinal john deere steel rio plow W LIFE OF MACHINERY the life of farm mae machinery chinery can be greatly y extended as proven by tests conducted at the university of missouri corrosion and lack of care of farm machinery cut its life in half and added to the upkeep cost A record on a few of the implements life equipment housed walking plows 20 years 15 years gang plows 20 years 10 years corn planters 8 years 4 years cultivators 20 years 8 years mowers 12 years 7 years binders 12 years 5 years wagons 24 years 19 years disk harrows 15 years 8 years I 1 the great plains areas of the united states expenditure of less than 10 minutes of man labor per bushel is not unknown when modern methods and machines are used in other crops the story is similar and because of such methods and the marvels of present day equipment it has been possible for the farmers of tile the americas great britain or others of the united nations to maintain or expand their production CA pt of food in the war period despite reduction of workers on the land without the aid of such labor and timesaving time saving machines there is little doubt doubt that the millions of men in in the armed services and the many millions more at home would have long since faced serious food crises crise s that might have jeopardized the outcome of this world struggle it is true that thousands of per so sons n s in war torn countries cut off from normal food supplies have perished and that in areas where the population still depends upon primitive agricultural methods starvation is not uncommon but such disasters serve to underline the importance of substituting improved food producing equipment tor for the hand tools of the ancients man alan can get along without many things lings ti but not without food or the means of producing it with the wider distribution of present day equipment and the new even more efficient machine tools of agriculture to be available after the war is it too much to hope that the scourge of famine may be stamped out entirely in any event the manufacturers of farm equipment can be relied upon to do their utmost toward that end in the meantime they are continuing to produce both for civilians civilian s and military purposes doing big war job their factories have been turning out immense quantities of munitions and material for use on land sea and air and they will continue to do so as long as the emergency requires they have produced more repair parts in the last several years REPAIR FOR 1916 it is always easier costs less and takes less time to prevent a farm machinery breakdown than to fix one according to present indications the farmers of 1946 will be utilizing the same prewar machinery that they operated in 1944 every farm should have a corn comfortable fo for table work shop where all machinery can be placed under shelter chelte r and gone over on rainy days for the long winter months ahead As equipment f finishes its job it should be cleaned and put away away f than a at any time in ti to ma make k e sure that ma acl 0 th 1 r hl on the far farms ms w will c co on 1 44 W td tion they thea I 1 have rn mas n ue bof many complete machine able materi materials as a 3 manpower man manao powe ern mental r restrictions est itis ad and have rn maintained taw aff berrt peric period d the high standards standard american farm machi machy for anery ss is throughout the world orld products 0 the farin am meat industry Y ha have ve abw ah tab sturdily bu built ailt to take U the farm work demands demand 11 t eai of their st I 1 gorge 0 id sturdy construct coast el indicated by the tae ord ers in on 4 pair and replacement k by I 1 manufacturers parts ft machines 30 and lot even 40 old still opera yeul 1 operating tod equipment g going into the ii ay of the tamer farmer 1 isa I better haa leered than ever ee knowing something of n the who design and manufacture 61 farm machines I 1 am convince e t the products for the postwar postwar 04 be even better the histo ra ra farm equip equipment ment industry ry k habbe of t one of continuous progress F W ever increasing service I 1 to an ture I 1 am confident that agra this thi will be even brighter in the rt ahead yeal modern ala machine chine farrae farmer builds up for prosperity for years the farm industry dealers manu fackle and trade publications have hae be ha active advocates of soil and ral conservation and ana Improve meli j soil fertility one crop farms ts bially where tobacco cotton 4 ri corn were the cash crops ta t a bringing home to them the bacu facu the nations wealth was leads down the hillsides hill sides and aad intone streams that carried it to the wa such lands were rapidly passing a gl of production ceasing to pay tnt lag and to support prosperous ira aa families and communities Vil laai even counties faded with the lain im as they wore out to awaken the nation to them the ta sequences of this trend if lotom notom ter acted the industry congha long hasful IW stress upon the long pull benebe ben eSSit soil conservation and the part aci farmers can play in the using the tools already on the farm and available for soil con conselita conse raia efforts contour farming terracing ri cj crop rotations rot ons in the united go back to thomas jeffersons wt in virginia well over a century if writing in the american fantai 1821 the ex president of the hearil aea states in a signed article lewd inquiries from readers of that I 1 X z A tt Z iva facsimile of original mccormick reaper which proved oiled 10 cultures most important machinery developments aneer publication a as S to cot farming and about the pi ali I 1 on his son in laws virginia efforts to lea but jeffersons ba pioneer american farmer to 10 c olt and ana w permanent community agriculture and national nation alP PrOs in cheva the t forgotten in were soon 1 0 virgin lands that opened fucco settlers as the louisiana 1013 acquisto acau and other territorial tows farmers beckoned young midwest mid west and the pacific while good followed farmers on coscino con COs ahelf cito initiative pr practices a ct I 1 ces combar comparatively active i I 1 Y little ler j done in an organized anax 11 meli the unit united ed st states tes depart depa ta agriculture in the began da erosion of the active notice 0 soil on cultivated lands land landas ss set to up d sion control experiment su do instituted an intensive ints 5 studio co erosion in 1935 the tt soll d ad I 1 tion service was estable 45 the middle of last year had sou soil conse st states ates e and ad tracts totaling 1114 11 acres this 4 interested erest A at being vitally vitaly a th there ere was ff of fo fort rt long before conservation P daos industry naturally S got behill states I 1 e unite operated with the the in helping helping when aroble solve his land nationwide PS program coor N csoll s1 sa 05 rated through pe and advertisements menti CA their advertise advertisements apine ri nt o on the subject farm 0 14 field r rey hei panics their ade and balers dealers have ha r I 1 70 i barrner suggestions to the th 0 d r water 0 capa capacity fertility of so oil loss venting the |