Show labor costs reduced and fa farm rm efficiency Effi dency greatly increased Inre ased with improved mechanical anial developments farm equipment has now mechanized farm work N I 1 now ow No Brother to an ox by george L gillette editors editor note hole george L gillette ts is president ol of the farm equipment institute and has lono lonn been active in the manufacture and distribution of farm arm machinery anil 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 coining ot of the plow the reaper and the other earlier types of farm machines farming though not an easy life certainly became more attractive than it was to millets man with the hoe with the development ve 1 op ment of other types of equipment which have followed in rapid succession agricultures agri cultures progress has steadily continued no long erdoes the tiller of the soli soil fit the poets description of stolid and stunned a brother to the ox no longer does the plowman homeward plod his weary way lie ile rides the horse drawn cultivator and grain binder have given w way y in many areas to the tractor cultivator and the combine harvesting of the corn crop is now performed in ever measure operated corn picker cotton costs are being reduced by the mechanical cotton picker the primitive pump Is succeed edby the electrically operated water system hand milking by machine milking the heretofore laborious lob job of making hay Is becoming less of a backbreaking chore through the newer machines for harvesting and storing of 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 teed feed crops in livestock raising in horticulture 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 the days were not long enough even to perform the he single lob 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 0 o neutralize wea weather tifer hazards it enables the farmer to both control and shorten his crop hand handling liAg 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 ind 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 possible through modern mechanized 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 then available it required several dais day s of man labor to grow and harvest barvest an acre of wheat today in I 1 original john deere steel plow LIFE OF MACHINERY MACHINE itonery the life of at farm bachl machinery can be greatly extended as proven by tests conducted at the university of missouri corrosion and lack of 0 care ot of farm machinery cut its life in half and added to the upkeep cost A record on a few of the implements lue life equipment housed walking plows 20 years 15 years gang plows 20 years 10 years corn cora planters 8 years 4 years cultivators 20 years 8 years mowers 12 years ayears 7 years binders 12 years ayears 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 tor for the farmers farmer of the americas Amerl cas great britain or others of the united nations to maintain or expand their production sy ta r 77 1 1 7 0 A 5 V I 1 1 0 0 4 V I 1 plow used on gen george plantation in VIrg virginia lala has wood moldboard wood standard no landside flat iron share and iron coulter of food in the war period despite reduction of workers on the land without the aid of such buch labor and timesaving time saving machines there Is little doubt that the millions of 0 men in the armed services and the many millions more at home would have long since laced faced serious food crises that might have jeopardized the outcome of this world struggle it Is true that thousands of persons in war torn countries out 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 out but such disasters serve to underline the importance 0 of substituting improved food producing equipment for the hand band tools of the me ancients man can get along alon without many things but not without food or the means of product produce g jt I 1 with the wider distribution ot 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 0 farm arm equipment can be relied upon to do their utmost toward that end in the meantime they are continuing to produce both tor for civilians civilian 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 BO as long as the emergency requires they have produced more repair parts in the last several years than at any time in their history to make sure that machines already on the farms will continue to function they have manufactured as many complete machines as available materials manpower and governmental ern mental restrictions would permit and have maintained throughout this period the high standards tor for which american farm machinery Is noted throughout the world products of the he farm equipment industry have always been sturdily built to take the beating farm work demands some idea of their sturdy construction Is indicated by the orders for repair and replacement parts received by manufacturers for machines 30 and even 40 years old still operating today equipment going into the hands bands of tire the farmer Is better engl engi leered than ever knowing something odthe of the men who design and manufacture these farm machines I 1 am convinced that the products for the postwar era will be even better the history of the farm equipment industry has been one of continuous progress and of f ever increasing service to agriculture agrical I 1 am confident that this record will be even brighter in the years ahead ti e Z tz 1 I a facsimile of original mccormick McCorm lck reaper which proved one of agri cultures cul lures most important machinery developments inquiries from readers ol of that pioneer publication as to 6 contour farming and about the plow he used on his son in laws virginia farm but jeffersons efforts to teach the pioneer american farmer to build a permanent agriculture and with it community and national prosperity rity were soon forgotten in the rush to virgin lands that opened up to sewers settlers as the louisiana pur purchase c hase ind and other territorial acquis acquisitions 1 ton beckoned young farmers toward th the midwest mid west and the pacific while good farmers on their own initiative followed conservation practices comparatively little was done in an organized manner until the united states department of agriculture in the began taking active notice of the erosion of top soil on cultivated lands set up tip ero sion control experiment stations and instituted an intensive study of soil erosion in 1935 the soil conservation service was established and ba by the middle of last year 45 of the states had soil conservation districts totaling 1114 and embracing acres being vitally interested in this effort long before there we was ah organized 0 conservation program drogs ra the industry naturally got behind and cooperated with the united states government in helping the farmer solve his land problems when the nationwide program was w as inaugurated through personal ef fort in their advertisements and booklets on the subject farm equipment companies their field representatives and dealers have made hel helpful p ful suggestions to the farmer on so soil 11 fertility water capacity and pi pro venting the loss of soils 4 |