Villanova Digital Library - The Rural New-Yorker: a journal for the suburban and country home, v. 72, no. 4180, December 7, 1912.

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Full Title	The Rural New-Yorker: a journal for the suburban and country home, v. 72, no. 4180, December 7, 1912.
Date Added	16 January 2015
Format	Newspaper
Language	English
Publish Date	1912-12-07
Publisher	New York, N.Y.: the Rural Publishing Company
Source	Dime Novel and Popular Literature
Topic	Popular literature > Specimens. Agriculture > New York (State) > Newspapers.. Country life > New York (State) > Newspapers.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR at (irm-‘Y -Vi‘ :“.d“‘T-” 5A,, VOL. LXXI. No. 4180. NEbV YORK, DECEMBER 7, 1912. WEEKLY. $1.60 PER YEAR THIS HORSE EATS GASOLINE. And Does‘ All Sorts of Work. MEDIUM VVEIGHT TRACTORS.-Up to a com- paratively few years ago traction farming in America, with occasional exceptions, was contined to the grain kings of the great “lest. The big tractors, with their proportionate equipments of tillage implements and harvesting machinery, fitted well the unobstructed way, turning furrows by the dozen, or cutting mighty swaths of grain. These large outfits were of course not well adapted to quarter and half-section farms with highway, division line and cross fences. The development of reasonable reliability in gasoline and kerosene engines, however, gave manufacturers an a great deal more. It furnishes its own power to be placed where it is wanted; it does much of the work of horses in the field and on the highway; and when it is idle it requires nothing by way of maintenance. COMPARISON bVITl‘l HORSES.-Didthe farmer reader ever seriously consider the cost of keeping his horses? If he has been in the market as a buyer bf late years he need not be told of the ontgo for pur- chasing a good pair. But the everyday feed that they must have, whether giving good returns for their keep, just paying their board, or not earning him anything -as is the case with most of them during the long iVinter-is generally figured less closely than the rations that go to sheep, cattle and hogs. At the same time the feed consumed by horses has the money value rowed at the same time. During the performance of this work his teams may, have ample employment, and the hired men more exercise than in holding reins. The tractor says to him when the stubble fields are bare: “You and I and the boy and engine gang will get busy with Mother Earth before the weeds grow ripe. The hired men and the horses can take the manure sprcaders and tarkleyour barnyard bank, which has beenireceiving deposits regularly and not paying out to the field what it should, because you haven't had the time to draw on it." WORK XVELL DONE.-There is "business" in six furrows turning in unison, and richness which has long awaited the alchemy of air and sunshine rolling up from below the old plow-crust of the horse gang. .4v s. 330.1. V ‘xv-F! r A WISCONSIN OUTFIT WHICH PLOWS ev-an av,’ - 3<. no 4-“ " ‘.13. '”..l t X.” ‘R’ opportunity to adapt tractioneering to a smaller scale. The result has been the production of numerous light and medium-weight tractors designed to pull from three to six plows and furnish belt power. Some of them have not been in the field long enough to acquire a successful past; others have, and can be relied ‘upon to make good in performance. With these facts in mind the writer purchased‘in the Summer of l91l a’ tractor which he knew to be reliable, and which be- longs to the medium class in weight and capacity. It . pulls six plows and delivers 40 horsepower to the belt. ‘ ADVANTAGES OF GAS TRACTORS.-The gas tractor, like the automobile, has come to stay. This is shown by the general interest manifested by farmers in its work, and the steadily incrcasixfg purchases by those convinced of its possibilities. It puts the power Plant of the farm where it will do the most 110011- For years farmers have hauled heavy Pofiablc 9"8l"C5 . ' about with horses. These engines serve their purpose, but‘ their helpfulness is limited to the belt. The tractor does all the work these portahles perform, and V . of just what it is worth on the market. One hundred dollars a year is .1 reasonable sum to charge to a horse, if he is taken through the Winter in condition for work in the Spring, aside from veterinary attend- ance and shoeing. That the tractor affords the means of reducing the number of horses required is reason- able; and that with its aid in plowing, disking, harrow- ing and hauling, the use of the horses that are retained may well be turned to work that is ever calling but often gets no answer, or at least a delayed one, is most certain. It is absurd to speak of dispensing with horses on the farm, as do some over-enthusiastic votaries of mechanical substitution for their services. The tractor has come as an able assistantito the horse in relieving him of much of his hard work, thus pro- longing his usefulness and freeing him for miscella- ncous duties performed at the right time. It enables the farmer to “make things go" more certainly and effectually than he can with horses alone; his usual Fall plowing possibly done, in August, and ground intended for Winter grain plowed, disked’ and har- rm: GASOLINE 1=ARix1 r1sA1ii WALKING OFF TO THE HAY MARKET. FIG. 506. ' 'The deeper plowing gives promise of better things to be-practically a new farm from the old, tried acres. The farmer has time for reflection as he guides his outfit about the field and sumsup its work. It is performing the service of l2 horses, of three drivers of horse gangs and six of walking plows. And him- self and the boy are handling the whole jobl The day may be sultry, but, unlike horses, the engine works the better; the‘ tlies do not bother it, and the furrow-line is straight and true if the steersman keeps his eye alert. The horses and the men are working the spread- ers to advantage on the meadow, insteadiof plowing I lightly and ‘resting languishingly. ' 1 EXPENSE OF THE WORK.-Now what does it cost? This is a very common inquiry in the English language-and I suppose in all languages, for that matter, spoken by people who wear clothes and face responsibility. The farmer, of all men engaged in production, may well consider the cost, for he gets , it coming and going. Unlike the manufacturer with whom he‘-isisomctimes compared, he cannot add a r..-, W...