EVOLUTION OF FARM -IMPLEMENT INVESTIGATIONS. 221 



extent by the use of feeds which will plant tlie <riiiin more uniformly. 

 For the opening of the furrows in which to deposit the grain, there 

 are now used single disks, double disks, shoes, and hoes, and the rows 

 are planted 6, 7, 8, and 10 inches apart, but no rcliai)le experiments 

 have been conducted to determine which of these methods of planting 

 produces the best yield of grain or requires the least power for 

 planting. 



In the semiarid regions listers arc used instead of corn planters, and 

 it has been found that better yields of corn are produced by this 

 method of planting, as the corn roots will better withstand the 

 drought. It seems that similar methods of planting small grain could 

 be employed to good advantage in those regions where the rainfall is 

 scarce during the growing season. 



HARVESTING AND TIIKASHING MAC^HINERY. 



The grain-harvesting machinery reached its present state of per- 

 fection about fifteen years ago, but owing to the more difhcult prob- 

 lems to be solved in harvesting corn by machinery im[)lements for this 

 purpose have only come into use during the last fifteen years. A 

 large share of the corn crop on the American farms is still being 

 wasted annuall}^ for want of proi)er machinery for the care of the 

 crop. There is need of investigations to determine wdiat kind of corn- 

 harvesting machinery will best meet the requirements in obtaining 

 the largest value of the corn crop at a minimum cost. In the thrash- 

 ing of small grain with our modern thrashing machines it is claimed 

 by those who have studied the subject that the loss through improper 

 separation, due to ignorance in the handling of the machines or to 

 improper designs, amounts to nearly one bushel per acre on the aver- 

 age. This loss would amount to over 8,000,()()() bushels for a single 

 State in which wheat is the principal crop raised. Experiments 

 ought, therefore, to be conducted to determine just what the loss is 

 and what changes in the separators will reduce it to a minimum. 



MOTIVK I'OWKK KOIt I ARMS. 



In using horses for propelling farm implements, no experiments 

 have been made to determine the size or weight of animals best 

 adai)ted to farm work and what should l)e the average number of 

 jKUinds pull per day for a given sized horse. The result is that 

 horses are often overloaded,. greatly to their detriment. The trac- 

 tion engine is now being introduced on the large farms of the AVest- 

 ern States to take the place of hoi-ses for i)lowing, cidtivating, and 

 seeding. No accurate investigations havi'as yet been made to deter- 

 mine the efliciency of ihis method of soil cultixalion or (lie compara- 

 tive cost of horses and other forms of motive power foi- the farm. It 

 is desirable to investigate the subject so that both the farmers and 



