No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 183 



though I know it is good, I can hardly make myself believe it. At 

 this moment, there are machine tools, which cost many thousands of 

 dollars, standing around in the dilVerent corners of our works. They 

 are practically in as good order as the day they were bought, and 

 will do as much and as good work. The trouble is, that improved 

 manufacturing tools are coming out each year. 



Five years ago })erhaps a certain piece or manufacturing operation 

 required, in addition to an expensive machine tool, a high i)riced 

 journeyman mechanic to operate it. Two years later an improved 

 tool is invented which will enable a comparatively cheap, unskilled 

 man to turn out more and better work. The saving by its use will 

 be sufficient in a year's time to pay its cost, so, of course, we buy it. 

 Two years more and another machine is presented. This time it is 

 an automatic machine which does not require any constant attendant 

 whatever, and it turns out work of absolute uniformity. The former 

 machine is perfectly good, just as good as it ever was, but it don't 

 owe us anything, it paid for itself in its own savings the first year 

 of its use, and here is another machine, guaranteed to still further 

 save, so out goes the old one and in comes the new. 



Having secured an automatic machine, it W'Ould seem as though 

 the end has been reached; but right now I have a proposition from 

 another builder of machine tools, who proposes to put us in an im- 

 proved automatic machine, guaranteed to do double the work, and 

 with a slight saving in material, so if he can prove it, out will go 

 the former machine and in will come the new one. 



It is plainly, money in our pockets, to discard these out of date ma- 

 chines and methods, and we do so quickly when opportunity presents 

 But really, I will confess, that it is pretty hard for rae to throw them 

 into the scrap pile, w'here they should go. It seems a shame to throw 

 Buch elegant tools aw^ay, so, lacking the proper moral courage, I have 

 the discarded machines pushed over into one corner, where I can 

 keep on looking at them, and then, when we get extra scarce of room, 

 they will be put into an outsidie shed, and from there pushed into the 

 scrap heap by degrees. Luckily, we have horse-sense enough, to 

 substitute at once a new raachiiie for the old as soon as it can be 

 demonstrated that it is worthv to succeed it, but it is hard work to 

 let the old ones go out of our sight, so, "like good-night in the hall- 

 wav," thev hang around for some time. But we see that thev do us 

 no harm, except taking up a little of our spare room, and the cream- 

 eryman who is in an equivalent position, should see that an in- 

 ferior method, is not losing him money, even if he does have to throw 

 away the machinery, he thinks as good as new. 



The great inroads which American machinery has mad'e in the 

 trade of foreign countries, notwithstanding the cheap labor of those 

 countries, can majnlv be attributed, I think, to tile Anierican manu 



