240 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



because of the dull, rusty hoe that was placed in his hands. It takes time to 

 keep implements bright and sharp ; but it is true economy to use time for 

 this purpose. I can well remember when I took my first lessons in mowing on 

 a large farm. The old scythes as they were worn out were placed in a barrel 

 and it was pretty well filled. From this lot of old worn out scythes, — not fit 

 for men to use, — a scythe was selected for me, hung on an old snath, and I 

 was armed and equipped according to custom, if not law, for my outset on the 

 hay field. Too often with such implements the boys are expected to do nearly 

 as much as the men. A small outlay of money may be saved iti this way, 

 but it is at the expense of the nerve and stamina of growing boys and is quite 

 apt to rob them of the zest and relish for labor, which a young man feels 

 when he has a good implement with which to do his work. 



Discretion in the use of implements is highly necessary. A large part of 

 the breakage of farm machinery is the result of working implements when 

 there are too many obstructions. It is not wise to undertake to cut wheat 

 with a reaper, when the ground is so soft from continued rains that you are in 

 danger of almost miring at every step. Better let the horses rest and use a 

 little elbow grease with a hand cradle. Some farmers and some hired men have 

 such a horror of coming in personal contact with a hand implement that they 

 are always taking great risks of breakage, that they may accomplish everything 

 by machinery. Wisdom suggests a better course. To those who heed, the 

 breakage, the loss, and vexation incident thereto shall be small indeed. 



I come now to the care of farm implements, and I need hardly say to you 

 that the evidences of mismanagement and lack of economy are nowhere quite 

 so plainly seen as here, on the majority of farms. Ride through the country 

 and estimate the cost of the expensive machinery you will see in barn yards, 

 in fence corners, by the road side — in every conceivable place except under 

 shelter ; subjected to all the vicissitudes of wind and weather, and tell me if 

 there is not a demand for jeremiads over this shiftlessness and waste? It 

 cannot be excused as a necessity. A corner of the barn floor, a cheap shed 

 will give the needed room, and it is quite surprising how many implements 

 can be stored in a small space with a little thought. We can only account for 

 it in this way, that farmers are quite insensible to the loss they sustain by 

 their carelessness, and are content to follow on in the ways of their fathers. 

 True economy demands shelter for all farm implements, and requires them to 

 be placed in proper quarters when not in use. Can I better illustrate this than 

 by giving you an example of the profit and loss of the two plans of caring for 

 implements. Messrs. A and B are neighbors, each owning 160 acres of land. 

 In 1868 each purchased a mower and reaper combined ; about the same 

 amount of reaping and mowing on the two farms. Mr. A keeps his mower 

 under shelter when not in use, rarely leaving it out over night. As a result it 

 is looked after carefully and frequently. Nuts are tightened, bolts adjusted, 

 and all kept in the best working order. Mr. B's machine is never under 

 shelter — it is taken to the field and perhaps left there for weeks after the 

 cutting is done. What is the result? Mr. A uses his machine without break- 

 age, and at the end of twelve years has not paid to exceed S60 for repairs, and 

 it really looks less worn than Mr. B's after two years' use. Indeed, it is so 

 fresh in paint and parts that it sells at auction, notwithstanding the improve- 

 ments that have been made since its manufacture, for one-fourth the cost of 

 a new machine. Mr. B's machine needed repairs that at the end of the third 

 year exceeded in cost all the repairs of Mr. A's for twelve years, and so on 

 until the sixth year, when it was thrown aside and a new one purchased, to be 



