67 



lour-story firopr.iof farm nipclianics liiiildin^ at the Iowa Agrir-tiltura! Col- 

 lege has lieeii (•i>ini)lete(l. wliicli. with its equipineiit. cost over i?7r»,(t()0. and a 

 good eoiirse in farm mechanics is offered in the college curriculum. In this 

 course during the spring term lliu students were enrolled. 



lu the Department of Agriculture progress has been made by adding the 

 dei)artment of drainage to the work of the department of irrigation investiga- 

 tion and cliaiigiiig the title to irrigation and drainage investigations. 



It is to he regretted that a comi)lete bureau of " Irrigation and Agricultural 

 Engineering" has not been established, which was last year suggested by 

 the connnittee and recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture. -The agri- 

 cultural colleges that have established courses in farm met'hanics have found 

 that great interest is manifested in the work of studying the principles of con- 

 struction and testing of farm implements. This is true not only of the students 

 and the farmers, but also of the manufacturers of these farm implements. 

 who realize the importance of this work and are offering friendly coopera- 

 tion and assistance to the work. 



An example of what may be accomplished for the benefit of not only the 

 farmers but the manufacturers will illustrate the value of studying "farm 

 machinery in colleges. The farm mechanics department of the Iowa State 

 College undertook last year to test various makes of corn planters to note the 

 accuracy of dropping the corn. It was found that there was considerable 

 difference between the different makes and types of planters as to their accu- 

 racy of drop. The attention of tlie manufacturers was called to this fact, and 

 while they were at first thoroughly convinced that their i)lanters were accurate 

 in their work yet they found there was room for improvement, and two firms 

 ackno\\'ledged that they improved the accuracy of drop of their planters 20 

 per cent after their attention had been called to the defects of the planters and 

 a remedy suggested. By means of this cooperation with the manufacturers 

 the farmers of the country are greatly benefited. 



While the implement manufacturers of the country are lio doubt seeking to 

 bring out the hest possible farm implements, yet their inte/ests are from a 

 purely business motive. The department of farm mechanics at the various 

 colleges of agriculture and the Department of Agriculture can do much to fur- 

 ther the improvement of farm machinery by making impartial tests and report 

 on tiie defects to manufacturers. There is at the present time a great demand 

 for information on the cost and efficiency of pumping machinery for irrigation 

 purposes. The large projects of irrigation now under way in the Western 

 States require the pumping of large quantities of water to be lifted from 10 to 

 liOO feet. Thousands of acres of land on the Mii?souri slope in North and South 

 Dakota can be irrigated if the water can be pumped from the iNIissouri River 

 cheap enough. Fuel is jtlenty in those sections of the country in the shape of 

 lignite coal. The Depitrtment of Agriculture is performing a service of great 

 value to the Western States by making experiments and collecting facts which 

 will give information to settlers upon the best kind of pumping stations to 

 install to supply the water for irrigation purposes. 



During the last couple of years (Jermany, the Scandinavian countries, and 

 Holland have issued several- bulletins which give very interesting data upon 

 tests made of domestic as well as American made farm Implements. These 

 bulletins are of great value to those counti-ies, giving as they do the cost of 

 various implements, the amount of work that can be accomplished, and effi- 

 ciency with which the different makes do the work. Germany has long recog- 

 nized the value of agricultural and mechanical training both for the farm and 

 for the factory. Our own manufacturers are anxious to obtain graduates from 

 our agricultural colleges who have a knowledge of the requirements of agri- 

 culture, together with a mechanical training in the designing of farm imple- 

 ments. Several positions are now open for young men with training along 

 these lines. 



There are so many and varied sul>jects emln-aced in agricultural engineering 

 that the subject is entitled to a more i)rominent rank than it now holds in our 

 agricultural colleges. It ought to hold equal rank with the departments of 

 dairying, animal husbandry, agronomy, and horticulture. 



It is exceedingly important at this time that the Department of Agriculture 

 take steps to organize a bureau or division of agricultural engineering, in order 

 to aid the colleges which now have a course of agricultural engineering estab- 

 lished and to collect the data which such colleges ai'e obtaining in their experi- 

 mental tests for publication and distribution among the farmers, also to carry 



