894 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



The luachiue consists essentially of a metallic frame mounted on 3 wheels, 

 supporting a 4i-horsepo\ver fan-cooled motor in front, a fuel tank on top, and 

 below 3 small triangular plows on one axle, and 4 small rake teeth on another 

 axle. The motor action causes the rake teeth to oscillate as the machine pro- 

 ceeds. The 2 large drive wheels are in front, and the third wheel is a small 

 guide wheel set behind, which also regulates the depth of cultivation. 



Practical barn plans and all kinds of farm buildings, W. A. Radfokd (Chi- 

 cago and New York, 1911, pp. 1G9, figs. 330). — In this publication are found 

 plans showing the methods of design and the structural details of farm build- 

 ings, and also a description and discussion of each building and its construc- 

 tion. The buildings are classified as dairy barns, general farm barns, horse 

 barns, cattle sheds and feed lots, poultry houses, miscellaneous buildings, and 

 dwelling houses. In addition to these is a discussion of the construction and 

 use of minor "farm helps." 



Portable bos' fence (Nor'-West Farmer, 31 (1912). No. 7, p. J,ll, fig. 1).—A 

 portable wooden hog fence is described which is made in 12 ft. panels 2 ft. 

 10 in. high, consisting of 4-in. uprights, 4-in. braces, and 4 sideboards, of 6, 5, 4, 

 and 3 in. The 5- and 4-in. boards are extended and attached to a 26i-in. locking 

 piece which locks into a 22-in. opening in the next panel, forming a splice that 

 is said to be hog tight. 



RTJIIAL ECONOMICS. 



The cause of high prices, T. E. Burton (Sci. Amer. Sup., 73 (1912), No. 1S86, 

 pp. 126-128). — While showing that high prices as a rule are due to an in- 

 creased standard of living, which always necessitates an increase in prices unless 

 there is equal progress in production, this article discusses, the many factors 

 contributing to the constant rise in the standard. To show that there has not 

 been equal progress in production, it is stated that science working through 

 inventions and improved methods has not accomplished the same results in 

 agriculture as in manufacturing, and that revolutions in industrial methods 

 and in the utilization of capital on large scale operations have not been 

 accompanied by equal progress on the farm. Attention is called to the fact 

 that prices of raw material have increased much more than prices of the 

 manufactured product. 



As a solution of the high cost of living problem it is suggested that there 

 should be an entire revolution in the methods of distribution, substituting 

 great warehouses for small scattered shops through which the consumer and 

 producer may be brought nearer together. 



Cooperation and cost of living in certain foreign countries ( U. 8. House 

 Representatives 62. Cong., 2. Session, Doc. 617, pp. 2-'iS). — A document contain- 

 ing a special message from the President of the United States transmitting data 

 on cooperation and the cost of living in the United Kingdom, as collected and 

 collated from inquiries instituted by the Department of State through its con- 

 sular officers. The President considers the information " a permanent contribu- 

 tion to the history of the efforts of producers and consumers to solve for them- 

 selves the economic problems of production, distribution, and consumption." It 

 is significantly stated that while advances in wages have been made in many 

 places, the percentage has not kept pace with the rise in the cost of food 

 supplies. 



Cooperative enterprises of the Farmers' Union, A. C. Davis (Texarlcana, 

 Tex., [1912], pp. 2o). — A pamphlet giving the name and organization of the 

 various cooperative enterprises of the Farmers' Union in the United States, and 

 the kind of articles handled. The enterprises are classed as Farmers' Union 



