214 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



of farm-machiiicrv coiistruction, i'oi- cxaiiipU*, as well as in its prac 

 tical ()p(M-ati()ii and nianaycincMit. 



In no other country is such extensive use made of farm machinery, 

 and the scarcity of farm labor will tend to its increased use in the 

 future rather than otherwise. The total value of implements and 

 machinery on the farms of this country, according to the recent census, 

 was ST61, 2^)1, ,550, an average of $V4'4 per farm, taking the country 

 over, and of 90 cents per acre of farm land. Much of this machinery 

 is elaborate and complicated in construction, and requires mechanical 

 skill or genius for its most efficient operation and care, not to mention 

 the making of small repairs. It represents an important part of the 

 farmer's invested capital upon which he nuist pay or earn interest. 

 That there is an enormous waste of money due to neglect and unskill- 

 ful handling of this part of the farm equipment must be obvious to 

 anyone who has traveled through the regions where it is most used. 



The record of two tenants on neighboring farms in Nebraska is a 

 case in point as showing how nmch of this waste may be avoided. 

 These two men have been li^'ing on the same farms for the past nine 

 years. One of them is still using the same harvester which he pur- 

 chased the iirst year he took the farm; the other has bought and ''worn 

 out" three self-binders. In eight and a half 3'^ears there has been a 

 difference of |1,900 in the outlay for farm machinery by these two 

 men. Both farms are about equally equipped. The difference is that, 

 as a result of ]>etter care and more skillful use, one man's tools have 

 lasted about three times as long as the other's. Such examples of 

 extravagant mismanagement are by no means uncommon. It is often 

 one of the great leaks on the farm. 



The agricultural high school at Berlin has a w^ell-developed and 

 efficient department of farm machinery. In the opinion of the head 

 of that department, nothing has done more to improve agricultural 

 methods in Germany than the study by the young men of the tools of 

 their own and other countries; and out of it have resulted many 

 improvements in construction. Other foreign institutions are giving 

 attention to instruction and experimentation along these lines. 



While farm machinery is only one of several subjects embraced in 

 this new department, it will naturally be quite an important part at 

 the outset. Along with it will go questions relating to farm build- 

 ings, silo construction, fence l)uilding, underdrainage, etc. Out of 

 these can be constructed a department of instruction which will 

 strength(Mi and round out the work of the agricultural colleges, and 

 will also suggest luunerous lines of profitable investigation. 



