TOG IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



cent, and a clean job is done. Altogether the economies which can be 

 effected by applying gas power to binders are so important in business 

 farming that every grain-grower could well afford to invest in an outfit. 

 After finishing the harvest, the engine could be removed and put to work 

 elsewhere. Its ride would not make it lazy. There is more useful service 

 in a first-class gasoline engine than in any other machine used on a farm. 



No machine is fool-proof. A gasoline engine cannot be expected to 

 give as satisfactory results in the hands of a reckless man as under the 

 management of someone possessing a mechanical instinct. Some men dis- 

 like machinery and cannot secure the best results from its use; others 

 take a special pride in it, and so secure maximum returns. As between 

 the man who is inclined to "monkey" with a gasoline engine whenever 

 he has nothing else to do and the man who lets it alone until it is unmis- 

 takably "out of fix" the latter is to be preferred. It does not require an ex- 

 pert knowledge of its construction and operation successfully to run an 

 engine, but the man who would get the longest and most efficient service 

 out of it should know a great deal about the principles involved. First of all 

 he should seek to make himself master of at least four features of the art 

 of gas engine management. These are compression, ignition, carburetion 

 and proper valve action. Most of the trouble experienced by users of this 

 form of power result from ignorance or neglect of the conditions embraced 

 in this list. Ignitors are the most fruitful source of difficulty. But noth- 

 ing happens which cannot be remedied or at least understood by the man 

 who has common sense and patience. 



Many farmers have a well-earned reputation for taking very shabby 

 care of their agricultural machinery. Such men are sure to have trouble 

 with gasoline engines. Dirt, rust, violent jarring and general abuse will 

 soon tell on the best that can be built. Inferior oil also contributes to an 

 abbreviated service and various defects. Manufacturers take pains to 

 build reliable engines that if properly cared for and intelligently oper- 

 ated can be depended on for years of profitable service; but they do not 

 guarantee them against abuse of any sort. Many a machine is condemned 

 for defects which it develops under the blind eye of an owner who does 

 not know how to use it. He blames it for his own shortcomings. Usually 

 he makes matters worse when he tries to correct them. Careless, irre- 

 sponsible farm hands who enjoy accidental leisure and a run to town for 

 repairs should not be allowed to operate gasoline engines. While these 

 machines require but slight attention, so far as the bulk of their work is 

 concerned, they should have intelligent inspection at intervals. 



D.C.W. 



KEEPING IN THE LEAD WITH DRAFT HORSES. 



(breeders' gazette.) 



Whether prices are high or low, there are forces always at work to 

 counteract the benefits which accrue to the average quality of horses 

 through the progressive policy of a portion of the farmers who raise draft 

 colts. It takes considerable tenacity of purpose and a farsighted business 



