MOTIVE POWERS FOR FARMS. 



543 



DOG-POWER. 



MOTIVE POWERS FOR FARMS. 



A GOOD motive power is a great convenience for both large and small farms, as well as 

 often a necessity. Such powers are valuable for pumping water, churning, sawing 

 wood, grinding grain, cutting feed for stock, threshing, shelling corn, and various 

 other farm purposes. The principal kinds in common use are horse-power, wind, and steam. 



Dog and sheep powers are often employed for 

 light purposes, such as churning, etc. As steam-en 

 gines are expensive, and water-power rarely available 

 on a farm, the powers that can be employed for an 

 ordinary-sized farm at a limited expense are either 

 horse-power or that furnished by a windmill, either 

 of which will do valuable service and economize in 

 the expense of labor, some farmers finding it more 

 profitable to use the former, and others the latter. 



Horse-Power. As horses are kept for use on 

 most farms, they furnish a very convenient power for 

 many purposes, while they possess the advantage of 

 being a power that can be transferred to any locality 

 on the farm or off from it, as desired, and also one 

 that comes within the means of most farmers. A horse-power is easily regulated, and readily 

 attached to any machine that is desired for use. It is also a very inexpensive power, and can 

 be used at any time, while wind is variable and can be used only at certain times. Each 

 power has its own especial advantages over others. A wind-engine, once located, requires no 

 further expense but to merely keep it in order, which is slight, while it is the only available 

 power that can be used in pumping water in distant fields. Steam-power can be either 

 stationary or movable, but for small farms is too expensive to be made profitable, while on 

 very large farms it becomes a necessity. The power to be used on any farm must always be 

 adapted to the amount and kind of work to be performed. 



The machinery for horse-power is generally so constructed as to be adapted to the use of 

 one, two, or three horses, as desired, and according to the amount of power required. That 

 represented on the previous page is by the well-known firm of A. &quot;W. Gray s Sons, Middletown 

 Springs,. Vermont. There is an endless platform on which the horses walk. This platform 

 is made of pieces of plank of suitable length fastened together on the under side by a 

 wrought-iron gear connected by cast-steel rods, which also serve as axles for rollers, and 

 move with the platform, running on a cast-iron and steel track. 



Wind-Power. In some portions of the country, especially the Western States, wind 

 mills have for some time been used quite extensively for furnishing power for many farm 

 purposes. They are becoming more common in other sections, as has been stated in previous 

 pages (See WINDMILLS, page 537), and are one of the most economic powers known. Wind 

 is variable, it is true, and cannot always be relied upon, and a wind-mill is confined to a cer 

 tain locality, yet the power it furnishes is one that never tires, and when the winds are 

 favorable it can work both night and day, often unattended, performing such labor as pump 

 ing water for distant pastures or household use, grinding grain, etc. For the former purpose 

 it has no equal, and by having a large tank provided, a supply of water can be constantly 

 kept on hand in all seasons for use when there is not sufficient wind for running it, while it 

 can be so regulated as to be self-adjusting, ceasing tcypump when the tank is full and com 

 mencing again when it requires filling. 



