APPENDIX 187 



III 

 HOW TO RUN A BINDER 



The best machine ever made is worthless in 

 the hands of the man who has not sufficient 

 knowledge of its mechanism to adjust it properly 

 and to care for and repair it. The folio wing advice 

 on how to run a binder by Persey Wastle and 

 published in the SCIENTIFIC FARMER is so full 

 of practical hints that it is reproduced verbatim. 



It seems that there is a dearth of advice in our 

 agricultural papers concerning the operating of 

 farm machinery, excepting probably, the gasoline 

 engine. We read a great deal of how to take care 

 of our implements when not working, such as 

 oiling them and putting them away under cover, 

 all of which is very important, but I think a few 

 pointers on how to run them when in the field 

 would not come amiss. 



I wish to deal with the self binder, one of the 

 most ingenious, and also one of the greatest labor 

 saving machines in existence. We will suppose 

 the grain is nearly ripe; so we will pull the binder 

 out of the shed, where it has been carefully housed 

 since last harvest, though this is rarely the case 

 in the west. I have generally noticed them, or 

 at least all one could see of them for weeds, 

 standing in the corners of the fields, where they 

 were left the year before. 



The first thing to do is to go all over the binder 

 with a wire pick, and clean the oil holes. It is 

 advisable while doing this to notice if there are 

 any broken parts, so they can be sent to town for 



