PREFACE 



More mechanical knowledge is required on the farm 

 than in any other line of business. If a farmer is not 

 mechanically inclined, he is under the necessity of em- 

 ploying someone who is. 



Some farms are supplied with a great many handy 

 contrivances to save labor. Farmers differ a great deal 

 in this respect. Some are natural mechanics, some 

 learn how to buy and how to operate the best farm ma- 

 chinery, while others are still living in the past. 



Some farmers who make the least pretensions have 

 the best machinery and implements. They may not be 

 good mechanics, but they have an eye to the value of 

 labor saving tools. 



The object of this book is to emphasize the impor- 

 tance of mechanics in modern farming ; to fit scores of 

 quick-acting machines into the daily routine of farm 

 work and thereby lift heavy loads from the shoulders 

 of men and women ; to increase the output at less cost 

 of hand labor and to improve the soil while producing 

 more abundantly than ever before ; to suggest the use 

 of suitable machines to manufacture high-priced nutri- 

 tious human foods from cheap farm by-products.' 



Illustrations are used to explain principles rather 

 than to recommend any particular type or pattern of 

 machine. 



The old is contrasted with the new and the merits of 

 both are expressed. 



THE AUTHOR, 



