GENERATING MECHANICAL POWER 75 



are the ones who use the greatest power and the best 

 machinery. Farmers who have a hard time of it are 

 the ones who use the old wheezy hand pump, the eight- 

 foot harrow and the walking plow. The few horses 

 they keep are small and the work worries them. The 

 owner sympathizes with his team and that worries him. 

 Worry is the commonest form of insanity. 



Figure 99. Flail, the oldest threshing machine, still used for 

 threshing pedigreed seeds to prevent mixing. The staff is seven or 

 eight feet long and the swiple is about three feet long by two and 

 one-half inches thick in the middle, tapering to one and one-half 

 inches at the ends. The staff and swiple are fastened together by 

 rawhide thongs. 



Figure 100. Bucket Yoke. It fits around the neck and over the 

 shoulders. Such human yokes have been used for ages to carry two 

 buckets of water, milk or other liquids. The buckets or pails should 

 nearly balance each other. They are steadied by hand to prevent 

 slopping. 



At a famous plowing match held at Wheatland, 

 Illinois, two interesting facts were brought out. Boys 

 are not competing for furrow prizes and the walking 

 plow has gone out of fashion. The plowing at the 

 Wheatland plowing match was done by men with rid- 

 ing plows. Only one boy under eighteen years was 

 ready to measure his ability against competition. The 

 attendance of farmers and visitors numbered about 

 three thousand, which shows that general interest in 

 the old-fashioned plowing match is as keen as ever. A 

 jumbo tractor on the grounds proved its ability to 

 draw a big crowd and eighteen plows at the same time. 

 It did its work well and without vulgar ostentation. 

 Lack of sufficient land to keep it busy was the tractor 's 



