No. 4.] EVOLUTION OF FARM MACHINES. 257 



rewarded. Others who combined large business ability with 

 inventive "genius have succeeded in buildino- a monument to 

 themselves in the great manufacturing industry which bears 

 their name." 



What of the Future? 

 The problem of the application of steam to the heavier 

 operations of the farm has been studied for the past fifty 

 years, but nothing practical is at hand that is within the 

 reach of any but the bonanza wheat growers. If we may 

 judge by what is taking place in other industries, we may 

 confidently expect that the improv^ement of steam power, 

 electricity or some other form of motor will be adapted to 

 the farm during the early part of the twentieth century. 

 The old traction engines were too cumbersome, and wasted 

 too much power. The arrangement of fields in many New 

 England farms is not as favorable to the use of machinery as 

 might be desired. One continuous field of considerable size 

 can be cultivated much more cheaply than two fields of the 

 same area. In this respect farmers of the west have en- 

 joyed an advantage greater than the superior fertility of 

 the soil warrants ; and the natural conformation of the land 

 there is adapted to the use of all labor-saving machinery on 

 the broader lines of future development. Nevertheless, the 

 farmers of New England may often find it convenient to 

 co-operate in the ownership and use of the more expensive 

 machinery. 



