FARM MACHINERY 



39 



Mowing machines, horse hay-rakes, tedders, and stackers have 

 revolutionized the work of making hay. It formerly required 

 eleven hours of man-labor to cut and cure a ton of hay. Now the 

 same work may be done in one hour and thirty-nine minutes ; while 

 the cost for the required man-labor has been decreased from 83I 

 to i6\ cents per ton. 1 Potato planters and diggers, feed choppers 

 and grinders, manure spreaders, and ditch-digging machines are 

 only a few of many labor-saving devices now common on the farms 

 in the Central States. There is hardly a phase of farm work that 

 has not been essentially changed by the introduction of some new 

 implement or machine. 



Some idea of the great development which has taken place 

 along these lines may be gained from a consideration of the value 

 of the output of agricultural implements and machinery as reported 

 to the Census Office. For purposes of comparative study, the 

 figures must be taken subject to heavy allowances, because, as 

 pointed out by Mr. George K. Holmes, 2 the prices of farm 

 machinery have "declined to an enormous extent," and this, too, 

 in spite of the fact that the later machines are more efficient, more 

 durable, more readily operated, lighter, and stronger. 



The total value of agricultural implements and machines manu- 

 factured during the several census years, as reported to the Census 

 Office, is as follows : 3 



Total for United States 



1900 

 1890 



1SS0 

 1870 

 1S60 

 1S50 



S101.207.42S 

 81,271,651 

 6S.640.4S6 

 42,653,500 4 

 20.831,904 

 6,842,611 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Vear Book, 1899, p. 332. 



2 Twelfth Census, Manufacturing, Vol. IV, p. 353. 



3 Ibid., p. 344. 



4 The amount as given in the Census Report has been reduced to a gold basis 

 (see Tenth Census, Manufactures, p. 1). 



