FARM IMPLEMENTS AND MECHANICS 495 



strands. Cable-laid and four-stranded ropes are as a rule 

 about one-fifth weaker. 



TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION 



1. Make a list of all your farm machinery and esti- 

 mate the value. Talk with your father and determine the 

 annual expense of the farm machinery in deterioration and 

 interest on the investment. How is your machinery housed ? 

 Is it kept in good repair? 



2. Make a similar list of all your shop tools. Have you 

 all that are needed for the up-keep of your farm buildings 

 and machinery? 



3. Make a list of all the knots you have ever seen used 

 on the farm. Tie all these knots. What other knots would 

 be serviceable? Learn to tie other useful knots from the 

 pictures shown in this chapter. 



4. If you wanted to draw a plank from the ground up 

 to the gable window of a barn by use of a rope, what knot 

 would you use ? Think of several other such uses for knots 

 and show the knots to be employed. 



5. Make a rope halter for a horse or calf. Show how 

 they are made and for -what purpose they are used. 



6. Locate on a map of the world the places where 

 the different rope materials are produced. Make a collec- 

 tion of all the different kinds of rope available, and tell of 

 what they are made. 



4. Rope Play Contests 



1. Knot naming contest. 



2. Rope judging contest. 



3. Knot tying and splicing contest, to see who can tie 

 and name accurate 'y the largest number of rope knots in a 

 period of five minutes. Contest to be judged on skill, ac- 

 curacy and number of knots tied. 



4. Rope spelling contest, to be conducted from the list 



33 



