8 POWER AND THE PLOW 



a profitable tractor trade; men building plows; and, besetting 

 all these, dozens of inventors who are there to gather ideas and 

 present their claims for the attention of capital. 



By machine, trap, and excursion train come the crowds. 

 Sharply through it all runs the commercial spirit. On every 

 hand is the wily salesman bidding for the favor of a fascinated 

 prospect. Here is the farmer who comes with open mind, and 

 there is the partisan who backs his favorite, win or lose. Yon- 

 der is he who came to scoff and remains to investigate. W 7 ell- 

 groomed city men and smartly dressed women come, in 

 uncomprehending wonderment, to join the throng that trudges 

 after these roaring, pulsating heralds of a new order of things 

 on the farm. From far and near the Canadian farmer, and 

 even his neighbor from across the line, flock to Winnipeg to see 

 the tractors of the English-speaking world pitted in equal com- 

 petition. Representatives of the press are everywhere at 

 elbow to note the smallest item of interest. On every side there 

 is the indefatigable photographer, and even the cartoonist, 

 gathering pictures of the engines, the plows, and the living 

 actors for the eyes of a waiting world. 



What does the public comprehend of the immense spectacle 

 staged for its benefit? What does it know of the game, the 

 intense rivalry, the tricks, and the prize that is sought? In the 

 eyes of the farm boy you see only the look of envy cast on the 

 greasy mechanic at the throttle or steering wheel. You fathom 

 the longing of a weary farmer to own a machine which ban- 

 ishes drudgery. But the participants themselves, intent only 

 on their own and some rival's performance, have neither eyes 

 to see nor lips to explain. No actors were ever more careless 

 of their audience, at least until the contest is over, and the ad- 

 vertising managers of the successful firms get busy. 



Influential men from the largest oil corporation in the world 

 are present, keenly interested in the question of mechanical 

 power on the farm as affecting the market for liquid fuels. The 

 largest independent maker of automobiles, prepared to spend 



