244 POWER AND THE PLOW 



with tractors. On the start the demand was for mileage 

 on the one hand and great capacity on the other. With 

 growing competition grew the necessity for quality in order 

 to secure business, and economy to insure profits. To the 

 railway there have come better roadbed, better rolling stock, 

 and better service. Close observation of details cheapened 

 costs, and made these improvements possible. Better engines 

 and plows are now making for quality in plowing, and close 

 attention to. oft-repeated expenses and profits is enabling 

 men to maintain the more expensive equipment with satis- 

 factory returns. Early progress in either case was more 

 spectacular, but the later development is steadier and more 

 effective. The manager of a plowing outfit must have an eye 

 to the easiest profits. "Money saved is money earned." 

 To reduce operating expenses is much more sensible and popu- 

 lar than to increase prices. It is much more scientific than to 

 increase output, especially if, as is frequently the case, com- 

 petition has forced the income down to the level of former 

 operating expenses. 



The operator who maintains an individual plowing outfit 

 must use his ingenuity in adapting the expensive engine to 

 as many other kinds of work as possible in the course of a year, 

 thus dividing the fixed charges for interest and depreciation 

 by as many working days as possible. The same thing is true 

 of the custom operator, who, however, has the further difficul- 

 ties of securing work in the face of competition, and collecting 

 a fair price for his services from his customers. 



A tractor contains the capacity for tilling so many acres, 

 and the greatest economy lies in working these in the shortest 

 space of time. In this connection we might call attention to 

 a statement by a prominent official of the Illinois Steel Com- 

 pany: "There are so many tons of metal in the lining of a 

 blast furnace. It is my business to see that they are gotten 

 out as quickly as possible." Dr. Charles W. Elliot, former 

 president of Harvard, said: "The replacement of machinery 



