300 POWER AND THE PLOW 



its heavy trucks with the traction engine, which also runs a 

 dynamo for lighting the evening show. 



What the tractor has done in the past is but an inkling of 

 what it may do to aid humanity in the future. However, 

 its benefits will not be universally enjoyed until men universally 

 realize its usefulness and contribute more generously than in 

 the past to making conditions favorable for its work. Its 

 future is by no means entirely in the hands of its manufacturer, 

 nor yet of the farmer alone. 



The future of the tractor depends a great deal on the educa- 

 tion of the people. The average farmer is familiar with the 

 horse from childhood. His son is learning the art of running 

 an engine, and colleges are educating a few in both the art 

 and the science. This phase of agricultural college work should 

 be richly endowed, since it is also giving students a broad grasp 

 of the profession of agricultural engineering. This will fit 

 them for directing the organization of farms and rural com- 

 munities on a more efficient basis, and the greatest efficiency 

 in the future will be realized by the use of all forms of 

 mechanical power. 



The farm, after all, is really an engineering proposition. After 

 the chemist, the botanist, and the fertility expert have deter- 

 mined how a crop shall be raised, the actual raising of it is a 

 mechanical problem. The storing of the crop, its transporta- 

 tion, its protection from the elements and living enemies, 

 all require the exercise of engineering knowledge. There is a 

 need for a great national bureau in the Department of Agri- 

 culture to bring the engineering problems of the farmer to a 

 focus, where they may be solved by the men best qualified. 

 The farmer often fails to analyze the need for some machine 

 until it appears on the market. The manufacturer is often 

 handicapped in his investigation of the field for new machinery 

 by his lack of training in the problems of the farm. He is 

 forced to hesitate in developing new types to meet apparent 

 needs by the necessity of securing a commercial success. He is 



