268 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1 9 10 



Carrying crated chickens and eggs to market 



excellently suited to carrying to market good-sized 

 loads of vegetables, fruit, dairy and barnyard pro- 

 duce weighing from one thousand to two thousand 

 pounds, and for hauling back loads of feed, 

 fertilizer, fencing and building materials, farm ma- 

 chinery, and so on. The high wheels give the axles 

 and driving mechanism a good road clearance, and 

 the construction is of a heavy and durable as well as 

 simple character. 



Numerous cases might be given of motor cars put 

 to special service in connection with farming. In 

 Maryland there is a high-class dairy farm where 

 motor delivery wagons are used altogether to distri- 

 bute milk among the consumers in the vicinity, and in 

 Indianapolis a large milk company is using a i^-ton 

 and a 3-ton gasoline truck in the collection of milk 

 from dairy farms within a radius of twenty-five miles 

 of the city, which was formerly shipped by the inter- 

 urban electric railways or by horse and wagon. In 

 England a large produce grower sends his fresh vege- 

 tables to market in a huge motor van, the roof and 

 all-around work, a wide-awake automobile manufacturing tailboard of which, as well as the inside, are piled with 

 company about two years ago began advertising in the farm green goods. These examples seem to foreshadow the 

 papers a double-cylinder light touring car at a moderate time, not very distant, perhaps, when farmers will find it 

 price, and inside of a year between 500 and 600 cars had cheaper and more convenient to ship all of their farm prod- 

 been sold in the rural districts. There are now probably ucts to market on motor trucks than to haul them with 

 between 1,500 and 2,000 of this company's machines horses and wagons. Possibly the trucks will be owned by 

 owned by men who live on farms, practically all of whom local express companies organized for the purpose, which 

 use them as general utility machines. An easily removable will charge a reasonable price for haulage, so that it will 

 tonneau, high clearance above the road, a thoroughly pro- pay the farmer better to keep his horses — if he needs any 

 tected engine and transmission, reasonable price and low then — at work in the field, and he will not need to invest 

 fuel consumption and maintenance cost have contributed to- any capital in the motor trucks. Doubtless some of the 

 ward making this model popular with the rural buyers, transporting companies will use motor tractors, which will 

 From the statements of hundreds of users, it is found that run over regular routes every morning and pick up a string 

 the average cost of upkeep is not more than two-thirds of farm wagons loaded with produce, hauling them to 

 that of keeping a horse. The farmer of to-day is well In- market and back again for a fixed charge. A single trac- 

 formed regarding the mechanical features that adapt an tor should be able to haul four or five such wagons over 

 automobile to his requirements, and is a careful buyer. He 

 can safely carry 500 pounds on the rear of a 20-horse- 

 power car, and can drive ten miles to town In from half 

 to three-quarters of an hour with the load. 



Largely as a result also of the farmers' demands there 

 has been developed during the last three or four years a 

 type of motor car called the high-wheeled buggy. There 

 are upward of fifty companies in the country now actively 



good roads. 



In Connecticut a three-ton truck Is regularly used for 

 hauling grain and carrying all sorts of farm supplies and 

 products for a 1,300-acre farm. This Is one of the many 

 fancy estates conducted In the East by wealthy owners 

 largely as a personal hobby, yet at the same time as a 

 profitable Investment. The truck represents an outlay of 

 $5,000, and Is kept in a special garage for work motor 



engaged In building this style of motor car especially for vehicles which are to be used extensively on the farm. 



use In country districts where the roads are rough, hilly, 

 and, according to the season, deep with mud, sand, or snow. 

 They are very low in price, simple in construction and 

 operation, and answer the purposes of many rural dwellers 

 very well. They use only about a gallon of gaso- 

 line to fifteen or twenty miles traveled, and a set 

 of narrow solid tires, costing say $25, will wear 

 a year or more, with no expense for repair of 

 punctures or blow-outs. 



Within a year or two there has been added to 

 the two-passenger runabout and four-passenger 

 surrey models a high-wheel open-bed light de- 

 livery wagon model, of the democrat wagon type, 

 especially suited to farmers' use. A load of 500 

 to 800 pounds can be carried in the space beneath 

 and back of the front seat, and In some makes an 

 extra double seat can be set In the back to accom- 

 modate extra passengers when the vehicle is to be 

 used as a passenger conveyance. 



Other light work wagons with open-bed bodies 

 particularly suited for agricultural uses but fitted 

 with longer bodies and having a load capacity of 

 1,000 pounds or more and costing $1,000 and 

 upward, are manufactured by several companies 

 In the East and Middle West. They are 



A ranch of several thousand acres In Montana Is con- 

 ducted without horses, the plowing, sowing, cultivating, 

 reaping, threshing, and hauling of the grain to the railroad 

 being done by motor tractors and motor wagons. We 



A motor wagon carrying a load of farm produce 



