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433 
WORKING HARROW" WITH PLOW. 
E talk a lot about cooperation, and it is all 
right in almost every case, for everybody 
knows that two heads beat one, and two 
hands beat only half that number, and even two 
cooks do not spoil the broth half as often as the 
remark is made. But it is on the farm in the rush 
of Spring or Autumn work that we find the farmer 
in real need of plenty of force, and often the 
shortest so far as the real amount of important 
work is concerned. 
The seedbed is the great essential of farm op¬ 
erations; once the seed is put into good soil, well 
prepared, half the battle is won. We have learned 
much about conserved moisture in the past two or 
ihree years. We have seen a number of devices 
whereby the harrow attachment, put directly on the 
plow, left the ground in a very fair shape. If one 
only has one heavy team outfit, it is probably the 
very best plan to follow, as every furrow is pulver¬ 
ized and broken up just as it falls from the share. 
But if one has two plowing outfits going in the 
same field, the big sweep harrow is sure to do a 
little better work, and then you do not have that 
extra draft on the team, which will often cause the 
plowman to throw his plow in a shallower notch in 
order not to be too heavy on the team. Of course 
rhe attachment does not add much, yet it is certain 
that it takes some force and energy to put the clods 
in a finer condition and level the ground. 
The two teams working in the field can be kept 
going most of the time, but late each evening, one 
team can be unhitched from the plow, put on a har¬ 
row and before it is quitting time, the ground is left 
in the best possible shape. The man who gets into 
the field with eight big horses, four on each gang- 
plow, can do a lot of fanning, and do it well, and at 
the very time when it is right that it should be 
done. But I was once on a farm where I saw a 
IS A MANURE SPREADER PROFITABLE ? 
I X 1007 I bought a manure spreader of one of the 
best makes. It had been in stock for two sea¬ 
sons, so I got it at the reduced price of $75. 
After owning it for seven years, 1 turned it in 
toward a new one, receiving an allowance of $30 
on it. During this time, r received $2 it i rentals. 
Onf, Dozen Eggs, Weighing 24 Ounces, And The 
Approximate Water Content, 16 Ounces. Fig. 152. 
and spent $15.50 for repairs. This did not include 
my labor in making these repairs. The interest on 
the original cost at 5 per cent, is $20.25, which with 
the other items given, makes the total cost for the 
seven years, $84.75 or $12 per year, exclusive of la- 
go. Assuming that at that time, it. is worth $30. and 
I have to spend $20 for repairs, it will cost me $10 
plus $5.50 per year interest, or $15.50 per year. 
Where a spreader is. bought new at retail, this is 
about the correct figure to use. 
It. is difficult to determine, exactly, the increase 
of efficiency of manure caused by the use of the 
spreader, but it is a well-known fact that 10 loads 
spread on two acres produce a larger profit than 
the same amount spread on one acre, the difference 
being nearly three to two. It is of course impossible 
to spread manure as thinly by hand as with tin* 
spreader. Then too, where equal amounts per acre 
are spread, by the two methods, that spread with 
the spreader is more efficient. At a conservative 
estimate, 10 loads applied with a spreader should 
go as far as 12 spread by hand. If this is the case, 
and we allow $1.50 per load as the value of the ma¬ 
nure, we would have $3 profit for each 10 loads 
applied with the spreader, or 30 cents per load. 
Added to the five cents saved in labor this makes 
a total of 35 cents per load. 
At this rate it would be necessary to spread din¬ 
ing the course of a year, 45 loads, to meet the 
charges on the machine. Allowing 20 loads more 
that would be produced at times when the spreader 
could not be used, it would be necessary to have 65 
loads a year in all to meet them. This is assuming 
that all manure is applied as fast as made. With 
five horses and 27 head of cattle, the latter being 
pastured about 165 days, I have 250 loads of manure 
a year. One would then have to have nine head of 
stock to meet the charges on a spreader. Consid¬ 
ering the labor of making repairs and the cost of 
providing a place under cover to keep the machine, 
there would not be any profit if less than 12 head 
were kept. It may be objected that less use of the 
machine lowers the repair bill and lengthens the life 
of the spreader, but this is true to only a limited 
MAKING A FIRST CLASS SEED BED AND SAVING THE MOISTURE. Fig. 153. 
better outfit than even that. A big farmer put six 
big lusty horses on each gang, three abreast and 
three in advance. By this means he never had to 
stop to rest the teams, and one man could do a 
lot of plowing each day. It seems strange when I 
think of it, that only a few decades ago I plowed 
in a field with two teams of three horses each. We 
hired a man at good wages, boarded him too, and 
furnished him with pasture for a horse. But both 
lie and I could not plow a bigger swath than this 
man was doing alone. When he got almost to quit¬ 
ting time, he just uncoupled from the plow, hooked 
mi the harrow and with heavy weights on it, he 
pulverized the ground to a finish, and each even¬ 
ing went home with six to eight acres to the good. 
One of the most unsatisfactory and discouraging 
conditions is to work hard and push the plowing 
and get a field all finished, only to discover that 
there are countless clods and that there is no seed 
bed for the new crop. Better by far have only two- 
thirds of the field finished at a certain time, and 
have that really in fine shape for the drill or plant¬ 
er. The other third can be got ready a little late, 
and you have the satisfaction of knowing that some 
of your ground, at least, is so far as possible ready 
for best results. Cooperation between plow and 
harrow is the surest way to do the nicest farming: 
there is a sense of security, as you see every day’s 
plowing put in proper shape for seeding. 
Nebraska. j. d. shroyer. 
R. N.-Y.—This refers to Nebraska conditions, but 
the proposition is true everywhere that it pays to 
fit soil as soon after plowing as possible. 
bor in making repairs. The spreader I now have, 
costs $110. Before using it, I gave it a coat of hot 
linseed oil on those places where decay takes place, 
Silo, Keeping The Corn In Moist Succulent Con¬ 
dition For Winter Feeding. Fig. 154. 
and this, together with the fact that it is better built 
than the old one, leads me to the conclusion that it 
will last at least 10 years, before it is ready to let 
extent, as most of the deterioration is due to rust 
and decay, caused by the liquids from the manure, 
and this is the same in either case. 
These figures assume that the manure is applied 
as made. When stored, and spread in the Summer, 
the spreader will last longer and need less repairs 
than by the other method, but there is a double 
handling, and a greater loss of constituents from 
the manure. In this case the charges may be re¬ 
duced to $12 a year. If a man can hire a spreader 
when wanted for $11 (allowing $1 for possible break¬ 
ages) for a long enough time to get his manure out, 
it is of no advantage to buy one. Tf it cost more, it 
would pay to buy, and vice versa. Spreaders can be 
hired in this neighborhood for $1 per day, and 
since two men can get out about 15 loads a 
day and do chores, it would take about 165 loads 
of manure, or 25 head of stock, allowing for the 
shrinkage that takes place during storage, to jus 
tify the purchase of a spreader. Of course if one 
cannot be hired when needed, the same figures would 
hold good as in the other case given. To recapitu¬ 
late, one cannot afford to own a manure spreader 
with less than 12 head of stock, and if one stores 
his manure, and can hire a spreader for $1 per day, 
it is cheaper to hire unless one has 25 head or more 
Of stock. A. II. DE GRAFF. 
New York. 
As an example of the manner in which plant dis¬ 
eases may be disseminated the Gardeners’ Chronicle re¬ 
fers to an outbreak of the wart disease of potatoes that 
resulted from throwing water used to wash infected po¬ 
tatoes upon ground previously clean. 
