1238 
November 2, 1018 
6»e RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
A Sensible Tractor Talk 
Tt is my opinion that whatever prob¬ 
lem we have to solve, whether agricul¬ 
tural or any other, it is always best to 
ascertain just what we. have to do and 
then go at it and do it. In this connec¬ 
tion it is a question of draft, or draw¬ 
bar pull, as affecting the use of a tractor. 
Painstaking investigations bj’ the manu¬ 
facturers of tractors' and of other farm 
implements have caused the investigators 
to accept as the standard average draft 
of plows the following. The draft is given 
in pounds per .square inch of furrow cross- 
section. Pounds. 
Sandy soil . 2^/4 to 
Sod, clover moist. to 4 
Sod, clover dry. 0 to lYz 
('lay, moist . 7 to 8i/^ 
riay, dry . S to 10 
Sod, virgin prairie. 12 to 15 
(Jumbo- .15 to 18 
On most of our Easteni farms the 
draft may vary from three pounds per 
square inch to 10 pound.s, in the same 
field. It must be remembered that a 
tractor is only a machine. It has no 
nerves or intelligence, and can only de¬ 
liver its rated horse power, -W’hich rating 
is given under factory conditions, and no 
alloivance is made for what we call trac¬ 
tion. The result is that when the limit 
of rated horsepower is reached the tractor 
does one of three thing.s. If the ground 
is .soft it will “dig in” before you can 
release the clutch. If the ground is 
hard the front end of the tractor will 
climb up, and as it t.akes about all the 
power the engine has to rai.se the front 
end of the tractor, unless the clutch is 
released the engine will stop. Another 
thing, in turning there must be a certain 
grip of the steering, or front, wheels on 
the ground, otherwise there is no ivay 
of turning, and an overload will make 
turning difficult and in some cases im- 
po.ssible. 
Quite as important as anything else is 
the effect overloading has on the tractor. 
The bearings are designed to resist a 
given pressure, according to size with re¬ 
lation to horsepower. The gears and 
pinions are al.so made in .sizes cori'e- 
sponding to the hoi'sepower of the tractor. 
When the tractor is overloaded the bear¬ 
ings, gears and pinions .soon begin to 
wear and cut, with the re.sult that you 
soon have junk. 
An important consideration is the ef¬ 
fect of hills, grades or elevations in the 
fields. For each 1 per cent of grade, or 
elevation, there is added to the draw-bar 
pull 1 per cent of the weight of the 
tractor and of the machine being hauled. 
For example, in ca.se .of a tractor and im¬ 
plement weighing 4,000 pounds, on a 1 
per cent grade, the exertion of the en¬ 
gine would have added an equivalent of 
40 pounds draw-bar pull; on a 4 per cent 
gr.ade the added amount would be 100 
jiounds, and for other grades in propor¬ 
tion. 
Knowing the character of soil and the 
extent of the grades, on a given place, 
there should be no difficulty in giving a 
tractor the proper load, any more than 
there would be in loading a team of 
horses. The farmer knows his land, and 
when he undertakes to plow, his train¬ 
ing and experience enable him to deter¬ 
mine, almost with mathematical exact¬ 
ness, the power necessary to pull his 
plows, whether two, three, four or more 
horses. He is familiar with what a 
horse ■will do all day and day after day, 
as well as in a pinch where a sudden 
short exertion is necessary. The intelli¬ 
gent farmer knows that his teams cannot 
be overloaded, otherwise their legs, wind 
and shoulders go to pieces and his teams 
become useless. Knowing the land, the 
average draft required to plow a given 
furrow of such land and the effect of 
grades, if any, when he changes from 
horses to tractors, at first thought, one 
would think he should have no difficulty 
in loading his tractor, any more than he 
had in loading his horses, but the diffi¬ 
culty is he knows how many horses it 
will take to pull the plow, and about 
how they will have to exert themselves 
to do the work, but what that exertion 
is in pounds of draw-bar pull he has no 
idea whatever. All he knows is that it 
was hard or easy work for his particular 
team, as he had them hitched. 
When it comes to the question of 
what is meant by mechanical horsepower 
he has not the slightest notion, neither 
have 90 per cent of the men running 
tractors, automobiles and other engines. 
For the farmer there is an excuse ; for the 
others none. If you tell the farmer the 
tractor has eight horsepower he immedi¬ 
ately thinks of the power of eight horses, 
not the power they would exert, without 
injury to themselves for a whole day, 
but the possible power for a sudden short 
pull. No one has ever told him that 
one mechanical horsepower is equal to a 
draw-bar pull of 188 pound.s, or that his 
horses will exert from three to eight me¬ 
chanical horsepower, on a pull, according 
to their condition and the way they are 
handled. Now we come to the question 
of the agent and the sale of the tractor. 
The agent gives as little information as 
he can, sometimes because he only wants 
to sell, and again he knows nothing him- 
.self. lie will show pictures of his tractor 
hauling a string of junk .50 feet long 
across the field, but he never shows a 
picture of the operator trying to turn in 
a small Eastern field. The farmer is 
never told that he should keep 50 per 
cent of the rated horsepower in reserve 
to help out in a pinch; that he must 
find out. He is finding out gradually, 
.and .soon he will be able to pick the sheep 
from the goats, and the goats will have 
a rough time. There are good tractors 
on tjie market, and tractors suitable for 
all sized farms, but they should be picked 
carefully, and no freaks accepted. There 
should be some guarantee, either by the 
house or by a reputable agent, that re¬ 
pairs could be had at all times, without 
sending to the factory for them. The 
fly-by-night manufacturer should be dis¬ 
couraged and his product not purchased. 
The tractor is a success, but it should 
be purchased Avith caution and due re¬ 
gard for the Avork it is expected to per¬ 
forin. It should be loaded Avith the same 
consideration and common sense any rea¬ 
sonable man would load a team or any 
other machine. It should be treated Avith 
care and attention, well oiled, all nuts 
kept tight, and only considered as a piece 
of useful machinery. Some men will get 
more profit and satisfaction out of their 
tractors than others, but on the Avhole all 
intelligent, rea.sonable men Avill be Avell 
pleased. laaa're.xce f. Bedford. 
NeAv .Tersey. 
Improving a Well 
I have tAAm aa'cIIs. one near the house, 
winch goes dry during June, July, August 
and September. This Avell has a fiat 
rock on the bottom, and when it gets dry 
the water comes in about one quart an 
hour. What Avould happen if I should 
blast this flat rock? My other well is 
about 300 feet from the house. It has 
nice clean water, but it has a, peculiar 
I this odor out? 
Would it be best to install a pre.ssure tank 
and an engine, or can you advise me of a 
better plan? Can you give me an approx¬ 
imate figure as to the cost? n. D. 
Kaynham Center, Mass. 
No man living can tell Avhat Avould 
happen if you should blast the rock at the 
bottom of your aa’cII. Hy putting in sev¬ 
eral small charges you might get doAvn a 
fcAv feet more and I'each a plentiful supjily 
of AA'ater. On the other hand, you might 
ruin your well. The second well Avould 
seem to be more promising, for it often 
happens that Avater which has an odor is 
still perfectly fit for use. The only Avay 
to determine the purity of the water is to 
have it analyzed by a chemist, of which 
there are several in Boston and Provi¬ 
dence. You would simply have to send 
the chemi.st a small bottle filled with 
Avater. The result of his analysis would 
show you AA’hether or not the water is 
suitable for drinking. 
The cost of putting in a pressure tank 
would depend upon the amount of water 
you need and the depth of the Avell as 
compared to the house cellar. The cost of 
a 220-gallon tank is $86. This tank Avould 
probably be large enough. An engine to 
pump the Avater Avould cost $12.5. It is 
very much better to use an electric pump 
if electric power is obtainable. The.se 
pumps cost about the same, but they are 
automatic and require practically no at¬ 
tention. You Avould need li/4-inch pipe, 
which at the present price costs 28 cents 
a foot . Probably a local man could make 
the installation, Avith your assistance. 
This Avould be cheaper than having a man 
.sent out fromJBoston, as .such men Avould 
cost you $8..50 a day, with expenses. 
Concerns selling pressure tanks and en¬ 
gines, Avould, hoAvever, send a man to 
your farm to look over the ground and 
make you a price for materials and 
Avould make no charge for doing so. 
E. I. F. 
Peat for Fuel 
It seems that peat, as a fuel, is coming 
into use more than ever before. In 1917 
97.363 tons of this peat were sold, at a 
value of $709,900. This dried peat avuis 
used as fuel in the place of wood and 
coal, and this year the output promises 
to be much larger than ever. The Avork 
of preparing this peat was scattered all 
the way from Massachusetts to Cali¬ 
fornia. Some years ago the Vermont Ex¬ 
periment Station at Burlington, Vt., is¬ 
sued an excellent bulletin on the subject 
of peat, and explained in much detail the 
plan of preparing it for fuel, and its value 
as such. It is quite possible that in case 
of another severe Winter the New Eng¬ 
land States will be forced to make a con¬ 
siderable use of this peat to help out the 
wood and coal supplies. Great quantities 
of wood have been cut through New Eng¬ 
land, and this Avill be .sold and used dur¬ 
ing the coming Winter. There are great 
deposits of peat in upper New England 
and now is the time to demonstrate its 
value for fuel purposes. 
j Thisl026-pcye]30c^ 
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CharlesWiliam Si 
la m oiores 
NEW YORK CITY 
.-A* C®'* 
