LIFE AND CARE OF FARM MACHINERY IN COLORADO 
By H. M. BAIINER aud H. B. BONEBRIGHT 
The twelfth census report of 1900 places the valuation of the 
agricultural implements on the farms of Colorado at $4,746,755.00. 
Knowing of the wonderful development of agriculture in Colorado 
within the past decade, a conservative estimate would not place 
the present valuation at less than $10,000,000.00. 
In traveling over the state, the ordinary observer is unfavor¬ 
ably impressed with the methods now commonly found in use by 
our farmers for taking care of their machinery. As a general rule, 
the prosperity of the farmer may be estimated by the way he cares 
for his machinery. Poor care indicates shiftlessness, waste, lack of 
energy and the necessity of buying more machinery in a short time. 
Plate 2. The profits from many Colorado farms are found in such 
“junk heaps’’ as this. 
Good care, on the other hand, indicates prosperity, development, 
bank deposits, and long lived machinery. 
At the present time there is a growing demand for informa¬ 
tion on the subject of the life and care of farm machinery in Colo¬ 
rado. With the idea of obtaining this information, the Farm 
Mechanics Department has carefully investigated the machinery 
conditions on over two hundred representative farms in all parts of 
the state. This information is summarized in the following re¬ 
marks : 
selection oe machinery. 
Type .—The proper care of a farm machine begins in the care¬ 
ful and intelligent selection of the correct type of machine for the 
work which it is expected to do. This point is too often overlooked 
