6 The Colorado Experiment Station. 
certain extent by the paint which covers it. Certain implements are 
known by their good paint, others are known by their poor paint. 
New Machinery .—In buying new machinery or implements, 
the farmer should see to it, that he is not paying the price of a new 
machine for one that stood in an open back yard of some implement 
dealer, from one to three years. This is often the case and there 
is no good excuse for it from either the standpoint of the dealer or 
the farmer. 
In the first place, the dealer should not allow his new machinery 
to stand in the open for long periods, and thus let it become weather 
beaten and damaged. In the second place, the farmer should not 
buy this damaged machinery at new machinery prices. He must 
consider that an implement is damaged as much by standing out 
one year, as it would be by actually using it one season. 
PROPER ADJUSTMENT AND REPAIRS. 
Adjustments .—Nearly every one understands the importance 
of making proper adjustments on farm machinery. A large per¬ 
centage of the machines found in the field are badly out of adjust¬ 
ment. In many cases the improperly adjusted machines do such 
inferior work that they are discarded long before they are worn out. 
For example, on one of the farms investigated, a binder, of 
reliable make, was found which had cut but ten acres before being 
discarded eight years ago, simply because the operator was unable 
to properly time the binder driving gear, after he had removed the 
cog wheel to replace a defective spring. The same make and type 
of binder has been in active operation on another investigated farm 
for the past twelve years. It has cut at least nine hundred acres 
and is still in first class condition. 
The improper adjustment of one part of a machine often leads 
to the ruination of several other parts, much time of man, team 
and machine is lost “tinkering” with improperly adjusted ma¬ 
chinery. In a large percentage of cases, the draft of the implement 
is unnecessarily increased because of improper adjustment. Not 
only is the draft increased, but it is not uncommon to find side 
draft produced in the machine as a result of improper adjustment. 
The loss due to the discarding of machines before they are 
worn out, the inferior work, the damage to teams from excessive 
draft and side draft, and the valuable time lost in “tinkering” 
always justifies the spending of sufficient time to put the farm ma¬ 
chinery in proper adjustment before it is put into regular service. 
Many of these adjustments may be made long before the machine is 
needed. 
Repairing Machines .—Every machine, in active operation will 
sooner or later need repairs. The operator should be able to forsee 
the need of a large part of the necessary repairs some time before 
