

PRECISION ACCURATE AS A 
CARPENTER'S PLANE, THE 
LANDPLANE BRINGS THE SUR- 
FACE OF THE LAND LEVEL 
FOR PERFECT IRRIGATION. 
PLOWMAN MAKES A _ DIE- 
STRAIGHT FURROW WITH GANG 
PLOW AND BIG DIESEL TRACTOR. 
PLANTING IS A PRECISE SCIENCE. HERE, 
ZINNIA SEED IS PUT IN, USING THE 
LATEST OF MANY IMPROVEMENTS IN 
MULTIPLE-ROW PLANTERS. 

AFTER THE SCRAPER HAS DONE THE HEAVY WORK. 
Much has been said and written about the Mechanical 
Revolution in agriculture that took place during the War 
Years. With labor exceedingly hard to find, farmers all over 
the United States were challenged to replace men with 
machines—to invent or adapt machinery that would do many 
farm jobs that had always been assigned to hand labor. The 
food production figures for the War Years show how success- 
fully American farmers met that challenge. What many ob- 
servers outside of the Middle West did not realize, however, was that 
mechanization of farm operations in certain industries was proven long 
before the War. In the flower seed industry, for example, Bodger Seeds Ltd. 
had long been adapting standard machines to specialized uses, and thus 
had a backlog of experience on which to draw when developing radically 
new machines to do jobs previously practical only with hand labor. 
Preparation of the land is work admirably suited to the capabilities of 
machines of various kinds. Mechanization here dates to before World War I, 
at which time Bodger Seeds was already standardized on big Diesel tractors 
such as is shown pulling the gang plow in the picture above. Improvements 
in the design and flexibility of the smaller gasoline-powered tractor brought 
it into more and more preparation jobs so that at Bodger Seeds, plows, discs, 
scrapers, rollers, planters, cultivators, sprayers and so forth have long been machine-operated. Many of these machines had been 
built or rebuilt in Bodger shops, to suit the unique requirements of flower seed farming. 
When war came, Bodger Seeds put its experience and imagination to work developing new machines to meet new needs, 
which had extended to cover the production of vegetable seeds for war use. Harvesting was the big problem, because of the 
number of seed varieties grown, with their thousands of shapes, weights, seasons and methods of handling, and it was in harvest- 
ing that the most remarkable new designs were engineered just after war was declared: 
The ‘Galloping Goose”’ is the affectionate name for a basic new farm tool designed and built in its entirety in the Bodger 
shops. Essentially, it is a self-propelled cutter of unique design, built to cut and place on sheets a wide variety of crops, replacing 
old-fashioned hand sickle methods. It will also windrow crops on the ground if desired, and work at twice the speed of the usual 
crew of men. The secret of the Goose is in its ‘‘lumber carrier’’ construction: The power units and controls are mounted high in the 
air, allowing a clear working space below; because it is no wider than its sickle bar, it can ‘‘open up" a field without the usual 
hand-cut opening swath. The advantages are obvious: It does a better job of cutting, saving more seed, faster than hand labor. 
After the pilot model was proven, several more Geese were built, each one using improvements dictated by an ever-increasing 
experience. 
The Triangular Windrower is another machine of the same general type, but differing from the Galloping Goose in that it was 
designed and intended solely as a windrower, and does this specialized job with great efficiency. It carries a swiveled rear-wheel 
assembly so that it can work in tight spots, and because the engine is in the rear the operator has an unobstructed view of the 
work ahead. It also is self-propelled so that it need not require a tractor in the rush season, and is again no wider than its sickle 
bars, so that no hand-cut opening swath need be made. 
46 
PLANTING BEDS ARE FORMED AND IRRIGATION DITCHES MAD! 
