FARM MECHANICS: MACHINERY AND ITS USE TO SAVE HAND LABOR ON THE FARM TEXT

be added by the use of corn, kaffir corn, Canada peas, barley or other grains. Alfalfa hay is intended to take the place of summer pasture in winter more than as a fattening ration. [Illustration: Figure 214.--Horse Feeding Rack. This is a barnyard hay feeder for horses and colts. The diagonal boarding braces each corner post and leaves large openings at the sides. Horses shy at small hay holes. The top boards and the top rail are 2 x 4s for strength. The bottom is floored to save the chaff.] [Illustration: Figure 215.--Corner Post Detail of Horse Feeding Rack. A 2 x 6 is spiked into the edge of a 2 x 4, making a corner post 6" across. The side boarding is cut even with the corner of the post and the open corner is filled with a two-inch quarter-round as shown.] [Illustration: Figure 216.--Automatic Hog Feeder. The little building is 8' x 12' on the ground and it is 10' high to the plates. The crushed grain is shoveled in from behind and it feeds down hopper fashion as fast as the hogs eat it. The floor is made of matched lumber. It should stand on a dry concrete floor.] [Illustration: Figure 217.--Sheep Feeding Rack. The hay bottom and grain trough sides slope together at 45 deg. angles. The boarding is made tight to hold chaff and grain from wasting.] [Illustration: Figure 218.--Rack Base and Sides. The 2 x 4s are halved at the ends and put together at right angles. These frames are placed 3' apart and covered with matched flooring. Light braces should be nailed across these frames a few inches up from the ground. The 1 x 4 pickets are placed 7" apart in the clear, so the sheep can get their heads through to feed. These picketed frames are bolted to the base and framed around the top. If the rack is more than 9' long there should be a center tie or partition. Twelve feet is a good length to make the racks.] SPLIT-LOG ROAD DRAG The only low cost road grader of value is the split-log road drag. It should be exactly what the name implies. It should be made from a light log about eight inches in diameter split through the middle with a saw. Plenty of road drags are made of timbers instead of split logs, but the real principle is lost because such drags are too heavy and clumsy. They cannot be quickly adjusted to the varying road conditions met with while in use. [Illustration: Figure 219.--Hog Trough. In a winter hog house the feed trough is placed next to the alley or passageway. A cement trough is best. A drop gate is hinged over the trough so it can be swung in while putting feed in the trough. The same gate is opened up level to admit hogs to the pen.] [Illustration: Figure 220.--Reinforced Hog Trough. The section of hog trough to the left is reinforced with chicken wire, one-inch mesh. The trough to the right is reinforced with seven 1/4" rods--three in the bottom and two in each side.] [Illustration: Figure 221.--Double Poultry Feeding Trough with Partition in the Center.] [Illustration: Figure 222.--Poultry Feeder with Metal or Crockery Receptacle.] The illustration shows the right way of making a road drag, and the manner in which it is drawn along at an angle to the roadway so as to move the earth from the sides towards the center, but illustrations are useless for showing how to operate them to do good work. The eccentricities of a split-log road drag may be learned in one lesson by riding it over a mile or two of country road shortly after the frost has left the ground in the spring of the year. It will be noticed that the front half of the road drag presents the flat side of the split log to the work of shaving off the lumps while the other half log levels and smooths and puddles the loosened moist earth by means of the rounded side. Puddling makes earth waterproof. The front, or cutting edge, is faced with steel. The ridges and humps are cut and shoved straight ahead or to one side to fill holes and ruts. This is done by the driver, who shifts his weight from one end to the other, and from front to back of his standing platform to distribute the earth to the best advantage. The rounded side of the rear half log presses the soft earth into place and leaves the surface smooth. [Illustration: Figure 223.--Split-Log Road Drag. The front edge is shod with a steel plate to do the cutting and the round side of the rear log grinds the loosened earth fine and presses it into the wagon tracks and water holes.] [Illustration: Figure 224.--Heavy Breaking Plow, used for road work and other tough jobs.] Unfortunately, the habit of using narrow tired wagons on country roads has become almost universal in the United States. To add to their destructive propensities, all wagons in some parts of the country have the same width of tread so that each wheel follows in paths made by other wheels, until they cut ruts of considerable depth. These little narrow ditches hold water so that it cannot run off into the drains at the sides of the roadway. When a rut gets started, each passing wheel squeezes out the muddy water, or if the wheel be revolving at a speed faster than a walk it throws the water, and the water carries part of the roadway with it so that small ruts are made large and deep ruts are made deeper. In some limited sections road rules demand that wagons shall have wide tires and have shorter front axles, so that with the wide tires and the uneven treads the wheels act as rollers instead of rut makers. It is difficult to introduce such requirements into every farm section. In the meantime the evils of narrow tires may be overcome to a certain extent by the persistent and proper use of the split-log road drag. These drags are most effectual in the springtime when the frost is coming out of the ground. During the muddy season the roads get worked up into ruts and mire holes, which, if taken in time, may be filled by running lengthwise of the road with the drag when the earth is still soft. When the ground shows dry on top and is still soft and wet underneath is the time the drags do the best work by scraping the drier hummocks into the low places where the earth settles hard as it dries. A well rounded, smooth road does not get muddy in the summer time. Summer rains usually come with a dash. Considerable water falls in a short time, and the very act of falling with force first lays the dust, then packs the surface. The smooth packed surface acts like a roof, and almost before the rain stops falling all surface water is drained off to the sides so that an inch down under the surface the roadbed is as hard as it was before the rain. That is the reason why split log road drags used persistently in the spring and occasionally later in the season will preserve good roads all summer. It is very much better to follow each summer rain with the road drag, but it is not so necessary as immediate attention at the proper time in spring. Besides, farmers are so busy during the summer months that they find it difficult to spend the time. In some sections of the middle West one man is hired to do the dragging at so much per trip over the road. He makes his calculations accordingly and is prepared to do the dragging at all seasons when needed. This plan usually works out the best because one man then makes it his business and he gets paid for the amount of work performed. This man should live at the far end of the road division so that he can smooth his own pathway leading to town. STEEL ROAD DRAG Manufacturers are making road drags of steel with tempered blades adjustable to any angle by simply moving the lever until the dog engages in the proper notch. Some of these machines are made with blades reversible, so that the other side can be used for cutting when the first edge is worn. For summer use the steel drag works very well, but it lacks the smoothing action of a well balanced log drag. SEED HOUSE AND BARN TRUCKS [Illustration: Figure 225.--Barn Trucks. The platform truck is made to move boxed apples and other fruit. The bag truck is well proportioned and strong, but is not full ironed.] Bag trucks for handling bags of grain and seeds should be heavy. Bag truck wheels should be eight inches in diameter with a three-inch face. The steel bar or shoe that lifts and carries the bag should be twenty-two inches in length. That means that the bottom of the truck in front is twenty-two inches wide. The wheels run behind this bar so the hubs do not project to catch against standing bags or door frames. The length of truck handles from the steel lift bar to the top end of the hand crook is four feet, six inches. In buying bag trucks it is better to get the heavy solid kind that will not upset. The light ones are a great nuisance when running them over uneven floors. The wheels are too narrow and too close together and the trucks tip over under slight provocation. Platform trucks for use in moving boxes of apples or crates of potatoes or bags of seed in the seed house or warehouse also should be heavy. The most approved platform truck, the kind that market men use, is made with a frame four feet in length by two feet in width. The frame is made of good solid hardwood put together with mortise and tenon. The cross pieces or stiles are three-quarters of an inch lower than the side pieces or rails, which space is filled with hardwood flooring boards firmly bolted to the cross pieces so they come up flush with the side timbers. The top of the platform should be sixteen inches up from the floor. There are two standards in front which carry a wooden crossbar over the front end of the truck. This crossbar is used for a handle to push or pull the truck. The height of the handle-bar from the floor is three feet. Rear wheels are five inches in diameter and work on a swivel so they turn in any direction like a castor. The two front wheels carry the main weight. They are twelve inches in diameter with a three-inch face. The wheels are bored to fit a one-inch steel axle and have wide boxings bolted to the main timbers of the truck frame. Like the two-wheel bag truck, the wheels of the platform truck are under the frame so they do not project out in the way, which is a great advantage when the truck is being used in a crowded place. [Illustration: Figure 226.--Farm Gate Post with Copper Mail Box.] [Illustration: Figure 227.--Concrete Post Supporting a Waterproof Clothes Line Reel Box.] [Illustration: Figure 228.--Dumb Waiter. The cage is poised by a counterweight. It is guided by a rope belt which runs on grooved pulleys at the top and bottom.] HOME CANNING OUTFIT There are small canning outfits manufactured and sold for farm use that work on the factory principle. For canning vegetables, the heating is done under pressure because a great deal of heat is necessary to destroy the bacteria that spoil vegetables in the cans. Steam under pressure is a good deal hotter than boiling water. There is considerable work in using a canning outfit, but it gets the canning out of the way quickly. Extra help may be employed for a few days to do the canning on the same principle that farmers employ extra help at threshing time and do it all up at once. Of course, fruits and vegetables keep coming along at different times in the summer, but the fall fruit canning may be done at two or three sittings arranged a week or two apart and enough fruit packed away in the cellar to last a big family a whole year. Canning machinery is simple and inexpensive. These outfits may be bought from $10 up. Probably a $20 or $25 canner would be large enough for a large family, or a dozen different families if it could be run on a co-operative plan. [Illustration: Figure 229.--Clothes Line Tightener. This device is made of No. 9 wire bent as shown in the illustration.] [Illustration: Figure 230.--Goat Stall. Milch goats are milked on a raised platform. Feed is placed in the manger. The opening in the side of the manger is a stanchion to hold them steady.] [Illustration: Figure 231.--Horse Clippers. Hand clippers are shown to the left. The flexible shaft clipper to the right may be turned by hand for clipping a few horses or shearing a few sheep, but for real business it should be driven by an electric motor.] ELECTRIC TOWEL The "air towel" is sanitary, as well as an economical method of drying the hands. A foot pedal closes a quick-acting switch, thereby putting into operation a blower that forces air through an electric heating device so arranged as to distribute the warmed air to all parts of the hands at the same time. The supply of hot air continues as long as the foot pedal is depressed. The hands are thoroughly dried in thirty seconds. STALLS FOR MILCH GOATS Milch goats are not fastened with stanchions like cows. The front of the manger is boarded tight with the exception of a round hole about two feet high and a slit in the boards reaching from the round opening to within a few inches of the floor. The round hole is made large enough so that the goat puts her head through to reach the feed, and the slit is narrow enough so she cannot back up to pull the feed out into the stall. This is a device to save fodder. [Illustration: Figure 232.--Hog Catching Hook. The wooden handle fits loosely into the iron socket. As soon as the hog's hind leg is engaged the wooden handle is removed and the rope held taut.] STABLE HELPS [Illustration: Figure 233.--Bull Nose-Chain. Cross bulls may be turned out to pasture with some degree of safety by snapping a chain like this into the nose-ring. The chain should be just long enough to swing and wrap around the bull's front legs when he is running. Also the length is intended to drag the ring where he will step on it with his front feet. There is some danger of pulling the nose ring out.] [Illustration: Figure 234.--Manure Carriers. There are two kinds of manure carriers in general use. The principal difference is the elevator attachment for hoisting when the spreader stands too high for the usual level dump.] Overhead tracks have made feed carriers possible. Litter or feed carriers and manure carriers run on the same kind of a track, the only difference is in size and shape of the car and the manner in which the contents are unloaded. Manure carriers and litter carriers have a continuous track that runs along over the manure gutters and overhead lengthwise of the feed alleys. There are a number of different kinds of carriers manufactured, all of which seem to do good service. The object is to save labor in doing the necessary work about dairy stables. To get the greatest possible profit from cows, it is absolutely necessary that the stable should be kept clean and sanitary, also that the cows shall be properly fed several times a day. Different kinds of feed are given at the different feeding periods. It is impossible to have all the different kinds of food stored in sufficient quantities within easy reach of the cows. Hence, the necessity of installing some mechanical arrangement to fetch and carry. The only floor carrier in use in dairy stables is a truck for silage. Not in every stable is this the case. Sometimes a feed carrier is run directly to the silo. It depends a good deal on the floor what kind of a carrier is best for silage. The advantage of an overhead track is, that it is always free from litter. Where floor trucks are used, it is necessary to keep the floor bare of obstruction. This is not considered a disadvantage because the floor should be kept clean anyway. [Illustration: Figure 235.--Cow Stanchion. Wooden cow stanchions may be made as comfortable for the cows as the iron ones.] HOUSE PLUMBING When water is pumped by an engine and stored for use in a tank to be delivered under pressure in the house, then the additional cost of hot and cold water and the necessary sink and bath room fixtures is comparatively small. Modern plumbing fixtures fit so perfectly and go together so easily that the cost of installing house plumbing in the country has been materially reduced, while the dangers from noxious gases have been entirely eliminated. Open ventilator pipes carry the poisonous gases up through the roof of the house to float harmlessly away in the atmosphere. Septic tanks take care of the sewerage better than the sewer systems in some towns. Plumbing fixtures may be cheap or expensive, according to the wishes and pocketbook of the owner. The cheaper grades are just as useful, but there are expensive outfits that are very much more ornamental. FARM SEPTIC TANK [Illustration: Figure 236.--Frame for Holding Record Sheets in a Dairy Stable.] [Illustration: Figure 237.--Loading Shute for Hogs. This loading shute is made portable and may be moved like a wheelbarrow.] Supplying water under pressure in the farmhouse demands a septic tank to get rid of the waste. A septic tank is a scientific receptacle to take the poison out of sewerage. It is a simple affair consisting of two underground compartments, made water-tight, with a sewer pipe to lead the waste water from the house into the first compartment and a drain to carry the denatured sewerage away from the second compartment. The first compartment is open to the atmosphere, through a ventilator, but the second compartment is made as nearly air-tight as possible. The scientific working of a septic tank depends upon the destructive work of two kinds of microscopic life known as aerobic and anaerobic forms of bacteria. Sewerage in the first tank is worked over by aerobic bacteria, the kind that require a small amount of oxygen in order to live and carry on their work. The second compartment is inhabited by anaerobic bacteria, or forms of microscopic life that work practically without air. The principles of construction require that a septic tank shall be large enough to contain two days' supply of sewerage in each compartment; thus, requiring four days for the sewerage to enter and leave the tank. [Illustration: Figure 238.--Brass Valves. Two kinds of globe valves are used in farm waterworks. The straight valve shown to the left and the right angle valve to the right. Either one may be fitted with a long shank to reach above ground when pipes are laid deep to prevent freezing.] Estimating 75 gallons daily of sewerage for each inhabitant of the house and four persons to a family, the septic tank should be large enough to hold 600 gallons, three hundred gallons in each compartment, which would require a tank about four feet in width and six feet in length and four feet in depth. These figures embrace more cubic feet of tank than necessary to meet the foregoing requirements. It is a good plan to leave a margin of safety. [Illustration: Figure 239.--Septic Tank, a double antiseptic process for purifying sewerage.] It is usual to lay a vitrified sewer, four inches in diameter, from below the bottom of the cellar to the septic tank, giving it a fall of one-eighth inch in ten feet. The sewer enters the tank at the top of the standing liquid and delivers the fresh sewerage from the house through an elbow and a leg of pipe that reaches to within about six inches of the bottom of the tank. The reason for this is to admit fresh sewerage without disturbing the scum on the surface of the liquid in the tank. The scum is a protection for the bacteria. It helps them to carry on their work of destruction. The same principle applies to the second compartment. The liquid from the first compartment is carried over into the second compartment by means of a bent pipe in the form of a siphon which fills up gradually and empties automatically when the liquid in the first compartment rises to a certain level. The discharging siphon leg should be the shortest. The liquid from the second compartment is discharged into the drain in the same manner. There are special valves made for the final discharge, but they are not necessary. The bottom of the tank is dug deep enough to hold sewerage from two to four feet in