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

skill is required to properly connect the building and elevating machinery so that the two will work smoothly together. There are certain features about the building that must conform to the requirements and peculiarities of the elevating machinery. The grain and ear corn are both carried up to a point from which they will travel by gravity to any part of the building. The building requires great structural strength in some places, but the material may be very light in others. Hence, the necessity of understanding both building and machinery in order to meet all of the necessary technical requirements. CHAPTER V WORKING THE SOIL IMPORTANCE OF PLOWING [Illustration: Figure 132.--Heavy Disk Plow. A strong four-horse disk implement for breaking stumpy ground or to tear tough sod into bits before turning under with a moldboard.] Plowing is a mechanical operation that deals with physics, chemistry, bacteriology and entomology. The soil is the farmer's laboratory; his soil working implements are his mechanical laboratory appliances. A high order of intelligence is required to merge one operation into the next to take full advantage of the assistance offered by nature. The object of plowing and cultivation is to improve the mechanical condition of the soil, to retain moisture, to kill insects and to provide a suitable home for the different kinds of soil bacteria. There are aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, also nitrogen-gathering bacteria and nitrifying bacteria which are often loosely referred to as azotobacter species. Few of us are on intimate terms with any of them, but some of us have had formal introductions through experiments and observation. [Illustration: Figure 133.--Sulky Plow. This is a popular type of riding plow. It is fitted with a rolling coulter.] THE MECHANICS OF PLOWING _Walking Plow._--The draft of a walking plow may be increased or diminished by the manner of hitch. It is necessary to find the direct line of draft between the work performed and the propelling force. The clevis in the two-horse doubletree, or the three-horse evener and the adjusting clevis in the end of the plow-beam with the connecting link will permit a limited adjustment. The exact direction that this line takes will prove out in question. The walking plow should not have a tendency to run either in or out, neither too deep nor too shallow. For the proper adjustment as to width and depth of furrow, the plow should follow the line of draft in strict obedience to the pull so that it will keep to the furrow on level ground a distance of several feet without guidance from the handles. In making the adjustment it is first necessary to see that the plow itself is in good working order. All cutting edges such as share, coulter or jointer must be reasonably sharp and the land slip in condition as the makers intended. [Illustration: Figure 134.--Disk Plow. Less power is required to plow with a disk, but it is a sort of cut and cover process. The disk digs trenches narrow at the bottom. There are ridges between the little trenches that are not worked.] [Illustration: Figure 135.--Three-Horse and Four-Horse Eveners. This kind of evener hitches the horses closer to the load than some others and they are easier to handle than the spread out kinds. The four-horse rig requires the best horses in the middle.] All plows should have a leather pocket on the side of the beam to carry a file. A 12-inch bastard file with a good handle is the most satisfactory implement for sharpening the cutting edges of a plow in the fields. A good deal depends on the character of the soil and its condition of dryness, but generally speaking, it pays to do a little filing after plowing a half mile of furrow. If the horses are doing their duty, a little rest at the end of the half mile is well earned. The plowman can put in the time to advantage with the file and the next half mile will go along merrily in consequence. No farmer would continue to chop wood all day without whetting his axe, but, unfortunately, plowmen often work from morning till night without any attempt to keep the cutting edges of their plows in good working order. _Riding Plow._--The riding plow in lifting and turning the furrow slice depends a good deal on the wheels. The action of the plow is that of a wedge with the power pushing the point, the share and the moldboard between the furrow slices and the land side and the furrow bottom. There is the same friction between the moldboard and the furrow slice as in the case of the walking plow, but the wheels are intended to materially reduce the pressure on the furrow bottom and against the land side. Plow wheels are intended to relieve the draft in this respect because wheels roll much easier than the plow bottom can slide with the weight of the work on top. The track made in the bottom of the furrow with the walking plow shows plainly the heavy pressure of the furrow slice on the moldboard by the mark of the slip. To appreciate the weight the slip carries, an interesting experiment may be performed by loading the walking plow with weights sufficient to make the same kind of a mark when the plow is not turning a furrow. One advantage in riding plows in addition to the relief of such a load is less packing of the furrow bottom. On certain soils when the moisture is just sufficient to make the subsoil sticky, a certain portion of the furrow bottom is cemented by plow pressure so that it becomes impervious to the passage of moisture either up or down. The track of a plow wheel is less injurious. [Illustration: Figure 136.--Three-Section, Spike-Tooth Harrow. The harrow is made straight, but the hitch is placed over to one side to give each tooth a separate line of travel.] [Illustration: Figure 137.--Harrow Sled Long Enough to Hold a Four-Section Harrow.] Plow wheels should stand at the proper angle to the pressure with especial reference to the work performed. Wheels should be adjusted with an eye single to the conditions existing in the furrow. Some wheel plows apparently are especially built to run light like a wagon above ground regardless of the underground work required of them. [Illustration: Figure 138.--Corn Cultivator. A one-row, riding-disk cultivator. The ridges are smoothed by the spring scrapers to leave an even surface to prevent evaporation.] Axles should hang at right angles to the line of lift so accurately as to cause the wheels to wear but lightly on the ends of the hubs. Mistakes in adjustment show in the necessity of keeping a supply of washers on hand to replace the ones that quickly wear thin. In this respect a good deal depends on the sand-bands at the ends of the hubs. Plow wheels are constantly lifting gritty earth and dropping it on the hubs. There is only one successful way to keep sand out of the journals and that is by having the hubs, or hub ferrules, extend well beyond the bearings. Plow wheel hub extensions should reach two inches beyond the journal both at the large end of the hub and at the nut or linchpin end. Some plow wheels cut so badly that farmers consider oil a damage and they are permitted to run dry. This is not only very wasteful of expensive iron but the wheels soon wabble to such an extent that they no longer guide the plow, in which case the draft may be increased enormously. [Illustration: Figure 139.--A Combination Riding and Walking Cultivator, showing fenders attached to protect young plants the first time through. The two bull tongues shown are for use in heavy soils or when deeper digging is necessary.] _Scotch Plows._--When the long, narrow Scotch sod plows are exhibited at American agricultural fairs they attract a good deal of attention and no small amount of ridicule from American farmers because of the six or seven inch furrows they are intended to turn. In this country we are in too much of a hurry to spend all day plowing three-fourths of an acre of ground. Intensive farming is not so much of an object with us as the quantity of land put under cultivation. Those old-fashioned Scotch plows turn a furrow about two-thirds of the way over, laying the sod surface at an angle of about 45 deg. to the bottom of the furrow. The sharp comb cut by the coulter and share stands upright so that a sod field when plowed is marked in sharp ridges six or seven inches apart, according to the width of the furrow. Edges of sod show in the bottoms of the corrugations between these little furrow ridges. When the rains come the water is held in these grooves and it finds its way down the whole depth of the furrow slice carrying air with it and moistening every particle of trash clear to the bottom of the furrow. Such conditions are ideal for the work of the different forms of bacteria to break down plant fibre contained in the roots and trash and work it into humus, which is in turn manipulated by other forms of soil bacteria to produce soil water which is the only food of growing plants. _Jointer Plows._--American plow makers also have recognized the necessity of mixing humus with soil in the act of plowing. To facilitate the process and at the same time turn a wide furrow, the jointer does fairly good work when soil conditions are suitable. The jointer is a little plow which takes the place of the coulter and is attached to the plow-beam in the same manner. The jointer turns a little furrow one inch or two inches deep and the large plow following after turns a twelve-inch or fourteen-inch furrow slice flat over, throwing the little jointer furrow in the middle of the furrow bottom in such a way that the big furrow breaks over the smaller furrow. If the work is well done, cracks as wide as a man's hand and from three to five inches deep are left all over the field. These cracks lead air and moisture to rot the trash below. This is a much quicker way of doing a fairly good job of plowing. Such plows loosen the soil and furnish the conditions required by nature; and they may be operated with much less skill than the old-fashioned narrow-furrowed Scotch plows. Good plowing requires first that the soil be in proper condition to plow, neither too dry nor too wet, but no man can do good plowing without the proper kind of plow to fit the soil he is working with. PLOWING BY TRACTOR Under present conditions farm tractors are not intended to replace horse power entirely but to precede horses to smooth the rough places that horses may follow with the lighter machines to add the finishing touches. Light tractors are being made, and they are growing in popularity, but the real business of the farm tractor is to do the heavy lugging--the work that kills horses and delays seeding until the growing season has passed. The actual power best suited to the individual farm can only be determined by the nature of the land and the kind of farming. In the Middle West where diversified farming is practiced, the 8-16 and the 10-20 sizes seem to be the most satisfactory, and this is without regard to the size of the farm. The preponderance of heavy work will naturally dictate the buying of a tractor heavier than a 10-20. The amount of stationary work is a factor. In certain communities heavy farm tractors are made to earn dividends by running threshing machines after harvest, silo fillers in the fall and limestone crushers in the winter. Here is a classified list of jobs the medium size farm tractor is good for: Clearing the Land--pulling up bushes by the roots, tearing out hedges, pulling stumps, grubbing, pulling stones. Preparing Seed Bed and Seeding--plowing, disking, crushing clods, pulling a land plane, rolling, packing, drilling, harrowing. Harvesting--mowing, pulling grain binders, pulling potato digger. Belt Work--hay baling, corn shelling, heavy pumping for irrigation, grinding feed, threshing, clover hulling, husking and shredding, silo filling, stone crushing. Road Work--grading, dragging, leveling, ditching, hauling crops. Miscellaneous--running portable sawmill, stretching wire fencing, ditch digging, manure spreading. Generally speaking, however, the most important farm tractor work is preparing the seed-bed thoroughly and quickly while the soil and weather conditions are the best. And the tractor's ability to work all day and all night at such times is one of its best qualifications. To plow one square mile, or 640 acres, with a walking plow turning a twelve-inch furrow, a man and team must walk 5,280 miles. The gang-plow has always been considered a horse killer, and, when farmers discovered that they could use oil power to save their horses, many were quick to make the change. It requires approximately 10 horsepower hours to turn an acre of land with horses. At a speed of two miles, a team with one plow in ten hours will turn two acres. To deliver the two horsepower required to do this work, they must travel 176 feet per minute and exert a continuous pull of 375 pounds or 187.5 pounds per horse. One horsepower equals a pull of 33,000 pounds, moved one foot per minute. Two-mile speed equals two times 5,280 or 10,560 feet per hour, or 176 feet per minute. Sixty-six thousand divided by 176 equals 375 foot pounds pull per minute. One horsepower is absorbed in 88 feet of furrow. Horse labor costs, according to Government figures, 12-1/2 cents per hour per horse. On this basis ten hours' work will be $1.25, which is the average daily cost of each horse. An average Illinois diversified farm of 160 acres would be approximately as follows: Fifty acres of corn, 30 acres of oats and wheat, 20 acres of hay, 60 acres of rough land, pasture, orchard, building and feed lots. This average farm supports six work horses or mules and one colt. According to figures taken from farm work reports submitted by many different corn belt farmers, the amount of horse-work necessary to do this cropping would figure out as follows: Fifty acres of corn land for plowing, disking, harrowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting would amount to a total of 1,450 horsepower hours. Thirty acres of wheat would require a total of 330 horsepower hours. Twenty acres of hay would require 110 horsepower hours. In round figures, 1,900 horsepower hours at 12-1/2 cents would amount to $237.50. Elaborate figures have been worked out theoretically to show that this work can be done by an 8-16 farm tractor in 27-3/4 days at a cost for kerosene fuel and lubricating oil of $1.89 per day. Adding interest, repairs and depreciation, brings this figure up to about $4.00 per day, or a total of $111.00 for the job. No account is kept of man power in caring for either the horses or the tractor. The actual man labor on the job, however, figures 12-1/3 days less for the tractor than for horses. We should remember that actual farm figures are used for the cost of horse work. Such figures are not available for tractor work. The cost of plowing with a traction engine depends upon so many factors that it is difficult to make any definite statement. It depends upon the condition of the ground, size of the tractor, the number of plows pulled, and the amount of fuel used. An 8-16 horsepower tractor, for instance, burning from 15 to 20 gallons of low grade kerosene per ten hour day and using one gallon of lubricating oil, costs about $1.90 per ten hours work. Pulling two 14-inch plows and traveling 20 miles per day, the tractor will plow 5.6 acres at a fuel and an oil cost of about 30 cents per acre. Pulling three 14-inch plows, it will turn 8.4 acres at a cost for fuel and oil of about 20 cents an acre. The kind and condition of soil is an important factor in determining the tractor cost of plowing. Comparison between the average horse cost and the average tractor cost suggests very interesting possibilities in favor of tractor plowing under good management. Aside from the actual cost in dollars we should also remember that no horse gang can possibly do the quality of work that can be accomplished by an engine gang. Anxiety to spare the team has cut a big slice off the profits of many a farmer. He has often plowed late on account of hard ground, and he has many times allowed a field to remain unplowed on account of worn-out teams. Under normal conditions, late plowing never produces as good results as early plowing. Many a farmer has fed and harnessed by the light of the lantern, gone to the field and worked his team hard to take advantage of the cool of the morning. With the approach of the hot hours of midday, the vicious flies sapping the vitality from his faithful team, he has eased up on the work or quit the job. In using the tractor for plowing, there are none of these distressing conditions to be taken into consideration, nothing to think of but the quality of work done. It is possible to plow deep without thought of the added burden. Deep plowing may or may not be advisable. But where the soil will stand it, deep plowing at the proper time of year, and when done with judgment, holds moisture better and provides more plant food. The pull power required to plow different soils varies from about three pounds per square inch of furrow for light sand up to twenty pounds per square inch of furrow for gumbo. The draft of a plow is generally figured from clover sod, which averages about seven pounds per square inch. Suppose a plow rig has two 14-inch bottoms, and the depth to be plowed is six inches. A cross section of each plow is therefore 14 by 6 inches, or 84 square inches. Twice this for two bottoms is 168 square inches. Since, in sandy soil, the pressure per square inch is three pounds, therefore 168 times 3 pounds equals 504 pounds, the draft in sandy soil. 168 times 7 pounds equals 1,176 pounds, the draft in clover sod. 168 times 8 pounds equals 1,344 pounds, the draft in clay sod. The success of crop growing depends upon the way the seed-bed is prepared. The final preparation of the seed-bed can never be thoroughly well done unless the ground is properly plowed to begin with. It is not sufficient to root the ground over or to crowd it to one side but the plow must really turn the furrow slice in a uniform, systematic manner and lay it bottom side uppermost to receive the beneficial action of the air, rain and sunshine. The moldboard of a plow must be smooth in order to properly shed the earth freely to make an easy turn-over. The shape of the shear and the forward part of the moldboard is primarily that of a wedge, but the roll or upper curve of the moldboard changes according to soil texture and the width and depth of furrow to be turned. Moldboards also differ in size and shape, according to the kind of furrow to be turned. Sometimes in certain soils a narrow solid furrow with a comb on the upper edge is preferable. In other soils a cracked or broken furrow slice works the best. When working our lighter soils a wide furrow turned flat over on top of a jointer furrow breaks the ground into fragments with wide cracks or openings reaching several inches down. Between these extremes there are many modifications made for the particular type or texture of the soil to be plowed. We can observe the effect that a rough, or badly scratched, or poorly shaped moldboard has on any kind of soil, especially when passing from gravelly soils to clay. In soil that contains the right amount of moisture, when a plow scours all the time, the top of the furrow slice always has a glazed or shiny appearance. This shows that the soil is slipping off the moldboard easily. In places where the plow does not scour the ground is pushed to one side and packed or puddled on the underside instead of being lifted and turned as it should be. A field plowed with a defective moldboard will be full of these places. Such ground cannot have the life to bring about a satisfactory bacteria condition necessary to promote the rapid plant growth that proper plowing gives it. Cultivated sandy soils are becoming more acid year after year. We are