Very simple. During the last century, however, there

has been a complete revolution in this respect. Witli

the invention of the grain harvester, the possibilities of

agriculture were very greatly increased. Before this

time the amount of grain that could be raised was limited

to the quantity that could be harvested by the slow meth-

ods then in use. To-day no such limit exists, since every

operation in grain-farming can be done with machinery.

The size of a grain-farm is limited now only by the capital

that is available. In the other branches of agriculture,

the use of modem equipment has wrought similar trans-

formations.

431. The farmer as a mechanic. — The fanner of a

few generations ago could get along with but very little

knowledge of machinery, since he had no machines, but

now all this has changed. The modern farmer hardly

does a thing without the aid of some complicated ma-

chine. The use of these various devices requires skill

as well as considerable knowledge of mechanism. The

392

Equipmeni qf the Farm 393

farmer should also be able to repair his own machinery.

He is probably working at some distance from a machine

shop and if an implement gets out of order, considerable

time is lost unless he is able to repair it. The expense

of having some one else do the repairing is not so important

an item as the time lost in waiting fof the work to be

Fig. 03. — A neat and effective gate.

done. Durir^ the harvest season one day of waiting

may cause a loss of many dollars.

432. Extremes in farm equipment. — Extremes in

the use of farm equipment are often found. One farmer

will not buy an implement unless he is absolutely com-

pelled to. For lack of an extra plow, he will let a team

lie idle most of the summer even though he has land that

needs plowing. He considers the money spent for im-

plements wasted, when in reality the plow might more

than pay for itself in a single month. It is very poor

economy not to buy the implements necessary to manage

a farm in the most efficient manner.

394 The Principles qf Agronomy

Some fanners go to the other extreme and buy every

new machine and device that is put on the market. As

a result they have hundreds of dollars' worth of idle

equipment. The wise farmer is conservative in pur-

chasing equipment, and buys only standard implements.

He is not, however, afraid to purchase a machine when

he sees that it will earn money.

433. Machines that get out of date. — Every year

many new kinds of machines are offered for sale. Some

FiQ. 94. — Cemant finda many uses on the farm.

of these can safely be purchased at once, but the majority

of new devices are only in the experimental stage when

first put on the market. They may be good in prin-

ciple, but probably many things about them will be per-

fected after a few years of trial. This means that there

will be a rapid change, and that the first machine will

be rendered out of date by more perfect models. It is

usually a good thing, therefore, for the farmer to let new

equipment have a year or two of trial before he ties up

Equipment of the Farm 395

his money in it. Standard equipment such as wagons

and plows seldom gets out of date.