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HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Automobiles and Good Roads
A Department Designed to Help Farmers! With Progressive Ro&d Ideas
IN AN effort to prevent waste of mil
lions of dollars annually in the dis
tribution of funds for construction of
public roads Logan Waller Page, di
rector of the office of publie roads of
the department of agriculture, has been'
Baking scientific tests to determine
what materials should bs put into the
wads designed to meet different kinds
f traffic. It has been found that more
than $1,000,000 a day is spent on con
struction of roads. No estimate is made
of the portion of these funds that is
wasted, but it is believed to mount into
the millions. -
Efforts are being made to te&eh the
ounlry that the expenditure of large
fums of money on certain types of
roads may result almost in a total waste.
A road built of materials which would
be ideal in one Ideality nay not serve
the purpose elsewhere, and the money
expended may bring scarcely any re
sult in reducing the cost of hauling or
making it easier for the farmer to get
to the shipping point with his crops.
To aid the farmers who want to build
their own roads and assist communities
that desire to improve roads near by,
the office of public roads of the depart
ment of agriculture has employed ex
perts to tost all materials and study
their usefulness on roads subjected to
certain traffic conditions. The office
of publie roads is acting in an advisory
capacity to many states and counties,
giving a practical form of national aid.
On roads where there is heavy traffic
it has been found that certain kinds of
materials are better than others and
that while one kind of binder may not
serve the purpose, aaothcr kind pre
serves the road indefinitely. Millions
of dollars doubtless have been' wasted
because of tbo absence of the scientific
knowledge.
"There are two ways in which the
engineer may avail himself of the in
formation necessary to a proper selec
tion of road material," says Director
Page. "The only certain one is to
make an actual service test on the ma
terial under observation and under the
same conditions of traffic and climate
to which the proposed toad will be sub
jected. This method is impractical ex
cept in rare instances, due to the lapse
of time before definite results can be
obtained. The second method is, by
means of short time laboratory tests,
to approximate the destructive agencies
to which the material will be subjected
an the road, supplementing this knowl
dge by a study of the results obtained
in practice on material of a similar na
ture."
QUESTION OF BETTER BO ADS. 8
As far back as 1776 Adam
Smith, in his "Wealth of Na-
tions," wrote as follows: "Good
roads, canals and navigable rivers
by diminishing the expense of car-
riage, put the remote parts of the
country more nearly upon a level
with those in the neighborhood of
the town. They are upon that ac-
count the greatest of all improve-
ments. They encourage the culti-
vation of the remote, which must
always be the most expensive cir
cle of the country. They are ad
vantageous to the town by break
ing down the monopoly of the
country in . its neighborhood.
Though they introduce some rival
commodities into the old market,
they open many new markets, to
its produce."
3
Brings Mors Fine Stock Into State. -
E. B. Marks, who already has a largo
herd of registered and grade Holsteins
at his tarm in the Ahtanum, has re
turned fro mthe East with a car load
of new stock, 44 head of heifers, year
lings end calves, which he purchased
for $9,000 at the dispersal sale at La
conn, N. Y. This is the fourth ship
ment of registered Holsteins brought
into the Yakima Valley this spring.
In many parti of the west mow t leav
ing the mountains earlier than usual. Fur
mwn lay that una may mean a bad fire
keaaon, and 'they are juakiug plaui for a
hard campaifn. . - - '
Value of Machinery on The Farm
Writer Explains How Power Will Help With Chores and Routine
Duties of Work.
Machinery of the right sort on i
the farm is perhaps even more 4
t important than the commercial or 3
pleasure use of the automobile to'
the farmer. That is why we think
the article herewith will be found S
S more than woll worth perusal.
$.$.$3Si$'J'J$S$'$?4j$3
BY I J. CHARLTON,
Instructor in Farm Mechanics, Wash
ington State College.
ONE of the big steps toward making
life worth living on the farm is
the introduction of machinery to
help with the chores. A few of the
choros that are now performed by ma
chinery are pumping water, sawing
wood, chopping feed, milking, separat
ing, churning, washing, ironing, sweep
ing, cooking, lighting, sewing, mixing
bread, making ice cream, grinding tools,
cleaning grain, grinding grain, clipping,
shearing sheep, currying horses; spray
ing, painting and making cider; in fact,
almost every irksome job on the farm
can be handled with some sort of me
chanical power.
I know of one family that carries
water a little over 16 rods from a spring
to their house. They generally make
three trips to the spring for every meal
cooked, that is, nine trips each day,
covering more than 288 rods. The fam
ily has used the spring since 1856, and
during that time has traveled 18,386
miles, or three-fourths of the way
around tho globe, for water. If the
carrier traveled one mile every twenty
minutos, at fifteen eents per hour, this
would mean $900 worth of time. It is
about time that this family should use
some power other than man-power for
carrying water. There is probably not
a farm in Washington that does not
have an equally undesirable chore that
could be performed by mechanical
power.
Six Forms of Motors.
There are six forms of motors in
general use for furnishing power the
animal body, heat engines, water-wheels,
tidal machines, windmills and electrical
motors. All of them can be used on at
least some of the farms of Washington,
and every farm has the animal as a
motor.
. This article is to deal with the motor
best adapted to most farms for the per
forming of ehores. Undoubtedly the
eleetric motor is the best suited to this
class of work, but unfortunately the
electrical current would be so expensive
in most localities that it is prohibitive.
Wind power is rather uncertain, and is
never steady, so it adapts itselt to only
a few of the tasks mentioned, but when
It can be used, it is exceedingly cheap.
Water, wheels are, of course, convenient
to but few farms. But the heat engine
is one source of power that, like the ani
mal, can be had on every farm, and it is
the most uniformly adaptible to the kind
of work under discussion.
There are two kinds of heat motors in
use on tue tarm we Bream engine, uu
the oil or gas engine. Each one has its
own particular field. In most localities
in Washington, steam is well suited for
tho work that requires power for long
intervals of time, and where consider
able power is used. The oil engine would
find its field in handling intermittent
and small power jobs. It is the ideal
engine for the farm chores, and is, of
course, a close competitor of the steam
engine in its field.
Seasons for Preference.
- There are several reasons why the oil
engine is more preferable for ehoreB
than the steam engine. One is that it
can be started more quickly. You do
not have to heat up the water. No
power is lost after it is stopped. Stored
heat is lost from the water in the boiler
of a steam engine, aud from tho fuel
in the grate. Also, there is little dan
ger of fire, if the oil engine is properly
handled; and less danger from an ex
plosion, if handled by a careless work-
luaiu Tho oil engine -will run indefi
nitely if left by itself with plenty of
futl. A steam engine must have an
attendant to keep the water at the pro
per level, lest the crown sheet be ex
posed and burned.
Tho steam engine has the advantage
f being able to furnish for short times
as mush as two and one-half times its
rated horsepower, ' ' though at the ex
pense of eeonomy. Tho gasoline engine
cannot carry an over load, for it is
rated - at nearly its maximum horse
power, and it is most economical at near
its maximum horsepower. If anything
goes wrong with no oil engine, it stops
at once; but with a steam engine, trou
bles generally come on gradually and
can be remedied. Tho average consump
tion of an oil engine is one-fifth to ono
teirth gallons of oil per horso power per
hour. The eoal burned under a steam
engine is from four pounds to ten pounds
per horse power per hour. Bo, if tho
cost of these fuels are known for any
locality, tho fuel oxpense can be de
termined. If we take into considera
tion the convenience of handling and
the small danger, undoubtedly the oil
engino U tho best for small power on the
farm.
Hints on Buying. '
In purchasing an oil ongino, it is very
important to know how much power is
roqaired. Usually, it is well to pur
chase an engine a little more than large
enough to carry the maximum load, for
there is always sure to bo something ex
tra for the engino to do. An engine on
the farm is just like the hired man. If
he m willisg there is always something
extra for him to do.
Thero are so many types of engines
that it is bard for ono to make a se
lection. ' For instance, thero is the two
and four cycle. The latter is the most
economical, but there are places where
the two-cycle is quite satisfactory. Thon
there are the air, water, and oil-cooled
engines. All engines must have sumo
means oil keeping the cylinder tempera
ture low, or the lubricating oil will
bnrn off of the piston and cylinder and
they will be cut and ruined. Thero ore
the high speed and low speed engines,
each adapted to a certain class of work
the jump-spark, make-ana break, and
hot-tube ignition; the vertical and hori
zontal engines; the single and multiple
cylinder; in fact, there are innumerable
types and each type has Its particular
field.
In order for the farmer to determine
which engine to buy, he should inform
himself so that he understands the
adaptibility of the several types of en
gines and appliances. If be makes a
success of handling a gasoline engine, be
must understand the principles and
theory of the machine and its parts.
Turning a machino over to see if it will
When In
TRY THE FR YE
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T
ill'
M if IflSftttn
"IT LOOKS LIKE A HOTEL"
t-hat'i What They All Bay.
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start, is not running a gasolino engine,
tfo must know what is liable to get-
wrong with the machine, and how" to
find the trouble. Generally it is a waste
of time to take an engine apart because
it doesn't run, and this is likely to causo
mors damage than good. ,
Good Doost is Given
For Dairy Cow
THE milk produced by the average
cow in a year, according to Prof.
C. II. Eckles of the Missouri Agri
cultural College, will sell for about 450
at a creamery, or when made luto first
class butter.
A good cow of tho dairy bTeed will
m,a- nt least 450 cash income each
year. Many farmers report a cash in
come of $50 to 1UU a cow every jear,
and these figures do not include the
income from tho sale of calves and pigs
fed on the skim milk.
"But," says one, "milking i a tre
mendous task." As a matter of fiu't
it only takes sixty hours, worth 15 coats
an hour, to milk a cow twice a day for
ten months.
In a recent year the cash income fi-oro
a herd of JcrBcy cattle on the Missouri
.niiTA fnrm was 482.00 a cow for but
ter Bold and $12.50 a cow for -milk,
skimmed milk and calves, muluiifj a
total income from eiich cow of iOX
The following year tho avevago income
nor cow from the same source was mere
than $100 for the entire herd of twenty-..
oight.
Want A Position
Being ready when the oppor
tunity conies is what counts for
success. There is a birf demand
for BEHNKE-WALKEa trained
bookkeepers, stenographed uuJ
telegraphers.
Eight hundred and forty-one
different firms called on us for
help since August 1st. There i
no quicker, surer way to aecuro
remunerative employment and
future success thuu to secure our
diploma,
BUSINESS COLLEGE
t M. Walker, Pres. Portland, Ore.
U. S. and Foreign Patents
Obtained.
Send Sketch and Description for Opinion
as to Patentability.
PETES HABEKLIN,
200 Victor Bldg., Washington, D. O.
Seattle
IT'S NEW
IT'S CLEAN
IT CAN'T BURN
LOCATION IS EIGHT
Only 3 Blocks From Depots
' y 1 ' , and Docks ' 1 fi
TEE BATES ABE BIGHT
$1.00 Per Day and Up., ( ,
THE FRYE IS THE BIGHT
HOTEL FOB YOU. ' ;
t
l l I A- k "