VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1909.
NO. 37
THE   INDIANA  STATE   FAIR.
Many  lti-i iiii Improvements in r'arm
Implements.
In no other field ot the mechanical
world is the opportunity for cultivation
of inventive genius so great as
in       the devising of labor-
saving machinery on the farm.
Kaeh recurring State Fair has in its
display of farming implements, quite
a number of recent inventions, the object of which is to lighten the farmer's
toil. At the recent Indiana State Fair
could be seen a number of ingeniously
contrived appliances to farm machinery
lately   invented. The   visitor   at   the
fair who did not carefully notice some
of these latest improvements in farm
machinery, missed a great deal in thr
way of useful and practical knowledge.
Steel, as a material in the construction of farm implements, is coming into more general use for the simple rea-
stftl that in many cases it is cheaper
than wood and because wood formerly
in general machine manufacture is becoming scarcer through destruction of
our once magnificent forests. In one
exhibit of plows and harrows it was
noticed that nearly all of the single
trees, double trees and triple trees were
made of steel pressed into shape by the
action  of powerful  mechanism.
A riding truck attachment, placed
on a harrow so that the driver is seated
directly over the harrow, is a remedy
lor tired legs for the farmer in getting
liis ground ready for the seeding.
<'onvenient is the easy working litter
1 arrier made by a certain well known
Arm. The   feature   about  this  labor
saver is that the track upon which the
arrier runs consists of either a solid
round steed rod or a cable track. The
wheels on the truck are close together
md are so easy running that a vigorous push on the loaded carrier sends it
out Into the barn yard, and there, by
means of an automatic trip, the )oad
is dumped ejthpr Pn 3- wftgpn or pn the
around. After   the   load   is   dumped
the carrier returns quickly by the force
"f gravity to the plaoe from whioh it
«ag Bent, the outer end of the track is
slightly elevated to Insure the return
1,1 the carrier.
A wagon unloader ls a handy thing
"n the farm. Such a mechanism was
shown at the fair. A loaded wagon
is driven on a platform, the horses are
unhitched and hooked to a horse
power. The power is started which
S(*ts in motion a lifting arrangement at
'he front end of the wagon box. This
raises the front part of the filled wagon
'"'d Into a tilted position and causes the
srain in the box to move towards the
rtJar, where it falls into a hopper and
ls elevated to the crib or bin by means
"f an ordinary elevator actuated by the
I'Pwer that tt}ts the wagon bpx. This
lr>ntrivance unloads a wagon in ;i remarkably short time.
'1 manqre spreaders several neW
•jiitures have been developed within
th<* past twelve months- <>ne of them
' B low down spreader mounted on
nree wheels, two re»r drivers with the
dreader bo* hung low between them
"n<i a low front wheel placed welt forward of the box. The low down feti-
Ure makes loading easy. Another
• l're__er has as its strong point, a diag-
t'"al arrf*-ngement of the tooth bars on
0 | beater wheel. Each bar reaches
i half way across the beater nnd Is
placed   in   a   slanting   position. The
advantage of this plan is that it does
better work because of the shearing action on the manure during the spreading process. It is claimed that this
scheme also prevents choking of the
beater while at work. Another spreader has dropping side boards so as to
make loading easier and more convenient.
It was noticed that sulky plows are
again coming into popularity and
if one were to judge from the plow exhibits,     the     demand     for     this     class
id in the hopper, and when the pigs
are hungry they go to this tray and eat
food from the little apartments made in
its circumference and by their eagerness to secure the feed, they naturally
push the tray and cause It and the upper buhr to turn on its axis, and thus
grind their own feed. From one to
thirty hogs can be fed in this manner.
The idea is a good one, and it is quite
probable that farmers will come to use
the machine as it is meant to save feed
grinding bills.
The  invention  of  recent  date   shown
A DeKalb County Prison for Broody Hens,
of  plow  is  on  the  increase. Several
implement firms showed disk breaking
plows,
Gasoline engines of many designs
and siaes were barking everywhere
throughout the machinery exhibit. This
fact only proves that this kind of power
is rapidly gaining in favor with the
farmer. This form of internal combustion engine is a very reliable and
safe power producer; for the day of
experimentation is over in its case. The
gasoline engine seems to be making
headway against the wind mill, in a
number of instances where sure power
is wanted for pumping water.
A very unique contrivance in the way
of a feed grinder caused a great deal
of comment. This was a grinder in
which pigs supplied the motive power
and it fs constructed as follows: A
heavy iron base to which is fastened^
the lower buhr. Upon this base and.
pivoted to it, is a cylindrical hopper
made of sheet steel. On the bottom
of the hopper is the upper buhr. Projecting about sis inches from the bottom of the hopper is a circular wooden
tray or platform on the rim with a
steel band rising about tin inch higher
than the base of the tray. This tray
also Is provided with cross pieces of
wood laid at an angle to the outer surface of the hopper and placed at an
opening at the hopper bottom so as to
allow the ground feed to pass into the
tray where the animals can eat it.
Shelled corn and other grains are plac-
at the fair, that attracted the greatest
attention and excited more interest
than any other was the Brown straw
binding harvester, the result of long
years of study and labor on the part of
an Indianapolis man. This straw bundle tying apparatus is really not more
complicated than the ordinary twine
binder. In  the  main,  this  ingenious
piece of mechanism consists of a spokeless cog wheel, so made
that it may be opened
on a hinged joint thus forming a figure
three. This wheel is placed in a
vertical position underneath the binding platform of the harvester. The
grain in the straw Is delivered from the
elevating canvasses to the lower half
of the opened cog wheel mer>tioned.
When enough straw has fallen intp pqsj^
tion, the upper half pf the cog wheel
is driven over into position to complete
the wheel, and as it does so, it compacts
the loose straw, the straw coming over
being held back until the bundle ln
the wheel is tied. As soon as the mass
of straw is compacted in the wheel, the
wheel itself begins to revolve, and at
the same time, u mechanism under the
bundle grasps a wisp of straw from out
the sheaf and begins to twist a band.
As the bundle turns, the band is made
as the revolution proceeds so that
when the wheel has gone completely around, the band is in position for
tying. When the wheel has revolved
once, the twisting mechanism continues its work for a few moments longer
in order to unite the ends of the twisted band now encircling the sheaf.
When the union of the end is accomplished, a metallic device shaped very
much like the human hand, gets into
action and tucks the joined ends under
the band, just as is done under the old
fashioned hand binding process. The
bundle is now complete and is ready
for release from the machine. Throwing the completed sheaf from the harvester is effected in a manner similar to
that of twine binding harvesters. When
the bound bundle is relased from the
tying apparatus, the elastic straw
presses outward against the band, thus
making a sure tie of the sheaf. If
this invention fulfills its present indications, it will prove a money saver to
the farmer, in that it does away with
the use of twine in the harvest field.
The writer believes that this straw
binder marks the beginning of a new
epoch in the history of harvesting machinery, just as the Appleby twine
knotter introduced a new era, thirty-
years ago. The binder in field tests,
last summer tied about 85 per cent of
the bundles, and in the demonstrations
at the fair, it tied 90 per cent. This
is approaching close unto ultimate success in actual work.
The use of galvanized sheet steel Is
growing in favor with farmers for use
as feed and water troughs. The exhibit of these farm necessities was large
at the fair.
More low wheel, solid rubber tire automobiles were on show at the fair, this
year than formerly. This is the kind
that appeals to many farmers who are
coming to make more practical use of
these self propelled vehicles.
It was notable that the machinery, for making farm utilities from
Portland cement, appeared prominently in the machinery exhibit. Here
were machines for turning out concrete building blocks, drain tiles, shingles, roofing tiles, fence posts, porch
pillars, watering troughs and Other
useful  accessories   to   farm   economy.
A valuable farm implement is the
tandem disk harrow seen in the display
of a certain implement firm. This har-
rom comprised two cutaway disk harrows placed one after the other. Four
horses are required to operate the machine which certainly can do the work
of fining the ground.
A desirable farming tool seen at the
State Fair was a disk corn cultivator.
The disks are used in the place Of the
old fashioned shovels and seem to he
well adapted to the work for which
they are intended.
Fanning mills are not the heavy
clumsy things they used to be years
ago, it has been found that a small
mill is just as effective and even more
so, in doing a good Job of seed cleaning
than are the large mills.
A valuable little contrivance on show
on the fair grounds was an improved
post hole and well auger. This contrivance consisted of two spiral steel
jaws which acted like the cutting edges
and lifting arrangement of a common
auger. When the augar is filled with
earth, it can be lifted out and one of
the jaws lifted and the earth removed
quite easily. This makes a desirable
tool for any farmer having a great deal
of fence to build.
A   safety   corn   shredder   on   display
with other machinery, was an object of
Continued on page "8.