Sharp County Record

Good Tools

Good tools are half the battle in farming, some one has said, and it is indeed true. It is a great deal easier to work with good tools than with poor ones. I have tried both and am decidedly in favor of the former. Good tools are far cheaper in the end than poor ones. It is true poor ones usually cost less to begin with, but the purchaser can not do as much work with them as with good ones, and then, again, there are many more repairs to be made, so that at last they are the more expensive.

For instance, a farmer wants a set of cart-wheels; his neighbor has two sets which he must sell, therefore he offers them cheap; one set is nearly as good as new, while the other has been run many years, and are, of course, weak in some places. He don't know which to buy, but finally concludes to take the old ones, as they are a few dollars cheaper, and he thinks they will do his business as well as the others. So he takes them home and goes to work with them: they do very well for a few days, but finally he gets on too heavy a load, drives over a little stone, and--whoa! his wheels are broken down. Now, he is in a bad fix; his team must lie still a day or two, his work must be neglected; perhaps it is planting time; or he has a lot of hay out; and he must go off right in a rush of work and get another set of wheels or have these repaired up, costing all told double what it would to have taken the best at first.

So it is with wagons, plows, mowing machines, horse-rakes, and, indeed, all other tools which a farmer uses. It is my opinion, and that of many other farmers, that "the best is the cheapest." Therefore, when you want any tools, first find where you can "get the best," and then buy them.

The care of tools is a very important matter. The thrifty farmer will provide shelter for his tools as well as for his animals. A shiftless farmer can always be told by the way in which he leaves his tools when not in use. It is not an uncommon sight to see tools left where last used, until wanted again. I can now point to a mowing machine, nearly new, which is out doors partly covered with snow, where it has been since last hay season; also rakes, plows, wagons, and, in fact, nearly all kinds of farming implements. Now, this is most certainly very bad economy, to say nothing about the bad looks of the farm yard cluttered up in this manner.

If the destruction to farm implements, through exposure to the weather, could be computed in dollars and cents, we should certainly be astonished at the large sum it would amount to in five years. All farming tools should be well painted or oiled. Plows should be thoroughly cleaned every time they are used, and when you have done with them for the season, a coat of oil should be applied, both to preserve the wood work, and to protect them from rust. -New England Farmer.