Even if the local repair shop happens to be convenient, and the farmer inclined to use it to the best advantage and as often as would be profitable, it would frequently be impossible to get efficient service, since the local shop is often congested with work, poorly equipped, and the shop mechanic may not be familiar with the machinery to be repaired.
To make the farm investment as a whole most profitable a considerable and judicious investment in modern farm machinery is absolutely necessary. The farm equipment will usually include a tractor, sometimes a truck, depending on the size of the farm and farm implements suited to the lines of work being carried.
It must be realized, however, that the best results from the farm depend on the efficient equipment of the farm home. The farmer’s home is more than a shelter, it is the most important tool in his business. The farm equipment chart, shows the result of a study of all the farm homes in a township in Iowa. Half of all the farm homes in this township had furnaces, while the proportion having water, bath, and electric or gas lights was somewhat less. Nearly half had vacuum cleaners, power washers, and electric irons. Nearly all these homes had telephones. Over half had pianos, and about half had automobiles. This is not a picture of average conditions obtaining at present in farm homes throughout the United States, but it is a picture of conditions, somewhat exceptional at present, to which we are, however, rapidly approaching.
In many instances an automobile is included in the farm equipment. Farmers have in fact more need for a car than have any other class, since it serves the double purpose of business and pleasure and makes possible the greater enjoyment of church, town, and neighbors. Statistics show that nearly 2,000,000 autos are owned by farmers.
Cost of Farm Equipment
The machinery on a 200-acre farm will vary from $3,000 to $4,000 or more. No business man would put such expensive equipment in the hands of a crew of untrained men without some one in charge to see that it is properly used, kept in repair, and cared for when not in use. With a farm mechanic assured, farmers will realize that it is good business to supplement their farm investment by the purchase of such machinery as will result in improved farming and increased production.
The necessity for proper mechanical equipment of the farm was appreciated by the Federal Farm Loan Board when it provided that part of the Federal loan funds might be used for mechanical equipment. The board realized that a farm can not be profitably operated without suitable machinery and that without modern farm tools the farmer is severely handicapped, even though he has a good farm and sufficient buildings. Thorough preparation of the soil and cultivation and harvesting of the crop all depend upon proper equipment of the farm.
The economic importance of modern labor saving tools, implements, and machinery for the farm, orchard and garden was not fully appreciated until four years of a world-disturbing war had created havoc with the farmer’s labor supply, already short from losses to other industries. This supply was further curtailed by the demand for workers in the manufacture of war supplies and by enlistments. Even in the face of this tremendous depletion in his labor supply, labor-saving machinery, available from abundant prewar manufacture, enabled the farmer, nevertheless, to expand the area under cultivation by hundreds of thousands of acres, and thus to meet war emergency needs.
The satisfaction and profit of having an outfit of tools and a competent man to keep the equipment in good working condition, will be realized more fully as the mechanic demonstrates his ability and ingenuity. The average farmer has not had the experience of having his machines and tools in condition without considerable trouble and outlay of time and expense. The change will be such a relief, and the increased efficiency so noticeable that the farm mechanic will have little difficulty in making such services appreciated, securing acknowledgment of his ability and therefore establishing his rank among the men on the farm. He should, of course, be considered a permanent man and be provided with all the perquisites that other permanent men enjoy, including a house and a garden in addition to adequate compensation.