The following facts and figures furnished by the owner will give a fair idea of the economic value of this system, as compared with the usual methods of doing the same work. On the farm where it is used, there are raised annually an average of sixty acres of oats, fifty acres of corn, twenty acres of rye, ten acres of buckwheat.
Bushels.
The oats average, say 30 bushels per acre. 1,800
Corn " 30 " " 1,500
Rye " 20 " " 400
Buckwheat " 20 " " 200
Grinding for self and others. 1,000
It will cost to thrash this grain, shell the corn, and
grind the feed with steam power. $285
And sawing wood, 12½ cords. 18
Pumping, one hour per day, 365 days. 36
Churning, half hour per day, 200 days. 10
Washing, half day per week, 26 days. 26
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Total. $375
This amount is saved, and more too, as one man, by the aid of the wind mill, will do this work in connection with the chores of the farm, and save enough in utilizing foul weather to more than offset his extra labor, cost of oil, etc., for the machinery. The amount saved each year is just about equal to the cost of a good man. Cost of outfit, $700--just about equal to the cost of a good man for two years, consequently, it will pay for itself in two years. Fifteen years is a fair estimate for the lifetime of mill with ordinary repairs.
The solid-wheel wind mill has never been built larger than 30 feet in diameter. For mills larger than this, the latest improved American mill is the "Warwick" pattern.
A 30-foot mill of this pattern, erected in 1880, in northwestern Iowa, gave the following results, as reported by the owner:
"Attachments as follows: One 22-inch burr; one No. 4 iron feed-mill; one 26-inch circular saw; one two-hole corn-sheller; one grain elevater; a bolting apparatus for fine meal, buckwheat and graham, all of which are run at the same time in good winds, except the saw or the iron mill; they being run from the same pulley can run but one at a time. With all attached and working up to their full capacity, the sails are often thrown out of the wind by the governors, which shows an immense power. The machines are so arranged that I can attach all or separately, according to the wind. With the burr alone I have ground 500 bushels in 48 consecutive hours, 100 bushels of it being fine meal. I have also ground 24 full bushels of fine meal for table use in two hours. This last was my own, consequently was not tolled. This was before I bought the iron mill, and now I can nearly double that amount. I saw my fire wood for three fires; all my fence posts, etc. My wood is taken to the mill from 12 to 15 feet long, and as large as the saw will cut by turning the stick, consequently the saw requires about the same power as the burrs. With a good sailing breeze I have all the power I need, and can run all the machinery with ease. Last winter I ground double the amount of any water mill in this vicinity. I have no better property than the mill."
A 40-foot mill, erected at Fowler, Indiana, in 1881, is running the following machinery:
"I have a universal wood worker, four side, one 34-inch planer, jig saw, and lathe, also a No. 4 American grinder, and with a good, fair wind I can run all the machines at one time. I can work about four days and nights each week. It is easy to control in high winds."
A 60-foot diameter mill of similar pattern was erected in Steel County, Minnesota, in 1867. The owner gives the following history of this mill:
"I have run this wind flouring mill since 1867 with excellent success. It runs 3 sets of burrs, one 4 feet, one 3½ feet, and one 33 inches. Also 2 smutters, 2 bolts, and all the necessary machinery to make the mill complete. A 15-mile wind runs everything in good shape. One wind wheel was broken by a tornado in 1870, and another in 1881 from same cause. Aside from these two, which cost $250 each, and a month's lost time, the power did not cost over $10 a year for repairs. In July, 1833, a cyclone passed over this section, wrecking my will as well as everything else in its track, and having (out of the profits of the wind mill) purchased a large water and steam flouring mill here, I last fall moved the wind mill out to Dakota, where I have it running in first-class shape and doing a good business. The few tornado wrecks make me think none the less of wind mills, as my water power has cost me four times as much in 6 years as the wind power has in 16 years."