Chapter LII: Appendix: On Forestry Schools and Courses (5)

Frequently one sees articles advocating the keeping of a few colonies of bees so that one may have all the honey desired. This sounds rather well, but such advice does not work out well in practice. Only those persons who study and devote themselves to the business are successful beekeepers. They make money, some big money. One Indiana man’s 1918 honey crop exceeded $20,000. Success requires making beekeeping the chief vocation, for the person who does not rely upon it for his living is likely to be busy when the bees most need his care, and being constantly engrossed in other things he does not take the time to study the problems of the beekeeper. Beekeeping is preeminently a specialist’s job, and it can not be recommended for the disabled soldier except as a specialty. To be convinced of the necessity for specializing you have only to visit farmers who have a few colonies of neglected and sometimes diseased bees, in some out of the way place, which never pay and are a menace to the success of all good beekeepers in the neighborhood.

NEED OF SPECIALISTS IN BEEKEEPING

The war revealed an insufficient number of available scientific apiarists in the United States capable of giving instruction to those desirous of engaging in commercial beekeeping. There are many sufficiently trained, but they are reaping such financial returns from their bees that they can not be induced to take up the work of training others. The increasing educational work of the Federal Government and of the several States in bee culture will afford men desiring to undertake such work opportunities to secure positions. For this service thorough theoretical training is required as well as good apiary practice on a commercial scale. The teaching of beekeeping is a new field for agricultural colleges and one which they gladly enter when scientifically trained apiarists can be secured for giving instruction. Were qualified teachers available the list of colleges at the close of this monograph offering instruction in beekeeping would be much longer. However, intensive and thorough short courses are being conducted as indicated in the list, and these present exceptional opportunity. Many more short courses will be arranged. The training is, it is true, mainly theoretical, but it can and should promptly be made practical by forming a connection with some successful apiarist.

OTHER BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE AS SIDE LINES TO BEEKEEPING

It is quite possible to combine beekeeping with other branches of agriculture, provided they do not necessitate much attention at the time when the bees require every care and thought of the beekeeper. General farming and beekeeping do not combine well, for the reason that swarming usually comes at a season when the farmer is busily engaged with his cropping. However, you might, as a bee specialist, form a business combination with the farmer and develop a paying apiary, and also give attention to some useful side lines. Gardening, fruits, poultry, Belgian hares, flowers, etc., combine profitably with beekeeping, but before engaging in any combinations, careful inquiry should be made of successful beekeepers of the region regarding the time of the principal honey flows. Information should be obtained also from persons following the suggested side lines as to when these occupations require most attention. This will enable one to determine the best combination to adopt. The beekeeper who neglects his bees during swarming time, or when nectar is coming in freely, may expect to lose fully nine-tenths of the crop. Honey, like hay, must be made while the sun shines. Side lines must not interfere with the apiarist being ready, with colonies strong, when the sun shines sufficiently to cause honey plants to bloom and nectar to flow freely.

Many garden crops may be grown and small truck farming may be followed on areas located in close proximity to the apiary. Crops should be selected that will require the least amount of time when the apiarist is busiest with the bees. The tomato, greatly in demand for canning supply, does not materially interfere in its planting, cultivation, or harvest with the principal honey season.

BEES VALUABLE TO HORTICULTURE

By careful management and by employing some help in certain seasons, horticulture--small fruits and orcharding--may likewise be profitably undertaken without interfering with apiary work. Bee culture and horticulture may in fact be combined to mutual advantage. The nectar from the fruit bloom is always regarded as an advantage and comes when nectar from other sources is not available.

In flying from flower to flower bees carry pollen and thus produce cross-pollination. They are of value also in the pollination of buckwheat, the clovers, and of many other farm crops. Horticulturists have learned to appreciate this service so highly for orchards and small fruit gardens that few commercial fruit growers will be without a good-sized apiary in the orchard if there are no bees in flying reach. It is impossible to measure the good that is accomplished in this way, but since many varieties of fruits are not fertile to their own pollen, it is obvious that were it not for the bees and other insects which carry pollen there would be much less fruit. Of course not all the pollen is carried by honey-bees, but this is the only species of insect which may be taken to the orchard to insure pollination.

THE WORK OF THE BEEKEEPER

The average citizen has but a vague idea of the duties required of the beekeeper for success. The idea prevails commonly that bees require but little care. That is all wrong. Careful study, frequent attention, and real work are essential. The work of the year may be briefly summarized as follows: First, the beekeeper provides such conditions as will encourage the colonies to produce young “workers” to the fullest capacity of the hive before the secretion of nectar begins from the principal honey plants. Second, he prevents a division of the working force of the colony by swarming, through the well-understood means of discouraging it. In addition to these activities, he provides the additional space for storage of the surplus honey crop at the right time. To have the bees reach their greatest strength in time for the first honey flows taxes the skill of the best apiarist, but by a careful study of the flowers from which the principal nectar crop is obtained in this locality the beekeeper is able to create sufficiently in advance conditions which will greatly multiply his working bees. Failure to do this and failure to appreciate the importance of being prepared has caused many beekeepers the loss of the best honey flows of the year. In such cases the beekeeper often does not know that he is missing the largest flows, because his colonies do not acquire their full strength until after these flows have terminated.

It may seem unnatural to fight the swarming instinct, as swarming is the natural way for new colonies to be formed. It is, however, the nature of bees to swarm at a time when swarming will result in a division of the working force, and just at the period when they should be concentrating on the principal flow of the season. Therefore the beekeeper arranges, if possible, that any increase in the number of colonies shall be made when it will not prevent the gathering of nectar. This requires vigilance just at the swarming season, since no satisfactory way has been devised for treating the whole apiary long in advance of this season to check the swarming instinct. There are, however, ways of control by weekly visits during the swarming season--ways which can not be explained in this short monograph, but which can be learned from literature or in an agricultural college course in beekeeping.

The busy season for the beekeeper begins about two months before the main honey flow, continues through the swarming season, and ends when the comb honey is taken from the supers or when the honey is extracted from larger frames which have been added to enable the use of the extracting machine. Afterwards there is less rush, the only important work being early preparation of the bees for winter. Every latitude in the United States has its winter problem, and it is of the first importance that prospective beekeepers realize that success depends more on proper wintering than on any other one thing.

WINTER OCCUPATIONS

It will be evident that most of the work of the beekeeper comes in the spring, summer, and fall. When your bees have been properly prepared for winter with plenty of stores, there is nothing to be done for their welfare until the early spring and “flying-out” time. There are, however, many profitable winter jobs for the beekeeper. Equipment should be stored, repaired, and put in complete readiness for the next season. Many beekeepers turn their time into money by retailing the honey crop during these out-of-season months, and when all their own honey is sold they buy from other beekeepers to supply the trade. By developing a home market you will get the profit not only of the producer, but as well that of the wholesaler and retailer.

Everyone ought to have free a part of each year for study and recreation, and the winter is the free time for the beekeeper, while his little workers themselves are resting. Wintertime well employed in study will prepare you for better returns. A thorough study of some new phase of beekeeping can be taken up every winter. There is an abundance of literature, and you can greatly profit by the experience of other beekeepers and experiment-station records. Interest and determination to acquire knowledge of your chosen vocation will be the best evidence of your suitability for bee culture. Your enthusiasm may cause you to cover the literature speedily. If there remains time unemployed, you may desire to take up some other line of work, either physical or mental. Some beekeepers have found it pleasant and profitable to teach in the winter. Teaching interferes but slightly with beekeeping. Mornings, evenings, Saturdays, and the long summer vacations can be devoted to the bees. The teacher should produce extracted honey to avoid the difficulties of swarm control.

Farm mechanics may prove advisable for a winter vocation and become an income-bearing side line for one who is handy with tools, tractors, trucks, and other machinery. The demand for able mechanics to repair and place in overhauled readiness for spring use all the up-to-date machinery now used on the farm is constantly growing. (See Farm Mechanics).

NUMBER OF COLONIES NEEDED TO MAKE A LIVING

In deciding on beekeeping as a life work, one should have some idea of the necessary amount to invest and the work entailed. There are many persons in the country who earn a livelihood almost or entirely from bees, and the number is increasing every year. In the Eastern States, where the weather during the summer may interfere with the work of the beekeeper, a skilled man may care for perhaps 600 colonies. In the West, however, where the weather does not so greatly enter into the beekeeper’s calculations, this number may be increased to 1,000. In giving these figures, it is assumed that the beekeeper is able to put in a full day’s work, is capable of considerable physical effort, and is a good manager. If he does not possess these qualifications, he may be much behind in his work at critical times, which necessarily means loss of honey, perhaps a total loss of the year’s work.

During and since the war, prices for honey have been high, making the returns larger than one may ordinarily expect. Perhaps the safest plan is to use figures which applied before the war, although in all probability honey prices will not for a long period, if ever, drop to their former level. With honey figured at prewar price of 25 cents a pound retail, the good beekeeper may confidently expect to average $10 a colony. This is on the basis of extracted honey, which will probably be produced by those about to engage in the business, certainly after the first year’s experience. The expense in addition to labor per colony will not average more than $1 a year. Income may be greatly increased by selling honey locally at retail.

For one whose physical condition does not permit regular and hard work, the number of colonies must be correspondingly smaller, at least at first. When one has thoroughly mastered the business, the actual physical labor may be greatly reduced and by the proper hiring of unskilled labor the beekeeper may be saved much of the hardest part of the work. Women have made a success of commercial beekeeping, and while unable to do the hard physical work, they have had it performed under their personal supervision by hired labor. Comb-honey production is lighter work and not so many colonies are necessary to get the same financial returns if the beekeeper retails his comb honey at the apiary. However, with large apiaries composed of hundreds of colonies the conditions change and comparison of financial returns are favorable to the production of extracted honey. The large commercial beekeepers follow extracting.

THE OUTFIT NEEDED

In addition to the colonies of bees properly hived, the beekeeper needs some other equipment. This chiefly consists of a small house in which to prepare the equipment and extract the honey, keep miscellaneous tools for fitting out the apparatus, and usually an automobile truck for moving bees and honey. It is usually not profitable to keep more than 100 colonies in one apiary. It therefore becomes essential to rent or buy small tracts of land--about 4 miles apart--so that 100 colonies may be kept in each place. This necessitates moving supplies and from time to time colonies of bees. For this a small 1-ton truck is preferred by most commercial beekeepers. At first necessary hauling may be hired. The home apiary is usually best equipped, and frequently it is the practice to haul in the honey to the home apiary after extracting. Many use a small auto for this service. Another plan is to have an extracting house rigged up on a trailer to the auto or truck, so that it may be moved from place to place as needed. Usually the only labor employed at the time of extracting is unskilled, but if your disability is troublesome when preparing for winter or in doing other work, you can hire such help as you may need. Even during the swarming season you may hire somebody to take down the hives while you examine the combs for queen cells and perform the various operations necessary for swarm control.

INVESTMENT NECESSARY

The investment which the general beekeeper makes in his business is nine-tenths brains and study and one-tenth money invested in bees and equipment. If he invests money only, his failure is a foregone conclusion.

The price of hives and other equipment has greatly increased during the war, and there is not much likelihood that it will decrease materially during the next few years. However, by making inquiry the beekeeper may frequently find opportunity to buy equipment from persons who have failed to make a success because of unwillingness to study the problems of the apiarist or of inability to devote to the work the time necessary. Such failures are sufficiently clear proof that the bee business requires devotion. The country is full of discarded hives which have been bought by persons who have conceived the idea that it was only necessary to buy a colony of bees and that the bees would “work for nothing and board themselves.”

If new hives completely equipped for producing extracted honey are bought at present prices they will probably cost from $4 to $5 each. The bees to start a colony will cost perhaps $5 if purchased from dealers in bees, but may obtained for much less by arranging with some apiarist to fill the hives one supplies with swarms as they come off. Frequently such arrangements may be made with some beekeeper who, not caring for more colonies and to avoid buying hives, will gladly sell swarms as they issue, at a nominal cost.

In proportion to the return, there is no other branch of agriculture requiring so small a financial investment as beekeeping. Before the inflation of prices due to the war two colonies of bees on an average paid the good beekeeper as well as an acre of corn, and the investment was, of course, much less. It is estimated that an apiary of 300 colonies will yield a net income equal to that of a good 160-acre farm and be quite as reliable from year to year. However, the statement made should be kept in mind--the investment which the beekeeper makes is chiefly brains. This is a commodity which can not be purchased from the hive dealer or secured with any number of swarms. In fact, the more bees and equipment you have without the use of brains and training, the worse off you are.

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR BEEKEEPING?

There is a demand for all the honey that can be produced in the United States, and there was never a time in the history of the industry when the honey market was so well established. Of course, during the war, when there was a shortage of sugar, the demand for honey was abnormal, but it seems improbable that the market will ever revert to prewar conditions in price or demand. Many persons learned to use honey who will continue purchasing it, notwithstanding they may now buy all the sugar they wish. Honey is not a substitute for sugar in the diet, but properly takes the place of jellies and jams. With the development of the bottle trade in honey, which has been rapid during the past five years, there is an increasing demand in the wholesale markets. The introduction of prohibition has unquestionably caused the use of more honey and of all kinds of sweets. This has already become quite evident. The sugar stringency resulting in the war-basis distribution had its application in many States simultaneously with prohibition. It was not difficult to enforce the curtailment of sugar to confectioners in wet States, but most difficult, and in fact impossible, in the prohibition States, where it was actually necessary to increase the sugar allotment to candymakers. Investigation proves that former users of alcoholic beverages were large buyers of candies and other sweets.

There is an abundant opportunity for the development of local trade in honey in almost all parts of the country. The future of beekeeping is inviting. There is every reason to expect that it will continue to develop rapidly for several years and that it will long continue to be an important minor branch of agriculture. From its very nature, owing to the limited supply of nectar, it can never be one of the leading branches of agriculture, but there is abundant nectar to build up beekeeping to ten times its present capacity.

NEED OF TRAINING

From the requirements indicated for good beekeeping, it is evident that you will need all the information obtainable before engaging in the business on a commercial scale. Such training you may secure through the agency of the Federal Board for Vocational Education from courses in beekeeping in some of the agricultural colleges. After you are well equipped with all that one of these colleges can give you, then a good plan probably will be to arrange for a season, or part of a season, in the apiary of a thoroughly good commercial beekeeper. This selection must be made with great care. Not all beekeepers who are fairly successful in honey production are as careful in their work as they should be, and by working with the wrong man you might get into beekeeping habits that should be avoided. A man should be chosen who makes a study of the behavior of his bees, one who is familiar with the literature of his vocation, and if possible, one who is able to succeed in regions where most of the beekeepers fail to get the full crop. After a season with such a man--and there will be many who will be glad to have your services in this way--you should be able to care for 100 colonies managed for extracted honey, provided your disability does not prevent you from doing the work necessary. By that time you will have a good idea of the amount of work which 100 colonies require.

You should avail yourself of every opportunity to visit apiaries and talk with expert bee men. Visits to and careful surveys of the apiaries of others who are successful may be worth almost as much to you as a season’s close application.

Beekeeping means outdoor life under healthful conditions, well suited to facilitate recovery from incipient tuberculosis, neurasthenia from shell shock and other afflictions. At first in some of the manipulations of the apiary there will be more or less difficulty which will arise directly from your disability, but by the exercise of ingenuity you will be able to devise ways of doing the work. If you have lost an arm, you will need an artificial arm or some device for lifting the hives and hive parts. Racks to hold frames while working with them, trays and small tables are used and you will improvise other conveniences. If your disability prevents your getting about easily, you will be able to arrange your apiary so that there is the least possible amount of walking. Light stools are employed for sitting while working over hives. After training, the sooner you get to work the better. You will find that actual work with artificial limbs and devices has a greater theoretic value than mere exercises and work is incomparably more interesting.

_AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE COURSES IN BEEKEEPING_

One of the best ways to acquire a thorough knowledge of beekeeping is to take a course in one of the agricultural colleges which offers such work. It must, of course, be understood that the knowledge so gained must of necessity be largely theoretical, for there is not time in a college course for much practical work. However, if the work is properly presented the student should be able at the close of the course to begin with 100 colonies and then he may work up in beekeeping practice as he increases the number of colonies. The following colleges offer good courses in this subject:

University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn.

College of Agriculture. Ames, Iowa.

Agricultural College, Storrs, Conn.

College of Agriculture, New Brunswick, N. J.

Agricultural College, East Lansing, Mich.

Agricultural College, College Station, Tex.

Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kans.

Your time will not be fully occupied with the beekeeping course and practical training at any of these institutions. You can at the same time take valuable courses in other subjects, such as fruits, gardening, flowers, and poultry, which combine well in practice with beekeeping. Farm mechanics (see Monograph on the subject) may be made a part of your training, and prove a valuable winter side line after you become a beekeeper, as the bees will not require your time during the winter season.

The Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, has held and has announced many valuable short schools for beekeepers in various parts of the United States and there is contemplated a course of intensive training for disabled soldiers who desire to take up beekeeping. These will probably be arranged in several of the principal beekeeping regions, and in proximity to the district offices of the Federal Board for Vocational Education.

_SHORT SCHOOLS IN BEEKEEPING_

San Diego, Calif., November 25-30, 1918.

Davis, Calif., December 1-7, 1918.

Visalia, Calif., December 9-16, 1918.

Ithaca, N. Y., February 24-March 1, 1919.

Lafayette, Ind., April 7-12, 1919.

Ames, Iowa, April 14-19, 1919.

St. Paul, Minn., April 21-26, 1919.

California five weeks beginning November 17, 1919.

_LITERATURE FOR THE BEEKEEPER_

BULLETINS FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION

Farmers’ Bulletin 447. Bees.

Farmers’ Bulletin 653. Honey and its Uses in the Home.

Farmers’ Bulletin 695. Outdoor Wintering of Bees.

Farmers’ Bulletin 820. Sweet Clover: Utilization.

Farmers’ Bulletin 961. Transferring Bees to Modern Hives.

Farmers’ Bulletin 1005. Sweet Clover on Corn Belt Farms.

Farmers’ Bulletin 1012. Preparation of Bees for Outdoor Wintering.

Farmers’ Bulletin 1014. Wintering Bees in Cellars.

Farmers’ Bulletin 1039. Commercial Comb Honey Production.

BEE JOURNALS PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES

American Bee Journal, Hamilton, Ill.

Gleaning in Bee Culture, Medina, Ohio.

Domestic Beekeeper, Northstar, Mich.

The Western Honeybee, Covina, Calif.

Beekeepers’ Item, New Braunfels, Tex.

BOOKS OF INTEREST TO BEEKEEPERS

These may be obtained from dealers in beekeeping supplies, from publishers of bee journals, and from general book dealers:

ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture, A. I. and E. R. Root.

Beekeeping, E. F. Phillips.

Langstroth on the Hive and Honey Bee, revised by C. P. Dadant.

Fifty Years Among the Bees, C. C. Miller.

Advanced Bee Culture, W. Z. Hutchinson.

Productive Beekeeping, F. C. Pellett.

Practical Queen Rearing, F. C. Pellett.

First Lessons in Beekeeping, C. P. Dadant.

Bee Primer, C. P. Dadant, Free to Soldiers from Bee Journal.

PLAN No. 1235. FARM MECHANICS AS A VOCATION

Acknowledgment is due E. B. McCormick, Chief Division of Rural
Engineering, United States Department of Agriculture; American Society
of Agricultural Engineers; Curtis Publishing Co.; Vacuum Oil Co.;
International Harvester Co.; Domestic Engineering Co., and A. W. Shaw
Co., for data, suggestions, and illustrations; also to Dr. John
Cummings, of the Research Division, for editorial assistance.

The war, just over, has been a war of machinery. The observing soldier has seen the effectiveness of the tank, the airplane, the truck, the motor transport, and the ambulance. He will remember them almost as comrades in the great struggle. He has seen the systematic care required to keep all this equipment in shape to deliver maximum service.

Many of the returned soldiers have been truck, ambulance, or automobile drivers, or at least have seen the vast field of work that has been done by the gasoline engine in some form and have developed an admiration for machinery. If you have driven any of these machines and experienced the thrill of pleasure on getting your machine out of some tight place, or in overcoming some difficulty by your own ingenuity, you have the best evidence that you will enjoy the vocation that is spoken of in this monograph.

In selecting your future vocation you should aim to profit by your past experiences as much as possible and at the same time select such work as will best enable you to enjoy life and health. You have had an experience in the “great outdoors,” possibly a prewar experience in agriculture, and can readily decide whether you will be contented under such conditions as are found in country life. The majority of soldiers have, barring injuries, been greatly benefited by their Army life.

Uncle Sam having called several million men into his service, many of whom have been injured, is employing the best experts available to restore these to a condition of maximum usefulness. Just as the expert surgeon is restoring to useful condition the injured, so there is need of a mechanical expert to keep in good order the machinery of the farm and to restore to usefulness that which may have been injured.

The farmer is realizing that one of the chief problems of the modern farm is that of getting sufficient help when needed. He has been in the habit of depending on floating labor for extra help. During the past few years this help has been getting more and more uncertain, inefficient, and expensive, and during the war it has in fact often been impossible to get help at any price. To meet this condition a more general use is being made of modern machinery, which enables more and better work to be done with fewer workers.

Modern farming depends to a large extent on machinery. The average farmer is not a mechanic and must employ expert help to get the maximum service from his equipment. You may have had training and experience in mechanical work, and with a little special training this may become a valuable asset to you as a farm mechanic. A person properly trained for this work can save many machines for future usefulness and increase the life of all the mechanical equipment of the farm.

The chart shows the relative amount of power on American farms as compared with power used for manufacturing. All of this power on the farm is utilized through machinery, and the large investment in farm machinery makes it important that the best of care shall be given to insure long life and efficient service.

When the call came for greatly increased production many farmers who doubted their ability to handle the modern farm machinery hesitated to undertake the larger acreage. In some cases crops already started were not harvested for want of help and lack of ability to use the machinery that might have taken the place of man power.

The more complicated machinery becomes, the more important becomes its proper care and management. Neglect or improper usage shortens the life of the machines and often causes breakage, necessitating repair or new parts. The services of a man who has ability and training in the repair and operation of such implements are needed to secure the best results. If maximum life and service is not secured from farm equipment the farmer can not afford to have it. With maximum service the farmer can not afford to do without it.

THE FARM TRACTOR

The tractor is the most important recent addition to farm equipment. Its use is increasing because it enables one man to do the work of several and do it better.

Many farmers hesitate to invest in the tractor and other modern machinery now available, because realizing that they are not mechanics, they doubt their ability to operate such equipment satisfactorily. Manufacturers employ mechanics to care for and operate their machines. Farmers must adopt similar methods. They are recognizing that in heavy farm work the tractor will accomplish more and do it better than horses, and that the tractor does not require feed or care when not being used.

The use of the tractor involves so many changes in methods of work that farmers are often staggered by the new problems to be solved. Every farmer has grown into the use of horses and horse-drawn equipment. He knows he can handle them, but he has not the same conscience in his ability to handle the tractor and the machinery that goes with it.

The farm mechanic will be expected to operate the tractor in plowing, seeding, cultivating, harvesting, and various other operations. He will be able to get more and better work out of the tractor and other machines than one who does not fully understand them.

If the services of a trained farm mechanic were obtainable, many farmers would adopt the methods of the manufacturer, and they would find it profitable to use such modern machinery as is adaptable to their needs. This machinery, to give the best service, must be kept in first-class condition, which requires the attention of a mechanic familiar with farm machinery, not a machinist trained to do one, two, or several things in a fully equipped up-to-date machine shop, but an ingenious all-round mechanic who can keep the equipment in condition for operation at all times.

A NEW VOCATION

This opens a new field of employment, that of farm mechanic.

The farm mechanic will have employment the year round, and the farm owner who has a competent mechanic in his employ will find his machinery in good order when needed.

The farm mechanic should not think that he is above doing regular farm work, when that is more important. He may be called upon to repair buildings, build fences, or even plant potatoes, but his duties should be primarily the operation and upkeep of mechanical equipment.

With the machinery cared for by a competent farm mechanic there will be less loss of time due to breakdowns and the equipment lasts longer. If anything goes wrong with any of the mechanical equipment while in operation it will receive the immediate attention of an expert. When there is a need for repairs to any of the buildings a competent man is available to do the work.

Some large scientific farmers who have made their farming truly commercial propositions have introduced as one of the economic features of their business a department of farm mechanics with an expert mechanic in charge. The time is ripe and the need urgent for the general introduction of the farm mechanic on every farm of sufficient size. Adjoining farms might in some cases advantageously combine in employing a farm mechanic.

A person with a desire to farm and an inclination toward mechanics may make one help the other by getting a farm so located that he can do general repair work for near neighbors, this work to be undertaken with the understanding that repairing and sharpening of tools will be done when farming is at a standstill because of weather or for other reasons, and that his own farming operations must not be sacrificed. Those desiring his services will gladly bring their machines to him to be overhauled before the season for use and while other work is not pressing.

The farm mechanic must be ingenious in utilizing the equipment at hand. He can often adapt available equipment to do work that, without his ingenious help, would be accomplished with much difficulty.

The cut shows a small gasoline engine mounted on a binder to drive the cutting and binding machinery. With this arrangement the team has only to draw the binder. This is particularly advantageous on soft ground. Where the bull wheel does not have to drive the machinery it is not so liable to mire in wet places. This plan, taking much of the load from the team, enables more and better work to be done. If a tractor is available that can draw a grain drill and a harrow at the same time, it is poor economy not to do both operations at once.

Efficient hitches are very important and the mechanic must arrange these so that he can do the maximum work with a minimum power in the shortest time. It has been found that the power required by some methods of hitching may be 15 to 25 per cent greater than by others. As a rule, proper hitches not only take less power but the tools do better work. This illustrates one of the benefits to be derived from having an expert in charge of the machinery.

The farm mechanic will be able to supervise the use of machines and tools on the farm and thus greatly increase the efficiency of the equipment in the hands of others, as well as of that operated by himself. By supervising machines when in use and by keeping equipment in the best working condition, the farm mechanic can make himself the most valued man on the place.

In some sections of the country drainage and irrigation are very important. The intelligent farm mechanic with a little training can be of great service in the simple farm surveying necessary.

The erection of and additions to farm buildings is another line of work that naturally falls to the farm mechanic, as does also the installation of farm equipment. Many convenient devices are possible if some one is available who can use tools and has ability to plan and construct such improvements. How many farmers, for example, have a dumb-waiter connecting with the cellar, or water in the kitchen to save steps for the farmer’s wife?

Most farms have a gas engine for pumping water. It would be an easy matter to arrange this engine so that it could be fitted to a short shaft provided with pulleys to drive various machines, such as feed grinder, feed cutter, grindstone, fanning mill, etc. A 1¹⁄₂ or 2 horse-power engine on a small truck would be very convenient for moving from place to place for odd jobs. Many farms are supplied with small electric-light plants, which by a little ingenuity could be made more convenient and also save work in the home. Electric lights, running water, bathroom, vacuum cleaner, cream separator, electric washer, electric iron, furnace, and many other conveniences are all possibilities, although many farmers do not realize that these are available for the country home. However, with the assistance of the farm mechanic, the farmer will feel that he, too, may enjoy city conveniences. Farmers are not unwilling to have things made convenient for themselves, but hesitate because of the difficulty of getting a competent person to operate and maintain the plant. Lights, feed cutters, milkers, and other conveniences are needed at the barn. Probably no farm would have all these improvements, but any farm may have some, and, if a farm mechanic of originality is available, many of these will be possible.

The farm mechanic should be provided with a shop equipped with well selected tools. This shop, for convenience, should be located as closely as possible to the machine sheds. It should have good light, a tight floor, and some means of heating in cold weather, for most of the work in the shop will be done during weather which is unsuited for outside operations. The equipment should consist of a forge and anvil, a bench and vise for metal work, a bench and vise for woodwork, good, suitable tools, and a small stock of supplies--such as nails, screws, nuts, and bolts.

Farm machinery is built on the interchangeable plan, and a few of the extras most liable to be needed should be kept on hand to avoid delay. For example, a careful inspection of the binder before harvest will show what parts are likely to give trouble and which, if immediately replaced by extras on hand, will eliminate unnecessary delay at a time when every hour counts in saving a crop. It is well to know months before harvest that when you hitch to the binder it will be in shape for work; also, that when the silo is to be filled the knives will be sharp and the blower in good working order.

With a reasonable outfit of tools a trained mechanic can repair almost any ordinary break that may occur in the busy season which, otherwise, would cause the work to stop and the crew to be idle while a part, or perhaps the whole machine, is taken to the local shop for repair, only to find the shop crowded with similar rush jobs which must take their turn.

The farm mechanic should know how to do simple forge work; sharpen plows; dress and temper ordinary chisels, punches, and other steel tools; make good welds in iron and steel; do a fair job of woodwork, such as will be required in repairing around the house and barns, and erect such small buildings as may be needed. He should know how to babbitt a bearing; fit new piston rings in a gas-engine cylinder; grind in the valves; clean out the carbon from the cylinders of the gas engine, auto, or tractor; overhaul the binder, mower, hay loader, or other machinery; and replace such parts as are broken or worn.

Practically, all repair work should be done on the farm and most of it may be done when the machines are not in use, or when the weather prevents other work.

While a machine is in use, or immediately after it is brought in from the field, any repairs or replacements that are needed should be noted by the operator on a tag to be attached to the machine before it is put away for the season. This will serve as a reminder when the machine is overhauled to prepare it for the next season.

During the late fall and winter the entire equipment of machinery should be overhauled and put in shape for use. This will give ample time to secure extra parts. The “one-hoss shay” had no weakest part, but most machinery has. If the weak parts can be repaired, or replaced, before they give way the life and efficient service of the machine will be prolonged. A point often overlooked is that poor results are secured by using tools that are not sharp, or not in good repair, and, also, the additional fact that much time is lost. Men will do more work, and do it better, if the tools they use are in first class condition. A man who is swearing mad at a dull, rusty plow that will not scour, will be liable to mistreat his team and he will be unprofitable in many ways all on account of a neglected plow. In consequence of poor tools, or tools in poor condition, inefficient plowing, cultivating and other operations follow with their resultant losses in crop returns. To illustrate, the average yield of wheat in the United States is about 15 bushels per acre, but the efficient farmer produces 25 to 40 bushels, and thereby greatly reduces his cost per bushel. Likewise with corn or other crops, the larger the yield the less the cost to produce, and hence the greater the net profit.

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.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

The demand for farm mechanics may be expected to grow somewhat in proportion to the increase in the use of tractors. The introduction of a tractor on a farm necessitates many changes in methods of work which call for the exercise of mechanical ingenuity to get maximum results. The advantage of having a trained man to help plan and start the work under the new conditions is evident.

The Curtis Publishing Co. has made a study of tractor production and has plotted a curve (Fig. 18) which shows the probable future of the industry. If the demand for farm mechanics increases in proportion as does the utilization of tractors, the future looks bright for well-trained men.

You may have had mechanical experience and possibly experience with farm machinery, but you will, nevertheless, need a short intensive course in the care and repair of farm machinery. Such a course will fill you with new ideas for greater efficiency in the employment and adaptation of numerous tools not generally used on the farm. If you have had little mechanical training, but have had some experience with farm machinery, you will need a course in shopwork to enable you to do a good workmanlike job instead of the usual makeshift work to which many farmers have been accustomed.

HANDICAPS

Some of you may be saying, “But I can’t hope to make good on the farm because of my handicap. I have lost a foot or an arm or am otherwise crippled.” It is true that these may seem hard to overcome, but the mechanic’s work on a farm is such that few of these losses will be prohibitive or constitute serious handicaps.

Ordinarily the loss of a leg would prevent a man from doing the necessary walking in soft ground, but even this will not be found such a serious loss after you have been supplied with the “extras” to which you are entitled. Uncle Sam has had his “physical mechanics” at work for some time getting these “extras” ready, and after you have gotten them adjusted and properly “broken in” you will find considerable pleasure in your ability to use them. Your work as a mechanic will be with machinery and you will almost invariably ride while operating it. In the shopwork and repairs, if you can stand at a bench and move around your machine, you will find little difficulty on account of loss of a leg.

As for arms, the candidate should have one good hand, but the mechanical substitutes that have been developed will enable you to get along very comfortably with one good hand and a workable substitute for the other. After you are accustomed to your store hand its use will become second nature to you and you will not often be conscious of the change. Even store teeth require a certain amount of education before they work well.

Increase in the use of artificial limbs at this time has led to material improvements being made in appliances to overcome various handicaps. The illustrations you have undoubtedly seen in print or on the screen are not “make up” pictures but actual cases of what training in the use of these appliances will enable a person to do. What others can do, you can do.

Physical disabilities, such as shell shock, nervous troubles, and lung troubles will be greatly benefited by the free outdoor life of the farm. There are side lines that would be very profitable and interesting which would sandwich in with the work of the farm mechanic in a very satisfactory way, such as beekeeping, poultry, and sheep.

There is a fascination about farm life to many persons that more than compensates for any loss of the enjoyments peculiar to city life. The farmer has been looked on as not quite the equal of the manufacturer or merchant, but opinion is rapidly changing. The farmer is the original producer on which others depend. This war has caused the world to realize his importance, and now he is beginning to receive his dues and be recognized for his real worth.

When you have had the special training as a farm mechanic you will find that the demand for your services is from well-equipped and experienced farmers. While you are rendering valuable service to your employer in your line of work you will be getting a good salary and securing useful experience which will prepare you for a better position as a farm mechanic or for successful management, eventually, of a farm of your own.

The Surgeon General is instructed to fit you out with the best appliances possible for your future work, and the Federal Board for Vocational Education is ordered to provide the training that will fit you for the work which you decide is best and most nearly meets your needs.

The Federal board’s training courses have been arranged for in every State, and information in regard to them can be secured from your nearest district vocational officer. See list on the last page of this monograph.

PLAN No. 1236. SHOW-CARD WRITING

This monograph was prepared by May H. Pope, under direction of Charles
H. Winslow, Chief of the Research Division of the Federal Board of
Vocational Education. Acknowledgment is due to Dr. John Cummings, of
the Research Division, for editorial assistance.

THE PURPOSE OF THE SHOW CARD

A man’s attention is attracted through his sense of sight more readily than in any other way. A word, a phrase, a pithy sentence will catch his eye and focus his interest, where something requiring more concentration would fail. For this reason window dressing has grown into an important feature of every merchant’s business, and cards pointing out the quality and prices of the goods displayed are universally used. These show cards were formerly made by sign painters, until some, more farseeing than others, realized the opportunity to specialize in this line of work, which has now developed into a distinctive trade.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARDS

There is a great variety of types in show cards. Some are large, others are small; some are ornamented with designs suitable for the occasion, or season, or goods to be featured in the advertisement; others are plain numerals or letters giving the bare detail of cost. As these cards are shown in the street cars, on moving picture announcements, on billboards at theatre entrances, as well as in the stores, they must be so varied as to be appropriate to their surroundings.

A practical feature in writing show cards is the selection of some special design or slogan with which the article or firm may always be associated in the mind of the public. In this field a show-card writer with originality is able to realize materially upon his ideas.

FUTURE OF THE TRADE

Because the merchant believes that seeing is very likely to mean buying he finds the show-card writer indispensable to his business. Whether large or small, every store needs these display cards with their catchy announcements to aid in promoting business. Present-day competition makes it necessary that every known means at attracting attention shall be utilized by the merchant who would keep up in his line. Progressiveness in store management has occasioned rapid growth in the trade of card writing within the last few years, and the constantly increasing demand for advertising indicates that the trade of show-card writing has an assured future.

EQUIPMENT

For the man possessing limited capital the small cost of the necessary equipment is an alluring inducement to enter the trade. A few dollars will cover the entire cost. Brushes, pens, penholder, with ink retainer, ruler, art gum or sponge rubber, thumb tacks, combination compass, a pair of large shears, a T-square, a box of charcoal, soft lead pencils, and cardboard make up the list of necessary material for the show-card writer. A good-sized drawing board completes the list. “The better the workman the fewer the tools” has been said. An expert card writer works efficiently with a board, a T-square, and a half dozen thumb tacks.