Canastota High School - Toot Yearbook (Canastota, NY)

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THE TOOT 7 FARMING MACHINERY AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN AMERICA When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore are the founders of civilization.” These words cf Daniel Webster exemplify the importance of agriculture, the oldest of all occupations. Agriculture began when the first man selected plants for his food. His next step was to scratch the ground with a stick and plant seed. From these simple beginnings, it has advanced thru the centuries until today, traction engines haul over our great wheat fields gang plows that engines pull over the fields of ripened grain a machine which at one operation harvests, thrashes and sacks the grain; and as one humorist says, ‘Does everything except to cash the check for the crop.” Foremost among the causes for this progress in agriculture is the de- velopment of farm machinery, many of these implements being the inven- tions of Americans. At the time of the early colonists the plow was a poorly constructed af- fair made entirely of wood; and it was in the United States that the first improvements in the plow were made. Among those who helped per- fect the plow was the statesman, Thomas Jefferson, who constructed the first mould-board according to scientific principles. Afterwards, Jethro Wood made a plow wholly out of cast iron. This, however, did not meet the needs of the western farmer. The sod of the vast praries could not be broken fast enough with the plow of a single share; so about the mid- dle of the eighteenth century came the gang plow which turned from four to five furrows at a time. At first it was drawn by horses, but later steam was used, the plow being propelled by means of cables. The plow has thus become a great force which leaves in its make a bread belt of well-broken soil. This useful invention was scon followed by that of the reaper. Altho

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6 THE TOOT Canastota H.gh School is proud of them but it wishes it had twenty-nine just like them instead of nine. We may believe that the nine show what old C.H.S. can do for pupils if they are willing. The only difference between them and the other twenty who oughht to be with them on the graduating platform this year is that they saw their opportunity and made the most of it, while the other twen- ty did not see or see ng, thought the job too big. The twenty looked at immed- iate conditions; the nine looked at ultimate conditions and results. But while prais ng the nine who “came through’’ and wishing the other twenty had seized the opportunity we cannot forget our own responsibilities. Are the twenty entirely at fault? Every child d ffers from every other child in natural equipment and inclination. Is our High school course s-o narrow that it appealed only to the nine? Would the other twenty have “come through” if a greater variety of subject matter had been offered. If the twenty had not been crowded into too large classes would their interest and enthusiasm have remained dormant? Could they have been aroused to the opportunities ahead of them if the pupils had been fewer and more individual attent'on had been given by the teacher? Would a greater number of boys stay in High school if a larger propor- tion of the teachers were men? Were many of those who left financially embar- rassed and would they have finished high school if they had been offered a part time schedule? All in all, are we catering to the few or serving the many? We wonder. But the problem will not be solved by wondering. Only much thought and hard work on the part of the people of the village, the parents, the faculty, and the pupils will bring about a solution. E. G. S. TWO IN A SEAT Voter of Canastota, we need a new high school building. Are you going to let us have it? It’s up to you! Your children are forced to receive their high school education in a building which is about half the required size. In the first place the work of the high school in all branches should be carried on in one building. As it is, the manual training department is in the Spencer Street School. We need about fourteen class rooms, equiped with ample black-board space. We have eight. For two years the study hall has been divided by folding doors that a part may be used as a class room. This necessitates the remaining portion, used as a study hall, to be so crowded that it is almost impossible for one to concentrate on what he is doing. There are many instances where two pupils occupy one seat and have insufficient room for text books. The cooking and sewing classes meet in the same room at the same time. This retards progress as the girls of one group are curious to see what is being done by the girls of the other. You knew that High School Hall hrs been condemned. You know too how great an extent the town reeds a public hall for athletics and other entertainments. A new high s hocl building can be erected which will supply all these necessities at the present time and for a good many years to come. Do these tacts mean anything to you? Are you especially anxious to have the place where ycu live scorned and looked down upon even by smaller towns because it fails to provide the increasing require- ments to promote education? What are you going to do about it? No doubt, very soon the town’s people will be given an opportunity to vote (continued on page 24

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8 THE TOOT English inventors did much to prepare the way for a good reaping ma- chine, the first successful one was made in the United States. In the summer of 1831, Cyrus McCormick made a trial of a reaper which he had invented and accomplished the magnanimous task of cutting six acres of oats in in afterr.con. McCormick’s invention gave new life to the farming in the United States. Improvements upon this machine came “thick ard fast , ard so the self-raking reaper was finally made. It saved the labcr of the man who had raked the wheat from the platform. Then came the self-b rder, which the labor of four or five men by binding the grain as it was cut, into sheaves. The last step in the development of the reaper was taken when the complete harvester was invented by Mat- teson. This machine cuts the standirg grain, threshes it, winnowes it and places it in sacks. The combined harvester and reaper is drawn either by horses; thirty or forty in number, or by a powerful engine. It does as much work in a day as one hundred men could have done before the days of McCormick. To propel these gang-plows and harvesters requires a powerful en- gine for this and various other purposes the tractor is indispensable. This machine is equipped with an internal combustion engine which furnishes power both for propulsion and cutting, thrashing and binding the grain, it is especially advantageous since it can be managed easily in places where there is little room. Another very useful invention is the sowing machine used for planting grain. Formerly all grain was sown by hand, and in regions where farms are small this practice is still continued. The modern seeders are drawn by horses and under ordinary conditions one of them will plant from eight to ten acres a day. Considering agriculture as the art of raising clcthing materials, the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1 793, has had more influence on industry, wealth and political history than ary other labor saving device. Its purpose was to separate the seeds from the cotton, a task which then required so much lime that cotton was very expensive and only the rich could afford to buy it. By using Whitney's machine one man could clean a thousand pounds in a single day. This invention increased the cotton production to such an extent that today it is one of the leading industries of our country. Besides the complicated machinery for the larger farms, are the simpler implements more commonly used. Among these are the special potato machinery, the mewing and thrashing machines, hay rakes and loaders. Of the potato machinery, the planter fills a place cf importance. This machine not only delivers the seed at regular intervals but mixes fertilizer with the soil at the same time. The spraying machine is becoming very important in combatting irsects and diseases. It consists of power spray- ers which hold from fifty to one hundred gallons. The potato diggers vary greatly in style. The most common type digs the potatoes, separates them from the rubbish and dirt and runs them into crates, or if crates are not used the potatoes are caught in an iron box and dumped at intervals.