USA > Indiana > Hancock County > Prairie Farmer's directory of Hancock County, Indiana, 1921 > Part 2
USA > Indiana > Hancock County > Prairie Farmer's directory of Hancock County, Indiana, 1921 > Part 2
USA > Indiana > Hancock County > Prairie Farmer's directory of Hancock County, Indiana, 1921 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
Tonics
Fowler's solution of arsenic is a good general tonic for rundown, thin, hidebound horses and those afflicted with chronic skin diseases or heaves (broken wind). The average dose is half an ounce (one tablespoonful) given night and morning until one quart has been given. The medicine may then be gradually discontinued, taking at least a week to the work. Dried sulphate of iron (copperas), dose one dram night and morning, is another good tonic, commonly com- bined with an equal dose of ground gentian root or ginger root, nux vomica, saltpeter and fenugreek as a condition powder. The dose is one tablespoonful of the combination .of drugs mixed in the feed night and morning for ten days. Omit sulphate of iron for. pregnant animals. Nux is poisonous and must therefore be given with care. It is most useful as a nerve tonic and appetizer.
Colic Medicines
Keep in stock one pound each of laudanum (dose, 1 to 2 ounces) ; es- sence of ginger root (dose, 1 to 2 drams) ; sulpuric acid (dose, 1/2 to 1 ounce) ; turpentine (dose, 1 to 2 ounces ) ; granular hyposulphite of soda (dose, 1 to 4 ounces). A dose of each of the first three medicines in a pint of water containing two ounces of hyposulphite of soda will prove effective for most colics. Two ounces of turpentine in a pint of raw linseed oil may be given for "wind" (flatulent) colic, or following the other medicine when the pain of "cramp" (spasmodic) - colic has subsided.
14
FARMERS AND BREEDERS, HANCOCK COUNTY
Fever Medicines
Powdered saltpeter is an important drug for animals. It is given in the fever of influenza, founder (laminitis) or lymphangitis (milk leg, also for stocking of the legs and other large swellings. A dram is the average dose. Give it every four or six hours in fever, twice daily for swellings, or with tonics as a condition powder, and in double doses for founder or milk leg. Do not give it in colt distemper, when abscesses are forming. It may often be administered in drinking water or a bran mash or damp feed. It also is given in tablespoonful doses once or twice daily for garget of the cow. Beware of aconite often given for fever. It is too dangerous a poison to be safely used by anyone other than a trained doctor.
Blister
An effective blistering ointment is made by melting together three parts of lard and one-quarter part of finely shaved, yellow beeswax, and then stirring it one part of powdered can- tharides (Spanish fly). Stir in a tin dish until cold, then store in a capped glass fruit jar. It improves with age. When using this blister clip off the hair, wash the skin clean, dry it per- fectly. Tie the horse up short in his stall, rub the blister in for fifteen minutes and then smear on some more - blister. Wash the blister off in 48 hours and then apply a little lard daily. Do not cover a blistered part, or rub it on the loins, or on top of the hips, or use it after a poultice, or on irritated skin, or in very hot or cold weather.
Absorbents
Never be without tincture of iodine to swab on swollen glands, tumors, forming abscesses, bony growths, capped or puffed joints, indolent sores or wounds, canker of the mouth in pigs and ringwork spots. It also is useful to inject into abscesses, fistula and lump jaw cavities. Iodine oint- ment is made by mixing one dram each of iodine crystals and iodide of potash in one ounce of lard. This is used on swellings, sore necks and shoulders, puffs of all sorts, tumors, forming abscesses, ringworm spots and enlargements of the udder. As an absorbent blister rub up one dram
of biniodide of mercury with two ounces of the fly blister already men- tioned and use on bony growths, such as splints and ringbone, callouses, indolent sores, tumors of the udder.
Worm Medicines
Gasoline is kept on most farms and in tablespoonful doses in six ounces of milk is the best remedy for stomach worms in sheep. Lambs take less in proportion. Two ounces of turpen- tine in a pint of raw linseed oil is effective as a starting dose for a "wormy horse." Follow with worm powders composed of equal parts of salt, sulphur and dried sulphate of iron. Dose, one tablespoonful night and morning for a week, then skip ten days and repeat. Omit iron for preg- nant animals. For worms of swine give one teaspoonful of turpentine in slop for three consecutive days for each eighty pourds of body weight; or one dram of dried sulphate of iron in slop for five successive mornings for each hundred pounds of body weight. Where swine are known to be seriously infested with worms, give eight grains of santonin and five grains of calomel in a little slop for each hundred pounds of body weight. Divide the pigs into lots of five and give the medicine in a little slop after starving the animals for eighteen hours. Care must be taken to give only the doses here prescribed, else damage may be done.
Disinfectants
In the paragraph on wound medi- cines it has been advised to keep car- bolic acid and coal tar disinfectant in stock. To these may be added for- maldehyde, bichloride of mercury tablets and permanganate of potash crystals. In disinfecting a stable a solution of four or five ounces of for- maldehyde to the gallon, or a 1-1,000 of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) or a 1-30 solution of car- bolic acid or coal tar disinfectant should be used after a thorough clean. sing of the premises. For wounds a 1-1,000 solution of corrosive sublimate also is the most effective disinfectant and a 1-500 solution should be used for disinfecting when a spore-form- ing germ, like that of anthrax, is pres- ent. Permanganate of potash is a useful mild disinfectant (antiseptic
15
PRAIRIE FARMER'S RELIABLE DIRECTORY
and deodorizer) in a 1-5,000 to a 1-50 solution. The weaker solution is used lukewarm for vaginal injection pur- poses, while the 2 per cent solution is useful for injection into cavities from which come bad-smelling discharges and for swabbing sores (cankers) of the mouth. As a wound lotion it is usual to employ a 2 to 5 per cent solution of carbolic acid, or lysol, or coal tar disinfectant. Carbolic acid is also much used as an internal disin- fectant in contagious abortion. Two drams of the acid is well diluted with water and mixed in soft feed for each pregnant COW every other night
throughout pregnancy. Peroxide of hydrogen one part and clean water two or three parts is a popular dis- infectant for cleansing foul wounds.
Scour Medicines
The farm medicine chest would not be completely stocked without some remedies for diarrhoea or scours. A mixture of one part of salol and two parts of bismuth (first prescribed years ago by the writer) has become a standard remedy among farmers. The average dose is one teaspoonful given two or three times a day and washed down with milk or water. The dose may be doubled in bad cases and for larger calves and foals. Prepared chalk, powdered alum, sulphur, pow- dered catechu, rhubarb and ginger root are also much used for diarrhoea.
Administering Medicines
Small doses of liquid medicine, such as the average two-ounce dose of a fever medicine or tonic solution, are best given by means of a half-ounce hard rubber syringe. Expert veteri- narians sometimes give such medicines of bad-tasting drugs in gelatine cap- sules, or in form of a "ball." Worm, condition and tonic powders are mixed in damp grain feed. A large dose of liquid medicine is termed a "drench" and is given from a strong, long-necked bottle. A few inches of rubber hose may be fitted on the neck of such a bottle.
To drench a horse, back him into a stall, place a running noose of soft, small cotton rope or "clothes line" upon the upper incisor teeth, under the upper lip, and draw the noose tight, with the knot of the rope to the front. Throw the loose end of
the rope across an overhead beam, raise the horse's head, hold it there by means of the rope and pour the medicine into the mouth a little at a time until all is swallowed. Do not squeeze the throat of the horse when giving medicine and never pour the medicine into the nostril. If the horse will not swallow, pour a teaspoonful of cold water into a nostril and swallow- ing will instantly occur.
To drench a cow, place her in a . stanchion or tie her in a stall. Walk up on her right side (milking side). Pass the left hand across her face and into her mouth. Hold her head in a straight line forward and slightly. ele- vated, not turned to one side. Pour the medicine very slowly into the right side of the mouth. Let the head down instantly if the medicine causes the cow (or horse) to cough. Fluid given too fast passes into the paunch and is practically wasted. Administered slowly, it largely goes to the third and fourth stomachs and absorption takes place in the latter.
Sheep have to be very carefully drenched from a bottle to avoid chok- ing. Swine take medicine through a hole cut in the toe of an old shoe thrust into the mouth or from a short, strong rubber hose fitted in the neck of a strong bottle. Dogs take medi- cine in capsules inserted in meat or from a bottle or spoon emptied into a pouch formed of the lip and cheek. Avoid "doping" animals unneces- sarily. Medicine should only be given when the animal is sick, should be the right medicine, and is best pr scribed by an expert.
VALUE OF LABOR
The United States Department of Agriculture found in 1855 that it re- quired four hours and 34 minutes of human labor to produce a bushel of corn. At the Minnesota experiment station it has been found recently that 45 minutes of human labor is about the average time required for the same work. In other words, human labor is worth six times as much as it was 60 years ago, due to the use of better machinery, better varieties of corn and better soil management.
16
FARMERS AND BREEDERS, HANCOCK COUNTY
Binder Troubles and Adjustments
By C. O. Reed, University of Illinois, in Prairie Farmer
To have to await the services of an expert when every minute of the har- vest days is money is not only an ex- pensive practice, but in most cases is an unnecessary one if the operator will only use patience and good judg- ment and try to understand a few very simple principles of what seems a complicated machine. The purpose of this article is to aid the operator in his most common binder troubles. To cover the ground in the most log- ical and concise manner, let us con- sider troubles under the three general heads: general binder troubles, bind- er head troubles and knotter head troubles.
Starting. If possible, start the new machine on a road or in a pasture before going into the grain field. Use plenty of kerosene and run the ma- chine empty for about five minutes, taking notice that every duct to bear- ings and every oil hole is open. Then apply lubricating oil. When you are ready to enter the grain with a new machine, raise the machine well up, tilt the platform forward; open the throat of the machine by throwing the butt adjuster forward and start in with about one-half of a full swath. After five minutes work the machine is ready for maximum results. If compelled to make a full swath at the start, cut the grain extra high.
Never change the adjustment of a new binder head before going into the field. It may miss a few bundles at first, but do not adjust. Apply a lib- eral amount of coal oil to the knotter head and the trouble will usually dis- appear.
New Machine Failing to Start. Oc- casionally a new machine fails to start due to some part sticking or catch- ing. Throw the binder out of gear and see that the bull wheel revolves without catching. Remove the eleva- tor chain and throw in gear. This will test the sickle. Next put on ele- vator chain and throw off reel chains. This will test the rollers. Then con- nect and test the reel. This method will test one part at a time and should
locate the trouble without difficulty. In testing out head for failure to re- volve, operate head by hand at back of machine through shaft which drives head from elevator chain.
General Binder Troubles
Chains. Undue wear in chains may be caused by the chain being run too tight or backwards. Run the chain with the hooks of the links leading and with the openings of the hooks out. The use of oil or grease on chains, if the binder is being run in a sandy country or under dusty con- ditions, is not to be recommended, for the oil will collect the fine parti- cles of grit and cause excessive wear. Under such conditions use dry graph- ite. Chain jumping is caused by the chain being too loose or by the sprocket being badly worn. If a worn sprocket is the cause for the trouble a new one will have to be supplied.
Canvas Troubles. The creeping of canvases is caused by running them too loose or by the elevators not be- ing square. Test the elevators to see if they are square by means of meas- uring the diagonals, and then square by the special apparatus to be found for that purpose. Have the canvases of the same tightness on both sides.
.Canvases not elevating the grain may be caused by missing slats or loose canvases. Broken slats are gen- erally caused by the elevators not be- ing square, or by the canvases not being buckled evenly and thus the slat is forced to pass over the roller at an angle to it. Chewed slats may be caused by a projecting bolt or the canvas guides being out of shape.
Heavy Draft. Heavy draft may be caused from lack of sufficient good lubricating oil, bull wheel being en- tered in quadrant wrong; chains, espe- cially main drive chain, being too tight; paint or varnish not being .cut out of the bearings; or rollers binding. Apply lubricating oil to the bearings. Enter the bull wheel in the quadrant square. Have the proper tension in the chains. Coal oil will cut the paint
17
PRAIRIE FARMER'S RELIABLE DIRECTORY
or varnish from bearing surfaces. When machine is empty, operator should be able to move elevators by hand on elevator chain.
Sidedraft. Sidedraft in a binder re- fers to such resistance of the platform end of the machine as to cause a "dragging" of platform, and hence re- sults in a tendency to run the ma- chine into the grain. It may be caused by (a) grain wheel bearing too light; (b) grain wheel being out of proper adjustment; (c) sickle parts not cutting properly, resulting in a pulling off of stalks rather than cut- ting: (d) very light grain may give a condition where sidedraft is more no- ticeable, and (e) a fast horse on the outside may lead the operator to be- lieve he has sidedraft.
·Remedies. (a) See that grain wheel revolves freely and perfectly on axle. If axle, bearings and wheel bell are badly worn, replace. (b) The inexpe- rienced operator cannot tell whether a grain wheel is aligned properly or not. It should lead out of the grain slightly, and in case of poor align- ment here, an expert must be called. (c) Obvious. (d) Sidedraft here is an advantage rather than an objec- tion for it indicates the best construc- tion. (e) Put fast horse on inside.
If difficulty is experienced in get- ting far enough into the grain with a tongue truck attachment, make adjust- ments to increase the angle between the platform and tongue proper, i. e., without changing position of machine make adjustments to let horses away from grain slightly. If machine runs too far into grain, make adjustments to bring horses a little closer to grain line. These adjustments can be found between tongue and stub tongue on the McCormick and Milwaukee bind- ers, and in the truck axle braces on the Deering. If sufficient adjustment is not provided in the Deering to per- mit a full swath, turn the tongue over.
Badly Shaped Bundles in good grain are caused by improper manip- ulation of binder parts. Set the reel to strike straws about two inches be- low the heads. Run the butter as near at right angles to the rollers on tier shaft as possible, even if you have to sacrifice an inch or two in the position of the band on the bun- dle. Do not expect the butter to
shove the straws down under the breast plate. Adjust the position of the head to bring the straws under the breast plate and then adjust the butter to smooth the butt of the bun- dle. In uneven grain the head, but- ter and reel must be shifted often to obtain the best results. In very short grain or in down grain leaning toward the elevators we have probably the worst conditions for good bundle making, especially for eight-foot bind- ers. First, do all possible to retard the heads by running the platform as level as possible and place a rope head-retarder across the platform, ty- ing the same to the outside divided frame. A rope head-retarder is often found to give better. results than the retarding strap iron sent out with the machine, but if the latter is used, the operator will find that he gets very good results in retarding heads by bending up or crinkling the end of the strap iron. Throw the head as far forward as possible and run the butter as near perpendicular to the rollers as possible to still have the bundle se- curely tied. Tighten the front grain check.
Badly Shaped Bundles in Long Tangled Grain can be remedied by loosening all grain checks slightly and by adjusting the head to tie a smaller, looser bundle.
Getting Grain Down to Packers. Trouble is sometimes experienced in getting light, fluffy grain down to the packers. See that the deck roller is working properly and lower the deck cover.
Choking Down. Sometimes
in heavy, fluffy and tangled grain, and often in flax, the head cannot dis- charge a bundle and is stopped by "choking." Adjust the head to tie a smaller, looser bundle, loosen all grain checks and loosen the tension on the compressor spring, which is the spring attached to the compres- sor rod.
Bundles Too Loose or Too Tight. Tighten or loosen the trip spring shown in Illustration 1 and described below under "Binder Head Troubles." Do not attempt to make a tight bun- dle by tightening the twine tension on the twine can. The twine tension is not for the purpose of affecting the
18
FARMERS AND BREEDERS, HANCOCK COUNTY
TRIP SPRING
STOP
ARM.
0.0000
DOG.
tightness of bundles and if it is used for such purpose serious needle troubles will result. The twine ten- sion should be sufficiently tight to keep back slack in the twine between the can and needle.
Bundles Too Large or Too Small. Move the compressor arm nearer or farther away from the needle. The compressor arm is that arm against which the bundle is formed and as it is moved in or out that space in which the bundle is formed is changed.
Reel Troubles. Short oats is often the cause for considerable reel trouble, especially reel breakage on those ma- chines. which have no outside reel support. The operator cutting short oats will necessarily have to tilt his platform well forward and run his reel low. This means that occasion- ally the reel slats will whip down onto the guards and result in broken parts. Farmers in some localities have solved this difficulty by tacking on to each reel slat a piece of heavy linoleum about six inches wide. The reel can then be run higher, for this extra piece on the slats serves ad- mirably to force the grain over onto the platform and at the same time is sufficiently flexible to give if the reel is whipped down on the guards.
Binder Head Troubles
Before taking up binder head trou- bles let us refer to the first illustra- tion and get clearly in mind the exact function of the parts mentioned.
Every operator is aware that his packer shaft revolves continually and that at certain moments it must drive the whole binder head while the bun- dle is being tied and cast. The dog, shown in the illustration, is that mechanism which throws the head in motion with the rest of the ma- chine, or it is that mechanism which momentarily engages the head with the continuous motion of the packers while the bundle is being tied. Suf- ficient pressure by the straw on the trip arm raises the stop arm, shown in the illustration, which allows the dog to be forced into the path of the continually revolving binder head driver. A little spring attached to the dog forces the dog into the path of this driver when the dog is released, and this same spring holds the dog in this path until the stop arm can drop back into place and force the dog back out of the way of the revolving drivers of the packer shaft. When the dog is thrown back out of the path of the binder head drivers, the motion in the head ceases and the dog, if properly. working, must re- main engaged with the packer shaft until the discharge arms make a com- plete revolution. The continuity of motion in the head depends upon the dog.
Discharge Arms Fail to Start or Fail to Revolve Completely. This is a dog trouble. See that the dog spring is in place and is of sufficient strength to hold the dog in the path of the binder head drivers when the dog is
19
PRAIRIE FARMER'S RELIABLE DIRECTORY
released. See also that the striking faces of the dog and dog driver are not worn sufficiently to permit them to slip by one another. If the dis- charge arms revolve by jerks it is very probable that a worn condition in the striking faces is the cause.
Discharge Arms Revolve Continu- ally. Before discussing this trouble a word should be said regarding timing. It will be noticed that every part of the binder head except the packers works at a certain moment in rela- tion to other parts The dog makes a certain number of revolutions before the stop arm is allowed to drop back into place to throw the dog out of engagement with the binder head drivers. Hence the relation between the stop arm and the dog is a set relation maintained through beveled gears. If for any reason these gears are separated and not put back in the original definite relation to each other, the head is said to be out of time. This means that the stop arm would not be in place at the proper moment to throw the dog out of en- gagement and a second revolution of the discharge arm immediately fol- lows the first. The timing principle . holds true in all makes of heads and is obtained in a way more or less common in all types, though the mechanism will vary to some degree in its shape and position. If the dis- charge arms revolve continually the head may be out of time or the sto arm face may be so badly worn that it allows the dog to slip by when the two come together. If the machine is out of time, i. e., if the stop arm is not in place to throw the dog out in the proper time, time the head by properly meshing the beveled gears between the packer shaft and the binder head counter shaft which runs up to drive the tier shaft. If the striking faces between the dog and the stop arm are so worn that they slip by one another, file the faces to their original form. If this allows too much play or looseness in the dog (which can be tested by taking hold of the discharge arms to deter- mine whether they are tight or loose) a new dog or perhaps a new stop arm must be purchased. Some ma- chines permit lengthening of the stop arm. Look for such adjustment and use same to hold the dog back tighter.
Casting Very Small Bundles. There are two causes for this trouble. The dog may not be thrown out at the proper time, and the remedy for such a condition has been just stated above. Small bundles often appear in badly tangled grain when the case bundle is not cleaned from the machine and its weight trips the head again immedi- ately and a small bundle is cast which seems to be really a part of the first. Manipulate the machine to make a clean bundle, loosen the grain checks, adjust the trip spring to tie a looser bundle and adjust the compressor arm to tie a smaller bundle.
Discharge Arms Not Set Tight, or Dog Drive Strikes Dog. Usually these two conditions accompany one another and are due to extreme wear in gears and dog, or tier shaft lock may have become loosened. The tier shaft lock is usually a little dog working behind the tier shaft cam wheel at the end of the tier shaft. It holds the discharge arms in place when they are at rest. Examine your binder head for this mechanism and if it can be adjusted usually the trouble can be remedied by such ad- justment. If the cam track in tier shaft cam wheel acts as the lock, new parts may have to be added to relieve badly worn conditions, but this will not necessarily remedy the striking between dog and driver. If head is very badly worn and all gear- ing has considerable play, the dog may be advanced one cog which will bring the head into better time. Great care must be used in doing this, how- ever, for it often happens that a head so treated will work perfectly when operated by hand, but when driven by the packer shaft under actual con- ditions the tier shaft is not compelled to complete its revolution and this is not "driven home" and locked. This will then result in the discharge arms dropping down and in greater inter- ference between dog and driver. It is sometimes found necessary to re- place badly worn gears, in order to entirely eliminate this trouble.
1
Knotter Head Troubles
All binders are very similar. They combine the same principles, and al- though the detail of the mechanism may differ somewhat, still for every vital part on one make of machine
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.