Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1874 — Taking Care of Tools. [ARTICLE]

Taking Care of Tools.

It -will not do, in these days, to leave the plow in the furrow, the barrow in the field, and the mower or reaper under an open shed with a leaky roof. These and all lesser implements must be carefully put away in dry quarters, for to allow them to rest during the winter will injure them more than several campaigns of active service. The depreciation of machinery is very rapid, even when properly cared for; when neglected, this depreciation is simply destruction, quick and sure. . . Reapers, mowers and drills should be taken apart and cleaned, each bolt dipped in melted tallow, and then replaced. Every portion of wood and exposed iron should be covered with a good coat of paint, if not already thus protected, and all parts made of steel should be taken off, well anointed with olive oil and wrapped in paper or put away in a damp-proof tool-house or* store-room. The machines themselves should be kept in a building with a tight roof over it, and fowls should not be-permitted to get access to them. Poultry take a pqrverse delight in perching upon such imple ments,-but no tidy farmer will gratify them to this extent. Plows should be brought in, well washed and cleaned from the soil, the wood work coated with petroleum and the shares and mold-boards scoured off, polished, and then brushed over with a thick wash of lime. They will not then rust in the least, and in the spring will come out clean and bright. No salt should be brought in contact with tools of any kind, nor old salt sacks be thrown over them. Harrows should be cleaned, the -wood work oiled with petroleum or painted, and the teeth taken out and sharpened for next season’s service. All repairs should be made against time of need, to avoid vexatious delays in the hurry of planting or harvest. Mechanics will work for somewhat less in the winter than in summer, when they are busier, and that is an important consideration. Besides, that old adage about “ a stitch in time” applies most forcibly to farm tools. Wagons should now be washed clean, and immediately painted and put under cover. It is only a simple truth that such care of tools and implements as we suggest will lengthen out their period of usefulness far beyond that of their ordinary endurance. —New York Tribune.