Farm Machinery and Equipment
HARRIS PEARSON SMITH, A. E.
Professor of Agricultural Engineering
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Fellow, American Society of Agricultural Engineers
Registered Professional Engineer
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Farming
Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, or fungi for fibre, bio-fuel, drugs and other products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. It is hence, of extraordinary importance for the development of society, as we know it today. The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, ‘field’, and cultūra, ‘cultivation’ or ‘growing’. The history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined by vastly different climates, cultures, and technologies. However all farming generally relies on techniques to expand and maintain the lands that are suitable for raising domesticated species. For plants, this usually requires some form of irrigation, although there are methods of dryland farming. Livestock are raised in a combination of grassland-based and landless systems, in an industry that covers almost one-third of the world’s ice- and water-free area.
Agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, fertilizers, pesticides and the domestication of livestock were developed long ago, but have made great progress in the past century. The history of agriculture has played a major role in human history, as agricultural progress has been a crucial factor in worldwide socio-economic change. Division of labour in agricultural societies made (now) commonplace specializations, rarely seen in hunter-gatherer cultures, which allowed the growth of towns and cities, and the complex societies we call civilizations. When farmers became capable of producing food beyond the needs of their own families, others in their society were freed to devote themselves to projects other than food acquisition. Historians and anthropologists have long argued that the development of agriculture made civilization possible.
In the developed world, industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture has become the dominant system of modern farming, although there is growing support for sustainable agriculture, including permaculture and organic agriculture. Until the Industrial Revolution, the vast majority of the human population laboured in agriculture. Pre-industrial agriculture was typically for self-sustenance, in which farmers raised most of their crops for their own consumption, instead of cash crops for trade. A remarkable shift in agricultural practices has occurred over the past two centuries however, in response to new technologies, and the development of world markets. This also has led to technological improvements in agricultural techniques, such as the Haber-Bosch method for synthesizing ammonium nitrate which made the traditional practice of recycling nutrients with crop rotation and animal manure less important.
Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological improvements have sharply increased yields from cultivation, but at the same time have caused widespread ecological damage and negative human health effects. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal welfare and the health effects of the antibiotics, growth hormones, and other chemicals commonly used in industrial meat production. Genetically Modified Organisms are an increasing component of agriculture today, although they are banned in several countries. Another controversial issue is ‘water management’; an increasingly global issue fostering debate. Significant degradation of land and water resources, including the depletion of aquifers, has been observed in recent decades, and the effects of global warming on agriculture and of agriculture on global warming are still not fully understood.
The agricultural world of today is at a cross roads. Over one third of the worlds workers are employed in agriculture, second only to the services sector, but its future is uncertain. A constantly growing world population is necessitating more and more land being utilised for growth of food stuffs, but also the burgeoning mechanised methods of food cultivation and harvesting means that many farming jobs are becoming redundant. Quite how the sector will respond to these challenges remains to be seen.
PREFACE
In preparing the fourth edition of Farm Machinery and Equipment, the author has completely rewritten all but a small portion of the subject matter. No chapter has remained untouched. Some chapters have been dropped entirely, some consolidated, and some new ones added. The new chapters discuss hydraulic power lifts, rubber tires, lubricants and lubrication, and weed control by both mechanical and chemical means. The chapter on spraying and dusting equipment has been expanded to cover all types of machines in use, including aircraft. Other new chapters are Tillage History and Requirements, and Crop-processing Equipment. The latter includes an expanded discussion of crop-drying equipment. Since the decline in the use of animal power on most farms in the United States and Canada has caused a decrease in the use of horse-drawn equipment, the discussion of that equipment which appeared in the earlier editions has been almost completely eliminated from the fourth edition.
The design of equipment operated by tractor power is constantly changing to meet new farming practices and methods of crop culture. To keep abreast of these advances, much obsolete material on power equipment has been replaced with new subject matter. An effort has been made to cover the latest types of power equipment developed for the farm and those machines that have proved economical for the production and processing of food and fiber crops.
A selected list of references and a few questions and problems have been added at the end of each chapter. An appendix of useful data appears at the end of the text.
Although acknowledgments and credit lines will be found in the text, thanks are expressed to the farm implement manufacturers and others for their splendid cooperation in furnishing descriptive literature and material for illustrations. The author wishes also to express his thanks to the many teachers of farm machinery courses for their helpful suggestions. A sincere effort has been made to give credit wherever due, and any oversight was not intentional.
HARRIS PEARSON SMITH
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The illustrations used in this book were obtained from many sources but principally from photographs furnished by various manufacturers of farm machinery. The author wishes to express his appreciation to the following concerns: Aeroquip Corporation; Aerovent Fan & Equipment, Inc.; Alemite Division, Stewart-Warner Corporation; Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company; Arid-Aire Manufacturing Company; Baker-Barrett Plow Company; Be-Ge Manufacturing Company; Behlen Manufacturing Company; Ben Pearson, Inc.; Bishop Engineering Company; Blackwelder Manufacturing Company; Bolens Products Division, Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation; Brillion Iron Works; Bruning Company; E. L. Caldwell & Sons; Campbell Farm Dryer Company; J. I. Case Company; Caterpillar Tractor Company; Central Texas Iron Works; Century Engineering Corporation; Champion Pneumatic Company; O. K. Champion Company; Clark Manufacturing Company; Corn States Hybrid Service; Corson Brothers, Inc.; Dayton Rubber Manufacturing Company; Decker Manufacturing Company; Deere and Company; Delta Air Lines, Inc., Agricultural Division; Dixie Cotton