Wood Vs. Steel

Which ia the Strontrer in Hroportlon to Weight- A Simple nil IntercstiiiK Experiment. The relatlve weights of wood and steol In proportion to their strength is :i matter whi'li probably nol tme oui of one hundred reailcrs cvi't had oeeasfon t" lnveiaat. If the conundrum were propoutided : "Wbich ia il"1 utroagfT - Wood nr Steel?" mnety-nine out oi a hundred woiud be likeJy to answer thal steel possessea greater strength in proportion to weight thari does wochI. Eiperimeute have recently been made in Ohio whirh show that wood weighing only half as nnu-h as Bteel will, wlu-n put uiidcr prestur. itatid e gteater itrain than steel. Tlie illustration otl ttlia pui,''1 sliows a ])cocnf woud and ;i piecaof Bteel, (the luttiT weighing jast twice ;h mucb ae the formor), auder eqixal pressure, and in every tnstftpce iln' Bteel yielda and bent out of line. Any mif ian make thia experiment. The devioe Le eitretnely simple. : and yct it illustratie :m Importani i .. i 1 1 T with wliicli every intelligent armer soeuld familiarizo Mauof, eepecially nstbere teeiM to be a disposition on the part of Kme nianufacturers to ohaoge froto wood to ateel and iron. We are indebtod to UeaBIS. Anltman, Miller t Co., of Akron, Ohio, for the accompanying illustration. It was the picasure of a representativo of t Iris paper, while in I Akron a few days sincc, to witness this experiment. A piece of ash, sucli as is used . En the Buckeye machine, was placed in a clamii aloiií? with a piere of steel of ciim1 length, the saino as is iihI in all steel Hin1 ders. The steel weighed jnsi twice as matk tus tint vrood; :unl vet the steel invariahly viel. led and bent as the pri'ssure waa hrnuglit down. The wood was scarci'ly Out of line, and when the cUipp waa removed it sprung hack to its original ihape. Not so with the Bte I It not only beat under the MMn of tlio clamp, 1 i 1 1 retnained bentvkeo the clamp was taken oil'. Tliis, it is clainicd, s a olear llustration of the differentie between nood and steel frame Binder. When an all -steel machine is bmupht ntnsliarpeontact witli som' upyieWnje obstacle, it frame is liahie to spring, and wheli once sprang it asefutaeaa ia at an end. It nafinqt be struinhtened without mort to tl1 Bbop fur repairs. A wc !¦ ii I trame i bot thus alliitid. If bent under b ioient strain, it at (jiu e ttrfagl back tu it original hape. At the liit glunre it WQuld sci-iii tliat -a Bteel Binder is lichter than a wi id frame, and that it [juawotcd irreatcr stretlgth. Hut it is an instanoe in whioh appsflnMoea are deceptive. Apieoeof steel olie toot longand a hall ineli iquaè-e, weihs doUMfl as njueh is a .i ¦¦ ui seaaoned ash oqe fout rag :""' ' '!¦ ik -hes square. In othei wotds the .steel, in proportion to bulk. ia lifteen and one-eightli times is heavy as the wood; A steel nm of a tiiacMne whfch fa one-fMteentÉi ai larpc as a wmxI frame, wefgftS rxactly the same as the wood. Hut even wilh tliis difference n si.e, lhewoi! luis tour Units the strengtli. Tlicse are simple problema which every farmer eau solví' tor liiniself. Heneed not iccept the word oí any man whóse interests wouid subserved by háving liim believe one wajr or the otlitr. Maku the test your.self. and wlien au agaat eonMa to you with a denial of this proposition, you aaa talk intelligcntly from personal knowledge.