The Harvester World: Volume 2, number 14, November 1911

              The Harvester World

23

SWITZERLAND

By Ed. Blatter, International Harvester Company, A. G., Zurich, Switzerland
Although Zurich is not the capital, it is the most important town of Switzerland known to American tourists.    We would hke them to know us better, as our
An IHC spreader near Zurich
country not only wants the Americans to send over har¬ vesting machines, but also wants them to come over to see its attractions. The luxurious hotels of Lucerne and Interlakenup at the tops of the mountains, every year anxiottsly await the American tourists, as their profit depends largely upon the coming or not coming of the Americans. In some places—for instance in the Berner Oberland and Engadin—enormous prices are paid. I have heard of tourists paying five francs for sleeping in a hayloft. The weather has been beautiful this summer, only one or two rainy da}'s, and of course, this contributed to make a good season. It would be interesting to know how much money has been left in our country by the tourists. No statistics are available, but the amount must be enormous.
The Swiss territory covers 31,000 square kilometers and has 3,500,000 inhabitants.    More than one-third of
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Osborne side delivery rake, Ascona, Switzerland
the total surface is mountains and lakes, and so not under cultivation, but the trade in agricultural machines is quite a respectable one for our small country.
Our country is so small that, according to an I H C man, who came from the vast fields of the far west, "You board a train at one end of the country, take a nap, and when you awake you are at the other end."
McCormick, Deering, and Osborne harvesting ma¬ chines are well represented. Grain binders are not sold, and there are only a few reapers. Grain is grown to some extent but our fields are so small that only mowers, tedders, and rakes can be used to good ad¬ vantage. Mowers, for instance, are used at an altitude of 5,800 feet. Besides reapers, we do a little business in   tillage  implements, manure   spreaders,   and land
rollers, and have started the engine business in spite of the fact that our country is full of waterfalls and swift- flowing rivers which furnish plenty of electric energy. The pictures were taken near Ascona, in the Italian speaking portion of Switzerland. This place is famous for its colony of Naturmenschen (men in a state of nature). The hill in the background is covered with small cottages where the people live. Summer and winter they live on berries and vegetables, and go bare¬ footed and bareheaded, covered with a hemp or linen. The owner of the IHC machines shown in the pictures does not belong to this colony.
THE LAND OF THE SICKLE A Letter from W. C, Cooper, Missionary of American Board Last September, I sent you a request for a binder for the Thessalonica Agricultural and Industrial Institute, a
The good old-fashioned way
school which we have here for Macedonian boys. I write now to thank you for the same which was duly received from your Hamburg office. I at once acknowl¬ edged this favor to your representative in Hamburg and to your general agent, Mr. Stoikoff of Philippopo- lis, Bulgaria. I wished, however, to delay my acknowl¬ edgment to the main office until I had used the binder and could send you a picture of us using it. You may recall that when I recjuested the machine I sent a photo of some of our schoolboys harvesting with sickles, the almost universal custom in this country. I enclose a photo of "The McCormick Way."j Please accept  my sincere thanks on behalf  of the
The McCormick way
institute of which I am a trustee. 'The machine has truly been a godsend to us. I may add that it has been the admiration of passers-by and at least one man declared his intention of buying one.