Farming making of farming tools and what are known technically as 'steel goods' is one of the most important industries in the hardware line, since with these tools the crops are cultivated and gathered. The steady progress of the American manufacturer has been in the direction of producing items which were light, strong and handsome in appear ance. The diversity of soil and climate mean great diversities of various items used in cul tivating the ground, and the number grows each year. The business does not keep pace with the growth of the country owing to the steadily in creasing use of labor-saving machinery. The mower and the reaper have taken the place of the snath, the cradle and the scythe — the corn binder of the corn knife; and the corn planter and the cultivator have gradually diminished the use of hoes. The amount of capital in vested is not exactly known, but does not prob ably exceed $3,000,000. The -absolute import ance of these tools to the country is rather striking contrasted with the small annual out put in dollars and cents. See FARM MACHINERY.
Builders' Hardware.— The builders' hard ware business is often considered the centre of the hardware trade, because of its great import ance as related to the hardware industry as a whole. Builders' hardware is an exceedingly comprehensive term and does not admit of exact definition. It is ordinarily used in refer ence to locks (see Locxs) and trim and to all the various items which find employment in the building of a house. It is a business of im mense complexity and has a most interesting history. It began far back in New Haven and New Britain, Conn., as early as 1834, and the first goods were naturally crude and rough. Shortly, however, the ingenuity of the Amer ican manufacturer produced a new article in the shape of the cast-iron lock, thus departing entirely from the wrought lock, which was for merly known to England, Germany and France. The cheapness of the cast-iron lock and its actual efficiency soon caused it to displace the foreign article. Since that time the sheet steel lock has been made in this country, but in a much smaller and more condensed form than the wrought lock of Europe.
Builders' hardware has a most interesting history since it is in part the story of the devel opment of taste in America. The Centennial Exposition of 1876 did much to educate the people of this country in the way of good taste and high artistic ideals. There gradually came a demand for things of daily use which should have beauty as well as utility and particularly of late years this feeling has spread to locks and trim and all forms of builders' hardware, with increasing emphasis. The leading manu
facturers have innumerable designs which are suitable for the different schools of architec ture, such as Gothic, Renaissance and Colo nial, or any of the variations of the standard schools. All high-grade builders' hardware is now got up in shape and design to match ap propriately not alone the building, but each separate room where the rooms are finished and ornamented differently. It is, therefore, largely a thing of ornament as well as of use and the ingenuity of the manufacturer and the salesman has been taxed to keep pace with the demands of the consumer for novelty and appropriate ness. The annual production is probably some thing like a matter of $25,000,000 in value. The finest grades of hardware are still made largely in the East, principally in Connecticut, but the business is slowly but steadily drifting west in keeping with the general trend of hardware manufacture.
Shovels.— The first shovels in this country were produced as far back as 1776 by Capt. John Ames, who made them by hand in compe tition with the English article. The business then established was carried on for the suc ceeding 27 years, and constituted the nucleus of the present large concern of the Oliver Ames & Sons corporation, whose headquarters are in Northeastern, Mass. Mr. Oliver Ames, the son of Capt. John Ames, established in 1803 a shovel plant where he soon produced shovels that were superior to those imported from Eng land. In 1797 Thomas Rowland commenced the manufacture of shovels at Cheltenham, Pa., and this plant has been in continuous operation ever since. Business gradually crept westward and is now spread over the country as far west as the Mississippi River. By 1854 there were about 80,000 dozen shovels produced annually, but with the growth of the country this product has been largely increased until the annual out put is now about 600,000 dozen. As with all other band tools, the demand for shovels has been seriously affected by the introduction and improvement of labor-saving machinery — such as the steam shovel, the coal and ore conveyor and other mechanical devices for loading and unloading. It is interesting to note that the original machinery for making shovels has not been greatly improved upon so far as the actual efficiency is concerned, although the variety of shovels has been greatly increased to meet the wants and tastes of the different parts of the country. It is difficult to approximate with any reasonable degree of accuracy the amount in vested in this business, but it is in the neighbor hood of $4,700,000.