that his engine is in good
running order. By good running order we mean that it is all there, and
in its proper place, and that with from ten to twenty pounds of steam,
the engine will start off at a good lively pace. And let us say here,
(remember that we are talking of the lone engine, no load considered,)
that if you are starting a new engine and it starts off nice and easy
with twenty pounds, you can make up your mind that you have an engine
that is going to be nice to handle and give you but little, if any,
trouble. But if it should require fifty or sixty pounds to start it,
you want to keep your eyes open, something is tight; but don't take it
to pieces. You might get more pieces than you would know what to do
with. Oil the bearings freely and put your engine in motion and run it
carefully for a while and see if you don't find something getting warm.
If you do, stop and loosen up a very little and start it up again. If
it still heats, loosen about the same as before, and you will find that
it will soon be all right. But remember to loosen but very little at a
time, for a box or journal will heat from being too loose as quickly as
from being too tight, and you will make trouble for yourself, for,
inexperienced as you are, you don't know whether it is too loose or too
tight, and if you have found a warm box, don't let that box take all of
your attention, but keep an eye on all other bearings. Remember that we
are not threshing yet, we just run the engine out of shed, (and for the
sake of the engine and the young engineer, we hope that it did not stand
out all winter) and are getting in shape for a good fall's run. In the
meantime, to find out if anything heats, you can try your pumps, but to
help you along, we will suppose that your pump, or injector, as the case
may be, works all right.

Now suppose we go back where we started this new engine that was slow to
start with less than fifty pounds, and when it did start, we watched it
carefully and found after oiling thoroughly that nothing heated as far
as we could see. So we conclude that the trouble must be in the
cylinder. Well, what next? Must we take off the cylinder head and look
for the trouble? Oh, no, not by any means. The trouble is not serious.
The rings are a little tight, which is no serious fault. Keep them well
oiled and in a day or two ten pounds will start the empty engine in good
shape. If you are starting an engine that has been run, the a