Magnum said it has provided light tower and/or generator products to every branch of the U.S. military and the Pentagon as well as to the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. The company has active customers in Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Europe, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Peru, Canada. Colombia, Pakistan, Puerto Rico and Argentina. Ultimately the steam generator will probably dominate the ironing market, but it is a long way off", one manufacturer recently stated, reflecting on the bullish level of growth this sector has seen over the last couple of years.

An alternative to a new and relatively expensive tractor is a well-running antique. They''re not quite as capable or dependable as a contemporary tractor, but they''re considerably less expensive. Small, still-working antique tractors such as a late-''40s or ''50s Farmall Cub or a low-riding, auto-style Ford 9N currently sell for about $2,500, a bit more if they''re outfitted with new rear tires or hydraulics. If at all possible, buy one with a newly rebuilt engine, an onboard hydraulic system, a rear-mount three-point hitch and one or two mechanical power takeoffs (PTOs) rather than a drawbar. Invest in a modern underframe (Woods), rotary brush hog or field mower and other post-1950s attachments. Look carefully, because museum-quality antiques from the 1930s and earlier often lack hydraulics and PTOs (Polk''s, the Antique Tractor Magazine, published by Dennis Polk Equipment of New Paris Indiana (subscriptions 219-831-3555) and Farm Collector from the folks at Odgen Publications in Topeka, KS (subscriptions 800-678-4883) are two great sources of info on older models better suited for displaying on the front yard than grinding in the cornrows). If you intend to do any really heavy work such as logging, trenching for soil-drainage pipe, digging in a septic tank or cutting a logging road through heavy woods, consider a full-size industrial tractor with a log grapple or excavating bucket on the front and a backhoe on the stem. New, they cost five or six figures. Good used ones cost about $15,000.

The author then takes the first of a number of ruminative breathers, speculating on the button. The Romans used buttons only as ornaments and even the ancient Chinese never progressed beyond the toggle and loop. Unlike the handsaw, which was refined over time, the button and its buttonhole simply appeared in northern Europe in the thirteenth century--true works of an anonymous inventive genius. Then we proceed to an influential treatise on ingenious machines published in 1588 by Agostino Ramelli, a military engineer. Among the machines is a bookstand that revolves like a Ferris wheel, holding eight books at a constant angle by means of a gearing system used in astronomical clocks. The author comments: "Of course, gravity would have done the job equally well (as it does in a Ferris wheel), but the gearing system allowed Ramelli to demonstrate his considerable skill as a mathematician." Then the author writes: "This splendid folly distracts me-I''m supposed to be looking for screwdrivers."

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