THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



227 



opened up to our mechanicians. The problem to be 

 solved, in the perfecting of a dibbling machine capable 

 of a higher rate of working and economy than ha.s yet 

 been effected, is, however, a much more difficult one 

 than may at first sijiht be imagined. Unfailing de- 

 posit of the seed, uniformity of depth in its deposition, 

 and undeviating regularity of operation, mu^t all be 

 attended to. The weight of evidence is apparently in 

 favour of the deposition of several grains in the hole 

 rather than in that of one or a "single" grain only. 



It is obvious that steam-power, if brought into re- 

 quisition for cultivating the soil, will be made to aid in 

 succeeding operations — in our sowing, and in our har- 

 vesting. In view of tliis extended application of the 

 new power, considerable modifications will be neces- 

 sitated in the management of our " drills." To obtain 

 the full economy and efficiency of steam, its operation 

 must be as continuous as possible : once set in motion, 

 the machine which it operates must or should go on 

 until its work is performed : all stoppage to arrange or 

 modify its mechanism is just so much loss, and must 

 therefore be avoided. Hence with steam-drawn drills 

 a higher class of workmanship, with mechanism cal- 

 culated to make the machine meet its own wants with 

 as little human interference as possible, will inevitably 

 be required. We fear that the attempt to apply the pre- 

 sent machines — admirably adapted as they may seem, 

 and indeed are, to our present system — to steam-power 

 will only result in disappointment, with loss of time 

 and money. As we have before said, the new power 

 will necessitate' the use of new implements and ma- 

 chines ; not necessarily new in the principle of their 

 operation, but new in mechanical arrangements, suited 

 to the vastly different circumstances under which the 

 processes they are designed to serve, will be carried 

 when the new power is predominant. 



The same remark applies to hay-making machines 

 and reaping-machines. 



While examining with a pardonable wonder the 

 curiously complicated, but withal most efficient ma- 

 chines used in the various branches of our manufac- 

 tures, as the cotton, the wool, or the silk, we are apt to 

 think it strange that the same facility of mechanical 

 adaptation has not been observable in agricultural 

 machinery. But, while far from ignoring the fact 

 that comparatively little has been where much might 

 have been done, we should remember that the diffi- 

 culties surrounding all attempts to adapt finely con- 

 stituted mechanism to agricultural operations are much 

 greater, indeed generally of a totally difierent kind, 

 than those which sun-ound similar attcmjits in manu- 

 facturing mechanism. On this point, we venture to 

 quote a few remarks given elsewhere : — " In many (•{ 

 the processes of our manufacturers, however much 

 we may be astoni.shed at tlie precision with which 

 operations are carried on by the aid of machinery alone 

 — operations which seem to demand some share in 

 the human will — the obstacles which presented them- 

 selves in adapting mechanism to carry on these have been 

 of a nature comparatively easy to be overcome. The 

 nature of the material to be operated upon is generally 

 unvarying; or at least, where changes do occur, they 

 are of such a nature that sinjple mechanical arrange- 

 ments obviate all inconveniences resulting therefrom. 

 Not so, however, with reaping-machines. The material 

 to be operated upon is continually changing ; and the 

 difference between a rainy day and a dry one — between 

 hilly ground and level — between laid grain and stand- 

 ing — is just all the difference that is required to make 

 the material either that which afibrds facilities to these 

 machines in cutting, or, on the other hand, of 

 throwing such obstacles in their way as to render 

 it almost an impossibility to cut it at all. But 



the capability of merely cutting corn under all 

 circumstances of time, place, and condition, is not 

 the only work which a reaping-machine has to per- 

 form. The gatheriag-in and distributing of the corn 

 after being cut, ready for the binders, is an equally im- 

 portant part of its dutie?. Nor, in fact, does its mission 

 end here : a perfect reaping-machine should be capable 

 not only of cutting the corn with undeviating regu- 

 larity, but of arranging it into bundles of defined and 

 unvarying size ; leaving, as the only labour to be per- 

 formed by the hand, the tying of these bundles, and 

 the placing of them in the field in the form of ' stooks.' 

 Performing this wider range of duties, the machine is 

 better distinguished by the American term of ' Har- 

 vester.' As in machine-spinning, so in machine- 

 reaping, the less there is for human hands to do, the 

 more perfect the machine. But herein lies the diffi- 

 culty of effecting machine-reaping : as we have shown, 

 the material on which, and the circumstances under 

 which it operates, are varying in character, and do not 

 piesentthat uniformity which opens up much hope 

 lh:it with our present system of culture, we shall be 

 able to rival the automaton performance of our manu- 

 facturing mechanism." 



In this department of agricultural mechanics 

 the implement-maker must be aided by the farmer, 

 and exactly in the way we have indicated when 

 treating of the application of steam-power to cul- 

 ture. If the preparation of the land previous to 

 the operation of the cultural-machine is, as we have 

 endeavoured to show, essential to the full perfecting o 

 the steam-working system, it is no less essential we 

 conceive to the perfect working, or at least greatly in- 

 creased efficiency, of the reaping-machine, And here 

 comes, in full force, the opinion of the gifted mechani- 

 cian whose words we quoted at the conclusion of 

 a recent article, and to which we again refer the 

 reader. If, then, the agricultural mechanic can ob- 

 tain fields calculated to aid the operation of his 

 machine, rather than to retard it and throw difficulties 

 in the way of its performance — as too many fields do 

 now; if, moreover, by the more extensive adoption 

 of that system of sowing which, as its advocates say, 

 gives us thick strong straw, little liable to be laid by 

 winds and rain, there can be little doubt that our 

 leaping-machines will soon be brought to that state of 

 mechanical perfection which will enable them to carry 

 out those complete operations that will be demanded of 

 them should the power of steam ever be adapted to 

 their working. What these complete operations are we 

 have endeavoured to show. 



SIZE OF FARMS IN AMERICA. — In the wheat 

 region, south of Lake Ontaria, the farms are usually from 

 150 to 200 acres in extent, though many are much larger. 

 The farmhouses are roomy and comfortable, impressing one 

 favourably with the condition of the occupants. The female 

 members ofthe family have ample employment in the clean- 

 ins and cooking departments, and the table at the different 

 meals is loaded with a profusion of dishes. House servants 

 are dispensed with as far as possible. Butcher-meat ap- 

 pears at brcakfiist, dinner, and supper. The Americans no 

 doubt eat a vast deal too much of such stimulating food. 

 Indeed, I do not think that any class in England consumes 

 so much butcher-meat as all classes do here. It is a re- 

 markable circumstance that farms have a tendency to de- 

 crease in size more rapidly where the land is poor than 

 where it is rich. — North America; its Agriculture and Cli- 

 mate. By Robert Russell. 



