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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



state (reduced to powder, and mixed with sand, ashes, 

 or other suitable substances) by means of pressure." 



Messrs. S. Knight and J. Stubbs (patent dated July 

 21, 1834, No. 1,001) propose to use steam (introduced 

 into a second die) '' fur the purpose of warming, and 

 more readily moulding the clay." 



For draining land John Norton (patent dated 

 January 11, 185-3, No. 71) proposes a novel substitute 

 for the ordinary drain tubes or tiles, in the shape of 

 hard balls, or spheres of clay, burned to a crystalline 

 hardness : these are preferred of a diameter of four or 

 five inches, and are laid in the trench or drain ; the 

 Interstices formed between them allowing free escape 

 for the water. 



The form of joint patented by T. C. Hill (under date 

 June 19, 1855, No. 149) resembles that known in car- 

 pentery as the "scarf," the ends of the pipes being cut 

 off at an angle of 45°. 



We have now noticed the most prominent of the 

 patented drain-tile and pipe machines. We now glance 

 more particularly at the inventions of various mechanics 

 in this department throughout the kingdom, but which 

 have not been patented. 



" THE MECHANISM OF STEAM CULTURE." 



Of the varied questions now attracting the attention 

 ofagriculturists, none perhaps possesses so much interest 

 as that of " steam culture." Men anxious for the ad- 

 vancement of that which is the most creative of all the 

 arts, see in it a new power, by which they will be 

 enabled, not only to receive a greater increase of pro- 

 ducts from land already under cultivation than that 

 which it now yields, but by which they can bring to 

 the service of man the waste places of the earth, 

 raising tracts now gloomy with sad sterility to smiling 

 corn-fields and to pleasant pastures. la view, indeed, 

 of the wonders which the power of steam has effected 

 in other departments, and of the triumphs which it 

 has enabled man to gain over obstacles otherwise in- 

 surmountable, it is not surprising that the mere idea 

 of its application to the purposes of land culture should 

 call forth the most sanguine expectations of those 

 interested in the development of so powerful an aid. It 

 is a theme which is calculated to awaken the dullest 

 intellect, and send it forth to roam in the fields of con- 

 jecture; it is pregnant with interest alike to the man of 

 science, the political economist, and the philanthro- 

 pist. In truth, it is impossible to over-rate the im- 

 portance of the rjuestion of steam culture ; and although 

 men may, in the first blush of the new thought, run 

 riot in conjecture as to its powers, and claim for it 

 triumphs which it may never realize, yet the very 

 least service which it is capable of performing — not 

 here asserting that such can or cannot be effected in 

 our own day and generation — will be so great, so preg- 

 nant with importance to us as a nation, that they may 

 be allowed a little licence in anticipating its triumphs 

 or in describing its powers. The field of inquiry 

 which it opens up is wide enough to compass all the 

 flights of the fanciful, or the hard-working thoughts of 

 the matter-of-fact man. To glance then at the pro- 



jects and propositions which have been recently 

 brought before the public in connection with this im- 

 portant department of agricultural economics, and 

 the prospects which they afford of success, may bo use- 

 ful and suggestive to our readers. 



From the title of our paper it will be observed that 

 we propose to notice the mechanism of steam culture — 

 not that of steamjAoufjhing merely. The distinction, 

 be it noted, is an important one. The first term is 

 thoi'oughly comprehensive J it includes all mechanism 

 by whicli the land is to be cultivated, whether this may 

 be simply an adaptation or modification of existing im- 

 plements and machines, or constructed on entirely new 

 principles : it includes plans for adapting the new power 

 to the old plough, and those in which this implement 

 is condemned, and a new mode of operation, founded 

 on new princiides, proposed to be substituted for the 

 peculiar workwhich it performs. Tlie term, then, is 

 wide enough to comprehend plans the most diverse in 

 character and distinct in principle. The other term — 

 steam ploughing — on the contrary, denotes at once the 

 specific character of the plan adopted or proposed j it 

 is a necessity of the implement employed, and defines 

 or should define, without any vagueness, the character 

 of the work performed. 



For the purpose of our paper, the mechanism of 

 steam culture may be divided into two classes— first, 

 that which comprises meclianism arranged to prepare 

 land in a manner essentially distinct from the operation 

 of the plough, " rotary cultivators" and " digging 

 machines" coming under this class, these being either 

 worked by the power of horses, or made to progi-ess 

 over the land by that of steam specially applied; se- 

 condly, mechanism by which the cultivating imple- 

 ment, " plough," " rotary cultivator," or " digging 

 machine," is dragged over the land by the power of 

 steam. In the first of these classes the steam-engine 

 which works the implement passes over the land, the 

 progressive motion being adjusted to the rate of work- 

 ing the cultivator; in the second class the steam- 

 power is stationary, the cultivating implement alone 

 having motion. Leaving for after-consideration the 

 principles involved in cultivating land, and the discus- 

 tion of the best method of carrying these principles into 

 practice, whether by means of the plough or by ro- 

 tary or digging apparatus, we now proceed to the 

 description of the most important of the patented plans 

 of steam culture coming under the first of our divisions. 



It may be as well here to note that in oflering these 

 descriptions we do not intend explaining their arrang- 

 ments or the principles of their action, or to make com- 

 parisons between what may be called " rival plans;" 

 the object of our paper being to supply the reader 

 with a record of what has been attempted. The utility 

 of this recoi'd we have endeavoured to illustrate and 

 enforce in the first paper of the present series. 



The reader desirous of information with reference to 

 the early patents (the date of the first patent being as 

 long ago as 1630) may consult with advantage a lucidly 

 drawn-up list prepared by Mr. Burness, well known to 

 our readers for his mechanical abilities, appended to 



