AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY. 421 



the enterprise. An inventor at ludianopolis, also, made an attempt witli 

 skavering knives* instead of ploughs, but met the fate of the others. 



We may Avell come to the conclusion that ploughing with a steam traction 

 engine is out of the question, for the following reasons : 



1. This machine cannot pass over soft land, whether wet or cultivated, as 

 the soil yields to the motion of the drum or driving Avheels, and instead of 

 carrying the machine forward, excavates a hole into which it sinks beyond its 

 own power of rescue. 



2. When loaded with a half day's supply of water and fuel it is incapable 

 of drawing the ploughs. 



3. It cannot rise the ordinary grades of the rolling prairie with the plough 

 at work. 



4. On level land it cannot do the work as cheaply, under the most favorable 

 conditions of water and fuel, as animal power. 



In England, steam ploughs appear to be gaining in popularity, and if we are 

 to believe some accounts, are soon to supersede, to a large extent, animal 

 power. Reasoning tVom analogy, many of our rural population, as well as 

 mechanics, are inclined to the opinion that the same result will follow here. 

 But there are several reasons why this will not be the case. The condition of 

 the soil, climate, comparative cost of labor, of fuel, and of subsistence, are too 

 great to follow in the same path. The English soil is a stiff clay that requires, 

 usually, three to four horses to turn a furrow, and that must he a narrow though 

 a deep one. The dampness of the climate, the tenacity of the soil, and its 

 retention of moisture, make it imperative to have perfect drainage and thorough 

 aeration to produce good crops. With us the soil is less tenacious, being mostly 

 a clay loam, is easily moved with a plough, and as the climate is warm and dry, 

 it is naturally well aerated ; consequently, deep ploughing and under draining 

 are not so essential. After the soil is once broken up it retains the benefits for 

 a long time, and shallow ploughing answers well for a series of years. The 

 result of this difference is that, in ploughing with us, less than one-half the 

 power is required to plough the same depth, or to have it thoroughly aerated 

 to the same depth for a series of years. 



The engines used in England are stationary, or movable along a headland, 

 and draw the plough back and forth over the field with the use of wire ropes. 

 This is, of course, a slow process, considering the expense and power applied ; 

 but, as labor is cheap and fuel abundant, while the cost of animals and their 

 subsistence is- very high, the difference appears to be in favor of steam. An- 

 other difference claimed is that the work is done better, which is doubtless 

 true. We have already shown that to stir our soil sixteen inches deep requires 

 three teams, of two horses each, and a man to each team. This expense can 

 be somewhat lessened with the use of a subsoil plough. But let us count the 

 cost with the three ploughs, so as to compare it with steam power on the prin- 

 ciple of the English steam plough: Three (3) men and teams one (1) day, 

 cutting a furrow-slice eight inches wide, and ploughing one and one-fourth acre 

 sixteen inches deep, at $2 50 each per day, $7 50, or at a cost of six dollars 

 per acre. All orchards, vineyards, and garden lands ought to be thus prepared, 

 and there can be no doubt that such preparation will pay for all farm crops. 

 But one such ploughing in our soil will answer for a long time, and the cost of 

 subsequent ploughings will be half a day's team work, worth about one dollar 

 and twenty-five cents (Si 25) to the acre. Theoretically there is no reason 

 why steam cannot be applied to this kind of deep tillage on the English plan, 

 ft'hovc the cost is not less than six dollars ($6) per acre. But in all cases where 

 the work can be done with a single team at the rate of two acres a day, which 

 is the usual day's work, we see no prospect of its ever coming into use. Biit 



* Scooping and slicing the earth in horizontal layers in a peculiar manner. 



