424 AGRICULTURAL ITEPORT. 



purclinpi'ng their im])lpmont?. Sucli nn institution ■vv-oiikl be a great benefit to 

 invfntors; for, if successful, it would establish at once a reputation, and, if un- 

 successful, it would save further money and effort. But we have another ob- 

 ject, which would be to <^ive a detailed description and statement of the trial 

 of the unsuccessful implements, so as to point out to future inventors the 

 ground that had been so unsuccessfully passed over. We now see, every year, 

 old discarded ideas reclothed and presented to the public as new. Several of 

 these have come up within the past year. 



THE ploi;gh, or two-horse cultivator. 



No implement has so rapidly come into general use on the prairie as this, nor is 

 there one more deserving enthusiasm in its favor. It has already, to a gi-cat extent, 

 revolutionized the old system of marking oft" and check-row planting of corn. It 

 has lessened the cost of this crop by a large pcr-centage, and when applied to 

 the cotton fields of the south, will reduce the cost of culture more than one-half, 

 and, at the same time, largely increase the crop. It has doubled the number 

 of acres that one man could cultivate with the double-shovel plough, to say 

 nothing of the ability to dispense with the hoe. It certainly cannot fail, in the 

 cotton fields, to be of priceless value. With its use hand-labor, except in the 

 thinning of cotton, can be dispensed with almost entirely, and the crop must be 

 improved by its use, as it will give the plant a much earlier culture than could 

 be given with any of the old implements. With it the scraping and hilling is 

 done Avith two hoi-ses or mules, at a brisk walk, finishing a row at each turn 

 through. We have given it a trial on three-fourths of an acre of cotton with 

 the most complete success. The same implements that succeed well in culti- 

 vating corn on our prairies will be alike valuable in the cotton fields of the 

 south. 



These cultivators are valuable for other purposes than the culture of corn 

 and cotton. Among them is a great variety of patterns, and, while all of them 

 do good work in the corn-field, all ai;e not so applicable to other purposes. 

 During the past season we have used four different patterns. One of these, 

 which we have selected for next season's use, excels in its adaptability to more 

 purposes than the other, and, at the same time, is less liable to get out of re- 

 pair, or to have the cultivator standards broken, this last being one of the most 

 fruitful causes of complaint against this class of implements. 



Last autumn, having occasion to plant several bushels of peach and plum 

 pits, it occurred to us that this cultivator could be used for the purpose. Driving 

 it across the field, we soon found that it would make miniature furrows for the 

 seed, which was dropped along them at the usual distance apart, when the im- 

 plement was put astride the rows, and by passing twice over each row the 

 proper depth of fine, well pulverized earth was put over them. With one boy to 

 drive, and one to drop the seed, we accomplish in half a day what, before, had 

 been several days' work for an industrious gardener. This has suggested to us 

 that, with it, the potato fields can be marked out, and the seed covered in the best 

 and most expeditious manner. We made the further experiment of ridging up 

 for sweet potatoes, which was done, with the exception that the loose earth be- 

 tween the rows should be hauled to the top with a steel rake. The labor saved 

 in these processes is not only large, but the work is, in all respects, better 

 done. In tlu; corn districts of this State this implement has nearly made good 

 the loss of laborers who have gone to the army. 



Nearly all of these two-horse cultivators have seats for the driver, and those 

 that have not are becoming unpopi;lar. A boy who can drive a team, yet is too 

 slender to handle the shovel plough on foot; a lame person, who cannot walk to 

 advantage; an invalid, partially recovered from sickness; or a young lady fond 

 of driving, and who wishes to assist her father or brother, can do a full day's 



