SOLON ROBINSON, 1849 233 



this course, has greatly more than doubled the crops, and 

 made the farm very profitable; but it is increasing in 

 fertility and value every year. 



Mr. B. pursues the five-field system ; that is, a rotation 

 of, 1st, corn ; 2d, wheat ; 3d, clover ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, fal- 

 low. Upon the fallow, which, however, is well coated 

 with volunteer clover, the straw is spread, and with lime, 

 if required. He commences seeding in, first week in Oc- 

 tober, and finishes, if possible, by 10th November; quan- 

 tity of seed, per acre, from V^ to IVo bushels; harvests, 

 15th to 20th of June; cuts wheat with cradles. He thinks, 

 where laborers are plenty and cheap, that reaping ma- 

 chines are not an object of importance. He owns 180 

 servants, one half of whom are working hands in the 

 field ; and during harvest he hires 80 or 100 more. 



As soon as the wheat is harvested, the wagons com- 

 mence bringing it to the granary ; and here the ingenuity 

 of man and the power of steam begin to show how won- 

 derfully this great giant can be made to help the culti- 

 vator of the soil. A constant stream of sheaves are flying 

 from the wagons outside, and as they light upon the floor, 

 are caught up, the bands cut, and thrust into two great 

 threshing machines, that stand side by side, and this is 

 the last that man is required to do with grain or straw. 

 The one passes out, and far away from the building ; and 

 the other, after falling down into the winnowing ma- 

 chine, is thus cleaned, and then taken by elevators to the 

 top of the three-story building, and there distributed into 

 the different store rooms, which are capable of holding 

 40,000 bushels. A thousand bushels can be thus threshed 

 and put up every day. When sold, and ready to be shipped, 

 it is let down through a spout into a car that runs upon a 

 railway directly over the hatchway of the vessel, lying at 

 a fine new wharf, a few hundred feet from the granary; 

 and in one second of time the car load is emptied into 

 the hold, and in two minutes more is back, and ready for 

 another load. 



The largest crop of wheat ever raised upon this place, 



