300 



FARMERS^ REGISTER, 



[No. 5 



furni may be composed, but to show how very 

 little importance he attaches to this sort of know'- 

 ledge, it may be sufficient to mention, tliat, in tlie 

 great majority of cases, no distinctior whatever is 

 made in the mode of cuhivating them. Acre for 

 acre — all of them successively receive about an 

 equal quantity of manure, of a similar kind, and 

 almostj he sarne treatment. Can it be doubted then, 

 . that much ofiiie manure is thus thrown away? And 

 is it to be wondered at that a return proportioned to 

 the expense of cultivation is so seldom, received? 



It may be asked how an experimental (arm is to 

 remedy these evils, since every liirmer has it in 

 his power to obtain an anal3'?is ot" any soils, ma- 

 nures, &c. he may choose, there beinc many in- 

 flividuals in every comity well qualified lor the 

 task. We do not indeed expept that the various 

 .^oils in Scotland are to be analyzed i^nd registered 

 by an expenmental establishment; but manures 

 may, and all the products of agriculture may. 

 This, however, is not the mode of operation 

 which, in the present instance, we would deem the 

 rnost etfective. It is not, however, so much from 

 the individual analysis which the manager of such 

 an establishment might find it his duty to institute 

 and promulgate, that the most substantial benefits 

 would be secured to the country, but from practi- 

 cal examples wliich would thui^ be exhibited of the 

 direct advantages to be derived from liillowinir out 

 the principles upon which it wat^ liiuruled; and, by 

 consequence, from the inducements which would 

 thus be held out to every firmer to enibark in the 

 same course. Were such the case, we have no 

 doubt that the time will soon come when the dif- 

 lerent species of soil will be so nicely discriminated 

 and classed, and the action of ditferent manures, 

 compound and simple, so accurau-ly ascertained, 

 in so far as it aliiicts any given descri|)tion of soil, 

 that the farmer will know what particular quan- 

 tity, and what particular species of manure he 

 ought to apply in every circumstance on each 

 acre of his iiirm, in order to insure the oreatest 

 possible production, and that chiefly by means of 

 authenticated and accurate experiments. Any 

 eflbrt that has yet been made has been directed 

 chiefly to ascertain the relative effects of different 

 kinds of manures, without taking into account the 

 varieties of soil to which they may have been ap- 

 plied ; and although the experiments have been 

 conducted on so limited a scale ihat no great de- 

 pendence can be placed on the results obtained, 

 still they may give some idea of the importance 

 of the subject, and of how much remains to be 

 done. In an experiment recorded in Messrs. 

 Drummond's Third Report, of the efllcacy of va- 

 rious manures in raising potatoes, we note a dif- 

 ference of more than a half between the tj^reatest 

 and least quantiiics produced, in other words, while 

 one manure raised a weiixht of 221bs., another 

 produced only 9ill7s. Now, were such experi- 

 ments conducted on different soils, the component 

 parts of which were accurately understood, and 

 the results faithfully noted and compared, it will be 

 found that the advantages likely to be conferred 

 by such a modeot precedure on the practical ag- 

 riculture of the country, have been rather under 

 than overrated. 



the mosses at Rolion. Well! the said machine 

 has been inspected by a committee of the High- 

 land Society of Scotland, accompanied by an engi- 

 neer, and as their report is exceedingly "favorable. 

 It is not improbable that it will be exhibited here 

 at the great meeting which takes place in October 

 next. But if you plough by steam, what, it will be 

 said, is to become of the ploughmen? — Goldsmith's 



"Bold peasantry, their country's pride, 



When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 



But the change from animal to steam-power, hap- 

 pen when it may, will be extremely gradual, even 

 were we to suppose, which we are far Ironi doing, 

 that the invention is alike applicable in all situa- 

 tions. Locomotive engines, which succeed so well 

 on railways, seem to be of little value on common 

 roads; and, wonderful as is the progress of the me- 

 chanic art, the period must still be distant, should 

 it ever arrive, when a power which stops not, nor 

 readily turns aside, cpn, by possibility exert the 

 same supremacy over precipitous or stony heights, 

 that it has done, and still is doing, over improvable 

 moss, and other descriptions of land oi' the same 

 level. — Dumfries Cuurier. 



From tlie Nlvv York Courier and Enquirer. 



ET.ECTRO-niAGNETIC MACHINE. 



STEAM PLOUGH. 



Our readers have heard of the steam plough 

 which has been performing such marvels amono' 



The boldness, ingenuityand perseverance ofthe 

 inventors ot this machine have been crowned with 

 a success in theirexperiments thus far, which leaves 

 little room for theory, or for doubt of eventual 

 triumph. The application of electro-magnetism to 

 numerous and important mechanical purposes, 

 is no longer matter of question, even if no greater 

 power were attainable than that which we late- 

 ly saw in actual operation. This invention of 

 Messrs. Davenport and Cook, if brought into use 

 upon a large scale, which we have now full right 

 to anticipate, is destined to produce consequenpes 

 that almost baffle calculation. The immediate 

 result would be the speedy substitution of electro- 

 magnetic engines lor nearly all other motive and 

 mechanical powers now in use. Results would fol- 

 low as mighty as those which steam has wrought 

 in the industry and intercourse of mankind within 

 the last fitiy years. It appears to be now estab- 

 lished by the very satisliictory experiments of 

 these gentlemen, that the power is capable of in- 

 definite increase, and there seems no more diffi- 

 culty in calculating the increase of power from 

 increased proportions in the different members of 

 the apparatus, than there is in ihe same calcula 

 tion of the Ibrce of a steam engine, of given di- 

 mensions and [jroportions. It is most confidently 

 anticipated (and we think from satisfactory data,) 

 that this new power will possess very decided ad- 

 vantages over steam, in point both of compact- 

 ness and weight of apparatus. That as great a 

 power may be obtained, (or instance, from such 

 an engine weighing two tons, as is usually obtain- 

 ed from a steam engine occupying double the 

 space, and weighing three tons. 



But in point of economy — the grand desidera- 

 tum in all engines — the electro-motive power will 

 possess the advantage still more decided, if the 

 calculations of which we have heard are found to 

 be correct, of the expense of working such ma- 

 chines of larger size. 



