226 



CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



progression of the implement, made them perfectly 

 separate and independent, so that if you ceased to 

 proceed, your " coffee-mill " would still be at work, 

 and only wanting fresh coffee to grind ; then, and 

 only then, shall we have laid hold of the end of the 

 clue that leads to Cultivation by Steam ; for then, 

 and only then, shall we have begun to appreciate 

 the real and unique value of the new agent we 

 possess. To suppose that it would gear its noble 

 faculty to the dragging of plows, or the redoubled 

 solecism of a rolling spade-machine, is to transgress 

 the elementary axioms of natural law, the funda- 

 mental relations and exactions that govern all phys- 

 ical progress and discovery. 



' The willing giant stands idly panting and smoking." 



