174: HANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



Patent cultivator, to turn round at the headlands, lo ft. wide £60 



" " " 1 a ft. wide 80 



" « " 15 ft. wide 95 



« " " 18 ft. wide lao 



£ /. d. 



Extra strong grubber 90 o o 



Land presser (four-furrow) 10 o o 



Rope porters, large i lo o 



" small I o o 



Water-cart, with pump, leather hose 25 o o 



To show that the use of the steam-plow need not be confined 

 to the more perfect agriculture of England, I translate one of the 

 closing paragraphs of Mr. George Ville's " Conferences Jgricoles." 

 Notwithstanding its somewhat " hifalutin " style, it tells a story 

 well worthy of consideration. 



On the breaking out of the rebellion in this country, an 

 immense impetus was given to the cultivation of cotton in other 

 countries, — among others, in Egypt, — where the growing of wheat 

 was so far neglected, that, instead of this grain being exported to 

 Europe, it was largely imported. In the midst of all this, the 

 cattle plague broke out : — 



" At first confined to a few provinces, the pest gains ground 

 "and spreads like a vast conflagration. Oxen and buffalo die by 

 " hundreds — by thousands. The evil progresses constantly in 

 " extent and in intensity. The remains of the animals obstruct 

 " the canals, and form floating islands in the Nile. And the 

 " price of cotton steadily advances. 



" They console themselves for the loss of the animals ; the 

 " gold of the cotton will pay for all. But the plowing, the water- 

 " ing of the fields, the ginning of the cotton ; — without teams, how 

 "can it all be done? In a few weeks the disorder became ex- 

 " treme. And then, that which neither good advice, nor good 

 " example could have done, interest did. 



" The land in Egypt is a limitless plain as uniform as the sur- 

 " face of a lake. It is a country predestined for the steam- 

 *' plow. Without delay, England offers her machines ; she 

 " sends them by cargo and on credit. They try, they hesitate, 



