PLOWING, SUBSOILING, AND TRENCHING. I75 



" they feel their way. But the soil yields itself marvelously to 

 " the application of these implements ; they become bolder, they 

 *•' familiarize themselves with the new machinery ; they supple- 

 " ment it by the use of steam fire-engines ; and so well, that last 

 "year, I saw, in' the valley of the Nile, machine-shops fitted up 

 " as in Europe for the repairing and keeping in order of the most 

 " formidable apparatus that agriculture has ever employed, I 

 " saw plowing done by steam-engines of fifteen horse-power, ac- 

 " complishing, on an average, a hectare (2^ acres) an hour. The 

 " men who work by day are at evening relieved by night gangs, 

 "and the plow continues its work by the light of lamps with 

 " reflectors. 



" The plow is followed by rakes, which form the ridges 80 

 " centimeters (about two feet) wide, on the top of which the cot- 

 " ton is planted. Other machines are at work, close by, con- 

 *' verting the cotton wood into fagots. Others dig canals, and 

 "all this machinery is kept in motion by steam, which is produced 

 " by coal brought from Newcastle and Marseilles. 



" The machines were coarsely made, and were sold at an ex- 

 " cessive price. But all that was detail ; — the land was brought 

 " Into cultivation, and the cotton repaid every thing with usury. 



" The Fellah made great eyes. Struck with wonder, and 

 "uneasy, he asked himself, not without apprehension, where 

 *' all this was to end. But the profit was there, real enough, 

 " represented by shining pieces of gold ; so, little by little, the 

 " light has entered his soul. His hesitation has ceased ; he com- 

 " mences to use steam fire-engines in his villages ; associations are 

 " being formed for the purchase of steam-plows." 



I have given more space to this subject than its immediate 

 importance to American agriculture may be thought to justify, 

 but I believe, that, with thorough drainage and judicious manur- 

 ing, it opens the door to the great future of our prosperity, and 

 that if the idea once gains a firm foothold here, we shall soon 

 have machines of home manufacture that will be as well adapted 

 for our manner of farming, as those made by Fowler & Co., and 

 others, are for use abroad. 

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