FOR AMERICAN VINES. 19 



Deep cultivation, such as is now actually done, is almost 

 impracticable with bullock or horse teams, whatever be the 

 number of animals. In the first instance, the farmer 

 must possess enough animals, and only a few can spare 

 fourteen or sixteen draught animals ; and what is more, when 

 more than ten or twelve horses work together, their power 

 is very badly utilized, as each animal does not furnish the 

 power it is capable of yielding when alone, and a moment 

 comes when nothing is gained by adding another animal. 

 This loss of power is more noticeable with horses, as they get 

 nervous, and with which it is difficult to obtain regular trac- 

 tion. Finally, in the management of a large team, the starts 

 and turns are extremely difficult. Therefore, the execution of 

 this work has only been possible so far with a steam plant. The 

 Fowler system is the only one that has hitherto been avail- 

 able to viticulturists ; however, its use is not without draw- 

 backs. Its high cost and expensive attendance preclude it 

 from the reach of vinegrowers, who, as a rule, only hire it. 

 In this case it is often difficult to get it at the fixed date 

 for a contract time for small surfaces to be ploughed, etc. 

 The travelling on roads or over culverts of these powerful 

 locomotives used for driving heavy ploughs has grave incon- 

 veniences. It was, therefore, indispensable to devise a new 

 machine to replace the expensive and cumbersome material 

 used in Fowler's steam ploughing, and place within the 

 reach of all small, medium, and large growers the means for 

 trenching or subsoiling their ground. In 1876 Grue", a vine- 

 grower at Sollies-Pont (Var), first applied the capstan as a 

 mode of traction for trenching or subsoiling ploughs. It is 

 easy to imagine a plough secured at the end of a steel wire 

 cable, winding round the drum of a capstan, and two horses 

 yoked at the extremity of the bars of the capstan, to under- 

 stand that these animals will put the plough in motion. If 

 the drum has a radius of 19 inches, and if the bars have a 

 length of 16^- feet, the two horses will do the work of a team 

 of twenty applied directly to the plough. But the plough 

 will travel ten times slower. This question of speed and 

 time is, however, generally of secondary consideration, as the 

 capstan allows the grower to plough to depths which he 

 could not reach without using steam, even if he had twenty 

 horses at his disposal, and such a team could not be practi- 

 cally managed. 



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