NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



121 



men and a boy ; to wit, the engineer, who remain- 

 ed by the engine, a boy to carry coal, one man 

 upon the plow, to manage* it, another man who 

 rode part of the time on the plow, and who ran 

 along before it to remove pulleys or rollers over 

 which the rope traversed to keep it from friction 

 on the ground, another man to tend the windlass 

 and anchor, and the other to keep the rope in 

 place with a crow-bar, that it might wind proper- 

 ly round the drums at the engine. In estimating 

 the value of such an implement as this, there are 

 certain elements always to enter into our calcula- 

 tion. 1st, The amount of labor performed. A 

 span of horses and a plowman would in England 

 plow, as a regular day's work, one acre of such 

 land as that under experiment. They would work 

 six hours without feeding, and in that time com- 

 plete the day's work. This is the practice, I think, 

 in most of England, as to working horses. Six 

 plowmen and twelve horses, then, would for six 

 hours perform the same work as the five men and 

 boy and the engine and all the machinery. But 

 the engine would not then be fatigued, but might 

 labor on while the horses must rest. Still, taking 

 into account the liability of complicated machin- 

 ery, and of so g^reat a length of rope to accidents, 

 which must cause delay, perhaps the steam plow 

 could hardly be expected to be actually at work 

 more hours per day than the horses. 2d, The ex- 

 pense and time employed in moving the engineand 

 plow and anchor on to the field of operation, and 

 placing them in position. I did not see the en- 

 gine or machinery moved with horses, but this 

 item is worth a place in our estimate, both as to 

 expense and time. 3d,. The cost of working, 

 which has been already partly considered, but 

 there is to be added to the cost of the labor al- 

 ready named, the expense of supplying the en- 

 gine with fuel and water. Both the coal and wa- 

 ter are of heavy freight, and must be conveyed 

 to the engine by horses and men. ' Their cost, at 

 the field, must depend so much on locality, that 

 it is useless to attempt an estimate. Probably an 

 additional pair of horses and a man would be 

 usually employed to supply the meat and drink 

 of the steam giant. 4th, The cost of machinery 

 and of repairs upon it. It was said that this en- 

 gine and plow could be furnished ready for use 

 for £500, or $2500. It would require an engineer 

 to estimate the cost of repairs. Unless the ma- 

 chine could be kept in constant use, the interest 

 on its cost would be a heavy item, and in all ca- 

 ses must be a constant element to be regarded. 

 The engine would be adapted to other farm la- 

 bor, such as threshing, grinding and the like. 

 Such engines are in constant and extensive use 

 for threshing, throughout England, on large 

 farms. The inventor of this steam plow had ta- 

 k&n a large contract to plow for several proprie- 



tors, a practice which, perhaps, should be kept in 

 view in this discussioii, though the difficulty of 

 moving the engine from farm to farm in this 

 country would be far greater th'an in England, 

 because our roads are not so well made. 



Upon the best estimates that I have been able 

 to make, it seems to me that Fowler's steam plow 

 can never be made an implement of general 

 practical utility, either in this or any other coun- 

 try. Perhaps a more competent person, with 

 such data as have been furnished, may form an 

 estimate more favorable. Simplicity is usually 

 economy, in agriculture especially, and there does 

 not seem upon the theory of this machine any 

 such promise of performance as to compensate 

 for the great expenditure in its structure, and 

 the numerous obstacles to its practical operation. 



A large premium has been off'ered by the Roy- 

 al Agricultural Society for a useful invention of 

 a steam plow, and under this stimulus three com- 

 petitors entered the field at their exhibition at 

 Salisbury, in England, which I attended in July, 

 1S57. Fowler's Steam Plow, which lias already 

 been described, was one of them. Another, call- 

 ed Williams' Patent, drawn by a st,ationary en- 

 gine with ropes, and guided partly by a horse in 

 a pair of shafts, appeared not to satisfy the ex- 

 hibitor himself in its operations. It diff"eredfrom 

 Fowler's in this, that it had to be turned at the 

 end of the furrow instead of running back and 

 forth with a double set of plows. All the objec- 

 tions to Fowler's plow seemed to apply to this 

 also. The third, operating on an entirely differ- 

 ent plan, deserves a more particular notice in a 

 future number. 



• For the New England Farmer. 



TUBNIPS VERSUS WITCH-GRASS. 



Witch-grass, or "Quacks," as it is called here, is 

 very troublesoViie in this vicinity. Having about 

 one-fourth of an acre last spring completely cov- 

 ered with it, I was desirous to find some means to 

 destroy it. The soil was a sandy loam, sand pre- 

 dominating. I kneAv that frequent plowing and 

 harrowing, in dry, hot weather, would kill the 

 weed, but I wantAl to find some means of exter- 

 minating it, and at the same time to raise a crop 

 that would pay for the labor. While reflecting 

 upon the best method to pursue, an article ap- 

 peared in the Xeio Enghnt^l Farmer, Vol. IX., p. 

 162, which induced "me to try a crop of tm-nips. 

 Accordingly, I had a pretty liberal ckessing of 

 manure from the barn-yard applied and plowed 

 under, and the ground Well harrowed. After a 

 few weeks it was plowed and harrowed again, and 

 a wagon-load of grass roots was raked up and 

 drawn into the middle of the highway. About 

 the 20th of the 6th month, the plowing and har- 

 rowing were repeated, and the 24th it was sown 

 with ruta-buga seed, as I supposed. Tiie seed 

 was sown by hand in drills two feet apart. It 

 came up well, but in a few days it became evident 

 that I had been deceived in the seed, and th' t in- 



