278 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



STEAM CTTLTTVATION. 



Col. C. "W. Saladke, of Kentucky, is writing a 

 series of articles on " Steam Cultivation" for the 

 Valley Farmer. The following remarks in regard 

 to the arrangement of the fields, &c., necessary for 

 the economical application of steam power to the 

 various operations of plowing, harrowing, reaping, 

 &c., will be read with interest : 



"In looking oyer the history of past experi- 

 ments in this department of science, I have failed 

 to discover a single snstance where any practical 

 system has been proposed by which to arrange and 

 manage the farm or plantation whereon the agency 

 of steam is to be made the primary force. 



"It would seem, indeed, that the only idea 

 treated by actual experiment, has been that of de- 

 vising some plan by which the soil might be broken 

 up, regardless of the expense that would attend^ it. 

 I have ever considered it but a part of the thing 

 to be accomplished, to devise a steam plow that 

 might please the'multitude witnessing its operations, 

 while, at the same time, the wood and water is 

 furnished, and the general management of the ma- 

 chine conducted in such a manner as to call in 

 question the economy of doing the work upon 

 this principle. And until that all-important ques- 

 tion can be satisfactorily disposed of, I never ex*- 

 pect to see the agency of steam serve the farmer 

 or planter to that extent I now so confidently be- 

 lieve it will do. 



" I may go so far as to satisfy yon, beyond all 

 tdoubt, that my machinery is capable of acconi- 

 plishing, in the most perfect manner, all that is 

 claimed for it ; that it will plow deeper and more 

 thoroughly than has ever yet been done by steam ; 

 that it is capable of plowing from sixteen to thir- 

 ty-two acres per day of ten hours, and can per- 

 form a greater variety of farm work than has ever 

 before been attempted in one and the same ma- 

 chine; yet, I will have but half succeeded in mak- 

 ing steam cultivation a positive success, if I fail, 

 at the same time, to point out a sensible, economi- 

 cal and practical system for the arrangement and 

 management of the farm or plantation upon which 

 it is to become a permanent fixture. 



" To run the machine about within theinclosure 

 of a fair ground, and tear up the ground here and 

 there, to the infinite delight of the spectators — 

 particularly the ladies, boys and newspaper report- 

 ers—is one thing, and well enough in its way, but 

 to adapt the farm to such a machinery, and the 

 machinery to the farm, for constant work, day in 

 and day out, and in such a manner as to reduce 

 everytliing to a system of perfect convenience, and 

 with due regard to economy, is another and difi"er- 

 ent act in the play altogether. The one is but the 

 farce in the great drama of " Steam Cultivtaion," 

 while the other is the sober reality of the thing 

 aimed at. 



" The one great diflSculty which has confronted 

 all past attempts to settle the question of economy 

 in the use of the steam plow, consists in the fact 

 • that this monster plowman has required altogether 

 too much waiting upon for a common field laijorer. 

 He has in all cases compelled his employers to fur- 

 nish one wagoa and team to keep him supplied 



with wood while at work, and another team t 

 carry water to him, and has generally required al 

 together too many overseers. 



" The best machine I have ever seen at work ii 

 this way, required five men to manage it — twi 

 men and two teams to keep it going with wood ant 

 water. Now, when we take into consideration tb 

 cost of the machinery, the interest on that invest 

 ment, its wear and tear, cost of seven hands am 

 two teams, fuel, &c., and the fact that there neve 

 has been worked, in a satisfactory manner, ove 

 twelve acres per day of ten hours, we are not slo\ 

 in making the discovery that the ?ame amount o: 

 work can be done cheaper with the patient ox. 



" All this, however, is the result of attemptin 

 to adapt the steam plow to the farm or jdantatior 

 regardless of that preparation and arrangemen 

 absolutely necessary to adapt the farm to the stean 

 plow. For without that preparation of the fare 

 and plantation, expressly adapting it to the ne\ 

 system of cultivation, we can never get rid of th 

 difiiculty above referred to. If the farm be nc 

 adapted and expressly arranged for the working o 

 the steahi plow, we must always employ it wit 

 that degree of disadvantage that will render it 

 adoption objectionable in point of economy. 



"If we are satisfied of the practicability of th 

 machinery proposed for steam cultivation, and d( 

 sire to adopt it, our first duty is to ascertain whf 

 alteration and preparation is necessary to be mad 

 upon the farm before we can prudently receive an 

 profitably employ this iron servant of all work. 



" If, therefore, your humble correspondent wf 

 consulted upon this point, he would have to infori 

 you, that before you can think of farming by steal 

 profitably, you will have to prepare the farm e: 

 pressly for such purpose. 



" As I have already stated, when we get to farn 

 ing by steam, it will be done on a large scaL 

 Therefore, in devising our plans for a steam farn 

 we lose sight of ten and twenty-acre fields, an 

 think only of those that contain from 100 to 5C 

 acres. 



" If you are blessed with an abundance of fen» 

 ing material, and conclude that you will have r 

 fields smaller than 100 acres, I shall expect you 1 

 tear down the fences upon the old farm or planti 

 tion, and rebuild them so as to form 100 acre field 

 or as near that as may be convenient, and at th 

 corners of these fields, where they meet in tl 

 center of each 400 acres, I shall direct you to d' 

 a well, and connect to it a force pump, that sho 

 be operated fnom a belt-wheel upon the engine < 

 the steam plow, and by which means the machii 

 will be enabled to draw up into its tank the wat' 

 it requires. Over this well I want you to build 

 rough, but substantial house, of suflBcient capacii 

 to admit of the engine running into it from eith 

 one of the four fields, to take on wood and wat 

 while at work, and to have ample room to sto 

 away a large quantity of prepared wood or co 

 for the use of the engine. If it is wood you e 

 pect to use for fuel, I shall want you to be pro^ 

 ded with a portable circular saw and frame, set i 

 within said building — which hereafter we will ci 

 the station house— which likewise shall be oper 

 ted from a belt-wheel upon the engine, for t 

 purpose of making the machine saw its ov 

 wood. 



