No. 5. 



Extracts from an Agricultural Address. 



147 



tinued to any length of time or quantity. 

 These are all great advantages, especially 

 when a farmer, from any sudden advance, 

 wishes to bring his grain at once into the 

 market. It is obvious, at the same time, 

 what advantages he has in having his horses 

 saved from the severe work of threshing, 

 and fresh for other -farm work. The saving 

 of a pair of horses, on a farm, is estimated 

 at £100 per year, — very much more, indeed, 

 than it would be with us ; and intelligent 

 farmers assert " that, with steam power, they 

 save one-fourth of the horse power on large 

 farms." 



The usual quantity of grain threshed by 

 a si.\--horse steam power, is at the rate of 

 from 30 to 40 bushels per hour; though the 

 quantity must vary Vv-ith the condition of the 

 ^ain and the straw. The average work of 

 a threshing mil), driven by horse power, is 

 150 bushels per day, and by steam power 

 may be reckoned at 250 bushels per day, 

 which is certainly a great preponderance in 

 favour of the steam power. Tiie wear and 

 deterioration of the horses, and the expenses 

 of keeping them, are most important consi- 

 derations to a farmer. Indeed, so far as my 

 observation goes, there is no single source 

 of e.xpense, none which abstracts so much 

 from the profits of farming, and none of 

 which tJie farmers in general are so little 

 aware, as that of horse teams. 



In the great experiment, or rather im- 

 provement, going on at Hatfield Chase, in 

 Yorkshire, of emptying the deserted bed of 

 a fiver, and spreading this rich alluvion 

 over a peat bog, the earth carts are moved 

 on a temporary railway by a steam engine, 

 and carried to their place of deposit, so that, 

 as I have before remarked, five acres can be 

 covered in a day, eight inches deep; and 

 that which it would be perfectly in vain for 

 any inferior power to have attempted, is ac- 

 complished with perfect ease by this willing 

 but mighty agent. The fens in Lincoln- 

 shire, where the uncertain and capricious 

 power of the wind was formerly depended 

 on, and, of course, with little confidence and 

 uncertain results, are now relieved, at plea- 

 sure, of their surplus water, by two steam 

 engines, one of 60 and one of 80 horse 

 power; and the quantity of water removed, 

 the time required, and the expense incurred 

 for doing it, are all matters of exact calcu- 

 lation. The workmanship of these engines 

 — for I have had the pleasure of visiting the 

 spot — is extremely beautifid ; and the advan- 

 tages of the whole arrangement can hardly 

 be overstated. I can easily believe that the 

 same machinery, on a small scale, may be 

 applied in many other similar cases; and a 

 very intelligent and spirited fiirmer con- 



sulted me on the subject of his determina- 

 tion to erect a small steam engine, at his 

 own expense, for the purpose of draining a 

 part of his own premises. At the show at 

 Derby, there was exhibited a movable steam 

 engine, intended to be carried to a farmer's 

 premises, as it might be wanted, for furnish- 

 ing a threshing power, and other purposes. 

 I have not yet learnt how it succeeds; but 

 if success IS not attained at a first attempt, 

 it is ultimately certain. These machines 

 are made of two, four, and six-horse power. 

 The cost of the two-horse power is j£80, or 

 ^•400, and a three-horse power, £110. This 

 does not include the threshing machine. A 

 fixed steam power must have many advan- 

 tages over a movable steam machine. It is 

 never safe to calculate upon doing a great 

 many things with any single machine. A 

 soli-directing machine would be a great dis- 

 covery; but, short of man himself^ we can 

 hardly look for that, though it seems some- 

 times to be nearly approached. A great 

 difficulty, in many cases, is, that the ma- 

 chinery must be trusted to the hands of the 

 stupid, careless, and sometimes malignant. 

 — Colmaii's Agricultural Tour. 



Extracts from aii Address 



Delivered before the Housaionic Agricultu- 

 ral Society, Mass., on t/te '26lh of Ninth 

 month last, by Caleb N. Bement, editor 

 of the New York Farmer. 



To be successful in farming, the mind 

 should be devoted to the business. That 

 man who is above his business is in danger 

 of soon finding that he has got below it. 

 The firmer who devotes his mind and his 

 energies to his farm, till it is so far improved 

 that it elevates him above the necessity of 

 constant labour, is the most independent and 

 enviable character in our country; free from 

 the responsibility of office and the toils and 

 cares of a profession, he eats the fruits he 

 has reared with more zest than can be real- 

 ised by any other class. A good farm, co- 

 vered with flocks and herds, and fruits, is a 

 truly enviable possession, and like Selkirk, 

 the farmer is often "Monarch of what he 

 surveys."" 



The well cultivated field is the field of 

 the farmer's glory; his highest ambition to 

 improve it; if he has doubled the produce 

 of his farm, he feels that he has achieved a 

 nobler victory than if he had conquered 

 armies or subdued empires. 



Some experience and much observation 

 have convinced me, that one of the most 

 common errors in which our farmers have 

 fallen, is in neglecting their young stock. 

 Many farmers are in the practice of turning 



