48 



cli'ine would answer for a dozen farmers, and that three or four 

 hoars' use of it Avould give the farmer employment for two days in 

 making his hay. 



The objects of improved machinery on a farm are two. First, 

 to diminish the cost of the production of crops ; second, economy 

 of time, particularly when the weather is fine, the crop heavy, 

 and there is danger of injury if its removal be delayed. Manual 

 labor is necessarily hmitcd, especially in this country, which by 

 its extent and fertihty invites laborers to disperse over wide terri- 

 tories. There is no permanent class of laborers ; the laborer of 

 this year may soon be the employer. Hence labor commands 

 good pay, and hence the necessity of machinery to fill the place 

 of labor dearly purchased. 



Farmers, both from their isolated positions and the consequent 

 absence of a common opinion, are perhaps less apt than others to 

 see the necessity of making changes in their tools or modes of ope- 

 ration. Accustomed to use a particular set of implements, and 

 not having frequent opportunities of comparison, they either be- 

 come famiUar with their imperfections or do not see them. Hence 

 the difficulty of introducing real improvements. But the inven- 

 tive genius of our mechanics, and the absolute necessity of ma- 

 chinery in large operations, are compelling farmers to look to 

 their interests, convincing them that they can prosper by farm- 

 ing only when they place it on the level of the most advanced 

 arts. 



There is room for improvement in mowing machines, and it is 

 easy to see that improvements will be made with a view to dimin- 

 ish weight, or to reduce friction, or to prevent derangement, or 

 to bring the implement Avithin the reach of men of limited means. 

 Science has not exhausted its resources or skill its power of ap- 

 plying primary principles to the use and wants of business. 

 Machinists acknowledge no perfection and admit of no impossi- 

 bility. Thy believe that for every imperfection there must some- 

 where be a remedy. Meanwhile the mower and other .excellent 

 machines are gradually working their way into use, by demon- 

 strating that fiirmers cannot afford to do without them. Every 

 thing of this kind is first opposed and then adopted, and no doubt 

 men are now living who ridicule the mower, and will, by and by, 

 plough their fields by steam. It is simply a question of time. 

 We cannot foresee where progress in invention will stop, or why 

 it should stop at all. 



Previous reports have contained full notices of the value and 

 the best methods of raising carrots. We refer to the subject 

 again to notice the fact of their increasing culture. As there is 

 but one opinion of their utility, almost every farmer has a piece 

 of land in carrots. We think they will hereafter be more exten- 



