206 CHRONICLES OF A CLAY FARM. 



over it, ending in a sort of moveable tail-board, which 

 may be raised or depressed at pleasure, to regulate 

 the settlement of the soil which scatters from it. The 

 revolution of the cylinder is not against but with that 

 of the wheels, not dragging or retarding, but rather 

 helping the advance of the whole machine, which is 

 moved slowly forward by a detached force of about 

 two horse-power from the Engine. 



When, at some future day, and by some pen not 

 yet out of straight strokes and pothooks, there shall 

 be written, for the edification of the agricultural pub- 

 lic, an historical sketch of the f Rise and Progress of 

 STEAM CULTIVATION/ it is to be feared that some of 

 the reflections will not be of the most complimentary 

 kind to the genius or the faith of the generation that 

 has embraced nearly in one experience the develop- 

 ment of Steam Navigation, of the Railroad system 

 the Electric Telegraph, and other kindred appliances 

 in the many-pathed field of practical science. 



' It was strange/ we may suppose our future anna- 

 list to write, 'that amidst the blaze of surrounding 

 discovery in the arts that economize the labour and 

 advance the condition of man, an application of steam- 

 power that must surely have pressed with such power- 

 ful motive and exigency on a period when an extensive 



