Polytechnic Association Proceedings. 92 1 



tioned as a matter of interest, that a more recent patentee proposes 

 to pick cotton by reversing the principle of the process just men- 

 tioned; in other words, by blowing it from the plant; while others 

 suggest the use of gathering claws or fingers, operated by suitable 

 mechanism. The latter plan would appear to be inadmissible, 

 inasmuch as the fingers would require to be guided by hand; but 

 it appears reasonable to suppose that either of the others can be 

 made available, inasmuch as the suction or blowing, as the case may 

 be, capable of detaching the ripened bolls without interfering with 

 those not ready for picking, and fui'thermore, would be uniformly 

 applied at all parts of the height of the plants; yet, however plaus- 

 ible these theories may appear, a trained agricultural engineer 

 might, perhaps, upset them by the simple suggestion, that the 

 cotton, when detached, might be caught by the twigs and branches 

 in such quantities as to render the use of the machine unprofitable; 

 but we venture to believe that this did not occur to the inventors, 

 and would not be suggested by the mechanicians employed to 

 build the apparatus. 



We have instanced this as one of those opportunities of future 

 progress, in which the exercise of a high grade of engineering skill 

 and agricultural knowledge may find extended action; but there 

 are many others worthy of note. It is only necessary to talk with 

 a western farmer, to find that the time is looked for when 

 machinery shall husk the ears from the standing corn; when a 

 machine, drawn between the rows, shall strip the husked ears 

 cleanly from the stalks, and convey them to the wagon-box without 

 other assistance than a driver to manage the team. We believe 

 that in a few years this may all be accomplished; but no one can 

 tell how much time and effort will be lost in futile experiments; 

 for, of those best qualfied in other respects to construct machinery, 

 how many are aware of the conformation of the surface of a western 

 cornfield; the power required to bring the stalks within the reach 

 of the machine; the portion of the stem of the cob which may be 

 broken with the greatest ease, and the hundred and one other 

 points involved in the efficient working of such an apparatus? 



We had intended to include in these remarks not only a brief 

 consideration of the general application of machinery in the vari- 

 ous subdivisions of farming, but also of the drainage of fields, the 

 utilization of waste fertilizers and other products of the farm; the 

 reclaiming of inundated lands; the irrigation of districts where 

 the drought of summer necessitates the artificial supply of Abater 



