388 Tbansactio^^s of the American Institute. 



The frame tips up, so that wliile one row of plows does tlieir work^ 

 the other six are in the air. The rate of motion was rapid, as fast as 

 five and one-half miles an hour ; and the strip plowed at each passage 

 was six feet wide. Those who saw this trial were convinced, as the 

 English farmers have long been, that steam can replace the horse in 

 all tlie heavy and slow farm operations. These engines are able to- 

 move about by their own power, and might, on level land, be employed 

 in hauling manure, crops, (fee. They can drive a wheel, from which 

 power may be obtained for thrashing, cutting hay, husking corn, 

 sawing wood, grinding, and lighter jobs. 



Prof. James A. Whitney. — It is the opprobrium of the Yankee 

 brain that it has not been able as yet to apply steam to tillage, except 

 at a cost which puts it quite beyond the average American farmer. 

 The Fowler plow, of which Mr. Peters saw a specimen, costs from 

 $12,000 to $15,000; so that counting interest an investment, hire of 

 engineer and men, repairs and damage during winter and in harvest, 

 it is an expensive implement compared with the common two-horse 

 plow. But it can and will be proved that Yankee is as much ahead 

 of English expertness in steam-plowing as ship-building, and 

 making iron-clads. Mr. Hall, who has paid Sj>ecial attention to this 

 subject, will, in a short time, read a paper on the steam-plow as now 

 understood in this country. 



Plaster on Clovek. 



A short letter was read, asking the Club to prove that it is better 

 to sow plaster on the leaf of clover when it first comes up, than to 

 apply it to the soil before seeding. 



Mr. T. C. Peters. — In several counties of western New York, as 

 Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, and Wayne, the farmers make 

 it their business to' know clover. The best farmer there is the one 

 that understands most about trifollumjyraiense, as my friend Todd 

 loves to call it. They have observed that clover^ sprinkled with plas- 

 ter early in the spring, grows faster, looks greener, heads sooner, and 

 cuts heavier than when top-dressed in any other way. That is all 

 the proof any practical farmer wants to go by. 



Prof. James A. Whitney. — Leaves cannot absorb a mineral. Plas- 

 ter must go down and mix with the soil, and be dissolved, before it 

 can help a clover plant. But the supposition about this remarkable 

 form of lime is, that it has the faculty of al)Sorbing ammonia out of 

 the air. If it does this, it should be aided in a service so important 



