1871. 



NEW ENGLANi:) FARiVIER. 



153 



STEAMERS OW THE FARM. 



COERESrONDEXT, W h O S C 



eyes and thoughts are evi- 

 dently active, puts a series 

 of questions to us, which 

 we published last week, that 

 others might be thinking 

 ^ them over, that will require 

 some investigation and con- 

 siderable activity of mind, 

 to answer them satisfactorily 

 either to himself or to who- 

 ever may attempt to reply. 

 He desires to know whether it is probable 

 that engines for steaming food, ami for other 

 j)urposcs on the farm, will ever become as 

 connnon as mowing macliines ? 



Briefly, for ourselves, we reply, that we 

 think not. There was a necessity f(jr the mow- 

 ing machine which does not exist for the 

 steamer. Hay, roots and grain may be kept 

 in good condition for a comparatively long 

 period, while grass, in the state to make good 

 hay cannot. Large quantities of grass ripen 

 at the same time, a considerable portion of 

 which, if kept standing until its seeds were 

 perfected, would be greatly reduced in value. 

 The mowing machine, therefore, enables us to 

 cut and tnake several tons of grass into hay, 

 where we should secure one ton only, if 

 obliged to cut the grass by hand. 



Another question relates to the use of 



Meal and Meadow Hay. 

 Yov some remarks upon this subject, we re- 

 fer him to a reply to another correspondent 

 on a similar topic. 

 A third inquiry is in regard to 



Machines for Preparing Brush for Fire ■Wood. 



He desires to know whether "wood reduced 

 to fine pieces, or even to "shavings," will 

 afford as much heat as wood in a coarser form ? 

 To fully answer this question would require 

 something of a scientific essay. 



Bakers heat their ovens by the use of fagots, 

 — branches of trees and small bushes tied to- 

 gether. As they kindle readily, and give a 

 great quantity of flame, they are used where 

 a strong and ([uick heat is required. If they 

 cannot get these, they use dry, pine wood. 

 It was supposed at one time that locomotives 

 could only be run by the use of dry wood. 

 But some scientific person found that coal 

 could be used by employing a "blower," 



which would kindle coal into a fierce heat, and 

 send that heat along to the flues of the boiler. 



There are many cases in domestic economy 

 where wood, cut into small pieces, is the 

 cheapest fuel, and this is a circumstance too 

 much neglected. Count Rumford states that 

 in very small fires for some purposes it is the 

 most cleanly, the most convenient and most 

 manageable fuel. He found by experience 

 that any given quantity of wood, bm-ned in a 

 closed fire, gives near three times as much 

 lieat as it would if reduced to charcoal. 



In order to heat intensely, a steady flame is 

 required. The volume of flame need not be 

 large, if it is constant. The operations of the 

 blow-pipe show how readily metals may be 

 melted in its flame. A few sticks, confined to 

 a small space and kindled into a flame, will 

 produce a powerful heat. This is often done 

 in the sunnner season by the farmei-'s wife. 

 A few small, dry sticks are placed directly 

 under the tea kettle and ignited, which soon 

 set the "kettle singing," and yet scarcely 

 warming the room to any perceptible degree. 

 In such a case, charcoal or large sticks, would 

 not heat the water half as quickly as fagots or 

 small pieces of wood, though twice as much 

 were used of the large pieces. 



But our correspondent may wish to know 

 whether it is economical to use a machine for 

 cutting brush into small pieces to be used as 

 fuel. This will depend upon circumstances. 

 If wood is worth $7 to $10 a cord by hauling 

 it a mile or two, that would be a good reason 

 for using the brush as fuel. And if a horse 

 or steam power were used for other purposes 

 on the farm — which is sometimes the case — 

 then it would cost comparatively littte to cut 

 the brush, and it might then be economical to 

 do so, but if this work were to be done by 

 hand, it might scarcely be economy to do it, 

 even if wood were worth seven or eight dol- 

 lars a cord. 



Some of his other inquiries will be noticed 

 hereafter, and we invite the readers of the 

 Fakmer to help us in solving his jjroblems. 



Deep Ploughixg for Worn-out Lands. — The 

 agi-iciilturist should know that all soils, and even 

 gi-anite rocks, contain more or less of the elements 

 of vegetable growth. Soil while in a dense state, 

 so compact that the gases which form the atmos- 

 phere, with the a^k of the sun and rain, heat and 

 cold, cannot penetrate and decompose them, will 



