PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS* CLUB. 163 



macliiiie in use. It will uiidoubtedlj' prove a very valuable implement 

 upon the great Westcin prairies. 



Tiie report appeared to give general satisfaction to all present, and con- 

 siderable conversation ensued upon the importance of improved methods 

 of cultivatidu. Mr Bergen said, the report in one respect, perhaps did not 

 do the machine justice. He was not sure that it would not work in sod 

 ground, though it would probably require a very strong team. Tlie com- 

 mittee have not intended to say anything more than their observation fully 

 justifies. It certainly puts the ground in the very best possible order for 

 crops. The question of expense of preparation must be settled by prac- 

 tical experiments. Mr. Carpenter freely acknowledged that he was disap- 

 pointed in the working of the machine. He went upon the grounds some- 

 what prejudiced, at least prepared to believe that it could not supersede 

 th<' plow and otlier implements; and if lie had expressed his opinion upon 

 looking at the machine before it was operated, he should have condemned 

 it. The more he saw of it, the better he liked it, and that appeared to be 

 the case with every one present. Dr. Dwinnell said that he had been 

 accjuainted with this machine from its first inception, and was fully per- 

 suaded that now, in its present perfected state, it would become just as 

 popular with farmers generally, and give as good satisfaction as it appears 

 to have done to this committee. The old system of cultivation by the plow 

 and harrow, compacts the earth together; this lifts and scatters it. la 

 virgin soil, before a watershed has been formed by the pressure of the 

 plow, and the feet of the animals drawing it, there is a relation between 

 the surface and the subsoil, the roots of plants freely penetrating tlie latter. 

 After a field has been a long time plowed, and never stirred below a cer- 

 tain depth, the roots do not appear to even run any deeper. Stirring the 

 soil with this' digger will tend to break up that artificial bed so that water- 

 and roots can both penetrate it. Thus it will benefit crops in drouth. 

 What the report states about aerating the soil is an important matter. In 

 one field which had been cultivated in strips, one prepared by one of these 

 machines, and one by the plow and harrow, the increase of product fully 

 justified the proprietor in saying that it will increase the crop from fifty to 

 one hundred per cent. 



Dr. Wellington inquired of the committee if the h(jrses labored harder in 

 operating the cultivator than they would in doing the same amount of work 

 with the plow. 



Mr Hergen and Mr. Robinson thought they did; but the preparation was 

 better. Mr. Bergen said it was the best pieparation he ever saw. lie 

 plows eight to fourteen inches deep, and if the plows, team and land are 

 all in good order, the land is probably left in as good condition, though not 

 as fine as that prepared by the cultivator. Sometimes it is a great advan- 

 tage to pulverize soil as finely as it is done by this machine. For all crttps 

 it is not necessary, and however finely clay ground is pulverized, it will 

 not remain light and porous, it will pack in spite of us. 



Mr. Carpenter thought that an acre of land could be thoroughly prepared 

 for a crop by this cultivator cheaper than by the plow. 



I'rofessor Tillman moved the adoption of the report, and that the secre- 

 tary copy the same upon the minutes of the club. Carried. 



