•mmmmm 



»PIIW"?ppppspPHpiiP 



-^^mrw 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



249 



satisfaetioi of the spectators. A iarge caltira- 

 tor was then tried witk «qaal aaccees. Some 

 lighter plowg which were hitched to the steam- 

 horae proT«d aaable to risist the strain, and 

 were broken to pieces. 



On a subieqaent occasieo a ttill ra*re carefal 

 trial wag made. Three donble plows were yoked, 

 and plowed an acre in 73 minutes, including 

 stoppages and turnings, in strong clay land. 

 This is at the rale of eight acres per day of ten. 

 hours. The cost in labor and coals was equal 

 to £1 10s., say $7 50, less than a dollar an 

 acre. Had six eiigle plows bsen used, they 

 would hare required the labor of eighteen horses 

 besides saen; costing in England orer £2 10s., 

 say $12 50; and they would set hare plowed 

 orer four and half acres in the same space of 

 tisae. The prime cost of the aachine is said to 

 be about equal to that of eighteen horses. In 

 this eoantry it would be less than one half that 

 cost. 



The same "steam horse" was tried with a cal- 

 tiTatorand olod crasher and harrows attached, 

 and worked well. Next a subsoil plow was 

 yoked, and answered admirably, working to a 

 depth of twelve inches by a like w'dth. A 

 draining plow was tried at the depth of two feet 

 with equal success, though, from imperfections 

 in the plow, the earth was allowed to fall into 

 the trench. Altogether the experiments went 

 to prote that the st-^am horse was capable of 

 doing anything that flush and blood horses can 

 do, and with a power of at least twenty-five of 

 the latter. ***** 



dteam plows have been much talked of in 

 this country, but have never yet been so succe.ss- 

 ~ ful as to rank among our agricultural iaaple- 

 ments. Both English and French ssem to be 

 in advance of us in this respect. Yet it is quite 

 obvious that our vast prairie lands are the very 

 place for the "steam horse." Such locomotives 

 as Mr. Boydell's, which was successful on the 

 uneven lands near Louth, would infallibly answer 

 in Illinois; and with us, who pay very high for 

 labor, and very little, comparatively, tor machin- 

 ery, they would be a blessing inestimable. 



We should be glad to hear that som3 of our en- 

 terprising agricultural machinistsor farmers had 

 given the steam plow a fair trial on the level 

 lands of the West. Tbere is a fortune there 

 waiting a claimant. — [Harper's Weekly. 



From the Journal of the Now York Ag. Society. 



Wheat and Chess. — In March last, Benj. 

 Hodge, Esq., of Buffalo, "offered a premium of 

 ^100, to the person wno shall demonstrate that 

 wheat turns to chess; the premium to be awnrd- 

 ed under the supervision ot the New York State 

 Agricultural Society, under such rules and reg- 

 ulations as a committee appointed by the society 

 shall prescribe." 



We received a letter, 20th July, from Sam'l 

 Davison, a respectable tarmer of Greece, Mon- 

 roe county, saying, "that on the 10th of March 

 last he commenced an experiment on wheat to 

 produce chess there rom, and the experiment has 

 succeeded; and requesting to have a committee 

 appointed to examine the wheat growing, to test 



the truth that wheat tarns to chess." He also 

 requested that the committee for oext year be 

 appointed, to try the experiment under his 

 direction, &c.; and he claims the premiara of- 

 fered, &c. 



As here was a direct offer and an acceptance, 

 it was thought advisable to have a committee 

 selected, and an examination and thorough trial 

 had J. J. Thomas, of Cayuga, Prot. Dewey 

 and L. B. Langwonhy, Esq, of Rochester, 

 were selected as the committee. The committee 

 met at the office of the Rural New Yerker, in 

 Rochester, on the 5th of August, and Mr. 

 Davison was present with the wheat and chess 

 which he had grown. The committee, after ob- 

 taining all the information from Mr. Davison, aa 

 to the manner of preparing the ground and 

 managing the same after the wheat was sown, 

 proceeded to separate and examine the stalks 

 presented; but after a careful examination under 

 the microscope, they were unable to find any 

 ehess growing from the wheat; but as the grain 

 and husks were so much decayed nothing satis- 

 factory could be determined. A report will be 

 presented, of the whole examination, by the 

 |*mmittee. The committee, as requested by 

 Hodge, drew up regulations for a trial hereafter, 

 which was satisfactory to Mr. Davison, and per- 

 sons will be selected to make the trial under the 

 direction, as to management, of Mr. Davison, 

 and the result will be given another season. 



Wg are glad that a careful and well arranged 

 trial is to be had; and we shall hope that a trial 

 conducted with all the care"" required by the 

 regalations of the committee, will, in a single 

 year, prove satisfactory. 



We were present with the committee at their 

 examinations, and though, on the question of 

 wheat turning to chess, we had never heard but 

 one opinion; that the thing has never occurred; 

 yet in the very proper remlirk of one of the com 

 mittee, a trial is aot to test opinions, but to 

 elueidiite facts; and when these shall be fairly 

 ascertained, we will abide by the results. 



HuDgaiian Millet. 



The Hon. Charles L. Flint, of Massachui. 

 setts, in his admirable treatise on the grasses, 

 thus speaks of it: 



"Hungarian Millet, Muha de Hongrie (p»- 

 niciim germanicum) has beea cultivated to some 

 extent in this State, from seed received through 

 the Patent Office. It is an annual forage plant 

 introduced into France in 1815, where its culti- 

 vation has become considerably extended. It 

 germinates readily, withstands the drouth re- 

 markably, remaining green even when other 

 vegetation is parched up, and if its development 

 is arrested by dry weather, the least rain will 

 restore is to vigor. It has numerous succulent 

 Iraves which furnish an abundance of green fod- 

 der, very much relished by all kiads of stock. 



It flourishes in somewhat light and dry soils, 

 though it attains its greatest luxuriance in soils 

 of medium consistency and well manured. It 

 may be sown broadcast and cultivated precisely 

 like other varieties of millet. This millet is 

 thought to contain a somewhat higher percentage 



