3JtO 



TEE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



'Nor. 



The plow was at work a short time yesterday, 

 i'le K',ii on which it wasAvoikcii being verylijiht. 

 Ah 'ut three acres were plowed over, and the ex- 

 periment was pronounceJ satii^f'aclory by a hirge 

 numi^er ol agricui'ural gentlemen from this city 

 and frcm other points in this vicinity. Among 

 those present were the folLiwing cominittee from 

 the New Castle County (D^;l.) Agricultural So- 

 ciety : 



Charles J. Dnpcnt, E. C. Stotsenburir. Ramuel 

 Cauby, J. Morton Pennock, Elward Wtbb and 

 John DuiicMn. These gentlemtn all seemed 

 highly deliehtrd with the wotkivg of the plow, 

 and gave Mr. EJdison a cordial invitation to ex- 

 hibit its powers ai. Wilmington. All the other 

 farmers and agriculturally inclined gentlemen 

 presrnt, also expressed their cordial approbaiion 

 of the woiking, and expressed the opinion that 

 the patent would be a large fortune fur some 

 one. 



TiiC agent, Mr. Eddison, stated that some of 

 the hands engaged in working the appaia'ns 

 were "green," and tliat he was hardly satisfied 

 with wbiit he had done. He would, however, be 

 in the vicinity of Fhilndelphia for some time yet, 

 and he hoped to be able to show the community 

 greater results than they had j-et seen. The 

 spectators, however, seemed perfectly satis-fied 

 with exhibition of the immense capacity of the 

 plow and came away fully convinced that it was 

 destined to work a revolution iu agriciiltife 

 wherever its merits became known. 



Our readers will doubtless find it adv 'rlised, 

 and we c; nimend it to their attention as worthy 

 the cb'Sest and mose scientific attention and 

 scrutiny. In England it bus already pfissCTi 

 through the ordeal, and is coming into use every- 

 where, and we cannot doubt that it will be found 

 equally practical and useful on the soil cf Amer- 

 ca. 



— We give the above a place in our columns, 

 not so much for any particular value, as to show 

 how easy it is to humbug the press, or how care- 

 less they are ia indorsing a thing that is useless. 

 There are sufficient facts stated in the article, if 

 the editor had known them, to show that this 

 EngliHh invention is to go the way of its Ameri- 

 can cousins of the steam plow farming. We have 

 shown in the current volume of the Farmer that 

 steam plowing will never become general in 

 these United States, and especially in the West, 

 where it is claimed the country is adapted to its 

 use. 



It is true, in this plow the rising of sharp 

 grades is overcome by Ftationary power, but this 

 process is too slow and too costly to come into 

 use. It is demonstrated that plowing by steam 

 can be done, but that it can compete with animal 

 power, is as far off to-day as when Fawks first 

 concoived the idea of his traction engine, which 

 is now rusting down in sight of our w ndow. 

 "We have no doubt that all present were pleasod 



with the quality of the work, but it is hardly 

 possible that such men as arc named would pro- 

 nounce it a success. Eut even that would not 

 enhance its va'ue to us, for it is in the history of 

 the steam plow that the shouts of the multitude 

 have indorsed it again and again ; that a com- 

 mittee cf scientific mechanical gentlemen who 

 stand high in the field of mechanism indorsed it 

 in the most positive terms, yet no one among cur 

 large farmers has had sufficient faith in it to or- 

 der ( ne. 



No general statement is going to induce people 

 to believe that the steam plow is a success — no- 

 thing short of its actual demonstration in dolbsrs 

 and cints. It is possible that steam can be used 

 to out ditches, or draw the mole drains thiough 

 our St fi" clays, but beyond (his you can count us 

 an unbeliever. 



Fawkes is now busy with the traction engine 

 exhibited at Centralia and Decatur, and whi;h 

 is now at Decatur, in attempts at mole draining. 

 If he can succeed in drawing the mole through 

 the upland when the surface is dry, we shall 

 have ;-'ome hopes of his success in that direction. 

 The idea of cultivating our farms by s-team is 

 too utopiau to have our best men throw away 

 their money on it. English nabobs will doubt- 

 less run the garnet of its impracticability. 

 They have money to spare, but the American 

 tVmer, who has to earn his money from his own 

 acres, will be slow to invest. Our people are 

 fond of cheap humbugs, but they do not take 

 so kindly to those on so large a scale as that of 

 the steam plow. Ed. 



Effect OF Hungarian Grass. — A gentleraan 

 from ^Yill cou'ity relates to us the following as 

 being the experietice of one of his neighbors. 

 Having grown and fed considerable of it to his 

 stock the present season, several of the horses 

 became stiifcned and almost useless one^ a tine 

 mare, died. Determined to know so far as pos- 

 sible what ailed her, he opened her and exam- 

 ined thoroughly, and discovered in her stomach 

 a ball of Hungarian grass seed, weighing from 

 seven to eight pounds, so hard that it was with 

 much difficulty it could be broken apart. — 

 Acting on this discovery, he gave his other 

 horses a dose of castor oil, when very suon 

 masses of seed were passed from them, appa- 

 rently parts of such described balls, some 

 pieces as large as eggs. 



— The following notice was found posted on 

 the bulletin of a Western PostoflBce: 



"Lost — a red kaf. He had a while spot on 1 

 of his legs. He was a she kaf. I will give ihre 

 dolers to evribudi that will bring hym hum." 



