92 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[March, 
Self-propelling Farm Engines. 
The wonderful advance in the application of im¬ 
proved machinery to the various operations of 
agriculture, can be best appreciated by those whose 
experience and observation extend back thirty 
years. And now brute force is rapidly giving way 
to steam power. Steam engines are coming into 
common use on large farms in every section of the 
country, and are now quite frequently employed by 
threshers in grain 
growing districts, as 
being more economi¬ 
cal than horse-pow¬ 
er. The chief objec¬ 
tion of the numerous 
“thresher men ” — 
who travel from farm 
to farm throughout 
the threshing sea¬ 
son, doing the work 
of each in turn—to 
the use of steam, is 
the difficulty of mov¬ 
ing the heavy en¬ 
gines from place to 
place, especially in 
a hilly country and 
over bad roads. The 
same objection is 
made by those farm¬ 
ers who have work 
enough to warrant 
them in owning the threshing apparatus them¬ 
selves. When the threshing is done in the fields, 
the unevenness of the ground, plowed land and 
sloughs, prevent the moving of heavy machinery 
except by the use of large teams of horses, at con¬ 
siderable expense of time. Various manufacturers 
have sought to overcome these difficulties, by the 
application of the power of the engine to its own 
road wheels, rather unsuccessfully, however, in 
most instances, owing to the complicated machinery 
and intricate steering apparatus. In the engrav¬ 
ing herewith, is represented a traction engine that is 
quite efficient in its working, which is manufactured 
by Messrs. G. & C. Cooper, Mt Vernon, Ohio. In 
this the power is applied to the running wheels 
of a simple farm engine, and all expensive and 
troublesome steering machinery is avoided by using 
a pair of horses to guide the apparatus along the 
road : a seat is fixed on the opposite side from that 
shown in the engraving, for the driver. Without this 
traction attachment, four to six horses were used 
to draw the engine, while now but two are required 
to guide it; the power also suffices to draw a ten¬ 
der or separator, or both, by hitching them on 
behind the engine, and greater speed along the 
highway is obtainable than is safe with horses. It 
is said that the engine moves easily over rough and 
hilly roads, as well as over plowed ground, etc., and 
when it arrives at its destination, it is all ready to 
perform all the work of a stationary engine, as 
well as before the traction attachment was applied. 
Indian Com—Newer Varieties of Promise. 
The past few years have witnessed a rapid im¬ 
provement in the seed of farm crops, and conse¬ 
quently a marked advance in the quality and amount 
of the products. Previously, garden vegetables, 
fruits, and ornamental and flowering plants had 
been the chief objects of study by the experimenters 
who sought improved varieties. Among farin-crops, 
the potato has been foremost in the onward march, 
and for a few years we have been chronicling 
progress in the improvement of wheat. Indian 
corn has, perhaps, been the most backward of any 
of the prominent crops, and cultivators have had 
few distinct varieties to choose from. Here and 
there were farmers who, by careful selection, year 
after year, had established a local variety of more 
or less prominence and value. Some of these, pos¬ 
sessing more skill and knowledge than their fel¬ 
lows, have, by years of perseverance, and by means 
of selection and crossing, succeeded in producing 
varieties that stand ahead of all others in quality 
gpd productiveness. Without placing any one above 
another, as all the new sorts require a longer trial 
and general use to determine their relative value, 
we name as promising varieties the “ White Pro¬ 
lific,” produced by A. E. Blount, of Tennessee; 
the “ Early Compton,” brought out by J. J. H. Gre¬ 
gory, the Massachusetts seedsman, and the “ Wau- 
shakum Thoroughbred.” The “White Prolific” 
is an eight-rowed, white flint com, with short, well¬ 
shaped ears, small cobs, and unusually productive. 
It seems adapted to a wide latitude, as its home is 
Tennessee, and we hear of it from many Northern 
States, and have seen it growing in Northern New 
Jersey, where one of our editors raised at the rate 
of 150 bushels of shelled com per acre on an exper¬ 
imental plot (see February number, page 93). 
Many of the stalks in this field bore 3 to 5 ears 
each, and stalks have been sent to our office from 
other farmers, bearing 4 ears. The ears are uniform 
in size from end to end, average 8 to 9 inches in 
length, and the kernels are hard, well-shaped, and 
compactly placed on the cob. The meal produced 
from this grain is of a superior quality. There is an 
objection to the “White Prolific,” viz., its very tall 
and woody stalks, which is a quite serious one in 
the eyes of the northern farmer who looks to his 
corn-field as a source of fodder. Yet the tops above 
the ears are succulent and edible, and also the 
leaves on the butts. By adopting the southern 
method of harvesting the fodder, as described on 
page 96, this feature becomes less objectionable. 
The “ Early Compton ” corn, originated in New 
England, from what is known as the Massachusetts 
or Canadian Yellow Flint. What is claimed for it 
is great productiveness and early maturity; it is 
specially adapted to the Northern States. It is an 
eight-rowed, yellow flint variety, with ears averag¬ 
ing 8 to 10 inches in length, well-shaped, cobs 
small, kernels hard, and of good form. Reports 
from farmers planting the “ Compton,” are, on the 
whole, quite favorable ; but it evidently did not re¬ 
main in the hands of the originator long enough to 
fix its characteristics, as the ears often vary from 
8 to 10-rowed, and it is not always uniform in some 
other respects, though a very promising variety. 
The “ Waushakum Thoroughbred ” is the result 
of four years of careful selection and “breeding” 
at “ Waushakum Farm ” in Massachusetts. It is an 
eight-rowed, yellow flint com. The course pursued 
was to take ears from stalks bearing two or more, 
and from these selecting ears that were uniform in 
every way as compared with each other, having 
small cobs, the kernels compactly placed on the cob 
in straight rows, and uniform in size and shape 
throughout. So careful was this selection, that the 
second year, out of 90 bushels of ears from two¬ 
eared stalks, only II bushel were chosen for seed. 
Then in the seed-plot, all tassels (the pollen-bearing 
flowers) on stalks where there were no ears, were 
cut down before casting their pollen, in order that 
they might not influence the production of barren 
plants in the future—it being held that imperfect 
com plants were as bad in the seed plot, as a scrub 
bull among a breed of choice cows. The result of 
this careful work is a very uniform com, a small, 
densely packed cob, and unusual productiveness. 
We have seen this com on the scales weighing 64 
pounds to the bushel. The stalks of this variety 
are small and they make excellent fodder. 
The methods pursued in the production of such 
varieties are such as every intelligent farmer can 
practise, but it does not pay to wait the years ne¬ 
cessary to the grading up of seed when it can be 
purchased. The better way is to procure a 6mall 
quantity, then by continuing the course pursued in 
bringing the 6eed to its present point, its quality 
can be kept at a profitable grade. But farmers 
should remember that seed alone will not produce 
large crops ; a well prepared soil, abundant manur¬ 
ing, and thorough cultivation are also important 
essentials to success in this crop as in all others. 
How Drain Tiles are Made. 
As one lays the red brick-tile on the level bottom 
of the ditches prepared for them, he may wonder 
how these hard tubes are made. The method of 
their manufacture is clearly shown in a pamphlet 
issued by the “ Phoenix Machine works,” Indianap¬ 
olis, Ind. This Company manufacture the appara¬ 
tus by which tiles are made, and we have had an il¬ 
lustration of it engraved. The machine is a simple 
affair, and the process is by no means intricate; but 
it should be remembered that the simpler a machine 
and its working are, the greater and more valuable 
is the invention. Of course good clay is the first 
requisite: this is placed in the upright cylinder or 
hopper, where it is tempered by wings attached to 
the shaft and passed down into chambers under¬ 
neath. A crank at the lower end of the shaft oper¬ 
ates a plunger in the “ pressure chambers,” that 
forces the clay through die6, from the outer end of 
which it issues in continuous tubes, as shown in 
the engraving. These clay tubes are delivered 
upon rollers, where they are cut off in lengths of 
131 inches, by means of steel wires fastened in a 
frame. Thence the tiles are removed to the kilns 
for burning, where they are treated similarly to 
bricks. The pole across the upper end of the 
shaft is the means by which power is applied. 
These machines are 
strongly made and are 
said to be very effi¬ 
cient. The manufac¬ 
ture of tiles is one 
of the many objects 
for which farmers 
may associate with 
benefit. In localities 
at a distance from 
any tile factory, several farmers can unite for the 
purchase of a machine, and not only supply them¬ 
selves with the needed tiles at a much lower cost 
than otherwise possible, but sell enough to others 
to pay for the machine in part, if not entirely. Co¬ 
operation of this kind is often useful and profita¬ 
ble, but to be effective, it needs one driving and go- 
a-head man, who will “ co-operate ” by being the 
head and front of the association, and attending 
to all the details. The name “ Phoenix ” is not 
an inapt name to apply to an apparatus turning 
out an article that is only perfected by passing 
through fire, though hardly born of the fire like 
the fabled bird from which that name is derived 
SELF-PROPELLING FARM ENGINE ON THE ROAD. 
TILE-MAKING MACHINE IN OPERATION. 
