12 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Daher feel himself in the saddle than he set spurs 
to the horse and galloped off, calling out as he 
did so: 
“ It is I, Daher. I have got the horse, and am 
oil with it.” 
Naber called after him to stop and listen. Cer 
tain of not being pursued, he turned and halted a 
short distance from Naber, who was armed with 
only a spear. “ You have taken my horse,” said 
the latter. “Since heaven has willed it, I wish 
you joy of it; but I do conjure you never to tell 
any one how you obtained it.” 
“And why not!” said-Daher. 
“ Because,” said the noble Arab, “ another 
man might be really ill, and men would fear to 
help him. You would be the cause of many re¬ 
fusing to perform an act of charity for fear of being 
duped as I have been.” 
Struck with shame at these words, Daher was 
silent for a moment, then springing from the 
horse, returned it to its owner, embracing him to 
his tent, where they spent a few days together, 
and became fast friends for life. 
Is Corn Raising Profitable ! 
Doubtless it is in most cases—but not always 
so. It occurs to us that it will be instructive to 
gather from practical men in different parts of 
the country, during the present year, some defin¬ 
ite items, in regard to the cost and profit of differ¬ 
ent crops. Such estimates will not only help in 
deciding as to the comparative value of this or 
that crop, but will also tend to develop among 
farmers, a habit of keeping accounts with their 
various farm operations. 
We commence with a report on corn, from T. 
J. E., of London Grove, Chester Co., Pa., who 
writes that he kept an accurate account with this 
year’s crop for the purpose of settling in his own 
mind a question often asked but never answered, 
viz. : “ How much does it cost to raise a bushel 
of Corn i” The following calculations are based 
upon the allowance of 75 cents per day for the 
labor and board of a man ; the same for the labor 
of a horse, and the same for a yoke of oxen. 
Cornfield No. 1—9 Acres and 10 Rods—Sod Land. 
Dr. 
To Plowing and Harrowing 9 1-16 acres.$28.83! 
“ Seed; marking out and Planting. 9.25 
“ Re-planting and dressing with Plaster. 3.851 
“ Doe-Harrowing. 18.37} 
“ Cutting. 4.87} 
“ Dusking, rve straw binding, hauling in corn. 22.05 
“ Hauling in Fodder. 2.81! 
“ Shelling and hauling to market (estimated). 29.54 
“ Interest on Land. 59.81} 
Total outlay or Cost.$179.45! 
Cr. 
By 422 Bushels Sound Corn. ©56e.$236.32 
“ 60 (double) Bushels nubbins, (a)37}c. 22.50 
“ 1758 Bundels of Fodder, (®2c. 35.16 
Total Credit.$293.98 
Net Profit on field.$114.52} 
Co't of Corn about 28} cents per bushel. 
Profit about 27} cents per bushel. 
Yield per acre of Sound Corn, 46 bushels and 305 quarts. 
Yield per acre of Nubbins, 11 bushels and 30} quarts. 
Cornfield No. 2—3ac.resand 123 rods, or{ 18-25 acres. 
(Second crop of corn after breaking up.) 
Dn. 
To Sundry items, as above, viz.; Plowing and Har¬ 
rowing, $8.25 —Seed and Planting, $4.75—Piaster 
and Re planting, $2.00—Hoe-harrowing, $10.12} 
Cutting, $2.61}—Husking and hauling in Corn, 
$7.371—Hauling in Fodder, $2.25—Shelling and 
hauling to market (estimated), $11.27—Interest 
on land, $24.88. 
Total outlay or cost.$73.71} 
Cr. 
y 161 bushels of Sound Corn, fH>56c. $90.16 
27 (double) bushels of nubbins, (3>37}c.. $10.12} 
890 bundles of fodder, (&2c. $17.80 
Total Income.$118.08} 
Net Profit.$44.37} 
Cost per bushel of Corn, about 28} cents. 
Profit per bushel of Corn, about 27} cents. 
Yield per acre of Sound Corn. 44 bushels. 11} quarts. 
Yield per acre of Nubbins, 14 bushels, 20 quarts. 
The above, though instructive, would he morn 
perfect if the kind and quality ofsoil were stated, 
together with previous cropping and culture. It 
should also be stated that in estimating the cost 
and profit per bushel, the sound corn only is taken 
into account, the proceeds of the nubbins and fod¬ 
der being first deducted from the cost of the 
whole crop. 
-— i n a<frB rw -- 
Hiring a Livery Horse.— Keepers of livery 
stables have not usually the easiest occupation for 
obtaining a livelihood—their horses have not, cer¬ 
tainly. But having received scripture treatment 
at the hands of one of them when traveling at 
the West a few years ago, and our stage broke 
down, (we were a stranger and he took us in), we 
can not help enjoying a joke at the expense of 
the fraternity. Here is one : A man hired a horse 
“to go to Dedham,” for $1.50. When he returned 
he was charged another $1.50 for coming back. 
To avoid trouble he paid it. Shortly after lie 
hired a horse at the same stable “to go to Salem 
for $5—the horse to be watered and fed at a ho¬ 
tel on his arrival.” He drove there, put up the 
horse, came back by railroad, and handed over 
the $5 to the livery keeper. “ Where is my 
horse!” said the proprietor. “ Taking his feed at 
Salem,” was the reply ; “ I only hired him ‘ to go 
to Salem’.” 
Blinks from a Lantern. VII. 
BY DIOGENES REDIVIVUS. 
STEAM CULTIVATION. 
In my hunt after a farmer, I am so much dis¬ 
heartened, that I will pause, for a while, to look 
at the implement with which he is to cultivate 
the earth. It is a question whether the “coming 
man ”—the model farmer whom we so long to see 
—has the necessary tools to work with. Has he 
not to make his own place in the world, and the 
implements with which he will illustrate his own 
skill, and evoke from the stubborn soil the maxi¬ 
mum crops, with minimum labor. The curse 
of “ eating bread in the sweat of the face,” has 
been amply fulfilled. The coming man must re¬ 
duce the sweat, and enlarge the loaf, of which a 
grateful humanity will eat. 
Long before my day, there were efforts to im¬ 
prove upon the primitive method of cultivation, 
by introducing the labor of beasts, in breaking up 
the soil. The primitive cultivator was the man 
himself, with sucli rude implements as he could 
make, for disturbing the surface of the soil. The 
hoe and spade, of which the modern articles are 
the perfected types, were his first essays, at aid¬ 
ing Nature, in growing the fruits and grains that 
he desired. They were well adapted to this pur¬ 
pose, and nothing better than these can be de¬ 
vised, if we are to break up the soil with manual 
labor alone. The osseous structure of the human 
frame is such, that man can lift, better than he 
can do any thing else. The spade is thrust into 
the sod, and with a quick easy motion, a portion 
of earth is lifted, inverted, and shaken up loosely, 
so that the air and water readily penetrate the 
whole mass. The spade makes a very good, 
though not a perfect seed bed. With man as the 
cultivating power, there is no improvement upon 
the spade. 
But man was not long in finding out the stipe 
rior strength of the ox, the horse, and the ass, 
and sought to use this new force in his tillage. 
A new power gave birth to a new tool, adapted to 
the peculiar structure of these beasts of burden. 
The spade was useless to this power—a doomed 
implement, from the moment that the bullocks 
were yoked, or the ass was harnessed. These 
animals could not lift, but they could pull, and 
whatever the new tool was, it must-be worked hv 
traction. A tree top, with one of its stout branch¬ 
es cut off, sharpened, and hardened in the fire, 
was probably the first essay at a plow. The 
hardened point was, after a while, tipped with iron, 
and the frequent repairs upon this instrument, in 
due time, suggested a prong altogether made of 
iron. The furrow was of the most shallow and 
unsatisfactory character, that enabled men to de¬ 
stroy a part of the grass, and to grow grain and 
edible roots, instead. 
This iron prong of the plow beam was gradu 
ally lengthened and widened at the point, so as 
not only to tear the sod, but to invert it. This 
suggested the mold board, from the butt of twist¬ 
ed oak, which, in a rude way facilitated the turn¬ 
ing of the sod. In later ages the wooden mold 
board was plaited with iron or steel, which les¬ 
sened the friction, and made a more durable ar¬ 
ticle. Thus the plow remained for many centu¬ 
ries a very clumsy affair. It was not until the 
present generation that science lent its aid to the 
plow, and perfected it. We have now plows 
adapted to all kinds of work, made wholly, or in 
part, of iron and steel, so that the team can ac¬ 
complish the greatest amount of work, with the 
least expenditure of strength. Given; beasts of 
burden as the moving power, we can expect no 
striking improvement in the plow, or any 
other improvement, that shall be a substitute 
for it. The sod is turned as evenly, or laid as 
much at the option of the plowman, as it is possi¬ 
ble to be, with any implement of traction. But 
it should not be forgotten, that there are certain 
infelicities in the tool itself, that can never be got 
rid of. It does not leave the soil in so good con¬ 
dition, for nourishing plants as the spade, or fork, 
and nothing, but the greater economy of brute 
labor, reconciles the intelligent cultivator to its 
use. The spade loosens the whole mass of the 
spit it lifts, and if the soil is in good working con¬ 
dition, almost all its particles change position, so 
that they are brought into new relations to each 
other, as well as to the air, and the rain. Tlie 
plow, on the contrary, presses the sod upward, 
before it can turn it, and, of course, the particles 
of a large part of the sod are forced more closely 
together. One sees this very plainly in green¬ 
sward plowing. It needs the harrow and cultiva¬ 
tor, to make a seed bed, after the plow has done 
its work. Nor is this all; the plow packs the sub¬ 
soil over which it moves, year after year, until 
it forms a sort of hard pan, through which the 
roots of plants and the air penetrate with great 
difficulty. This is one of the great advantages ot 
the deeper plowing, which has come into favor in 
recent years. It loosens this hard pan, and makes 
the soil itself, and the salts of the manure, that 
have leached down into it, available for the sus¬ 
tenance of the crops. This packing of the soil, 
it will be seen at a glance, is an evil that inheres 
in the very structure of this implement. We can 
only get rid of it, by having a new implement 
adapted to a new power. 
Steam is such a power, and indicates an en 
tirely new tool, as unlike the plow, as the plow 
is unlike the spade. The spade is for human 
hands to lift the soil with, the plow is for brute 
force to divide, and turn it, because animals are 
fitted only for pulling. Steam does not indicate 
