1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
173 
combined reaper and mower in common use. 
One of the greatest advantages in using machin¬ 
ery is that when not in use it is not eatiug, it 
never tires, heat does not fatigue it, it is not 
subject to vice, disease, or death, and it works 
mocking-bird.— Mhnus pohjglottus. 
with great rapidity. A few years hence it is not 
at all unlikely that much of our plowing, culti¬ 
vating, and harvesting may be doue by ma¬ 
chines, and probably much of our heavy work 
on the roads as well. Horses then will be in 
agriculture as in other business now, not the 
motive power, but merely an accessory one. 
The Mocking-Bird. 
The Mocking-Bird (Mimus polyglottus) as it 
appears in a cage is known to almost every 
STEAM REAPER. 
one, but there are comparatively few of our 
readers who have had an opportunity of seeing 
it in its native w r oods in the South, where be¬ 
ing a general favorite it is admired and pro¬ 
tected by all. As a songster the Mocking-Bird 
has no equal in the world, although he has a 
rival in the Mountain Mocker (Oreoscoples mon- 
tanus) of the Rocky Mountains. The Mocking- 
Bird can imitate all of our American song-birds 
to perfection, and often attempts other sounds, 
such as the squeaking of a wheelbarrow or the 
squealing of a pig, 
with considerable 
success. Its food 
consists of insects 
and fruit, particu¬ 
larly berries. The 
Mocking - Bird is 
rarely seen as far 
north as the Middle 
States, although the 
writer once ob¬ 
served a pair in 
Springfield, Mass. 
The nest is built in 
a hedge or low tree, 
and is composed 
outwardly of sticks, 
and is lined with 
the finer fibers of 
roots. In the vicin¬ 
ity of New Orleans 
and Charleston, the 
negroes trap young 
Mocking-Birds and 
expose them for 
sale in the markets 
at fifty cents each. 
These are bought 
by dealers in birds and shipped in large num¬ 
bers to our Northern cities, where they are kept 
until full grown and able to sing, when they are 
sold at prices ranging from $10 to $40 apiece. 
-«*> -*-—ma? -Q E E-n -■ - • 
Draining Quicksands. — The subject of 
draining quicksands has recently been discussed 
in the columns of the New York Tribune. The 
directions generally given by the correspon¬ 
dents of that paper have related to the manner 
of making a sound, artificial bottom on which 
to lay the draining tiles. Our own experience 
in the matter has 
been considerable, 
and we have never 
found this neces¬ 
sary. These sands 
are quick only be¬ 
cause they are wet , 
and if the water can 
be withdrawn from 
them they will form 
the best # floor that it 
is possible to secure 
in such land. For 
laying tiles, the only 
thing necessary is to 
deepen the drain 
very slowly. As 
soon as the depth 
of the water is 
reached, let the 
drain be opened for 
that depth its whole 
length; then, com¬ 
mencing at the low¬ 
er end, deepen by a 
single scoopful at a 
time, in this way 
drawing off the water slowly, and without 
at any point going so deep as.to have a pressure 
of water from the soil at the side. Opened in 
this way, little by little, there will be no diffi¬ 
culty in securing a good foundation, and in lay¬ 
ing a drain in the most slippery quicksands. 
Steam on the Farm. 
Many years ago, when railroads first came 
into use, a serious objection was made against 
them by persons engaged in raising horses, that 
ihe effect would be 
to dispense almost 
entirely with horses 
on the roads, and 
their business would 
consequently suffer. 
Events soon showed 
h o w unnecessary 
that apprehension 
was. Not only was 
there not any less 
demand for horses, 
but the necessity for 
their services so 
vastly increased by 
reason of the im¬ 
mense stimulus 
given to all sorts of 
business by the 
r a p i d movement 
of persons and pro¬ 
duce, that the de¬ 
mand has never 
since been equalled 
by the supply, and 
the scarcity of 
horses has been a 
universal com¬ 
plaint. Now, when steam is being introduced 
into the business of agriculture, we hear exactly 
the same prognostications about the displace¬ 
ment of horses. What, then, shall we do with 
our horses? is the question proposed. The re¬ 
sult can not fail to be exactly parallel with the 
case -we have referred to. Steam is gradually 
working' its way into agriculture in spite of 
prejudice. If it is shown to pay it will be cer¬ 
tainly and quickly adopted. Will it pay ? is the 
question now being solved. We believe that 
eventually it will pay to use it wherever and 
whenever it can be adapted to our needs. It pays 
now to thrash,grind, 
cut feed, saw fuel, 
pump, hoist 
weights, and in 
places to plow and 
cultivate the soil by 
steam. Why should 
it not pay to do all 
other work that is 
possible to be done 
by steam also ? Our 
English brethren 
are trying experi¬ 
ments, aided as they 
are by large capital 
and a class of men 
who have leisure 
and intelligence 
sufficient to enable 
them to devote their 
time and energies to 
these experiments 
to solve this ques¬ 
tion, and whether 
they fail or succeed, 
we shall reap the 
gain with them. 
We reproduce from an English paper an en¬ 
graving of a steam mower and reaper, which 
shows how far in the way of experiment Eng¬ 
lish inventors and capitalists are prepared to go. 
This machine is worked by a man and a boy, is 
self-propelling, and weighs no more than the 
