306 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Sept, 
Cultivation by Steam. 
The subject of tilling the land by steam, has been ear¬ 
nestly talked of for several years, and some attempts to 
carry out the idea have been made in England. These 
attempts have generally been directed to the operation 
of plowing, either by a locomotive or a stationary en¬ 
gine. Various impediments have thus far prevented the 
proper performance of the work by either of these 
modes. Recently, the substitution of the spade for the 
plow, has been suggested, and a machine designed for 
digging the soil has been exhibited at the Crystal Palace. 
We have seen no account of the machine having been 
tried, and know nothing of its principle of action, except 
that the motion is described as circular —the spades 
being set in a wheel. 
The discussion of the question of the use of steam for 
the purpose above mentioned, has brought out some 
valuable ideas, some of which may at least afford a clew 
that may ultimately lead to more or less success. We have 
been much interested in an able article on this subject, 
published in the Agricultural Gazette, from which we 
make the following extracts. In relation to the ques¬ 
tion whether the plow or the spade shall be the imple¬ 
ment adopted, the writer says: 
It is not plowing, neither is it digging that we want. 
These are only means. What we want is the end : we care 
not for the process. Give us a seed-bed: show us the soil 
comminuted, aerated, and inverted six or eight inches 
deep, and we will not ask you how it came so. 
* * * * 
But if it is not plowing, and it is not digging, what is 
it? <£ Go to the mole, though dullard,” (the old pro¬ 
verb might be travestied,) consider her ways and be 
wise—who, without any coulter, share or mould-board, 
without spade, hoe or pick-axe, leaves behind her in her 
rapid track, a finer mould than ever spade or rake pro¬ 
duced, or the most careful-handed gardener ever used 
to pot his plants with. The very rabbit that scratches 
his hole in the ground, or the fox that scratches after 
him, or the dog that scratches after both—the whole 
tribe of ‘ claw-foot/ in fact—had scratched hard earth 
into soft mould, before ever the plow or the spade, or 
even the more ancient hoe, had broken ground on this 
planet. 
Let us begin from the beginning: let us take cultiva¬ 
tion itself into thought for a serious moment, and ana¬ 
lyze it into its simplest elements, dropping all conven¬ 
tionalities of plodding custom. What is it? How would 
you do it, if you had neither plow, nor spade, nor hoe, 
nor rake, to help you? Surely with the same tools that 
the Monks of La Trappe used, to dig their graves, and 
in like manner? If the mole, the rabbit, the fox, the 
dog, are not sufficient indications, take the hand of man, 
glove it with hardened steel, multiply it a dozen or 
twenty times, till you have an instrument as broad as 
Crosskill's clod-crusher, each hand or claw with its se¬ 
parate arm, forming the radius from a central shaft, 
which bristles all around with a forest of such arms, a 
sort of revolving Briareus, not rolling —let that be es¬ 
pecially remembered—but steam-driven, a thousand dog- 
power if you please, for we must not even mention hor¬ 
ses, or we shall drop back into the old Scylla and Cha- 
rybdis of ‘ traction’ and of ‘ rolling’, two ideas to be es¬ 
chewed like poison. 
Let us suppose the picture of this formidable looking 
cylinder and claws to be sufficiently described, for the 
moment reminding one at a distant view, of a half-breed 
between a hay-tedding machine and a Crosskill’s clod- 
crusher—but unlike them, fundamentally distinct from 
any and every instrument that was ever seen a-field, 
as doing its work not by traction, not by its rolling 
weight, but driven by its axis, as the steam-paddle, the 
circular saw, the driving-wheel of the locomotive, are 
driven, supported by its own apparatus, and abrading 
the soil with its armed teeth, first cutting its own trench, 
burying itself to the required depth, and then commenc¬ 
ing its onward task, tearing down the bank, (so to 
speak,) on the advancing side, canting back the abraded 
soil, earths’ saw-dust, 1 comminuted, aereated, inverted ,’ 
into the trench it leaves behind. 
Salt as Food for Plants. 
Professor Way, chemist to the Royal Agricultural 
Society, in a lecture on this subject, stated, as a conclu¬ 
sion to which his investigations had led him, that com¬ 
mon salt was neither directly nor indirectly, a constituent 
of the food of plants. He stated, however, as his be¬ 
lief that salt did, in some instances, produce an action 
beneficial to vegetation, on some soils. He had not car¬ 
ried out his investigations to such an extent as to say, 
positively, to what this effect is attributable, but he was 
£< led to believe that the common salt acted on certain 
silicates of lime present, in a way as yet not understood; 
and at the same time as it afforded a supply of lime to 
plants, gave rise, probably, to a modification of silica, 
important to the straw of the cereals.” 
In reference to Prof. Way’s remarks, other members 
of the society gave the results of their experience in the 
application of salt to land. Col. Challoner said he did 
not consider it acted simply as a manure on grain crops, 
11 but it stiffened and brightened the straw, and caused 
it to ripen from 3 to 5 days earlier than it would other¬ 
wise have done.” Mr. Barrow has found salt improve the 
strength and quality of his wheat straw, his neighbors’ 
crops having been laid while his stood well. Mr. Mechi said 
—“ without being able to give the scientific reasoD, salt 
gave strength and brightness to the wheat straw and 
prevented its lodging.” He applied it at the rate of 3 
cwt. per acre, mixed with the same weight of guano.” 
"Virginia Lands. 
Eds. Cultivator —I have received vast numbers of let¬ 
ters from every section of the country, from Maine to Illi¬ 
nois, making inquiries as to prices of lands in Eastern 
Virginia, quantity of crops, state of society, schools, 
and health of the country. I will state that any quanti- 
tity of land can be bought within from 15 to 30 miles of 
the principal cities in the state, at from $3 to $10 per 
acre, according to improvements. Small farms of 100 
acres or thereabouts, except in the immediate neighbor¬ 
hood of cities, cannot be bought for less than $20 to $100 
per acre. As a general thing, the plantations range from 
250 to 2000 acres, or more. Many want a small farm in 
the neighborhood of a pleasant country village. Such 
things are not often found. Our county seats often have 
no other buildings than the county offices and a hotel. 
For health, the country from about the head of tide wa¬ 
ter, to the Blue Ridge, is unsurpassed; it is generally 
well watered, with never failing springs of the purest 
water. Tobacco is the principal crop, to which all else 
must give way. The wheat crop will, perhaps, on the 
whole, fall short of 10 bushels per acre, although 20 or 
25 are not uncommon, depending on the culture. The 
application of 150 or 200 pounds of guano per acre, 
will, on the poorest land, give 12 to 15 bushels per acre, 
and with a little extra aid will produce clover, which, 
when once seeded, is always seeded. Corn is the prin- 
