New-York tribune., 1870-11-30
WHAT KNOW OF FARMING
BY HORACE GREELEY.
XLVII.

n
IN. .,h;uoot;on and tllage of farm, like the run
,inc Of a factory or furnace. involves continuai
so 90 Power. but the manufacturer obtains his from
soprces which supply it cheaply and in great abun-
dance while the farmer perforce content with an
inferior article in limited supply at far heavier
cost Vet the stream which turns the factorys
wheels and sets all its machinery in motion traVesce
or skirts many farms well, and, IL properly n"
messed is Just as ready to speed the piow as 10
the sbuttles of a woosn-mill. OF reyolve the GYM
d-s of calico prntery Nature is impartially kind
Ill ber children: but some of them know how to
,ro6t nv her GOOD will far more than others. NO
sht Iye all have much yet to learn and our grand
children will marvel at the proofs OF stupiol'y
evinoed in our highest achievements but am not
mistaken in asserting that, as yet the farmers con-
troll of Nature free gifts of Power is veryfar inferior
10 that of nearly every other class of producers.
Ihave been having much plowing done this Fall
in my orchards for what presume to be the good OF
the trees on my drained swamp, because II is not
vet fully subdued and sweetened, and judge that
the Winters freezing and thawing will aid to brng
it into condition. And then my swamp lies so low
and absolutely fiat that the thaws and rains OF
Spring render plowing it in for Oats, OF any
other crop that requires early seeding matter OF
doubt and difficulty. All the land now cultivate,
or seek TO cultivate has already been well plowed
more than once no stump or stone impedes pro-
Oress in the tracts have plowed this Fall yet
good plow drawn by two good yoke of oxen, rarely
breaks ND half an acre per day and estimate two
acres per week about what has been averaged at
cost of SIS for the plowman and driver, ofsetting
the oxens labor against the work done by the men
at the barn and elsewhere apart from plowlng. In
other words am confident that my plowing has
cost me- from first TO last, at least $40 per acre, and
would have cost still more if it had been done as
thoroughly as it ought. am quite aware that this
is high-that sandy soils and dry loans are plowed
much cheaper, and that farmers who plow well
with whom do not rank those who scratch the
earth to depth of four or five inchesD do it at
much lower rate. STILL estimate the average cost
in this country of blowing land twelve inches deep
at S5 per acre and am confident that it does not
cost cent less.
Nor is cost the only encouragement. There is not
half 80 much nor so thorough plowing among us,
especially in the FALL as there should be. The soil
is for good part of the time. too dry or too wet
the weather is inclement OF the ground is frozen:
40 the plow must stand STILL At length, the signs
are auspicous; the ground is in just the right con-
dition; and we would gladly plow ten, twenty, fifty
during the brief period wherein 1T remains so
but this is impossible Others want to improve the
opportunity as well as we extra teams are rarely to
be had at any price; and our own slow-moving oxen
refuse to be hurried Standing half mile off, you
can see them move if your eyesght is keen, and you
have some stationary object interposed whereby to
take an observation; but it is as much as ever. Ii
your soil is such that you horses, you get on,
of course, much faster; but all that you gain in
breadth you are apt to lose in depth. There may be
spans that will take the plow right along though
you sink it to the beam; but they are apt to be
slow travellers. l never knew a span that would
plow acre per day as think it should be plowed;
though, if your only object be to get over much
ground possible you may afct and ttillate
two acres, or as much more you please.
Now, l have before me letter to The Times
QIondon) by Mr.. William Smith, of Woolston, Bucks,
who states that he has just harvested his fifteenth
annual crop cultivated by steampo and has
prepared his land for his sixteenth; and he gives
details showing that he breaks up and ridges heavy
clay soils at the rate of six per day. and plows
lands already in tillage at the rate OF fully nine
acres per day. He 81 yes the total cost, Including
wear and tear) Of breaking up foot deep and
ridging 65 acres in September and October of this
year at Go 6s Cd about 800 in gold; call it $ll2
in our greenbacks and still it falls considerably
belew So (greenbacks per acre. Say that labor and
fuel are twice dear in this country as in England
and this would make the cost of thoroughly pulver-
izing by steam-power heavy clay soil to a depth of
twelve inches less than S4 per acre here. do not
believe this could be done by animal power at $40
per acre. not considering the difficulty of getting it
thoroughly done at all Mr. Smith pertinently says
Horsepower could not give at any cost such valu-
able work as this steam-power ridging and sub
soiliDg is" He tls 166 in all, makes the cost
of steam-plowing his stubbleland As. Sid. per acre
(say 81 80 greenback And he gives this interesting
item:
mo. s. light land. 70 acres, was ridge-plowed and
lae forh hat
land after the beancTOp came of III 80 nice state
that cultvatng over with horses, at a cost of
2 per acre, was all that was needed this Autumn Tor
wheat next year. The wheat was drilled four days
back
Now | am not commencing Steam as the best
source of power in aid of Agriculture. hope we
shall be able TO do better ere long. recognize the
enormous waste involved in the movement of an
engine, boiler, &c, weighing several tuns, back and
forth fields and apprehend that it must be
difficult to avoid compression of the soil there
from. A stationary engine and boiler at either end
of the field pulling gang .of plows this way and
that by means Cf ropes and puleys, must involve a
very heavy outlay for machinery and o con-
siderable cost in its removal from farm to farm,
even from field to field. Either of these may be the
best device yet perfected but we are bound to do
better yet.
Precisely how and when the winds which sweep
over our fields shall be employed to pulyerize and
till the soil, are among the many things / do not
know; but, that the end will yet be achieved. un-
doubtngly trust. / know somewhat-not muoh-of
what has been done and is doing, both in Europe
and America TO extend and diversity the utilization
of wind as a source of power and to compress and
retain il so that the gale which sweeps farm
tonight may afford reserve OF fund of power for
It's cultivation on the morrow or thereafter know
a little of what has been devised and done toward
converting and transmitting, through the medium
of compressed air. the power generated by water
faIl-say Niagara or Minnehaha-so that it may be
expended and utilized at distance of miles from its
source. mpeling machinery of all kinds at half the
of xyho ic ha