New-York tribune., 1870-11-05
WHAT KNOW OF FARMING
NJ HORACE GREELEY.
XLI.
STEAM IN AGRlCULTURE.


brook brswls and foams idly adowp the precpice OF
hillside the farmer grinds his grain, churns his
cream and turns his rlndstone, just as though fall
ing water did not embody power. He draws his
Logs to one mill, and his Wheat, Corn, Rye to
another and returns in due season with his boards
or his neal but the lesson which the mill plainly
teaches remains by him unread Where running or
lcapng water is not there brisk breezes and ercer
Galos ere apt to be- But the average farmer ignores
the mechanical use of stream and breeze alike taxing
lis own muscle 10 achieve that which the blind
forces of Nature stand ready to do at his command
1t may not and think it will not, be always thus.
Steam. as cheap source of practically limitless
power. is hardly century old; yet it has already
revolutionized tie mechanical and manufacturing
industry Of ChristendOm. 1t weaves nearly every
ward Of all the Textile Fabrics that clothe and shelter
and beautify the human family. 1t fashions every
bar and every rail of Iron of Steel ii impels the
machinery of nearly every manufactory of wares or
of implements and it is very rapidly suppsnting
wind the propulsion of vessels on the high seas
- 1t hss already done rivers and on most inland
@stArs
Water ia. however. still employed as a power in
certain sases, but mainly because its adaptation TO
4his end has cost many thousands of dollars which
sts disnsa would render worthless.
AM quite within bounds in estimating that nine
Senths If all the material force employed by man in
Manufactures. Mechanics, and Navigation, is sup
piled ny Steam, and that this disproportion will be
incred TO ninety mine hundredths before the close
OF this century.
For Agriculture Steam has done very much, in the
transportation Of crops and of fertilizers, but very
f.tle IN the preparation OF cultivation Of the soil.
f steam wagons for roads or fields steam pows for
pulyerizing and deepening the soil, and steam-cuti
Sators for keeping weeds down and rendering tlage
more efficient, we have had many heralded in san
Euino bulletins throughout the last forty years. but
not aware that of them has fulfilled the
guine hopes of its author. Though dozen Steam
Flows have been invented in this country, and
Grad imported from Europe. doubt that single
square mile of our country's surface has been
plowed wholly by steam down to this hour. If il
has, louisiana State which one would not natu-
rally expect TO find in the of industrial progress
has enjoyed the benefit and earned the credit Of
The achievement.
Of what Steam has yet accomplished in direct aid
of Agriculture, have little 10 saw though in Great
Britain quite a number of steam plows are actually
at work In the fields and am assured with fair
Until something breaks or gives out, of
these plows does its appointed work better and
cheaper than such work is can be done by animal
power. but all the steam plows whereof have any
knowledge seem too bulky, too complicated. too
costly ever 10 win their way into general use.
saline them only as hints and indictments toward
sOmething better suited to the purpose.
What our farmers need is not a steam plOw a
upe-Iity but a locomotive that can travel with ia
rility not only on common wagon-roads, but across
EVEN freshly-plOved fields without embarrassment
and prove as docile tOits managers touch
nge span Of horses Such locomotive should not cost
moro than $780, nor weigh more than tun when
Laden with fuel and water, for half-hours steady
work. It should be so contrived that il may be
Stitched In minute TO plow, harrow, a wagon
or cart @ saw or grist mill, a mower or
reaper. thresher stalk-cutter, stump or rock
rueT and made useful in pumping and draining Oper-
stons digging cellar OF laying up wall, also in
ditching OF trenchng. We may have to wait some
years yet for servant dexterous and doce, yet
feel confident that children viii enjoy and appre-
ciste his handiwoTk.
The farmer often needs far more power at one
nesson than at another, and is compelled to retain
sod subsist working animals at high cost through
months in which he has no work for them, because
be must have them when those months have trans
pirod IL he could replace those animals by
machine which, when its season of usefulness is
over could be cleaned, oiled, and put away under
ght roof until next seeding time the saving alike
pf cost and trouble would be very considerable.
When our American reapers first challenged atten-
sion IN Great Britain, the general skeptcism as 10
their efficiency was cOmteracted By the suggestion
Ehat even though reaplng Dy machinery ehOuu
prove moro expensive than reaping by hand the
ability 20 cut and the grain-crop more rapidly
shan hitherto would Overbalance that enhance
snent of cost. In the British Isles, day
after day of chilling wind and rain is
often encountered in harvest-tme the stand
Eng Wheat or Oats or Barley becoming
sirag,led OF lodged. beaten out while the owner
Jmpatiently awaits the recurrence of sunny days.
yhsn these At length arrive, be is anxious 10 har-
vest many acres at once since his Grain is wasting
and he Knows not how soon cloud and tempest may
again be his portion But all his neghbors are in
Ike predcsment with himself. and all equally in
Sent ,n hurrying the harvest 80 that little extra
hrlp lttainahle. II now the aid of machine may
Dr. commanded which viii cut Is or 90 acres per day.
D. cares ie-s how much that work viii cost than how
soou , can De effected. Hence, even though cutting
b. horsepower had proved more costly than cutting
D. .r.nd 10 ,yould still have been welcome.
SOFT ~ with Flowing, here and almost everywhere.
Or '.uaers have this year been unable 10 begin
BloUin1f for Winter Grain SO early as they desired.
~ f.lson OF the intense heat and drouth whereby
furred brick Much seed will in consequence have
1a,. i'oen sown too late, while much seeding will
hav h,en rreeluded altogether by inability 10 pre-
par .hs ground in due season. If machine had
lecn o. band whereby X or 20 acres per day could
ha,- 1r'on plOwcd and narrowed thou sandswOuld
5I,. invoked It's aid TO enable them 10
their Grain in tOleTable season, even
thnusl In. cost had been essentially
Heavier Than that Of old-fashioncd plowing. L
ag.r.I Illinois on ihy 18th and l4th Of May, 1sj9
brn ia. ,ntiIe soil seemed soaked and sodden with
1no..sint farns. which lad not yet ceased pouring
IL, tl,.r. i,aqu little blowing