Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1871-08-17

.UhoDA1 1 MOn04N0. 1
vas ~ssd. and when Il uosunG ev,ur
came il peaseaBioa Il was ooohi1onoa I
vcreoas. valuslen elay-bs1.
The se& owners Arss ep~ae;sa ~ Do
remote ali The hedges. EGhass ssrn II
land we're as once addsd - - estass.
Beyoad shis fact ceons.t - HaelisA
hedges il usaeesssary. Net svssy rei
If groana was 1ndsrdraiao1 1hsss t;ls
draias wers put 10 nust III ard seseS-
Or than usual. ssaeads voro IA sut ssii}
.sips from the bGllaiags i - s,aGss.-
Ihess 1ivids5 the .plaea - - -.
<pe6t6 sz16asyds tTacfiso eaei06 d.
vsls whsn as sork blowing Or eultisaing.
The steam plow ussd i Of the Fowler
pattern. and works upes The ''siagle sa.
gine plan" This stsan plosisg business
il one that deserves careful exaninasion.
Concerning the various methods Of steam
plowing I eannot now speak. At present
We will content ourselves with che actual
work done On this farm. and leave the RI
val Howard and Fowler systems to aneth-
er time. Trsc,i0n engines work fe farm
work must also Be discussed hereafter.
At present it 10 enough to know that
this engine is traction engine. that Is.
moves itself like . locomotive. When
plowing or narrowing 10 to be done. stsan
is started. the engine rolls out Of the barn
and proceeds leisurely to the 6sld. drag
ging after it train Of wagons containing
the plows. ropes. &c. The working force
consnts Of three men and three boys.-
The engine takes up its station On the
road. At one end Of the field The plow.
with its four shares. 10 run on to the land.
beside the engine. and facing away from
it at righ. angles. The wire rope is carried
to the opposite side Of the Geld and pas
scd through block. on \ movable an
chor. having disc wheels that cut into the
ground At the hesdland. The rope is con-
nectsd with the plow and with the drum
under the engine. The engineer mounts
his locomotive. The man at the anchor
stands ready to movo 1t as the plow cuts
its wide path through the soil. The as
sistanss take their places along the ropes
with iron frames. over which il runs to
prevent friction. and the plovman mounts
his strange machine. This is q pair Of
wheels. having two huge iron arms. each
containing four plows, each set facing the
other. The plowman. the foreman Of the
gang. waves a white fap to start. The
engine puts Justify. The ropes tighten
and groan. One arm. containing four
plows. sinks into the ground. while the
other, slightly elevated in the air. goes
backward in front. The dust aiss. and
with tremendous force the soil il plowed
up and turned completely over to . depth
of six inches. and at . speed of an acre an
hour. As the plow goes tearing through
tho land. the boys remove the "porters"
over which the rope runs and replace them
as the plow passes.
A wave Of the fag and the engine slows
down. Another signal and i. stops with
the plow at the opposite side Of the field
The plowmsn changes his seat, tho an
chor is moved slightly and tho engine
starts forward few feet. The Gag waves,
the rope tightens. and the pIow starts on
its return journey. making four new fur
rows.
ADVANTAGES or MACHINERY.
With these truly splendid means the
land is plowed subsciled or narrowed at
a very rapid rate Narrowing is perform.
cd at the rate Of twenty acres or more q
day. The exact figures in regard TO plow-
ing will give in due time.
For depth. chsapness and thorough
Of culture machinery leads everything -
Its advantages on large farms are too great
TO need discussion. For the prarie farmer.
and especially the man who can command
q water-powsr, this system, or something
like it. presents many features worthy Of
imitation. Should it happen tha. farm
er has water power in the centre Of his
place. q slight modification of the rope and
blocks. so that the mo,ive-power need not
move. would enable him to cultivate .
large farm with single waser-xhssl. In
spite OF its high irst cost. steam or other
power beside horses is destined to do oil
our heavy farm work. Steam is being ra-
pidly introduced into English farms. and
not alone for blowing. The crops can be
handled. threshed. stored and prepared in
various ways for market by steam. The
same engine that plows the land can drive
the roo,-cutter. saw the wood. pump wa
Ter. hoist the hay to the lctts. run the
grain elevator. or drag dosen loads to
market at once along the country roads.
CHEMICAL EXAMINATION.
To return to our clay farm After the
irst thorough tearing and clearing Up Of
the place had been accomplished. the next
thing was 70 have . careful chemical ex-
animation made Of each feld In fact the
chemis. is retained. and makes regular re.
ports upon the soil. Upon these reports
the mannral practice Is founded. This,
was told. excited at frst the greatest
amusement among the neighboring farm
ers. Now they rub their sleepy eyes and
admit that the chemist u ono Of the best
men on the farm.
The crops were put in entirely BY maehi-
merry. As far - possible steam vas en-
ployed, and their horses have followed the
engine. None Of the tirssome hand labor
followed about London vas allowed. The
frss four crops wers comparatively snail,
and did not pay. Soon they began to i'm
prove. and continued improving till last
Summer. when the largest crops ever
known 70 be gathered in Che country wers
cut from these unnanured fields; that .,
6elds not supplied With barn nauurs.-
The oniy manure used w1 from she boaa
mill and the chemical works.
Disposing Of the crops il puculiar. Jss,