New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-05-22

.U.s of 75 cents each per day. The ground was
s.ubble heavily ridged or mlled to counteract
- ~ moisture with the trash" oflast years crop
s-;nc between the rows and constantly clogging anu
,hoklnc the plows. often requiring the machinery "
~ stopped in order to clear them. The snpson-
,ever disturbed till now-was glutinous clay loa'
,ompacted by sixty years treading of heavy HUI
teams so wet that il came up unbroken, as IL We
Zine and abont as easy to pulvoTize as so nuoH "a
leather. So obstinate is it that Mr. LaWi0"OO
reduced each gang of plows to two last il' Ibese
,honld be stalled or his wire ropes DrohoH fuIv
Two each cut furrow sixteen inches WIZ been
Two feet i'm average depth: had the s. inches
level they would have averaged tWens tooN faster
- ~roro drawn across the field 90 ioo' -
than most men would like to walk - ,ho,, &C tho
reouired TO keep them in place anu 1rned ont of
choking trashn which wou'u 49, ,,-ola bo,-o
their way though l. had been Pi'" - - !.
nreferred 10 have it burieu 'I - % ,,ooh;,or,,
Against all these mpedimen'S' ,or do,
- ,Io,ying from five to SIX ScioS p,i u"S
MSs pio"i"e ~ aoon remember and thus relieving
theln Two io'. orally superintendent moisture as
thelh ol .ho or even ordinary sub-soiliDg,
shaho" I'D never can. Mr.. Lawrence,
never u .bus plowed, makes an average of 1900
upon ner acre of Sugar where he formerly
POunIh - 500 pounds. And he regards himself yet
=. III the threshold of Steam Cultivation.
I'D even this was not the best he had to show us.
=, otber fields. perhaps half a mile distant other
nscbines were oWliipdting Cane By Steam. believe
The like of this has not yet been done elsewhere on
earth The rows of Cane fully seven feet apart;
the plants now fully foot in average hight. A
locomotive engine stands at either end of the field
moving forward OF backward by touch of the hand
of the negro boy standing upon it and looking out
tn. aAOf Exrao
six ordinary horse cutivators enlarged and fixed in
frame. whereof the half that has just stirred the
earth to depth of two and width of five feet is lifted
clear of the ground on reaching the engine which
draws it. while its counterpart is brought down TO
It's work by the plow-guider stepping upon 1t. AT
signal the boy at the other end of the field OF
land" starts his engine, and begins to wind up his
wire-rope and uncol pay out that of the drum be-
meath the opposite engine, pulling the cultlvators
through the earth they guided nearer the row
that they were kept further from as they passed IN
the opposite direction Having thus thoroughly
pulverized the space between two rows,
by traversing it twice, the engines move for
ward to the next space and repeat the
operation; and so till nightfall. MI Law
renee assured me that one such thorough working
answers for the season; whereas, while TILED by
mule-power, every cane-fed required working SIX
times per season at intervals of fifteen days set
of machinery and hands tills about twelve acres
per day. Judge the cost of this days work, IN
Guiding fuel and wear of machinery ranges from
S25 to $50 This is far below the cost of repeated
workings by mule-pOwer while it is far more efca-
cous. The land plowed and titled by steam is far
dryer than the rest. Mr. Lawrence considers
his thousand acres under tillage worth
500 per acre more than they would be
but for Steam Culture. He Will keep his two sets
of Flowing machinery at work not only throughout
each day when the earth is not too sodden but (by
RELAYS of hands, throughout each night also, when
the moon serves Steam tillage of growing
crops being nicer more critical operation, will be
confined to daylight. But the Autumn is here the
dry season. therefore most favorable TO plow1ng,
and he realizes an immense advantage IN this
Throughout the cane-cutting months of October and
November when all the mules on a plantation
are overworked at hauling up cut Cane
from the fields TO the sugar-house, so that
blowing with animals is impossible, he will
have his blowing machinery constantly at work,
doing him most excellent service in preparing for
next years crop.
i am quite aware that this letter will not convey
any clear idea either of the machinery or the pro-
cesses employed in Steam Flowing and Iillage. No
sensible man expects to be made acquainted with
these otherwise than by personal and careful OBJ
servation. If have given any toerable idea OF the
results achieved. their cost and Their value, 1
have done all l purpOsed l close, then'
with an avowal of my confident belief that
Mr.. Ffingharn Lawrence has rendered an immense
,eryice TO American Agriculture, especially that of
the Prairie States by demonstrating the benefits not
merely of Steam Flowing but Of subsequent Steam
Tillage and that the day is not remote wherein the
"barrens Of Long Island and New-Jersey the rlch
Intervales of the Connecticut and the Susquehanna,
will be proftaby plOwed and titled to depth Of "A
10 30 inches by Steam Power and that far larger and
surer crops than those of the past viii therefrom be
realized II. G.