Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-03-17
Use of the Steam Plow.

1t must not be thought that the alb
sence OF steam plows on American
farms is any evidence OF Il want OF en-.
terprlse on the part OF the farmers.
There are many reasons why these
labor-saving chimes are not so wide
ly used us they are in Europe. First,
our farms are smaller, the owners are
the farmers themselves and are rarely
possessed OF any more capital than is
sufficient barely to stock the farms.
while in Europe the farms are much
larger and the owners are wealthy.
Here our country roads entirely for
bid the transport of the heavy ma
chimes and the bridges are too weak
to bear the weight. Ii it had been
otherwise, there mi ght have been in
stances where a steam-plowing outfit
could have done good service, rs is
done elsewhere, by going from farm to
farm, as the thrashing machines do.
Enterprise is not wanting, but OPP
portunity. There are several OF these
machines at work in the South, and in
one case the owner is o farmer who
has no more than 800 acres OF land.
But he has q thrashing machine which
employs an engine, and this he uses in
the Spring for blowing his own and the
neighborS' farms. This is an evidence
that enterprise is not altogether
absent from the native Southerners,
and shows to some extent the change
that is taking place in the agriculture
OF the South. In South Carolina, on
one OF the rice plantations near
Georgetown, there is a steamplowing
outfit at work which is furnished with
electric lights, SO that the work may
60 on continually night and day
Another OF the same kind is working
in California, by which 16O acres are
plowed in the twenty-four hours at a
cost OF only l2la cents per acre. No
doubt as such facts become known
there will be more OF this profitable
work done and the cost OF the crops
lessened.
Farmers Should Understand Chem
istry.
If there is one science more than an
other of which the elements at least
should be we'll understood by farmers,
and especially by those who under
take the instruction of farmers, it is
chemistry. This science to those
most important parts OF farm work.
the fertilizing of the soil and the feed
ing of animals. And these cannot be
undertaken with any degree OF efficien-
cy without some knowledge of chemis-
try. And here is an instance of the
truth in this.
A writer and lecturer on dairy sub
jects says the woody fibre of straw
and cornstalks cannot be made food
by any process. But by q very
commonly-used process starch is
made IRON such woody fibre as saw
dust, and the starch is then convert
ed into sugar, OF which a large
quantity is put off upon the public in
the form of syrup as glucose, and this
is quite as nutritious as other sugar
Moreover. this same person is strong
advocate OF the practice of ensilage,
OF which he cannot say too much in
regard to its value as increasing the
digestibility and nutritive value OF
the fodder. There is no question that
by this process the woody fiber OF the
corn is changed into digestible iood to
such an extent as to pay all the cost
of putting the fodder into the silo,
where it undergoes such process OF
fermentation as tc convert some OF
the cellulose into nutritious fatty sub
stances that increase the feeding value
of the cornstalks. very small &C
quaintance with the elements ofchem-
istry would have prevented such a
mistake as this from being given to
farmers who are thus misled by this
class OF teachers.