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rate. The simplicity of their structure, their strength, and ease with which they are handled, are now much greater than ever before. Most of the machinery for cutting grass and grain, used in Ohio, is manufactured in the State. The nearer home farmers can procure a good machine, the more likely they are to own one. As to which is the best mower or reaper there is of course diversity of opinion, and it would require nicer tests than have been given them at any trial to decide this question satisfactorily.

HORSE RAKES -Very few farmers who have grass to cut try to get along without a horse rake. Their use commenced before the introduction of mowing machines, and now, in all the grass-growing regions of the State, little hay is raked by hand.

PITCHING MACHINES.--Machines for pitching hay are not yet in general use, though they are rapidly being introduced in many places.

ROPING HAY.-This method of drawing hay to the barn or stack, when situated in the meadow, is common in some districts and is not known in others. The rapidity with which a winrow can be drawn to the stack without pitching a pound of it is very great.

With the aid of the mower and reaper, the horse rake, the pitching machine and rope, farmers now secure their crops with less than half the number of hands it formerly required. It is doubtful if in any department of labor has there been as great improvement, in so short a time, as has been effected for the farmer by these implements.

On their comparative value an intelligent farmer (Mr. D. Atwater) of Mantua, Portage county, writes as follows: "For several years I have cut most of my grass with a mowing machine; have raked it with a horse-rake; have drawn it to the barn or stack with a rope; and, for the last two years, have pitched it with a horse-fork. I have found all of these improvements to work well together, and that, by working much less myself than formerly, I could make more than twice the progress with half the help, and do it equally well. I have found them a great saving when means to hire were not abundant. Though I count all of these valuable, if I were to class them according to their real value in laborsaving, I would say first the horse-rake; second, the rope; third, the mower; and fourth, the horse fork. I place the rope before the mower because five dollars will pay the expense of one for ten years, and often the use of one two hours will save more than that amount.

CULTIVATORS AND HORSE-HOES.-In cultivating Indian corn and potatoes, there has been great improvement within a few years. Formerly, a shovel-plow, of poor quality, was the only horse tool used in the cornfield; what it did not do, must be done by the hoe or left undone. Now, the shovel-plow has been greatly improved, and the cultivator has been almost universally introduced. This and the plow are found to work wel together. By their thorough use little is left to be done by hand In addition to these, the horse-hoe is being introduced, and in s ils free from stones and other impediments to its use it is found to work advantageously, both in destroying weeds and in mellowing the soil. It does the

work better than can be done with the hoe, and the saving in both time and labor is very great. A boy, with a good horse or mule with the improved tools for working among corn, potatoes, and other crops grown in rows, can keep fifty acres in a well cultivated condition. The cultivator and the hoe give level culture, which is being more generally adopted than hilling, especially for corn.

ROLLERS AND CLOD-CRUSHERS.-The clod crusher has not yet been very generally introduced into the State. A few have tried and found it to work well for the purpose of reducing soil to a fine state. It can never be used when it is wet, without injury. Rollers are considerably used before sowing to reduce lumps; after the plant has come up, to fix the roots more firmly, and on light soils, to consolidate them. It is also much used to improve the surface of meadows. It requires a good deal of care to be able to use the roller and clod crusher at the right time, otherwise more harm than good will result. With proper precaution, they are valuable implements, and should have a more extensive use. On light soils wheat is not likely to succeed without the use of the roller to press it together on the surface, and give it more firmness, and for this purpose its use on such soils produces excellent results.

GRAIN DRILLS.-Grain-drills are in general use throughout the wheat growing region of the State. Though they may not have fulfilled the claim set up for them when first introduced-" that their use would add several bushels per acre to the yield of grain "-yet, where it is extensively grown, their use is the most economical method of sowing it. No amount of machinery for sowing grain will greatly increase the yield, unless, at the same time, the soil be better fitted for the crop. One advantage in the use of the drill is, that it requires the soil to be better prepared for its use, than when the grain is sown broadcast. That it deposits the seed more evenly, with less labor, and ia a better position to root well, is now generally admitted.

PLOWING.-Improvement in plowing is the basis of all improved culture of the soil. Without it, other improvements are of little importance. Plows have been very greatly improved within a few years, and adapted to almost every kind of soil or variety of work; so that now there is no reason why we should not have perfection in the art.

The object of plowing is two-fold: the pulverization and loosening of the soil that it may be easily penetrated by the roots of plants, and be rendered permeable to both moisture and the atmosphere, and the covering of weeds, grass, stubble or manure. Providing the soil contains abundance of plant food, we cannot give the roots too much room to pene rate it. Where it is hard, the rootlets come in contact with only a small portion of soil, find little food, and make a feeble growth. Any one who will take the trouble to examine the ramifications of the roots of a hill of corn planted in a well plowed field, and compare it with one from a hard, impenetrable soil, will at once see the benefit of pulverization.

REQUISITES TO GOOD PLOWING.-The first is a good plow, of the right shape, sharp, bright, and adapted to the variety of plowing intended. Where the main object is to loosen the soil, it should take a narrow furrow; where it is to turn

under grass or turf, it is better that it should cut a wide slice. Plows made to cut narrow can never be made to turn a wide furrow well; but a wide-working plow can be made to work narrow without difficulty. It is better that it turn a furrow that shall lap on the previous one. The point where the beam joins the mould-board should be somewhat higher from the ground than plows are usually made, in order to prevent clogging. A wheel should be attached, which can easily be removed; and the points should be of the best quality.

Next to a good plow, is required a good team. The greatest fault with our plow teams is, they are not strong enough. To plow well, it is important that we plow deep, and to do this strength is required. If the horses in Ohio were twenty-five per cent. stronger, our plowing would be improved in proportion. We usually adapt the depth of our plowing to the strength of the team. It is also important that they be well trained. If half the attention of the driver is occupied in guiding his horses, he will plow very imperfectly. We do not give sufficient attention to the training of horses for this purpose. They ought to be so under the control of the plowman, that his word is sufficient to produce a change in any movement he desired. A plow horse should not be a tall, thin animal, but low and broad both in the chest and on the back. The less unnecessary gearing attached to the animal while at work the better.

With a good team and a good plow we are, however, only prepared to do good work; it requires a master hand to do the guiding. In England the plowman does little else, and learns his trade so perfectly that every furrow is turned with the greatest precision; very little difference exists in their depth, or the evenness with which they are turned, and a line could scarcely be drawn with less variation from right to left.

One reason why our farmers plow so imperfectly is, they undertake to do too much. One acre, or at most one and a quarter, is as much as a single team can do well in a single day; and yet most plowmen pretend that two acres is only a good day's work. So much cannot be done well. True, it may not be so important that the same perfection be reached as by the English plowman, yet it is necessary that all the soil be turned and as completely pulverized as possible. Upon the perfection with which the soil is tilled, in a great measure, depends our crop. In "striking out a land," it will add to the ease with which the work is well done if great accuracy be observed, so that throughout its whole length. it be of the same width. Wherever there is variation will be found imperfection; the plow cuts too wide here and too narrow there; leaves some unturned, and some turned a second time.

RIDGING OR LAP-PLOWING.-In soil too hard and stiff, by its preponderance of clay, there is great advantage gained by ridging the land in the fall, that is, by turning two furrows on to an unplowed surface, so that their edges shall touch each other, thus leaving the land in alternate furrows and ridges. The frosts of winter have a very important influence in ameliorating such soils and reducing them to a well pulverized condition. This practice might be more extensively follow ed by many of our farmers with great profit.

DEEP PLOWING.-The practice of plowing deep is gaining ground throughout the State. Many farmers disturb the soil three or four inches below what was practiced a few years ago. The benefits of this course need not be enumerated here. Still deeper plowing will be practiced when farmers thoroughly underdrain their land, and save and make all the manure they can advantageously use. Where deepening the soil turns up a crude earth unfit for nourishing plants, it had better not be practiced, unless at the same time means are taken to improve its character by manuring. The average depth to which the soil is plowed by most of our farmers is from five to nine inches.

SUBSOILING.-The practice of subsoil plowing is not common in this State. While this is the case, the advantages said to come from its practice have induced many to plow deeper than before; and it is mainly from a disposition to believe in the advantages of subsoiling, that we are indebted for the deeper plowing most farmers give their soil than formerly.

PLOWING MATCHES.-These are less frequently held than formerly. Much good might result from a plowing match held in every township once a year. This would be preferable to having it in connection with county agricultural societies, when few people are likely to participate either in the plowing or as lookers-on. If held in every township under strict rules, farmers and their sons could give exclusive attention to it, and so great would be the interest they could not fail to be largely attended. It would be best to hold them under the auspices of a Farmer's Club, and, for the benefit of all who participated, a circular, defining what is considered good plowing, its object and the means by which it is best accomplished, should be furnished to each competitor. Men can never work above their ideal; if this be low, their work is poorly done; if high, though they may not attain, they will come near it. To institute a plowing match where the ideal is poor plowing, will give little pleasure or profit. It is not necessary that the number of plowmen should be large; men who do not contest, will gain much information about good plowing, and how to do it, by seeing others work.

FARM IMPROVEMENTS.

"Is liming practiced to any extent; and with what result?

"Has any system been adopted for preserving stable manures?

"Has underdraining been practiced to any considersble extent; and with what result?

"Are clod-crushers or rollers used? "Are cultivators in general use? "Has the steam threshing machine been introduced into your county? "Are portable engines in use on farms?"

more to fear from stagnant water It has more to do with the non

UNDERDRAINING.-The most important improvement in agriculture in the present age is underdraining. The farmer has in his soil than from too much or too little rain. success of agriculture than is usually supposed.

By stagnant water is meant

standing water, that which does not flow, is not agitated; quiet, still, or sluggish.

The purest water, when left in this state long, becomes impure, unwholesome. Stagnant water may exist in bodies, as lakes ponds, rivers, marshes and hollows, or it may exist in the soil. In the former condition, the chief injury arises from the unhealthy atmosphere it produces-from its being unsightly to the eye, and in its injuring animals and men who drink it. Its stagnation in the soil is what the farmer has most to fear. A certain class of plants luxuriate in stagnant water, taking up the impurities it contains, which would otherwise contaminate the air, and converting them into their own structure. Such plants, however, have little agricultural value. Stagnant water is poisonous to most useful plants cultivated by the farmer. They will not grow in it. When water becomes stagnant in meadows and fields of grain, the flow of sap is interfered with; it becomes loaded with crude matter unfit to nourish it, and, to use a common expression, "drowns out" in proportion to the degree of stagnation of water in the soil.

A tree or plant is very different from an animal. It does not go from place to place for its food. The roots permeate the soil, and, to a certain extent, travel, partly to find food but also to give surface through which that food may be brought to them. Now stagnant water does two things: it presents to the roots matter which will not nourish but poison, and at the same time cuts off the supply of water which would bring plant food. Food is taken in solutions. The water changes its position in the soil, passing in contact with the roots gives up to them whatever matter it contains fit for their growth, passes on and fresh water takes its place. The water stagnates; no fresh food is brought to the plant, and its growth is at once checked. There is much of our land in which water is almost constantly in this condition, and in which plants do not grow well, though it may be rich in plant food, as in low places, on the borders of streams, and where the surface is so level that water does not readily make its way to the streams. Much of our tillable soil contains stagnant water during that portion of the year when rain is abundant and long continued. A corn or wheat field, where this state exists, shows signs of sickness, and the crop never comes to a full development. Hundreds of the corn and wheat fields of Ohio contain portions of soil in which this condition exists. There is little doubt that the agriculture of the State is diminished fifty per cent. by it. A remedy is, however, found in underdraining. How this relieves the soil is best illustrated by comparing it to earth in a pot when water is frequently applied in quantities so large that the means for its escape are not sufficient. Make a hole in the bottom of the pot, and this surplus water passes through the soil leaving whatever matter in solution it may contain for any plant that may be growing in it. Now underdraining taps the soil to the depth of three or four feet, lets out the surplus or standing water it contains, relieves the drowning roots, and gives an opportunity for them to receive fresh supplies of food from the changing fluids which constantly pass them.

Another advantage we should gain from underdraining would be the prevention of drouths. In the dryest season the air is always charged with large quantities of moisture which needs only the right conditions to deposit it in showers

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