Where the are pretty large, stones not abundant, and the soil heavy, the odds are all iu favor of steam cultivation. Not only is the tillage more thorough than could he otherwise accomplished, but there is a greater chance of getting the land worked in better condition. That is to say, the great screed by which the soil can he turned—on an average, about three-fourths of an acre per the advantages of weather and seasonable soil to be more extensively embraced. Then every farmer knows, or should know, the benefits of deep cultivation, where the soil admits; and by steam-power, more than iu any other way, this great desideratum is likely to be obtained. There is a danger, however, arising from deep plowing, provided the increased depth is not gradu ally affected. For instance, if three or four inches of fresh soil is suddenly brought to the surface, And the manuring applied in the usual way, the succeeding crop, if not even crops, is often disappointing. Theifresh excavation, in short, has not been fertil ized unless very special treatment is bestowed. The best time to introduce the deep furrow is preparatory to the green crop, as with the bulk of the ordinary farming (Scotch especially) that is the rotation which is accompanied by the heaviest manuring of the course. Stunted crops do not now follow the introductiou of steam-power, or rather deep
ened cultivation, to any material extent, but when the causes and cures were not so well known in the earlier days of steam-plowing history, failures for a year or two were more notable. The high price of horses, lately developed into extravagance, together with the growing and already high rate of farm-servants' wages, have stimulated consid erably the application of steam-power to the tillage of the soil of Britain. The two principal firms at Leeds and Bedford, already referred to, have an enormous demand just now from all quarters for steam-cultivating apparatus. In Britain, it is computed there are Considerably over 1000 steam-tackles at work, and the exports to the conti nent, to some parts of America, to the East and West Indies, and to Egypt, is considera He and growing.