DIGGING V. PLOUGHING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1509, 17 March 1887, Page 3

DIGGING V. PLOUGHING.

(Pastorol and Af/riculuralNtwa.) " Mioaa that 000 farthest faro bes\" I!-, will be well for agr cultural implement makers iv th'jso colonies to be on tho watch f< r the fi r Bt eigns, of a rcvolu lon m agriculture, which ebaJl d'ivo the plough ictj obscurity, and mako epndo tt;!ago the mains' ny of tho fi»r:m«i. Plougho oiaka harden ; they stir tho coi> to a certain dt-ptb, bat harden it at tho bottom cf tV.e farrow. It b&B bern placed on a ccicut (10 raiiu daring tho lnut few joarn tb&t the air ia the best manure, tnd thosough exporure of coil to it, Buch as 1b obtained by digging rather than pl'jGghiug. ia the cheapest, and most effective method of increasing its fert.liiy. The idea baa been carried so far into praciico that the " Pall Mall G: zjtte," a well known London evening p"per, has th< light it worth whilo to inlcrviow Mr r Jhop. O. Darby, the iuventor >A a steam digger which is to replace all ploughs Tho digger obtained the Bilver medal at the Uay»l Agricultural Show at Oarlßla. In its pro.^eot form it 1b heavy nnd costly. It io tha result of some nine yo»rs experiments. Tho email mzo has threo forks of thirteen tioes each, eight inchoß deep, and two inches broad. Tho engine is placed sthvrart chips, with a funuol at each end, ao otherwise the wator would run away from the fire box when on a dnolivity "he tinec enter the soil, perpendicular. y, and leave it »t an unglo of 45;\ef>., throwiog back spadeful after spadeful with the precision of a gardonor. The charge mado for digging r.y tbis machine ou the hiring system il £1 an acre, or 15s au wore when the hirer finds the 2owt or 3c\?t of coal nocoatuiy. Tho ordinary 6j-6t m of cultivaion m ilßsex coHta a third more thao t'a now systpm, and it io clafrriad that the crops are wiwayß btttnr'U The larger inachint-s have suven forks each, i-'fc Gin wide, wiih Keven tines. One of these will do tho work of 170 raon, and do it bot'er.