t that it is only adapted to clay land free from
obstructions, has prevented its general use. We cannot help believing
that, by the aid of steam, on our prairies, at least, some such machine
may be found practicable and economical.

PRATT'S DITCH DIGGER,

Patented by Pratt & Bro., of Canandaigua, is attracting much attention.
We have not seen it in operation, nor have we seen statements which
satisfy us that it is just what is demanded. It is stated, in the
_Country Gentleman_, to be incapable of cutting a ditch more than two
and a half feet deep. A machine that will do so much is not to be
despised; but more than one half the digging remains of a four-foot
ditch, after two and a half feet are opened, and we want an implement to
do the lowest and worst half. It is stated that, in one instance, a
ditch, 60 rods long, about two feet deep, in hard clay, was cut with
this machine, worked by two horses, in five hours.

We trust that the enterprising inventors will perfect their implement,
so that it will open drains four feet deep, and thus meet the great want
of the public. It is not to be expected that any such implement can be
made to operate in ground full of stones and roots; and inventors should
not be discouraged by the continual croakings of those sinister birds,
which see nothing but obstacles, and prophecy only failure.

[Illustration: Fig. 89.--PRATT'S DITCH DIGGER.]

The drain plow was first introduced into Scotland by M'Ewan. The soil in
his district was mostly a strong unctuous clay, free from stones. He
constructed an immense plow, worked by 12 or 16 horses, by means of
which a furrow-slice, 16 inches in depth, was turned out; and, by a
modification of the plow, a second slice was removed, to the depth, in
all, of two feet. This plow is expensive and heavy, and incapable of
working to sufficient depth.

Mr. Paul, of Norfolk Co., England, has lately invented an ingenious
machine for cutting drains, of which we give an elevation.

[Illustration: Fig. 90.--PAUL'S DITCHING MACHINE.]

It is worked by a chain and capstan, by horses, and, of course, may be
operated by steam or lever power. It is drawn forward, and, as it moves,
it acts as a slotting machine on the land, the tools on the
circumference of the acting-wheel taking successive bites of the soil,
each lifting a portion from the full depth to which it is desired that
the trench should be cut, and laying the earth thus removed on the
surface at eit