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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commengant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol y (meaning 'END"), whichever applias. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbola ^*>signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de he)t;t en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nf§csssaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata d to It e pelurfi, ;on d n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 — I "Hfm. piiiiiilipgpiiiii^ :^ ROMATNE'S MODERN HAMILTON, ONT.: 1887, 4 f, '•.•».' 2C cc < U3 rn ST. O CC o > o cc -./ ^f'tiV' r ^ i f -V cc ,c; u - as "- Qc; •- < u. ,— : g^ ^- -. < -* ^> u T :f h .- C v^ L "1 ;:: o . w u ?r. ^ > p— < i i~. •«!' .Z^ •^* k> ■ 1*"' i^ it-. ^ » o ^ f iX :•: r ^ ^ u, /. r**" o ^ ? •=. CjJ **- »-^ ..— > -*■ Ci ~ z U3 ROMAINE"S M()l)h:K'N H ""l T 1 THIS MACHINK IS INTP:N1jK1i K) [)0 NF.AKIA ALI, IMK WORK Ol' llll FARM, WirHOU'l' 'IMK AID OK IIOKSK lAllOK, lAK MORE CHliAFI.Y ANU IHOROUCiHI Y I'HAN 11' IS PERFORMK.I) liV PRKSKN'l MKIHOIJS. GRIFFIN & KIDNKR, FRINTKRS, HAMIl.ldN, ON I'. 1887. IN rivM )i )i :l ri< >n. The wiiler of this pcimphlet from his ciilirst d.ivs h.is hvrd u|M)ti ;i : farm, and is < iinvcrsaril with all the work thtirfol, in its minulrsl dclails. He has also had ahundani opitortunity of obscivin^ thiint'thods adopted I by ihc n)osl advanccil aj^riculturists of itu' a^'c, and lias studied this s^icU ' scicncf ifi its s'-icntilic aspot is, and should thcirfoif be in a |)ositi()n tc^ say somcthinj,^ from a farmer's standpoint as lo the probable merits of this in venlion, and its adaptability to the work which it claims to perform. Ho has no hesitation in expressing the conviction that the principles sought b\ Mr. Komaine in tlv.* construction of In k Mookkn Sikam I'AKM- i-;k, namely, cultivating the soil by me.ins oJ rotatory traction, and stirring it without Joot of man or beast treading upon it, will eventually revolution I ize the present processes of agriculture. ! All this is claimed by the invention herein described, and although the writer can say nothing from the standpoint of a machinist, (that is .-laid by competeni authorities el.sewhere), he sees no obstacle in the line of agri culture ih.at should hinder the successful working of this machine on all large farms where the laiul is not broken or very imeven. " RoMAiNE's Steam Farmer, The Little Use, comparatively, that has hitherto been Made of Steam in the Various Processes of Tillage. It is a very singular fact that hitherto sieain has been employed to so small an extent in the various departments of agriculture. It is true that it is now being emi)loyed in performing the work of threshing, in perhajis a majority of instances, and in a limited degree in assisting with the various operations connected with the preparation of food for stock ; but it is ecjually true that in the more difficult and labored operations of tillage it has up to the present had almost no place. And this if. all the more won- derful when we consider the importance of these operations. While steam has made the waters of the ocean to subserve the purposes of a rapid high- way, drawing nations nearer rather than separating them ; while it has brought the extremes of continents into proximity by means of the iron horse ; while it prepares etjually the garments with "which we are clothed, and the most delicate and intricate decorations that adorn ihese garments, it still sees man jjlodding on in conducting the operations of tillage in much the same way that these were preformed some centuries ago. How Accounted For. While this fact is ap])arent to the most careless observer, it is not so easily accounted for. It cannot be that the inventive genius of the race has reached the limit of attainment and is beating a retreat from the mighty material problems as yet unsolved. It cannot be that there is anything so nuuh more difticult inherently in the processes of agriculture than in those of other industries. Nay ; the sjiinning of a single thread is certainly a more difficult operation in itself than stirring a piece of soil , and yet, while steam has been taught to perform the one operation infinitely more easily than the most skilled housewife can do it, that which is surely less complex has virtually l)affled every effort to the succe.ssful application of steam to its performance. It may be that the bent of human genius has not been fastened upon this branch of the world's work as offering a hopeful or remunerative field. If so, it is surpassingly strange. It is the princi])al l)usiness of the ships of nations to carry the products of the soil in one form or another from shore to shore, and ot railways to do the same from place to place on land : but surely the production of those products is of far more importance than their transit, for without the first the second class of operations would not be ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. re(iuired, and their production in llic casiesf and most effective way and at the loivesi possible cost is a j)rob!ein that iniglit well engage the attention alike of the i)easant and the king. It is possible, too, that the attempts that have hilliorto been made in this direction (for attempts have been made) have been based uj)on false |)rem- ises. Indeed this is almost certain. Thousands of years before ( 'incinnatus followed the plough beside his neat little Roman cottage in fields that smiled on Tiber, the j)rinciple that has shaped the tillage of the world was pro- pounded, whether by 'I'ubal-f 'ain or later, mankind will never know. At any rate, it was practised alike by the f'hi'istine in the days of Saul, the peasant of Attica in the time of Milti.ides, and in earlier and later epochs amongst many nations and peoples widely scattered, and is now adopted by every nation on the earth that pretends to cultivate the soil. We refer to that mode, based upon the principle of doing it by means of sliditii; traction, which governs nearly all the methods now in vogue, as harrowing and culti- vating, but more |)articularly that operation called />/ou!;/irni^; which up to the present time has been looked upon as indispensable to the successful ])roduction of a seed-bed for ( rops on a large scale. So wedded to this method has the world become that anyone who has the hardihood to pronounce the principle as radically defective must first en- case himself in armour that is scorn-proof. Ancient principles are venerable as well as ancient institutions, and when encrusted in the successive coatings of the ap[)roval of the centuries, it will take a sharp mattock indeed to break the encasement ; and yet this is the very task that the inventor of the Modern Steam Farmer has taken upon himself. In the calm confidence of full assurance he approaches tnis mountain with the full expectation that it will one day become a plain, although he may not live to see it. Beside the cemetery where his ashes are soon to lie the {feasant will till the soil by a very different i)rocess. He charges the princijjle as being de/ecti't'e at its base, defective at its centrt. and defective at its apex wholly defective, notwithstand- ing the approval of the gcnenitions of, it may be, fifty buried centuries. Tillage by the Methods of Sliding and Rotatory Traction Compared. Now, reader, come and let us rea.son together for a little. Vou are aware that it is a fundamental law in mechanics, that the amount of resist- ance to a slidini^ traction is much greater than to that of a rotating: Now, the methods of tillage by means of the jjlough, etc., are conducted on the former pnnci])le, and the power that propels these implements is therefore much greater than that recjuired to ])erform these operations on the principle of rotatory motion, had we the proper implements and facilities for conduct- ing them on this principle. The |)roportionate difference in the amount of the power retjuired will be apjiarent if we compare the difference in the amount of the power ref(uired to draw a certain weight over the surface of the earth in the form of a wagon or in the form of a sleigh, when the ground is bare. I''an( y our farmers jjerforming all the operations of the farm re- quiring the use of the wagon in summer by means of the iron-shod sled I In very despair they would every one forsake the heritage of his father and ,. ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. seek some moie auspicious means of making a livelihood. Net this is just the proiKjitionate elilTeient e in the amount of ])Ower re(iuire(l to till the soil liy the processes of slidini; or cleaving and revolving motion, allowing some- thing at the same time ft)r a certain amount of sliding friction inseparable from cultivation on any principle, but which may be reduced to an insigni- ficant <|uantity in many of the operati(jns of tillage. Then, with all the utility of the plough, m the absence of a better inv I)lement, its use is liable to gra\e objections. Its sliding, or it might belter be termed clea\ing or dragging motion, tends to give a degree of impiXition to the soil which is very undesirable, and this is increased in the ratio of the dampness of the soil ojjcrated on. In sunny, tropical climates, whc-e for months together the lands remain in a friable state through the influ- ence of the sun's rays, this is less objectionable, but in stiff ck\y lands, or even those less tenacious in the temperate regions, it can only be used to the best advantage just at the auspicious moment of dryness, which, alas, too often does not i ome until the best season for sowing has passed away. When the owner of a clay firm has many acres to till, all of which is e(|ually unfit for tillage up till a certain date, and all of which becomes eciuall) ready for these operations at that date, and he is conscious that he has not the means of overtaking these operations in season, in his ))erplexity he is sure to begin work at too early a day, with the result that his lands become more and more imi)acted, and therefore more and more difficult to till, and less and less productive. Evils Resulting from Impaction of the Soil. The impaction of clay soils is also very materially enhanc ed by the treading, ccjnsequent upon the performant e of these processes, both of man and beast. Draw a plough over a given surface for years and its [)ressure upon that surface, particularly where the soil is clay, clo.ses the apertures through which the i)rocesses of filtration and aeration were performed while the same soils were in a virgin state, and therelore not only prevents them from unlocking their food-producing treasures, but also from gathering more from the aqueous and aerial domain, as we shall see further on. This explains the fact which every settler in a new clay country has observed, that when first cleared the waters remain but a shorr time on low places, until they disappear, mostly by filtration, and without the aid of surface drains ; when^as, after a lime, unless kept well drained on the surface, they disai)pear only by the process of evaporation, which means sure death to vegetation. 1>)' the time that lands are tilled a few years there is no j)art of the subsoil, ])lough-dee|), that has not been further pressed together by the tramping of horse hoofs, supporting bodies weighing from looo lbs. to 2000 lbs., whii h in time suspends all relations between the vegetative treasures of the under soil and the elements, calamitous to high attainment in agricul- ture, and only mitigated by the attion of frosts in climates where this reaches beyond the line of cultivation. Then the treading necessitated in prejiaring a seed-bed, in |)erforming the various operations of sowing, harrowing, cultivating, rolling, etc., tends to pack the soil upon its surface, just in })roporiion to its danipne.ss. The I 8 ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. ()|ieiation of j)loui;hin{f clay lands that are a little damj) often necessitates a much larger amount of labor in preparing them for sowing and in sowing them than was required to plough them, and by the time the work is completed their under surfac es are in a worse condition than before the plough liad been driven through their bosom, and yet this is just a neces- sary evil that cannot be overcome with the present methods of tillage. The evils that result from impiniionoi \.\\c soil in the performance of the processes of agrictilture are very great. We make bold to say that the losses here are more annually than the revenues that pass through the hands of our Finance Minister. This process, the opposite of pulverization, hinders vegetation in proportion to its extent, and conversely pulverization, or attrition, promotes it. Plant food in the soil cannot be gathered by rootlets which fail to come in contact with it, and these cannot come in contact with nutri- ment in soils which the rootlets ( annot penetrate. ICvery pore in the soil that is closed by impaction, is just a door locked up, which forbids the foraging of plant life there, as is manifest by the futile effort of rootlets to penetrate a dry ( lod to which they may be contiguous. All plant life is sustained by elements found either in the soil itself, or furnished it from some outward source. Air and rain water furnish unfailing sources for re- plenishing the loss sustained in [)roducing plant life, and the soil has a marvellous power of extracting these elements of growth in favorable con- ditions, but under other conditions is powerless to secure then. The more perfect the state of pulverization, the more competent is the tillable portions of the earth to perff>rm this work. It follows then that though rain water fall on earth which it cannot penetrate, it cannot give of its treasures held in solution to particles of soil which do not come in contact with it, and so of the air. Again, it is said that some subsoils contain mineral ingredients as pctash, lime, etc., sufficient to produce many thousands of crops of wheat, within, say tv- ; feet of the surface. If, at a depth of six or eight inches, the tread- ing of tiorse hoofs and the weight of the plough, so pack what is below (and this is certainly the tendency), that the plants cannot forage deeper, all this vast store-house of substance will no more avail than thotigh it lay near the axis of our earth. This furnishes the ex|)lanation why on lighter and less rich soils other things being ecjual, the farmers generally distance their fel- lows in material advancement, who live upon clay farms, though intrinsically far more fertile. Remedial Measures. Any means that can be adopted to mitigate the evils resulting from the impaction of the soil should be eagerly embraced by the agricultural world. Underdraining, where adojjted, has brought much relief, but while it miti- gates the evils resulting from existing methods of cultivation, it does not remove them, for the tread of man and beast still presses ui:ion the upturn ed surface, where they partially hinder the very effect which they are seeking —the pulverization of the soil. The gardener does not allow even a dog to tread upon his newly pulverized beds, and is he unwise in his de- sire ? He knows very well that the more perfect the pulverization, the more perfect will be the processes of aeration and absorption, and in pro- *ir ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. portion with the i)erfertion of these will l)e tiie [)erfection of the growth he is seeking. The Great Remedy. In the absence of better methods the agric ultural world has arted wise- ly in clinging to these old-time oties ; indeed it < ould not have done other wise ; but if it can be demonstrated there is a better and a much < heapi r way, and we claim that it can —that is one main object in view in the issu ing of this ])aniphlet - that i)ortion of the comnumity will stand sadly in its own light which does not try to put that better method into practice. If there is any plan by which the operations of tillage may be converted from a .v//y attaching suitable ai)pliances the operations of ]ireparing a seed bed (hitherto termed ploughing, harrowing, etc.,) sowing the seed, and roll- ing, if deemed necessary, may be performed at one and the same time, and those of reaping the grain and threshing combined rt another o])eration of the macliine, wliere the climate will admit of this, the grain being carried to the headlnnds of the field or farm as it may more properly be termed, and there removed by means of a truck wagon to the out-buildings. In a similar manner, by the adj'stment of suital)le attachments, the operations of harvesting potatoes, field roots, etc., may also be performed, as the mach- ine may be made to run at a very low rate of speed, conforming to the special reciuirements of these operations. Advantages Claimed. We shall now consider but a few of the advantages which willaccom|)any the use of the " Modern Steam Farmer.'' (i). Ii IS 1-AuoK-SAViNG AND PKOFiTAiii.K.- It uiust be apparent to the most casual observer that it jiromises to be one of the greatest labor- saving machines that the world has ever seen. Now, grant that it but reduce the use of horse labor by only one-half, although the inventor claims that it v/ill very nearly obviate the necessity of its use on the farm. The report of the iJureau of Industries for Ontario, 1886, gives the number of working horses as 300,682. The cost of kee])ing a working horse for one year in hay and oats alone, hay at $10 per ton and oats at 35 cents per bushel, is $107. If by any process of culti- vation even half this number could be dispensed with, we have a saving an- nually in feed alone, of $16,086,487, to say nothing of the expenses of drivers, harness, shoeing, wear and tear of implements, and the first cost of these and of the horses. The inventor claims for the Modern Steam Farmer, that it will do all 1 strips >iirpo.se.s means "inis or t L'ls for uiih it, in use, >cnsive ig and U be rii.v'- a -' or 1 4 I i ng and ?en the cotton, de[nh, ain the i|)any nt to labor- i ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. II the work on three serlions, i,c)2o acres of our North W'esl pr;iih(.s. jikUkI ini: l)reakiniov\ 11 at $S (K) |irr ton $2,4tX) 00 " Two teams and drivers for the year, ;^65 days, at $2.50 per day . i,'S25 00 " Ki),'ht men for six months, i8o days, at $1 25 pvr day *. i,Xc« 00 " Mannj^er of llie v\ork (xx) 00 " Seeil, say 1 ,000 00 $lll,(XX3 (M TOtal outlay CR. IJy wheat, 1920 acres, 30 bush, per aere, 57,600 hush., at Xocts. per hush 'I'otal profit tirst year. SKCOM) VKAK. 7,625 00 1 7.625 00 $46,080 (K> DR.. 1920 acres. To cost of workinj^, as durinj^ previous year " Interest on amount invested in machinery at 6%. Total outlay CR. r>y wheal, as during the previous year 28,455 00 $7,625 00 600 CX3 Total profit second )car. 8,225 00 $46,080 00 In the above comj)utation no extravagant figures have been indulged in. The two teams would more than suffice for drawing the grain from the head- land lo the granary, where this was necessary, and to cart the same to the mar- ket. 'I'he yield chosen as a basis of computation is a very moderate one when we consider the nature and thoroughness of the cultivation that it ensures, as by its use, wheat will be tilled as effectually as though done by hand in a garden, and the profit (which of course does not include interest on the cost of the land), $66,310, is certainly a very handsome one. Divide this sum by two and we have still what is well worth looking after as the result of two years' work. The Scientific American of Oct. 22d 1881, contains a reiiuest from an East Indian planter, for an implement to ^c tised in the cultivation of ilie tea plant, as the horse hoe then in use did nt^t cut deep enough and injured the outer stems, and the plough cultivated but im])erfectly, while at the 12 ROMAINES STEAM FARMER. same time it cut the roots. The existent e of the Modkkn Stkam Karmkr most ((ttii|)lelely answers that (|iiestion. While a coohe will re(|nire several (lays to ( iiltivaie one acre, alxxil.^o a< res will he eiiltivaled by this mat hine in a day of lo hours, moving at the rate of 2,000 yards an hour. (2). Inckkasls I'kooih in>N. Hy the use of the Mhs achieved by this machine is, that it enables the owner ot a two thousand acre farm to keeji the whole as free from treading by man and beast as the gardener can keep his little i)lot. This is restoring the art of cultivation to the method taught us by nature, and which she has made so grandly successful. It is with her a fundamental lesson, that while she clothes herself annually with a fresh coating of fertility (her method of cul tivation), it is done without the tread of a single hoof. (7). Pkculiar Adaptability. — While the Modkrn Stkam I-armkr maybe used on farm.s, one part of which is grazed and another ])ortion cultivated, it is peculiarly adapted to the tillage of large farms where grain is exclusively grown, in one or other of its varied forms, or in plantations of cotton, tea or sorghum. In the prairie lands of the great North-West, or in those of the Western States, its presence must prove a great l)Oon. Steaming over the immense sorghum fields and cotton plantations of the Sunny vSouth, it would bring hap[)iness to the languid laborer and wealth to the ])lanter. In the wide Tea plantations of India, it would send the weary coolie with a fresh offering to the Shrine of Krishna, and should it not one day till alike the steppes of Southern Russia and the boundless I.lanos of the South American Continent, and indeed any of the productive places of the M ROMAINtS STEAM FARMER. Iiahif.ihlc f'llohf wIhtc naturi- in ht-r considL'rati'Mess has \v\'i lar^^c strrtcfu-s (it" li'vil or gently iin- jection will not apply in the case of large land holdeis and extensive iT\arket gardeners near the large towns antl cities, or of planters either in the South em States or Kast and \\ est Indies. OnjKcnoN 2. There xsuuovfilurnini:; ()rim>ersion of the .soil. Answer. We admit that this would he a serious ohjection where tiie tillage might be imperfe( t, hut. where it is so thorough that all existing weeds must soon |)erish and no intruders can get a footing, it loses its force. ()i;iK iroN 3. It d(jes not bring the sub-soil to the surface^ and there fore will not encourage that deepening of the soil so essential to a high state of cultivation. Answer. It is true it does not bring the subsoil to the surface, but it does what is far better— -if cuts to the reiiuired depth the subsoil into a tine tilth and lifts it up a few inches. L'nless the subsoil is brought to the surface in very 'small (juan'-'Mes at one time, it will render the surface useless for purposes of agriculture, .as many a rash experimenter has found to his cost. ()i'..IK( rioN 4. — It throws workhands idle in winter. Answer, (a) not necessarily so more than other modes of unmixed farming. Mixed farming may be carried on with the aid of this machine as well as without, by keep- ing one portion of the farm in grass, and alternating for jieriods of shorter or longer duration ; (b) large (luantities of Max ma> Ije grown, caring for which during the winter would provide a good deal of labor, assisted by the Steam Farmer. J 1 The Result of Long Years of Study. The Moi RN SiKAM Fak.mkr is not the realization of a dream of yesterday. It .s the outcome of ///;>/ v-.v/jc years of i)atient experiment on the part (jf its inventor, who, many years ago, supported by letters of introduc- tion from Lord Elgin, went from Canada to England, and there patented a rotatory steam s])ading machine, capable of turning up on the principle of ^digging, many acres of land in a day, to the depth of twelve inches, and coini»letely pulverizing and inverting it. Hut it did not sow the seed, in the process of which the subsequent treading sank much of it so deeply that it perished. 'I'his it w.is that |)revented Mr. Romaine from triumph- antly capturing the five hundred ])ound prize offered by the Royal Agricul- ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. »5 Uiral Society of iMi^^hmd in iHf)2, "lor the hi-st appliiatioii of sU,;im powtr to the cultivation oC llif soil." Kt'fcrencL's arc niadf to tliis niachinc in tlu- /////»//, //,■,/ Loudon Arja- of 0( t. ;,. 1S57, p ,?5o. and in '/'/ir- /O/j^/zitrr of July k). iSbi, qii(itin;4 from the Mtirli l.aiit' /•.x/'n-si. wlicro the statmu'nt is n\;ulc in referring.; to the anani of the K(jyal A^riciiUural Society, that '" insnftt■ his rotatory ciilti\alor hein^ the |)erfeclion of spade htishandry." lint cscelleiU as was the work done hy the machine, the amount of horse and manual labor required to follow it was so great that the inventtjr laid it aside, prosecuting his labors with a determination that brooks no denial, the reward being the < ompletion ot the Modi KN Sir \m [• arm i:k, ready to satisfy the tlesires of the land holder who may have the enterpri/.e t(i seciue it. Investigation Invited. Romaink's MohKKN SiKAM I'AKMKK is HOW placed before the agrirul tural world with die full assurance on the part of the inventor that its use will revolutionize to a very great extent existing systems of tillage, and in troduce a new epo( h in the march of agricultural progress. He is well aware of the opposition that such an introduction as this is sure to produi e, or the history of the i)ast will (ease to re|)eat itself, and of the keen criticism to which it will be subjected, before it will be given that place on the farm which it is expected to occupy at no distant day. And all this is not |)rotitless, but a necessary crucible, as it were, in which new introductions must lu; tried to determine between the true and the false, the useful and the useless. It is just this criticism that will [)C most warmly welcomed. It is not the criticism of public-spirited men of large means, and of legislators, who had it in their power to help, that has well nigh crushed the s|)irit of the strug- gling inventor, nearly forty years of the t>est of whose life, the writer feels ()uiie safe in saying, has been |)laced on the world's altar of agricultural advance- ment, but it is their indifttrt'mr Hence it is not impossible that the mistake of the dead centuries may be re[)eated (mk e again that of allowing a bene- factor of his race to struggle unassisted in life, and building a costly monu- ment over his unconscious ashes. Any further information that may be desired will be cheerfully furnished on application to Robert Romaine, House of Commons, Ottawa, Canada. Letters of Reference. The following letters of reference approving of the mechanical construc- tion of the machine are herewith submitted : McCJli.i ('(W.M'ci., MoNTRKAl . Sept. 20lh, 1882. knur. KoMAINK, IvS(.i., SlH, -I liavf exaniiiu'il the drawin^fs .iiiil spi .•iricaliinis of ihc I'iiiin.niiU' Mtnlcrn Steam l-'arnier, and have pk-asun- in staling that I M't- no iiu-cliaiiical reason wli) it sliould not accomplish the work for wliich it has heen desii^ned. C. II. McLI'.OI). Prof, of App. Sc, and I.,ei;tiirer on .Median ic.1l KngineeriiiK- i6 ROMAINE'S STEAM FARMER. MoNTREAi. Roi.i.iNi; Mil. IS Company, Monikkai, 25th Sept., 1882. R. RoMAiNK, Esq., I Having examined the drawiiif^s of your Steam P'armer, I do not see any mechanical j ilititiciillies in tiie way of its perfect success. N'ours res))ectfully, JOHN ROIiERTSON, • Manager Montreal Rolling Mills Co'y 'I'ube and Lead Works. Granu Trunk Railway ov Canada, office ok rilk mki'iianuai. su i'erinte.n i>knt, Mo.NTREAI., Sept. 25th, 1S82. ROHERT RO.MAINE, Es(.>., Dear Sir, — I have not yet had time to read over the specification of your Modern Steam i'armer, hut have seen enough in the drawinfjs you exhibited to me the other day, which, witli your explanations, convince me that you have jjiven an amount of attention to the subject, which will, sooner or later, he rewarded with the success it deserves. The (general mechanical arrangements of your various devices are ipiite practicable, and from y(5ur remarks I doubt not farmers will ultimately find it to their interest to adopt your principle— if they are not compelled to do so from the difficulty of obtaining a suf- ficient number of horses. The farms in this country, from their size and shape, are admirably adapted for steam cultivation, and the wear and tear of the machinery will not be excessive, provided the tracks or roail beds, on which the cultivators run, are level and well made at the outset, and rea.sonable ettorts are made to .idapt the farms to the new syste.^i. Yours truly, HERBERT WALLIS, Mechanical Superintendent R. McGlLI. COIXt'CE, MONTRKAl,, 28th SejILf if^. ROMAINE, Esq., Dear Sir, — After a careful examination of your Modern Farmer, lam convinced that there are no practical ditificulties connected with its construction. I can say nothing as to its probable efiticiency, from an agricultural point of view, but it seems to embrace in a compact form all the implements re(iuired tor farm operations. It is generally adn)i;ted that the proper development and cultivation of our lands must be aided by more improved machinery, and the shape of our farms will certainly facilitate the manipulation of such a machine as yours. I am, yours very truly, HENRY T. BOVEY, Prof, of Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Dei'art.meni' of Railways an!> Canals, Canada, Canadian (jovernment Railways, Office ok the Chief Engineer, Ottawa, ist Dec, 1882. To all wlwm it may concern : This is to testify that I have examined the drawings of the Romaine Modern Steam Farmer, which appears to me to be a very ingenious piece machinery, especially adajited for the use of extensive agriculturists, or for clubs of small farmers, and well suited for prairie farming in the North-VVest. .So far as I am able to judge there is no good reason to doubt but that the machine will do its work well. COLLINCWOOD SCHRH^BER, Chief Engineer and Clen'l Manager Govt. Railways. 1