PLOUGHING AND HARVESTING AT NIGHT.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—In your issue of August 24th, under the heading "A
Dream of Discovery," you say • • "Absence of sunlight would, of course, complicate agricul- ture, . . . yet powerful electric lights might light the path of the plough as successfully as they light the path of the motor-car. Would it be possible to drive a straight furrow " It may interest you to hear that all-night ploughing and harvesting is quite common out here. A large steam or gasoline outfit drawing ten or twelve fourteen-inch ploughs or five to six binders often has two or three gangs of men. The engines are fitted with acetylene or electric headlights. I have also heard of night threshing from the stack. As to driving a straight furrow, an engine would be easier to handle than a walking plough and a team ; but I remember hearing of a noted prize ploughman, a retired sea captain, who guided his plough by a compass attached to the handles. I am happy in believing that sleep-banishing drugs will not be discovered during my working time as a farmer.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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