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The following, from tlie Prairie Farmer,, affords evidence that the farmers of Illinois; are imbued with the true progressive spirit :— " At the late meeting of the Executive Board of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, a resolution was passed offering fiv thousand dollars for the best steam engim; suitable for plowing, or other farm work—ft efficiency to be decided by the Board. It is a little singular that the construction of tMs desirable machine has so long baffled hums&is ingenuity. We know that there are ma&y and complicated obstacles to overcome ; ye-iry where such immense interests are at stake, it seems as though mechanical genius ought to concentrate its energies and overcome them all. In the northwest, steam plowing will be most extensively and profitably employed. One of its chief advantages will consist in the depth to which it will plow. If our rich prairies were plowed twenty inches deep, twenty-five per cent would be added to their productiveness. Animal strength, however skillfully directed, cannot profitable accomplish that result. A ditching steam plow might be invented, which would perform a vast amount of labor in a short space of time. It is hardly to be expected that the proposed machine will materially reduce the cost of plowing ; but the quality of its work will compensate for any disappointment in this respect
