An introduction to machine farming

(In Rome) They plow with a plow that is a sharp, curved blade of iron, and it cuts into the earth full five inches.

And this is not all. They cut their grain with a horrid machine that mows down whole fields in a day.

If I dared, I would say that sometimes they use a blasphemous plow that works by fire and vapor and tears up an acre of ground in a single hour—but—but—I see by your looks that you do not believe the things I am telling you.

Alas, my character is ruined, and I am a branded speaker of untruths!

Source: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain