A method of applying substances to a land begins with inputting data indicative of the substance requirement for the land into a processor. The land is traversed with a vehicle having an engine and a transmission that can vary the vehicle speed without adjusting the engine speed. The vehicle has an appliance including a mechanism for applying the substance to the land. The appliance application rate is input into the processor with the desired engine speed. The land is traversed with the vehicle with the engine speed set at the desired engine speed. The vehicle position is established, and a signal is generated to indicate a requirement for adjustment to the transmission to change the vehicle speed to match the individual section requirement to the appliance application rate. Lastly, the transmission is adjusted according to the signal generated by the processor.