332 ON IMPLEMENTS SELECTED FOE TEIAL. 



tillage — First, What is the best apparatus for transmitting 

 motion to the plough ? Second, Which is the best construction 

 of plough for doing the work required. 



The Committee's attention has been confined to the first, and, 

 perhaps it may be added, the most important of these inquiries, 

 for if it can be determined which is the most convenient and 

 economical apparatus that can be used for steam tillage, the 

 form of plough best adapted for particular soils may be matter 

 for further investigation. 



The perfect disintegration of the soil, so as to approach as 

 nearly as possible to the action of manual spade-work, is the aim 

 to be reached, and that must obviously depend on the kind of 

 soil to be ploughed, whether clay or loam, for example, and hence 

 the necessity of adapting the plough to the soil ; and probably 

 manufacturers may with advantage turn their attention to a still 

 more perfect and easy means of adjusting the coulters and shares 

 and mould-boards to the varying soils in which they have to 

 work. This may in some measure account for the difference of 

 opinion in the foregoing letters, though all of the writers, it will 

 be remarked, give testimony to the satisfactory working of the 

 tackle itself. 



After duly considering all the information that has been 

 brought before them, the Committee have to report that the 

 Fisken steam cultivation tackle is based on the ingenious con- 

 ception of communicating power to great distances, by means of 

 a rapidly moving light rope ; that the mechanical arrangements 

 for carrying out the conception and applying the rapid motion of 

 the travelling rope to the slow motion of the plough, as recently 

 improved, are well designed, and that the " tackle " performs its 

 work in all respects satisfactorily. 



The Committee recommend that the Society should award to 

 Messrs Fisken a premium of fifty guineas. 



Having laid before the Society the result of their investigations, 

 the Committee cannot close this report without repeating that the 

 favourable opinions they have expressed of the Fisken tackle 

 must not be held as warrantino- a conclusion in favour of that 

 system as the best that has been devised for steam culture. 

 From what has already been stated, it will be seen that such a 

 conclusion would be altogether premature. Some members of 

 the Committee are well aware of the amount and excellence of 

 work performed by Fowler's improved steam tackle, and it is 

 well known that there are machines by other makers equally 

 ^vorthy of attention. It is obvious, therefore, that until these 

 other " systems " (for so they have been called) have been sub- 

 jected to trials similar to those which the Committee have 

 conducted, no opinion as to the comparative merits of the 

 different systems of working can be arrived at. 



