ii6 



TJie Comitvy Geiitleniaiis Mao^azine 



STEAM CULTURE AND CLAY SOILS. 



1\ /FR F. W. BIGNELL, of Loughton, 



J.VX Stony Stratford, pays the following 



well deserved tribute to the superiority of 



steam over horses in the cultivation of clay 



soils. He says : — 



On riding a fortnight ago through the now 

 noted Woolstone Farm, where splendid crops 

 of corn may be seen on land which has been 

 continuously under cereal crops for seventeen 

 years, I was led to the consideration of what 

 the clay soils of England could be made to do 

 under steam culture, and I thought that if by 

 the mighty agency of steam we might all be 

 ■enabled to keep our land clean and crop as 

 heavily, without injury to the soil, the problem 

 of how this great nation, with its constantly 

 increasing population, is to be fed, would be 

 near to its solution. 



For fourteen years I have been a disciple of 

 Mr Smith, but he has beaten us all hollow, for 

 the simple reason that he has been more 

 thorough. I confess that I have been afraid 

 to go the lengths he has, and furthermore, I 

 could not do so without a fresh arrangement 

 with my landlord. Judging, however, b}' the 

 results, I see no reason why either he or I 

 ^should fear any longer. 



If INIr Smith can grow good crops con- 

 tinuously on the same land with little or no 

 manure, without injury to the soil, why should 

 Slot other people be able to do the same thing ? 

 'The great yields at Tiptree, Mr Mechi tells 

 lis, are produced by the dung of highly fed 

 animals, irrigation, and other accessories. At 

 Woolstone, on the contrary, scarcely any stock 

 has been kept, but the straw, after thrashing 

 has been thrown into a long heap of loo 

 yards or so to rot down. This, with latterly 

 a little superphosphate, has been the only 

 aianure used, and yet each year the crops 

 have been apparently better than the last, 

 and this season I think I may venture to say 

 that they surpass any that have ever grown 

 on the same land since it was created earth. 



It is no part of my purpose to make a 

 comparison between the Woolstone and other 

 steam tackle. My purpose is to draw atten- 

 tion to the extraordinary results where steam 

 culture is persistently and continuously 

 applied, and to tell others Avho occupy clay 

 lands how they may help themselves to the 

 treasures which they contain. Many of the 

 so-called poor clays are not so naturally, they 

 are made so by faulty manipulation. No 

 greater proof in point can be adduced than 

 the land purchased in 1869 by Mr Smith, and 

 which now forms a part of the Woolstone 

 Farm. Many who have visited the spot will 

 doubtless remember the contrast which they 

 could hardly fail to make of the crops on one 

 side of the fence and those on the other. 

 But in the short space of time since it has 

 fallen into the Woolstone man's hands, deep 

 drainage and deep cultivation have done 

 their mighty work, and the change is cer- 

 tainly marvellous. 



Some portion of the farm which I occupy 

 is of much the same character, but, if any- 

 thing, a little bettei: During the wet harvest 

 of 1S66, in the course of their inspection of 

 the steam cultivated farms of England, I was 

 honoured with a visit by two of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society's Commissioners. On 

 shewing them a portion of this land, which 

 was being broken up for vetches, one of them ' 

 said he would rather go to plough on his 

 land at 12s. a-week than occupy it. The 

 other said that he would not farm it if it was 

 his own freehold, and they wound up by 

 asking me if I paid over 5s. an acre for it. 

 On telling them that I paid nearly six times 

 as much, they paid me the compliment of 

 saying I was a very clever fellow if I managed 

 to live off it. Yet on this land, with the 

 help of steam, I have managed to grow very 

 tolerable crops, and, I am thankful to say, 

 lived pretty well too. 



The average yield of all produce grown on 



