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The Cowitry Gcntkmaiis Magazine 



that half the arable land in Great Britain which is now 

 worked by animal power were cultivated by steam, it 

 would give an annual increase of ;^7, 000,000 of 

 home-grown food in cereals alone ; and as deep 

 cultivation by steam has a more powerful influence in 

 increasing the root than the cereal crop, we may 

 estimate that if half the land under green crop were 

 worked by steam, it would give us an increase of 

 _,{^i2,ooo,ooo worth of food, which would come 

 indirectly to the people through cattle, as meat, 

 butter, &c. 



Lord Uunmore sets down the amount of 

 produce consumed by each person to be jQZ 

 per annum. If therefore the home produce was 

 augmented to the extent of p^!" 19,000,000 it 

 would be equivalent to the support of 

 2,375,000 more people. Then there is the 

 saving to be effected by the food of horses 

 which steam would enable farmers to dispense 

 with. His lordship calculates that 1,500,000 

 horses are engaged solely in agricultural 

 labour, and these on the average cost ;^35 

 each annually, "There are 529,950 farms in 

 Great Britain. If steam cultivation became 

 the rule, instead of the exception, there is no 

 doubt that there would be made a reduction 

 on an average of at least one horse per farm, 

 which would save ;^ 18,548,250 worth of 

 food. But even supposing that the aver- 

 age reduction was one horse to every two 

 farms there would be a saving of ;^9,ooo,ooo. 

 The result would be that, in augmentation of 

 produce and saving of horse keep, we should 



increase our available home supply of human 

 food by a value of ;^28,ooo,ooo or, perhaps, 

 ;j^37, 000,000, and thus dispense with a large 

 portion of the 7^44,714,000, worth of imports, 

 which we now depend on. 



Lord Dtmmore, it will be remembered, 

 was keen to enthusiasm about Thomson's 

 traction engine as an aid in cultivation. He 

 has seen reason to alter his opinion about 

 the superiority of a machine running over the 

 soil, dragging an implement after it. His 

 own experience was sufficient to convince 

 him that the plan, on some lands, was not 

 practicable, and that it was by no means pro- 

 fitable. His Lordship, while not scanty in 

 praise of the systems of other makers' 

 steam-tackle, gives preference to Fowler's 

 double engine method, but it is so ex- 

 pensive that in order to get it more ex- 

 tensively into use among farmers, his Lord- 

 ship suggests that private companies should 

 be established by landlords and influential 

 agriculturists for the purpose of letting such 

 implements out on hire. We trust that Lord 

 Dunmore's reconniiendation will be taken 

 heed of — acted upon, and with intelligent 

 and enterprising men like himself. in con- 

 nexion with such companies we have little 

 fear that they will turn out a decided suc- 

 cess to the shareholders, and a great boon 

 to the ■ farmers who take advantage of their 

 aid. 



