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TiiE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



firm of Saughton MainH, near Edinburgh, possessed by 

 Mr. Dickson, and there Mr. Fowler continued his 

 operations for several days, with pretty much the same 

 results. At the same time, it has to be noticed that 

 there were one or two breakages in the machinery, 

 which must liave led to some disappointment, but these 

 breakages were not such as to tell against the principle 

 of working as carried out by Mr. Fowler. 



Having now described the various trials gone into, 

 the judges are called upon to express the high gratifica- 

 tion they experienced in witnessing the performances of 

 Mr. Fowler's plough, and the results achieved by it. 

 They are of opinion that Mr. Fowler has satisfactorily 

 established, that land of a certain description can be 

 well and economically ploughed by steam ; and they 

 think it due to him to say that he highly merits the ap- 

 probation of the agricultural public, for the ability, 

 energy, and ingenuity brought by him to bear on the 

 all-important question of turning the soil. In these 

 circumstances, the judges recommend that the premium 

 of i,'200 offered by the Society should be awarded to 

 Mr. Fowler. At the same time, they do not desire to 

 hold forth Mr. Fowler's apparatus as faultless ; experience 

 will in this, as in all other attempts to apply machinery, 

 suggest improvements, and, indeed, several important 

 modifications have been made by Mr. Fowler since 

 the trials now described terminated ; neither would the 

 judges wish it to be inferred from their decision that the 



apparatus is, in terms of the condition attached to the 

 premium, susceptible of general cqjplicatioii, as, in its 

 present form, it is not available for land on which large 

 stones aie imbedded. Nevertheless, as Mr. Fowler has 

 produced a machine well adapted for stiff clay and loamy 

 soils, and consequently for the very description of land 

 the most oppressive to horses, and the most expensive to 

 work, the judges consider that he has established a good 

 claim, not only to the amount of the premium offered, 

 but to whatever support and encouragement the Society's 

 award can afford ; and the judges would hope that this 

 liberal interpretation of the terms in which the premium 

 was offered, will operate as an inducement to others to 

 persevere in their efforts to improve the machinery of 

 the farm. 



In conclusion, the judges have to express their ac- 

 knowledgments to the Stirlingshire Agricultural Society 

 for their arrangements ; and to Mr. Forrester for the 

 facilities and assistance ho afforded in conducting the 

 experiments, as well as for his great attention and hos- 

 pitality. J. Miller, Chairiiian. 



John Dickson. 



John Finnie. 



John Gibson. 



Wm. Henderson. 



Ro. Patterson. 



Jas. Stirling. 

 — Journal of Agriculture. 



THE PLOUGH, OR ITS SUBSTITUTE. 



In the concluding portion of our last article we ad- 

 verted to a point which has often occurred to i)ractical 

 men, namely, that the easy turning over of a 

 regular slice of soil is not all that is desiderated in the 

 action of the plough— that the whole work which we 

 require it to do must be taken into account, and that 

 lightness of draught must not be sacrified at the ex- 

 pence of the disintegration of the soil. It is evident that 

 to scratch or score the surface with two horses must of ne- 

 cessity be done cheaper than obtaining deep culture by 

 the use of eight horses. This refers to the mere doing of 

 the %york. But we must go into the question of results, if 

 we wish in the end to ascertain ^Yhich is the cheapest 

 mode of operation. If where shallow culture is carried 

 out the profits bear a higher ratio to the cost of work- 

 ing than where deep culture is adopted, then by all 

 means adhere to shallow, and discard the deep. But 

 so far as experience points out, the case is exactly the 

 reverse, and everything, nenrly. goes in favour of the 

 deep culture. It is evident then, we think, that the 

 mere lessening of the draught of the plough is not all 

 we want, unless this lessening of draught is taken into 

 consideration together with the peculiar state of the soil 

 which experience points out as the best fitted for our 

 purposes. 



But supposing us to obtain a form of mouldboard 

 that gives more disintegration of tlie soil, and requires 

 less power to work it, than that of any plough yet in- 

 troduced, we have still a difficulty to overcome, which 

 we have shown to be attendant upon the action of every 

 plough— namely, the formation of the hard crust formed 

 by the passing of the sole of the plough over the soil. 

 There can be no question that this is a serious evil. How 

 to overcome It, is a problem occupying the attention of 

 not a few of our agricultural mechanics. Rollers, on 

 which the sole is to run, have been proposed: but al- 

 though these will tend to mitigate the evil, they will bv 

 no means get rid of it. Revolving tines, like those of the 

 Norwegian barrow, have also been suggested to follow 



immediately upon the action of the plough, and tear up 

 the surface on which the sole has been resting. But 

 in the attempt to combine two or more operatinns in 

 one machine or implement there is always danger 

 either of obtaining work partly done, or getting the 

 work done, if it so happens that it is good, at a dearer 

 rate than it could be pei formed by two machines or 

 implements, each having its own task to perform. Our 

 manufacturers know this, and almost invariably act 

 upon it. They have their machines of preparation as 

 we may term them, and their finishing machines; each 

 machine, however complicated, doing its own work 

 preparatory to that which is to succeed it. And in 

 dinctiug our attention to what has been done iu agri- 

 culture, we find that the nobleman who has made 

 his name famous in connection with indubitably suc- 

 cessful deep culture, has followed the same principle. 

 Thus, convinced of the advantages of a deeply pulverized 

 soil, he has by dint of experimental research discovered 

 a form of subsoil trench-plough, in which a peculiar and 

 simple member acts upon the soil — left untouched by 

 the plough of an ordinary principle of construction, 

 but capable of taking a furrow of much greater depth 

 than is ordinarily effected — so as to completely dis- 

 integrate it. But although this subsoil trench-plough, 

 as it is called, follows immediately upon the action of the 

 plough, the two implements are not combined in one, 

 with eight horses working the combined implement ; 

 but each implement does its own work, having each its 

 own complement of four horses. And this arrange- 

 ment has doubtless been adopted after mature consi- 

 deration, and from a conviction that the work would be 

 cheaper and better done than with the use of a com- 

 bined implement. But apart from this consideration — 

 the utility or non^utility of the combination of two 

 principles of action in one implement — the ques- 

 tion forces itself upon our notice. What necessity 

 is there for the plough, in both of those plans above 

 noticed; forming pari; of the mechanism employed ? 



