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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



1856, that the thorough aud practical steam cultivator ia to ba 

 wrought out of sucli a construction of m^chiue as I then 

 sketched. It may with seeoiiug justice be asked, why I dis 

 approve of all existing plans, aud still do not produce my own 

 idea in a competitive form. My answer is, that during these 

 years I have, through impaired health, been compelled to re- 

 linquish, ia a great measure, the practical management of 

 our somewhat large manufacturing busiuess, and those left to 

 do 80 find their heads and hands full enough in grappling with 

 the large aud small details of works requiring increasing atten- 

 tion. 



The machine I had sketched in 1856 I still think well 

 worth the consideration of one or more possessing the ability 

 and bold determination of some of the gentlemen I have 

 alluded to; and should success be theirs, I will be satisfied 

 with that which is only due to me, for having pointed to the 

 outline of au implement for so desirable an object. I would 

 very shortly repeat that the machine I proposed was in the 

 form of a portable engine, not much exceeding in weight and 

 flize that now used to work a combined thrashing machine; the 

 addition and difference would consist in a frame containing a 

 number of digging spades, and the application of the engine's 

 power to the up and downward motion of the spades and 

 turning over the pieces of soil they lifted, much in the same 

 way as a man does with a spade. I think I may fearlessly 

 assert that no plough has ever equalled the spade in the be- 

 neficial results to the soil and its productions; the ex- 

 pense and iusurmountable difficulty of havmg the work 

 done within the necessary time by men being the objections ; 

 aud, if so, then the implement we really require is some twenty 

 or more spades worked by the uncomplaining giant steam, so 

 obedient aud untiring. The arrangement of the spades, and 

 their required motion, are not insurmountable difficulties in 

 the science of mechanics, while the engine's weight, instead of 

 being a drawback as at present, would be the intermediate 

 power by which I would force the spades into the ground, and 

 these spades would act as so many levers, by which the ma- 

 chine would be moved step by step. No space, whether the 

 field was large or small, would be left untilled any more than 

 in the case of the best ploughing, and the digging would be 

 deep or shallow at the option of the attendant, or as the frame 

 had been set for him. No power would be misspent ; the 

 whole apparatus would be as free from derangement as the 

 portable engine and thrashing machine now are, and quite as 

 portable ; for when the work was done, the spade frame would 

 either be lilted clear of the ground, or disengaged, and the 

 travelling wheels left free for locomotion. In common with 

 so many, I long to see an efficient machine for such a great 

 work ; and if my ideas should now fall into genial soil, my 

 object ia served. I am, &e., 



Richard Garrett. 

 Leiston Worh, Saxmiindham. 



The Chairman said this was a most important sub- 

 ject, for be thought we were in a state of transition as 

 regarded the culiivatioa of the soil. He had no doubt 

 that, in process of time, the ingenuity of this and other 

 countries combined would bring steam-ploughing, as well as 

 reaping by machinery, into general use. More attention was 

 required to the machine itself than to the engine which was to 

 work it ; the latter might be considered as having been brought 

 almost to a state of perfection. He had an opportunity, at 

 the Paris Exhibition, of witnessing the operations of from 

 twelve to fifteen different steam reaping-machines, and he had 

 reponed upon them to the Government of this country. 

 Throughout those experiments, it struck him very for- 

 cibly that more was wanted from the farmer than from 

 the engineer, inasmuch as a great deal depended upon the 

 laud leing brought into a state fit for the application of ma- 

 chinery. Untd attention was paid by the farmer to this 

 point, it waa in vain for engineers and inventors to bring for- 

 ward machinery for the cultivation of the soil. It appeared to 

 him that, in good cultivation, the first step was to carry off the 

 surplus water by a complete system of drainage, to increase 

 the depth of the staple, aud to bring to the surface portions of 

 the subsoil. He believed, if those necessary preliminaries 

 were carried out, they mif;ht apply machinery to the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil with good effect, and at a cost which would 

 be within the means, not only of the gentleman-agriculturist, 

 but also of the tenant-farmer. He saw many practical men 



present, aud would be happy to hear their observations on 

 this highly interesting subject. 



Mr. J. J. Mechi was of opinion that steam-cultivation 

 would, ere long, become the custom of the country. He 

 would mention that two years ago Mr. John Fowler ploughed 

 a quantity of land for him, and he could assure them of the 

 marked superiority of the crops on the land so treated, as 

 compared with that subjected to the ordinary horse-ploughing. 

 There was a difference in the crop of wheat, ol at least a quar- 

 ter per acre in favour of ploughing by steam. The superiority 

 was apparent from the first appearance of the crop, and waa 

 maintained up to the time of harvest. The depth to which 

 the land was ploughed was considerable, and, in addition to 

 this, subsoil ploughing was also employed. The work was al- 

 lowed, even by the labourers, to have been done with much 

 greater regularity than could be effected by horse-ploughing, 

 and fresh soil was brought to the surface which had never before 

 been disturbed by any implement. It was true the work was 

 done some little time before the crop was sown, aud no doubt 

 the action of the air upon the raw subsoil was very beneficial. 

 He thought they would all agree as to the superiority of steam 

 over horse-power, wherever it could be brought to bear. An 

 acre of plous;hiiig per day was considered fair horse-work, and 

 that would be done by 2 o'clock in the afternoon, at which 

 time the horses returned to the stables, and remained there 

 eating aud sleeping till 6 o'clock the next morning. In the 

 summer months especially, an immense amount of time waa 

 thus wasted, and the horses must be kept and fed whether they 

 worked or not ; so that all experience tended to show that 

 horse-power in the cultivation of land was but a make-shift, 

 and must, he thought, ultimately succumb to mechanical con- 

 trivances. His impression, some years ago, was that JElo- 

 maine'a engine would be very effective, and be had spent some 

 £700 in experiments with that machine. Since then he be- 

 lieved £10,000 bad been expended in experiments, and with 

 very important results. He had no doubt larger sums yet 

 must be spent before they arrived at perfection, aud every year 

 would witness large improvements in the application of steam 

 machinery' to the purposes of agriculture, as was the case with 

 regard to manufactures. He hoped the farmers of the country 

 would be sufficiently alive to the importance of adopting these 

 appliances when they were offered to them. It was certainly 

 not the duty of the tenant farmers to lay out their money in 

 making these experiments, but at the same time they ought 

 to be willing to pay a fair remuneration to those who afforded 

 them the means of carrying on superior cultivation at achexper 

 rate. By the facilities of inter-communication afforded by rail- 

 ways, many local prejudices had been abolished, and districts 

 which formerly prided themselves that they were in the vau in 

 agricultural matters, discovered how much they were behind- 

 hand. After all, depth of cu'tivation after good draining was 

 the true manure. Let the subsoil be brought into contact 

 with the air, and they would find a treasure which had never 

 before been developed. He had every year increased the depth 

 of cultivation on his land, and had always been rewarded for it. 

 Recently he had a field dug all over with the steel digging-fork, 

 and he had found it more economical in its results than 

 ploughing with horses. There were five horses ploughing in 

 one field, and in another field four men fork-difrging, and he 

 found the latter cheaper at £2 per acre, the men earning 2a. 6d. 

 per day, than the work of five horses and two men in ordinary 

 ploughing. The more he saw of horse-power, the more con- 

 vinced he was that it was the worst and most costly power that 

 could be employed, but at present the use of it was unavoidable. 

 Mr. J. Allan Ransome said, that the very able paper 

 they had heard was certainly a most accurate record of all that 

 had been done in the application of steam machinery to agri- 

 cultural purposes up to the present time, and many of the 

 suggestions put forth, he felt, were extremely valuable. On 

 the two previous occasions on which he had attended discus- 

 sions on this subject, practical progress in this direction had 

 been shown to be extremely limited. With the exception of 

 a little work carried on in one season on Mr. Smith's farm, 

 nothing had been practically done when the subject was first 

 discussed in that room— at least so as to induce others to fol- 

 low in the same steps. Since that time great improvements 

 had taken place in the three leading plans referred to in this 

 paper, namely, first the locomotive traction engine drawing an 

 implement after it; secondly, the steam-engine employed to 

 give motion to rotary machinery ; and thirdly, the employ- 

 ment of .traction ropes with a fixed engine. He had already 



