THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



405 



specting the question — Whoso fault was it that such 

 grouud was provided ? he adds : " The temptation of an 

 unenclosed space of eight-and-thirty acres for these trials 

 can hardly be called tlic inducement of the Society to 

 accept the offer of such a spot, because there was 7io 

 other choice ; but it is to be hoped that, in all future 

 ncgociations with the towns or localities at which the 

 summer meetings shall be held, the very ample 

 area required l'>r this class of trials will be regarded as 

 a preliminary condition." And, after referring to the 

 abominably difficult road leading to the field, he con- 

 cludes : "Still the judge and stewards had no choice in 

 the matter; and it is only to be hoped that they may 

 never be called uj)on to exercise their duties under the 

 like cii'cumstances again." 



Mr. Smith, of Woolston, would not exhibit at Salis- 

 bury. JMr. Williams, of Baydon, finding what sort of 

 place had been provided, objected to such a trial alto- 

 gether, and endeavoured, as we believe, to persuade his 

 brother-exhibitors to refuse to mock the public and 

 injure their own credit by entering upon a hopeless 

 task. Mr. Collins m Hidl, Mr. John Fowler, jun., Mr. 

 Charles Burrell, and Mr. John A. Williams have now 

 addressed the Council on the subject, complain- 

 ing of tlio past, and offering suggestions for the 

 future. In considering this petition or manifesto, 

 let us bear in mind the official statements with regard 

 to their several machines, and the i esults of the trial. 



Inadequate and fiuliy as the experiments were, Mr. 

 Hoskyns acknowledges "the admirable docility and 

 power of Mr. Boydell's (Burrell's) traction-engine;" 

 and says further, " No one, who saw the work perform- 

 ed, even underthese adverse circumstances, by Mr. Fow- 

 ler's plough, could doubt that, in his case at least (not 

 to the least disparagement of the other competitors), 

 steam-plouyhinr/, as ^uch, had attained a degree of ex- 

 cellence comparable in point of execution even with the 

 best horse-work. As to the relative economy, there 

 seems little reason to doubt that the calculations ar- 

 rived at by Mr. Amos and others the year before, at the 

 adjourned trial at Boxted Lodge, were sufficiently near 

 the truth to leave a very inconsiderable difference in 

 favour of horse-work. 



Five of the judges report that Mr. Boydell "tri- 

 umphantly ascended the hill to the ground laid out for 

 ploughing, and fully proved his power as a traction- 

 engine. He shoitly commenced ploughing; but this 

 was not satisfactory, for nothing could keep the 

 ploughs in the ground." Mr, CoUinson Hall 

 is praised for the "strenuous and laudable" 

 efforts which — with great cost — overcame the 

 shameful obstructions on the road, and " t-ucceeded 

 eventually in bringing up his engine, and making 

 good work." Mr, Williams's system is " anything but 

 satisfactory ;" and his personal conduct described as 

 objectionable. We suppose in consequence of his being 

 unable to restrain his indignation, and manifest the 

 sublime patience which characterized Mr. Hall, in spite 

 of repeated vexatious accidents. The work done by 

 Mr. Fowler is declared to be "very good; but here 

 we must say we could not reduce the price per acre 

 below that of the Boxted trials. As far as ploughing 

 is concerned, we think Mr. Fowler's arrangement of 

 his ploughs is the best wo have seen. As judges we 

 wanted very strict data to recommend the steam- 

 ploughing to the public ; we are sorry wo cannot do 

 this, thougli we think Mr. Fowler still stands pre-emi- 

 nent over any others. We cannot say that his ploughs 

 are ' economical subslitutes for the plough or the 

 spado.' " Considering the great ability shown, and 

 the great expense incurred by Mr. Fowler, they re- 

 commend the Council to "vote him a medal." 



Two other judges, in a separate report, say, "the 



object to be accomplished was a more economical mode 

 of ploughing than could be done by horse-power. 

 For ourselves we were at once convinced that no satis- 

 factory decision could be arrived at Sufficient 



was shown to convince us that Mr, Boydell's engine is 

 one of no ordinary merit, and capwhle of very useful 



and extensive farm service Mr. Fowler's plough 



performed its work very creditably, under all the cir- 

 cumstances of a hard soil and much obstructing com- 

 panj . Tlie ploughing was effected in a truly husband- 

 like manner, and at a depth not generally reached on 

 such soils. The work was fairly laid, and worthy of com- 

 parison with that done alongside it by one of Howard's 

 ploughs in the hands of a first-rate ploughman." Mr. 

 Williams's ploughs, they say, did not work well ; and 

 " the compact form and most ingi nious adaptation" of 

 Mr. Hall's engine met their approval. They conclude 

 that only " a proper time and suitable soil" are needed 

 to prove that the steam- ploughing can be accom- 

 plished in "an efficient and economical manner." 



It appears, then, that the only ploughing which 

 was quite satisfactory in point of quality, was Mr. 

 Fowler's ; and, could the working expenses have been 

 estimated at a very small trifle lower, the work would 

 have been pronounced also " economical." As far as 

 they could tell, the judges made out tlie cost per acre 

 to be nearly, if md quite, as low as by hor.<e-lahour. 



Now, we have over and over again insisted that the 

 mere working at a trifle less expense per acre does not 

 constitute the main ehment of economy or saving in 

 a steam-plough; and it is here that we think the 

 judtses have been shortsighted. Indeed, after all, the 

 public may conclude that Mr. Fowler's plough (on the 

 stewards' and judges' own showing) ts an " economical 

 substitute"' for the horse-plough. 



Everyone will surely admit that an " economical 

 substitute" for the plough is something that it will pay 

 us better to have, that can produce more valuable re- 

 sults for a certain amount of money. Well, if the 

 steam and the horse plough both work at the same 

 price per acre, there is the item of time, the greater 

 extent of land ploughed in a day, which at once 

 makes the steam-plough the cheapest and best worth 

 having. 



The main value of Mr. Smith's steam-scarifiers and 

 cultivators is not in the low price per acre, but in the 

 great quantity of land broken up and cleared in a short 

 time just at the critical season. And taking the acreage 

 cost of work by Fowler's steam-plough and the common 

 horse-plough to be about the same, Mr. Hoskyns says : 

 " If this be true as a comparison merely taken acre 

 for acre, or hour for hour, every one who knows 

 the supreme value of time in the autumn months 

 on clay soils, and the difference, in capacity of 

 day-ioork, between a horse and a steam-engine, must 

 be aware that a new multiplier at least of 2, if not 

 more, may bo placed to the credit of the steam-engine, 

 regarded as an available power or auxiliary when work 

 is pressing, and when, according to a well-known poeti- 

 cal authority, the best or rather only method to 

 lengthen the shortening days is to " steal a few hours 

 from night." Yet the judi^es seem never to have con- 

 sidered that, when a sieam-plough can work for, say 

 7s. 24d. an acre, and horse- [doughs for 7s., the sti-am- 

 plough may be better worth having (therefore "more 

 economical") than the horse-plougli ; and this, indeed, 

 is one of the principal points in favour of steam-tillage 

 at all. There is also another element of considerable 

 consequence in the comparative economy between steam 

 and horse power cultivation. It has become matter of 

 experimental proof, upon certain classes of clay soil, 

 remarks Mr. Hoskyns, that "the liberty of a more 

 perfect selection of season, and condition of soil for cul- 



