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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



chiaery, or Halkett'a railway system of steam cul- 

 ture, may ultimately prove so beneficial as to dis- 

 place manual and horse labour to any great extent I am 

 not in a position to offer an opinion. Mr. Algernon 

 Clarke, in his prize essay on the application of steam- 

 power to the cultivation of land, says " a rotary steam- 

 cultivator cm produce the most economical results, and 

 possesses the greatest iidvantages were it not that a fur- 

 ther simplification of mechanism and a relieving of the 

 soil from excessive pressure are still to be sought.'' I, 

 therefore, pass them over, and proceed to the last, and 

 to many the most interestincf, portion of this evening's 

 discussion — " steam-ploughing and cultivating." Per- 

 sonally, I have no experience in this matter, though 

 I possess ihe advantage of having within a few miles 

 of me two of Smith's cultivators and one of Fowler's 

 ploughs, irequently at work ; the opinion I express will, 

 therefore, be what I have derived from my neighbours 

 Mr. Saltmarshe, Mr. Robertson, and Mr. Coulson. 

 The great controversy at present seems to be whether 

 the cultivator or the plough is to be esteemed most 

 beneficial ; no doubt each has its merits, but it is highly 

 important that the best system should be arrived at and 

 recognised. In working arable land I incline to the 

 opinion that from the first commencement of spring 

 operations to the breaking up of the stubble, the 

 cultivator is the best implement, and that for winter 

 laying the turn-over or ridging should be adopted. 

 Fowler's plough, as used on Mr. Saltmarshe's estate, 

 appears to me perfect in its operation as a turn-over 

 plough, and, no doubt, would be equally so as a culti- 

 vator ; but the machinery and engine are more costly 

 and heavy, which, I think, will militate against its com- 

 ing into general use except on the principle of hire. 

 Neither Fowler's nor Smith's reduces the amount of 

 manual labour ; the average cost of work done by 

 Fowler's plough last autumn, as stated by Mr. Salt- 

 marshe of Saltmarshe, at the Howden Farmers' Club, 

 was 170 acres, at a cost of — for coals, manual labour, 

 and sundry out-payments — £68 3s. 7d., or an average 

 of 8s. per acre ; but this did not include wear and tear, 

 Mr. Fowler having agreed to keep the engine and im- 

 plements connected therewith in good working order up 

 to that time. No farmer could desire better work than 

 what was performed on the last occasion of my seeing it, 

 and I do not hesitate to say that upon strong clay land, 

 if ploughed nine inches deep, and I were the occupier, I 

 should think the plough invaluable. No comparison 

 can be made as to relative value with horse-power, for 

 the latter could not effect such work. Every practical 

 agriculturist knows that it would be impossible to get 

 four horses to turn over strong clay soil from six to 

 nine inches deep and leave a level sole, independently of 

 having it done without the pressure of a hoof, which, on 

 such soil in wet weather, is injurious to the highest 

 degree. Mr. Saltmarshe's machinery was drawn by a 

 ten-horse power engine, with self-moving and reversing 

 gear. The engine was put in motion by attaching a 

 pair of horses to it, and went well until it came to where 

 it had to cross a headland one hundred yards in length 

 to another field ; here, for want of power of the self- 

 moving process, it became stationary ; with the aid of 

 half-a-dozen men and four good horses, after an hour's 

 delay, the difficulty was surmounted. On this point, at 

 the meeting alluded to, Mr. Saltmarshe strongly ani- 

 madverted. I name this particularly, that Mr. Fowler's 

 attention may be called thereto ; for in the strong clay 

 districts in East Yorkshire, with the exception of the 

 public highways (and I cannot say much in favour of 

 tuem), the roads from field to field, when you leave the 

 tarmsteadings, are of a most wretched description. I 

 could point out miles of accommodation lanes, where it 

 would be impossible to get the engine I saw to traverse, 

 sf the performances I allude to were any criterion to ^o 



by ; and I feel it to be a duty I owe to my brother- 

 agriculturists, whilst bearing testimony to the merits of 

 its work, that I should not be acting justly if I were not 

 equally impartial in denouncing what I consider its 

 drawbacks — more especially when I find it staled in Mr. 

 Fowler's introductory remarks recently published, " that 

 the improvements made in the tackle since last year have 

 been the lightening and cheapening the windlass, com- 

 bining it with the engine, and making them both self- 

 moving by the aid of steam, so that ivith the aid of one 

 or tivo horses in the shafts to steer ihe engine it can 

 he moved from feld to field and place to place, whereby 

 a great saving of time is effected, and much inconve- 

 nience is avoided, the farmer being rendered almost in- 

 dependent of horses fur cultivating operations." Mr. 

 Saltmarshe considers that by the introduction of this 

 plough he will be able to work his farm of 450 acres of 

 arable land with ten horses less. Mr. Saltmarshe has a 

 fixed steam-engine for thrashing, chaff- cutting, and 

 grinding ; so that tlie reasons assigned by Mr. Mechi 

 for not having introduced steam-ploughing at Tiptree 

 Farm have not deterred his northern neighbour from 

 adopting the valuable implement, the merits of which I 

 need not go further into, after the many practical exam- 

 ples which have already been published in the Royal 

 Society's Journal. I will only detain you with a few 

 remarks on the cultivation of the soil on the Woolston 

 principle (as carried on by Mr. Coulson and Mr. 

 Robertson ; the former gentleman having only used it 

 partially for three years, I shall confine myself to the 

 description given by the latter). Mr. Robertson, in the 

 spring of 1859, entered on two farms — one consisting of 

 about equal portions of strong and convertableland, and 

 which had been previously creditably farmed ; the other 

 cold strong clay, und rained, poor, and wretchedly out of 

 condition; the two together comprise about 380 acres. 

 Mr. Robertson, since his entrance, has cultivated equal 

 to 800 acres, at a cost of 3s. 4d. per acre in manual 

 labour, and 4s. per acre for the wear and tear ; having 

 never had during the twelve months he has been there 

 more than four pairs of horses, he is enabled to tell 

 pretty accurately the difference in cost of cultivation. 

 He is now workiug for hire adjacent lands at 8s. per 

 acre, exclusive of fueL These sums nearly correspond 

 with the reports published detailing the experience of 

 other gentlemen who have tried this mode of cultivation, 

 excepting wear and tear. In the report on Woolston 

 farming, Mr. Smith calculates the latter at Is. 6d. per 

 acre. Mr. Randall, of Chadbury, who speaks highly of 

 the system, puts down for the wear and tear of the rope 

 alone Is. per acre; whilst Mr. Robertson, after exe- 

 cuting 800 acres of work, informs me he requires a new 

 rope, which, at £"60, would by itself be the total 

 sum stated by Mr. Smith to be the wear and tear ; 

 the old rope is certainly useable for fencing, and 

 ought to have a little allowed for it, but that 

 will leave too small a margin for everything else. 

 There are, however, two objections to this system, from 

 observations I have made during the time it has been in 

 operation on the Spaldington Estate, which, as I have 

 not seen them noticed in any printed report, may lead 

 this evening to some explanations. The first I allude 

 to is that in wet weather, during the first operation, the 

 implement seems to go through the soil without tearing 

 it sufficiently up ; the other, that, if the weather has 

 been favourable for the first operation, should a conti- 

 nued change occur, the crossing is constantly impeded 

 by the adhesion of the soil to the wheels. Having now 

 briefly adverted to the two systems at present princi- 

 pally in use for the cultivation of the soil by steam- 

 power, I proceed to consider to what extent it displaces 

 manual labour and horse-power, and also how far it can 

 be made available for general introduction. First, then, 

 as regards mamtnl labour : I am of opinion that no 



