132 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



rope, stops, the pinion is slipped into gear with it ; and 

 it is found that there is no tendency of the teeth to 

 catch and break, for the cogs on the pinion and drum 

 cannot catch each other unless both are going the same 

 pace, and then, of course, there is no danger of fracture. 



Mr. Fowler's machinery has been greatly improved 

 since the Salisbury meeting. One of Ransomes and 

 Sims' ten-horse double-cylinder portable engines is 

 adapted for temporary attachment to a windlass, which, 

 when the fore-carriage is removed, incloses the engine 

 as in a pair of shafts. This windlass, manufactured for 

 Mr. Fowler by Robert Stephenson, of Newcastle, is a 

 beautiful piece of machinery, the framework being of 

 light yet sufficiently strong plate-iron, and the adjust- 

 ments for attaching to the engine, etc., being of the 

 simplest and neatest character. It- carries two drums, 

 on vertical axes, each of 4 feet diameter, with four 

 grooves on their peripheries ; and round these the wire- 

 rope is led, and, being pressed against the drums by 

 four small spring- rollers, the rope does not slip. Thus 

 an endless rope is employed, instead of the two ropes 

 heretofore w. und and unwound ; the great damage done 

 by crushing the rope upon itself, the irregular progres- 

 sive motion of the implement, and the labour of the man 

 required to regulate the coiling on the drum, being 

 escaped altogether. The drums are actuated by spur- 

 wheels, mitre-wheels, with a clutch for reversing the 

 direction of rotation of the drums, and a rigger and 

 band from the engine fly-wheel. The gradual creeping 

 of the engine and windlass along the headland is effected 

 by a separate small barrel and chain from an anchor 

 fixed a-head, driven by a belt from a small rigger on the 

 other end of the engine crank- shaft. It should be no- 

 ticed that the hinder wheels of the engine are on a 

 rocking-bar axletree, to adapt the four wheels, of the 

 engine and windlass together, to uneven ground ; and 

 the a.xletrea of the two windlass carriage-wheels can be 

 " locked" when required for steerage. The rope going 

 down the field, round an anchored pulley on the head- 

 land, and back again to the windlass — or rather two 

 lengths of rope — meet at the plough, on which portions are 

 wound on small barrels, so as to be taken up or let out ac- 

 cording to the varying length of furrows required ; and 

 the rope is divided into lengths, joined by eyes and 

 links, for enabling an endless rope to be made for any 

 sized field. 



The experimental investigations having been first in- 

 stituted with this apparatus, we will now describe them 

 before proceeding to the other inventions. 



To draw the whole up to the field were required — 

 4 horses with the engine and tank, 2 horses with the 

 windliiss, 1 with the anchorage, and 1 with the plough. 

 The windlass was connected with the engine in 17 

 minutes ; but less time would have sufficed, had it been 

 in order, as on a farm, and not just off the railway 

 trucks. Leading out the ropes with a horse took 20 

 minutes more, or 37 minutes ; to which must be added 

 several minutes more in setting down the anchorage ; 

 and then filling the boiler and getting up steam occupied 

 more than an hour, before all was ready for work. The 

 ploughing could not be proceeded with on Tuesday 



evening, owing to tiie engine-pump being out of order; 

 and so Mr. Fowler was given until 8 o'clock on Wed- 

 nesday to get all in going gear. 



Accordingly 2 cwt. of coal was served out, steam being 

 at 601bs. pressure, and work began at 8. 52 o'clock. 

 The following is a table of observations taken : 



"Going, 90j; "at ends, i7^; stoppages, 10 ; =118 minutes, 

 or 1 h lur 58 minutes total time. 



In the last bout but one, an " eye" of the wire-rope 

 broke, and 22 minutes were lost : but this being a casualty 

 e.xtremely unlikely to occur in every two hours* work, is 

 omitted, and only ordinary stoppages included in the 

 time run. The ground measured 1 acre 2 roods and 

 13J- perches ; and this, for the time occupied (that is 

 nearly two hours), is equivalent to eight acres and 

 twenty perches in a day of ten hours. The weight of 

 coal consumed was found to be 195 lbs. ; the pressure 

 of steam being the same at the conclusion as at the 

 beginning of the experiment. This is equivalent to 

 100 lbs. of ccial per hour, or nearly 9 cwt. in a day. 

 The labour employed was that of two men and two boys, 

 and a man and horse fetching water. The wear and 

 tear and interest on £650 (the cost of the engine and 

 machinery), for 180 days' work in a year, the engine 

 itself being used besides for thrashing, &c., is taken at 

 Is. 6d. per acre. Suppose the average size of fields to 

 be IG acres, or the area of two days' work, and that a 

 quarter of a day is sufficient for the removal of the 

 api)aratus frnnj one field to another, there will thus be 

 5i days' work and half-a day's shifting in a week. And 

 each removal takes four horses and two extra men. 

 The expences for a week, therefore, stand thus : 



Kngine-man 2la. 



Ploughman 18 



Two Hoys 12 



Horses and men 8 



Coal and oil 66 



Water 30 



Wear and tear and interest. 72 



59. 2^1. {er acre. 



Acres, 44 



230g. 



