THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



133 



What would be the cost of ploughing the same extent 

 of land per day by horses ? In order to arrive at a satis- 

 faclory estimate of this point, the judges ploughed some 

 furrows alongside oi" Mr. Fowler's work, with one of 

 Messrs. Howard's PP 3 iron ploughs, drawn by a pair 

 of horses. The dynamometer, we observed, pointed to 

 an average draught of about 4 cwt. for the best plough that 

 could be used ; or, in other words, the work of turning 

 over a furrow 10 inches wide by 6 deep (similar to those 

 of the steam-plough) was fair two-horse labour for an 

 acre a-day. Sixteen horses at 3s. each, and eight men 

 at 2s. each, would thus plough the eight acres per day at 

 an expense of 8s. an acre. By rule of three, then, we 

 find that 8 : 5| : : 100 : 65 ; showing a saving of 38 per 

 cent, ill favour of the steam-plough. We cannot stay, 

 at present, to point out the merits of the work per- 

 formed ; but considering the roughness of the ground, it 

 was certainly well done. In ploughing clean land for 

 wheat-seeding, it is evident that the slices would be more 

 neatly laid ; and on clover-lea, without ridges and fur- 

 rows, the work would be beautifully done by adding 

 skim-coulters. But the economy is remarkable, parti- 

 cularly for land that is to be further prepared by the 

 BcufHer. 



In the heavy-land field on the farm of Mr. Cooper, at 

 Blacon (two miles north of the Show-yard), during the 

 trial of Thursday, we timed four bouts of this plough as 

 follows : 



"Downjourtiey."i At end. " Up journey ."i At end. iStoppage 



Miautes. 

 4 

 3 



^ 



24 



4) 12i 



Minutes. 

 01 



H 



Ok 



Minutes. 

 3 

 3 



2i 

 3 



linutes. Minutes. 



04 ! - 

 o| I H 



1 i — 



oi ! - 



lU 



1* 



01 



''4 



01 



" Going,"23J; " at end," 6 ; " stoppages," li; = 31^ 

 minutes ; doing eight journeys of 200 yards each. 

 The engine working at 55 to 60 lbs. pressure, we calcu- 

 lated from the measure of the cylinders and number of 

 strokes per minute, to be giving off about 18 horse- 

 power effective. In one hour, the area of land ploughed 

 was just 3 roods, or at the rate of 7k acres a-day. The 

 expense, with one man extra to hold the plough, in this 

 extraordinarily and disgracefully rough field, can scarcely 

 be put at more than 37s., the cost per acre being thus 

 only 5s. 3^d. A plough tried alongside showed 65 cwt. 

 draught, or 3-horse labour ; so that ploughing by horses 

 would cost, at a moderate estimate, lis. In heavy 

 land, or deep work requiring great traction -power, it is 

 pretty clear that this machinery saves one-half the ex_ 

 pense incurred by horses — that is without reckoning up 

 great casualties which are perhaps liable to occur at 

 times with steam-machinery, as well as with animals 

 having shoulders and fetlocks. 



Mr. Howard's apparatus did some excellent work 

 with the three-tiner, and also with the trenchand- 

 subsoil implement in the light-land field on Wednesday, 

 the grassy surface being kept on the top by the first 

 implement ready for the after-extraction or killing of 



the couch and rubbish; and the loamy soil " raftered" 

 into drills or ridges with the bottoms of the open 

 furrows broken up by subsoiling tines, by the action of 

 the other implements. On Thursday, in the heavy-land 

 field, with a stiffor soil, and also many small stones, the 

 three-tine cultivator was worked with excellent effect, 

 breaking up the hard ground into pieces ready to be 

 crossed and still further reduced by a broader scuffler. 

 Owing to the pieces not being turned over, the work 

 appears to the eye almost as green as the whole sward ; 

 but still every portion is cut or torn from the bottom, 

 and much of the ground set up in an angular position, 

 offering a rough surface for the operation of drag or 

 harrow. 



The plot was about 170 yards by 112, the work being 

 done across the short way ; the rope, laid out all round, 

 being at first some 560 yards length, running at once. 

 Eight cwt. of Lancashire coal being served out, steam 

 was got up in 43 minutes, and the machine started an 

 hour before Fowler's plough, owing to the engine-man 

 of the latter having neglected his tubes and snake-box, 

 so that a great delay occurred in getting-up steam. 



The observations we made are as follows : — 



about 



The total time of the observation was 53 minutes — 

 that is, 38| going, 8| turning at the ends, and 5^ lost in 

 altering the implement, &o. 



The work being done the short way of the plot, the 

 journey was only about 110 yards, the pace travelled 

 being 2| miles an hour ; had the plot been taken length- 

 wise a much less proportion of the time would have 

 been occupied by the turning. The area cultivated in 

 this 53 minutes was equivalent to 2 roods 38 perches per 

 hour~or say 7i acres per day. The expenses (reckon- 

 ing coal and oil at 12s. ; water, 5s. ; engineer, 4s. ; four 

 men and a boy, lis. ; removals, 4s. ; wear and tear and 

 interest on £430, lis.) amounted to 478.— or 6s. 7d. 

 per acre. In order to form some idea of the heaviness 

 of the labour being performed, six horses, pulling well 

 together, were made to draw the three-tine implement 

 alongside the work; and, though it had been supposed 

 that more draught-power would be needed, the six horses 

 (yoked three before three) walked along at a fair brisk 

 pace, without fatigue or distress ; in fact, it appeared to 

 be good ordinary work for them. The dynamometer 



