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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



as strongly spoken to, and that we may dwell on here- 

 after. 



Let U9 now hasten, to do some similar justice to Mr. 

 Fowler andhis, in contradistinction, " plough proper." 

 In doing so, let us lead off with a gentleman whose 

 name at this season will he tolerably familiar to most 

 of us. Mr. Stratton is by no means a man of one idea. 

 All his hopes at Hinton do not quite centre on the 

 shorthorns and the next gold medal. Hear how he has 

 cut through one of the great difficulties of cultivation 

 by steam : — " We 2nit our own farm-servants in 

 charge of it, and for the last three weeks they have 

 heen quite independent of any other assistance. It 

 has had a great number of spectators, andjust as many 

 admirers ; all who see it, speak of it as a great success. 

 When ploughing for wheat it did from 6 to nearly 8 

 acres per diem. I believe that in the summer it will 

 plough from 7 to 10 acres. I think it much cheaper 

 than horse-ploughing, as it will do more work than 24 

 horses ; but the great advantage from it is that the 

 work is done better and in more seasonable time." Then 

 Mr. Savidge, almost equally well known in the short- 

 horn world as the manager oi Mr. Langston's herd, has 

 " had the plough in daily use for the last three weeks 

 without the slightest accident or breakage •" and he 

 has "dispensed with seven old horses and ten working 

 bullocks." Mr. Arnot has had " no breakage of the 

 slightest consequence ;" and Mr. Saltmarshe reduces 

 his horses "from twenty-five to fifteen." Mr. Pocock 

 has been "free from what I most dreaded — breakage. I 

 have moved the tackle to my other farm and back, a 

 distance of ten miles, without any mishap." Mr. Higgs 

 considers that " Mr. Fowler's system has perfectly 

 settled the question that land can be better and clieaper 

 cultivated by steam than by horse power;" and Mr. 

 King wants " another ten-horse engine by Christmas, 

 as we have so many orders on hand." Then Mr. 

 Holland, a county member and a very eminent agri- 

 culturist, made the admirable working of Fowler's 

 steam plough the text-word of his speech at Gloucester 

 the other day. After detailing the striking success of 

 his practice with it this season, the honourable gentle- 

 man concludes by stating it as his full belief that " in 

 the long run the farmers of England would be found 

 joining together to use a steam plough, if they could 

 not afford one individually, the same as they now 

 joined together to use a steam thrashing machine; 

 and when a man had once used a steam plough he 

 would no more go back to horse ploughing than he 

 would to the flail for thrashing. Such was his expe- 

 rience." But we give the speech in full, and on 

 behalf of Mr. Fowler we ask the best attention of our 

 readers to this volunteer offering in his favour. Neither 

 must his position on the prize lists of both the English 

 and Scotch Societies bo overlooked. 



This evidence, it must be borne in mind, comes from 

 all parts of the kingdom. As it is not every one, how- 

 ever, who cai'es to read advertisements or complimen- 

 tary testimonials, we have selected a few of the strong 

 points from what we consider two very suggestive 

 publications. They either, we repeat, point to steam 

 cultivation as an established fact. Still a little higher 

 authority might be now useful. Some years since the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England instituted a 

 general inquiry into the working of Crosskill's clod 

 crusher, and the Highland Society has more recently 

 reported on the reaper. Surely this is the time for the 

 Royal Society to organize a similar commission over 

 the steam plough. There is plenty of evidence still to 

 be taken. There is ample material to work up ; while 

 some such incentive is just what is wanting to further 

 a principle that has so far bravely fought its own 

 way. 



MR. E. HOLLAND, M.P,, ON THE ADVAN- 

 TAGES OF PLOUGHING BY STEAM. 



At a meeting of the Gloucester Agricultural Society at 

 Cirencester on the 24th Dae, this gentleman said : 



At the end of the j'ear one woiild like to review what 

 had been going on in the agricultural world during the 

 year ; and they must all be alive to the advances made by 

 steam ploughing within that period. He should like to give 

 them his experiences upon this subject, but was afraid that 

 the figures and details would prove to be too tedious. That 

 glorious fellow Cocker could not have got to heaven yet, 

 although he died bo many years ago. He hoped he should 

 not encroach too much upon their patience, but if they got 

 tired of the subject he hoped they would cough him down, 

 and he would attend to the hint. Six or seven years ago he 

 took to one of his farms, which was out of condition, and he 

 felt that some time or other it must come under the steam 

 plough. He commenced by shaping his ground as far as 

 he possibly could, by taking down fences, and running roads 

 straight, paralleled, and at right angles, taking care that 

 his fields should be, as far as possible, rectangular. He wished 

 at once to commence steam ploughing, but there was no 

 machine in existence which reached his wishes. He waited 

 till last year, 1858, when Mr. Fowler succeeded in pro- 

 ducing what he wanted — an engine which moved along the 

 field at one end, while at the other end was an anchor, 

 which was moved with and kept opposite the engine. He 

 had waited for an engine at one end of the field and an an- 

 chor at the other, to move along the headland, which did 

 not require to be moved by horses. His land was as heavy 

 as land could be, with the exception of a few acres of stone 

 brash. He did not know anything of the working of light 

 soil; and he knew what an injury it was to heavy land to 

 have horses trampling over it. This engine of Mr. Fowler's 

 was what he had waited for, and he wanted to get a twelve- 

 horse engine, but could only procure a ten-horse one. He 

 got some tackle, and took to an old anchor, some old ropes, 

 and the rest of the gear was new. He was speaking now 

 of November of last year. He bad met with a few mishaps, 

 as every man must expect to do who commenced with new 

 machinery and a new plan ; but still he had ploughed a 

 certain quantity of land. He took a large barley field in 

 one instance, two thirds of which he ploughed by steam, 

 and the other third by horses. He then sowed the field in 

 the usual way, with a Suftblk drill, and last harvest he 

 reaped the whole field with the same reaping machine. It 

 was found that the reaping machine had more work to 

 do on that part of the land that was steam ploughed than on 

 that which was ploughed by horses. They got all the pro- 

 duce in one rick, dividing the steam-ploughed from the 

 other, and it was not yet thrashed ; but when he came to 

 thrash it he would be able to ascertain how the different 

 parts of the field yielded. But he did not wish to touch on 

 that, as this was the first year of the trial. He did as Mr. 

 Stratton had done, and. was determined to give his engine 

 the most severe trial he could. He therefore tried it upon 

 a stubble field, where the stubble was very thick and very 

 long, and where the furrows were so deep that, when sport- 

 ing,_one had to look over the ridge to see where one's com- 

 panion was. They ploughed this field across ridge and fur- 

 row, and made a good job of it, considering the length of the 

 stubble ; of course, stopping from time to time to clear the 

 plou gh shares, but with that exception they got through 

 the field very well, and considering it was about 14 acres, 

 he thought it a fair trial, and dismissed Mr. Fowler's men, 

 employing only his own labourers. He had found that this 

 steam ploughing had greatly increased their intelligence. 

 They now asked for many comforts which labourers in for- 

 mer years never thought of, and which they looked upon 

 not as luxuries but as necessities. He had now to go into 

 figures, with which he should probably fatigue them. He 

 had ploughed 272 acres with steam, and had ploughedat the 

 rate, sometimes of six, but on an average of four acres a 

 day, and had done 68 days' ploughing. Now came the cost, 

 which he estimated at 24s. for four acres, and which he di- 

 vided this way. He used upon an average for the four 

 acres half a ton of coal at 12s., that was Gs. ; Is. worth of 

 oil ; he reckoned 3s. for a horse and water cart, a boy to look 

 ftfteritis,; a man to look after the engine ^s. ; and four 



