THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



37 



other men at 2a. 6d. per day, 10s. That made 24s. Now 

 if he had new tackle, with which Mr. Fowler could supply 

 him — and no man was more liberal and pleasant to deal 

 with than Mr. Fowler — he should be able to have two boys 

 instead of two men, whicli would be a saving of 2s. 3d. an 

 acre. Mr. Fowler estimated the wear and tear at Is. 6d. an 

 acre ; making 303. for four acres, or 7s. Gd. an acre. If 

 he had done it with horses, he must have had four horses 

 to each plough, and he did not believe they could do more 

 than one acre a day, at II. an acre. So there was the diife- 

 rence in favour of steam ploughing between 4.1. and \l. 10s. 

 for the four acres, or a saving of 21. 10s. The next thing to 

 take into consideration was the cost of the whole thing from 

 beginning to end. The machinery cost him 800^, but he 

 had reduced this cost by selling '3001. worth of horses, leav- 

 ing a net outlay of capital 500L Upon this he charged 

 himself 20/. per cent., or 100^. a-year. For breakages of 

 machinery he charged himself 50/. a-year more, placing 

 1501. against the steam-engine. But instead of keeping 20 

 horses, he had only to keep 12, and the saving in 

 this keep he could not put at less than 30/. a- 

 year, which must be taken into account. The 8 

 horses saved thus, effected a saving of 240/. a-year in their 

 keep, to be added to 170/., and taking the 150/. a-year for 

 interest and wear, there was a net saving of 2G01. a year in 

 favour of the steam ploughing. Now ne might be right 

 or wrong, but he wished just to place before them what he 

 had done during the last twelve months ; and it was for 

 them to consider his statements, and if he was wrong he 

 would be obliged to any gentleman to set him right, and ask 

 him any questions, whicli he would endeavour to answer. 

 Ilis feeling was that the advantage of steam ploughing 

 was not confined to its greater economy in comparison with 

 the expense of the ordinary plan. But he looked upon it in 

 another light, namely the necessity of deep ploughing. 

 There was one anecdote he would mention, he believed it 

 to be true ; it was to be found in Mr. Johnson's work, and 

 the names were given. A gentleman in the north held a 

 farm. He was a capital farmer, but he did not plough 

 deep. For a few j^ears, by dint of using artificial manures, 

 he had fair crops; but at length he found them decreasing 



and dwindling away. He could not understand this, be- 

 cause He was yearly in the habit of applying artificial 

 manures, phosphates, and so forth, while to such an extent 

 did the crops fail him, that at last he threw up his farm and 

 declared he could do nothing with it. The next year an- 

 ther tenant took the farm at the same rent. He was a deep 

 plouglier, and he found out the fault and altered it. He 

 found that the previous tenant had always ploughed to the 

 same depth, till there was a regular hard pan made at the 

 bottom of the furrow, into which the artificial manures sunk, 

 until at last the different crops could find nothing in the 

 ground to feed upon. The new tenant was a bit of a che- 

 mist, and his knowledge made him rich. He knew that a 

 good deal of the artificial manure had gone down into this 

 pan. He accordingly ploughed deep, and there was a great 

 change in the farm. Another thing to be taken in consi- 

 deration in steam ploughini^ was that it prevented the harm 

 that was done to heavy clay lands by the ploughing of 

 horses over it. Another consideration was this : Chemists 

 told them that every bushel of wheat required Gibs, of am- 

 monia, which it must have in some shape or other — either 

 in what was formed by preceding crops, or else in guano, 

 or some other manure. But why was this necessary? 

 Because in it was nitrogen, and nitrogen was the only thing 

 that was required for the formation of a good wheat crop. 

 Now, nitric acid was contained in the air, and when it came 

 down in rain, and penetrated into the soil, the constituents 

 of the air and of the soil combined to form nitrogen. So 

 that when these were enabled to penetrate into the ground 

 by means of deep ploughing, a great saving of artificial ma- 

 nures was effected. He believed this question could not be 

 discussed and understood at one meeting, but must be dis- 

 cussed and mentioned over and over again, and that in the 

 long run the farmers of England would be found joining to- 

 gether to use a steam plough, if they could not aftbrd 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 plough- 

 ing than he would to the flail for thrashing. Such was his 

 experience, and he hoped he had not intruded too tediously 

 on their time. 



THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.— ARTERIAL DRAINAGE. 



There are few questions of higher importance 

 and more pressing urgency to this country than 

 the subject recently treated on by Mr. Grantham, C.E., 

 at the Institution of Engineers. We were glad to 

 perceive that it met with the cordial approbation 

 of Mr. Joseph Locke, M.P., the chairman, and all 

 present, for we are well convinced that it will com- 

 mend itself to our ablest agriculturists. The subject 

 itself is eminently suited for the men who have taken 

 it up. It involves large questions, requiring aid from 

 legislation and from practical science. The history 

 given by Mr. Grantham of what has been done in this 

 country, only helps to bring under our notice what 

 may yet be done. The results obtained from these 

 works also encourage us to proceed in their extensive 

 execution. 



But although the greater and more imposing works 

 described in this paper— such as the Eau Brink Cut, 

 the Great Neve Outfall, and others — deserve our atten- 

 tion ; yet we conceive that the principal difficulty rests 

 with works of less magnitude — those intermediate 

 stages, if we may so speak, between the grand works 

 of Rennie in the early part of this century, and the in- 

 dividual labours of landowners upon their own pro- 

 perty. It is here where the principal hitch is found, 

 and it is to this that Mr. Grantham very properly ad- 

 dresses himself in the greater part of his paper, and 

 that subsequent speakers also turned to. 



The subject is so plain, that we should think it almost 



unnecessary to lay it before our readers. It commends 

 itself at once so readily to the simplest understanding, 

 that we should have conceived all discussion upon it to 

 be so much time wasted, were we not every day made 

 aware of the woful defects now existing in almost all 

 systems of drainage— of the trifling causes which are 

 allowed to stand in the way of improved drainage 

 — and of the obstinacy of interested or ignorant 

 people in wilfully preventing many well-considered 

 and practicable plans from being undertaken. It 

 is easy to perceive how one estate in the back 

 lands mny be so situated by position and levels as to 

 be a hindrance to the effective drainage of other estates 

 still higher, unless some large works are carried 

 through the former. Or supposing all the back lands 

 to be well drained, how the low lands may be injured 

 by some one still lower impeding the execution of 

 better outfalls, the very improvements in the back 

 drainage running the water off faster than the imperfect 

 outfalls will take it. Yet both of these operations are 

 everywhere found essential to complete and effective 

 systems of drainage, and at present there is no general 

 act by which such works can be carried out. There is 

 nothing for it but a special act of Parliament for each 

 case, or leaving matters as they are. For as to expect 

 men to be unanimous, even when their own interest 

 dictates the necessity of it, is more than universal ex- 

 perience would justify us in looking for. 



Another fruitful source of diflficulty, as forcibly de- 



