THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



225 



horses, are going to be shortened, and a saving to ever 

 sucli an extent effected in his annual outlay, by the 

 adoption of steam ploughing. " But the steam- 

 engine works at such a much cheaper rate than 

 horses or men : steam-power costs 5d. an hour, 

 while horses cost 9d., and manual labour a vast 

 deal more, in accomplishing the same amount of 

 work." Yes ; that is all right. But looking at 

 the matter in the light of the future, you will 

 perceive that under steam - power - husbandry, 

 your necessary capital per acre, and your yearly 

 outgoings, will at least equal what is burdening you at 

 present ; only here will be the difference — you will be 

 far better able to stand all draughts upon your purse, 

 owing to the improved tillage and more even and 

 yielding crops that will be secured. Onreal clay land, to 

 be sure, where the tillage by animal power is now fright- 

 fully dear, there is already I'ound to be a very great 

 saving in actual outlay. On very light land, the fact 

 of superior economy in working is not so satisfactorily 

 proved as we might desire ; and on medium loamy 

 lands, the most extensively found of all soils, we take 

 it as sufficiently shown by experience already had, that 

 the diminution of the horse and hand labour bill will 

 be nearly balanced by the expense of working the en- 

 gine. Do not imagine that because steam does certain 

 work for 5d. that liorses could not accomplish for less 

 than 9d., therefore it will plough or cultivate with this 

 proportion of economy. The calculation refers only to 

 certain labours suited to the two powers respectively. 

 A neighbour of ours views the matter, however, in a 

 very different light ; instead of expecting large things, 

 he can perceive only additional outlay without suffi- 

 cient work done. Audit is quite true that many honest 

 farmers as well as he can see no farther than their noses 

 when a real noveltyin management isplaced before them. 

 This is his statement of the steam -plough question : " I 



rode over to Mr. ■ 's last weei, saw her at work, and 



inquired all particulars. She lays him in over 40s. a day, 

 and ploughs 6 acres, which is nigh upon 7s. an acre. 

 Now 6 pair of horses, with men to plough with them, 

 would do just as much work for the same money ; so 

 Where's the saving ? He only ploughs as many acres 

 in a year as he did before — so he gains nothing. It is 

 true that, though he has sold off six out of his fourteen 



horses, he is able to plough ten acres in a day with the 

 remaining eight horses and engine together, instead of 

 only seven acres, which was the quantity when he had 

 the fourteen horses only : I grant he is winning in point 

 of time. But the six horses he has got rid of used to 

 cost, with labour, only half the money per day 

 that the engine now comes to ; so there is, in my 

 opinion, a sovereign or twenty-one shillings a day being 

 spent just for the vally of getting three acres a day 

 more work done. Is that like a paying business ?" 



A nice little fallacy umlerlies our friend's ingenious 

 calculations ; he has forgotten that though the teams 

 have to be kept at equal daily expense all thnugh the 

 year, in order to get their work done at the old rate of 

 seven acres per day (having, as he, in his easy after- 

 noon style of management, may consider, "plenty of 

 time to do it in"), the engine works a much less num- 

 ber of days in a year, and so, while at the same cost 

 per day, comes to much less expense for the year. We 



know that Mr. 's ploughing is about 300 



acres in a year ; that is, about 43 days' work for the 

 14 horses, amounting, according to our friend's com- 

 putation, to £105 expense. This acreage of ploughing 

 is only 30 days' work for the engine and 8 horses, 

 amounting to just the same sum— £105. The keep, 

 &c., of the 14 horses for the remaining 322 days in the 

 year, is, say .£"560 ; while in the other case, the main- 

 tenance, of the 8 horses for the remaining 335 days 

 of the year, comes to only £335, saving, thereibre, no 

 less than £125. Our worthy objector will smile when 

 he sees all this in i>rint, and wink knowingly to him- 

 self as he thinks to pose us with this rejoinder—" The 

 14 horses would not have been kept in idleness, they 

 would earn their living in other operations." For 

 which we have this extinguishing reply — " As 8 horses 

 are now found sufficient for all those ' other operations,' 

 6 must have been supernumeraries all these years past, 

 and would be wasting all their cost, if the farmer can 

 do as well without them. The engine, too, is set to 

 other work as well as the horses." 



The steam plough will effect a saving greater or less 

 on most farms which are absolutely light thin land; 

 though, as we said before, the gain is to be looked for 

 in economy of practice and large yields. 



WHY DON'T THE HENS LAY? 



" Sib, — Last summer, my one dozen hens gave me nine 

 and ten egga regularly every day, Sundays not excepted; but 

 now, when the ueighbouring grocer charges ' four for a slailling' 

 (three cents each), the ' egg-fountaius,'' as old Diogenes has 

 it, are all sealed up, and ' nary egg !' has been the tune for a 

 long time. Pray, Sir, what is the cause of this falling off? It 

 cannot be for the waut of food, as I make it a point to keep 

 corn constantly by them ; and when there is no snow on the 

 ground, I give them water. There is also an open hovel that 

 they can take shelter under aud loost in, although I find 

 mauy of them prefer to spend the night in the tops of the 

 neighbouring apple-trees ; and, singular as it may seem, the 

 colder and more forbidding the night, the higher they go for a 

 roosting- place. Now, if there is anything more I can do for 

 them, please inform me, a recent subscriber to the .(4jrricMZ- 

 turist. 



" Addison County, Vermont. " J. S. Angell." 



Remarks. 

 In the summer, the fowls obtained an abundance of animal 

 food — worms, grasshoppers, bugs, and other insects. In 

 the winter, these supplies are cut off. Try feeding them daily 

 with bits of refuse meat ; and see how eagerly they will de- 

 vour them. Some kind of animal food is almost indispensable 

 for laying-hens. Milk or milk-curds make a good substitute. 

 Scraps or meat-cake, easily obtained in large quantity and 



cheaply from the lard or tallow-triers, are very good for fowla 

 (in this city it is sold at a low price, in large cakes the size of a 

 barrel-head, and eight to twelve inches thick — sometimes in 

 square form). The price is usually about 20 dollars per ton — 

 one cent per pound. Let the fowls have meat in some form. 

 In summer they get green vegetables. Iq winter let them have 

 cabbage-leaves, turnip-tops, or potatoes or turnips boiled. 

 Corn is passably good for fattening, but not to make eggs out 

 of alone. Oats contain more egg-material. To lay well, they 

 should have warm quarters, where water will scarcely freeze. 

 Let them always have plenty of unchilled water ; snow is a 

 poor substitute. They want a scratching-place, or, at least, 

 access to gravel ; and without lime, they caunot make egg- 

 shells. Finely-powdered bones or oyster-shells or old mortar 

 supply lime, which they must have in some form. They have 

 constitutional objections to laying eggs without shells. An 

 ash-heap, to roll in, is good to keep off insects. Access to the 

 sun, on warm days, they will plainly show you is a treat they 

 enjoy. In short, give them meat or milk for animal food, with 

 some soft vegetables ; lime to make shells of; plenty of water 

 to drink, aud to supply ths liquid part of the egg ; as rnuch 

 mixed grain as they like to eat, and gravel to grind it v/ith ; 

 clean, warm houses and nests, with air and sunlight, to kiep 

 ihem healthy ; and you will unseal the egg-fountains. The 

 nearer their winter food and habits can approach to those of 

 summer, the nearer will the supply of eggs be equahzed.— « 

 Aj^^an Agriculturist. 



