THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



245 



deciding competition, of which the following is a tabu- 

 lated result ; this being necessitated from a dispute 

 which arose between them, as to the sock of Howard's 

 plough being broken, which diminished the draught. 

 The measured furrow for this trial being 60 yards 

 long: — 



Ransomes' 



Howard's.. 



min. 55 seconds 



1 „ » 

 „ 52 



,, 55 



1 m' 



>» 



113.95 power. 

 113.75 „ 

 110.25 

 112.7 

 111.66 



>5 



The following exhibitors entered " ploughs for general 

 purposes" for trial:— (1) HUherly, Thriissington, 

 Loughborough, Leicestershire ; (-2) Hornsby, Grantham, 

 Lincolnshire; (2,) Taskcr, Andover, Hampshire; (4) 

 Goulding, Leicestershire ; (5) Page, Bedford ; (6) 

 Ball, Rothwell, Northamptonshire ; (7) Busby, Bedale, 

 York ; (8) Eddy, Kenford, Exeter, Devonshire ; (9) 

 Hensman, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire; (\Q) Ran- 

 somes ; {II) Howard. The following is the result of 

 the trials :^ 



No. of 

 Exhibitor. 



(1) 

 (2) 

 (3) 

 (4) 

 (5) 

 (6) 



Time. 



1.40 



1.40 



1.30 



1.23 



1.10 



1.12 



Power. 



123.09 



120.2 



123.59 



127.05 



119.15 



159. 



No. of 

 Exhibitor. 



(7) 



(8) 



(9) 

 (10) 



(11) 



Time. 



1.20 



1.28 



1.8 



1.56 



1.35 



Power. 



117.1 



118.95 



112.63 



117.85 



123.35 



The following is the result of the trial of the ploughs 

 for heavy land, the conditions being to cut a furrow 12 

 inches broad by 9 inches deep, the length of furrow 50 

 yards. The several competitors were ultimately reduced 

 to three — Hornsby, Ransomes, and Howard ; — 



Name. Time. Power. 



Hornsby. 50 132.78 



Ransomes 45 138.475 



Howard 1.14 132.35 



The second trial gives the following results^: — 

 Name. 



Hornsby 



Ransomes 



Howard 



THE STEAM PLOUGH. 



Many a four- inch-deep farmer of the clays may 

 have been startled by the statement, that the gain 

 by Mr. Langston's steam-ploughing at Sarsden was 

 i£l,500 per annum on 800 acres arable ! JVot a 

 poorly-managed farm, worth little rent, to be thus 

 raised in value by improved cultivation; but a 

 thoroughly well-drained one, which has been well 

 done for years, with good returns for its tillage and 

 manuring, is to yield an increase of profit equivalent 

 to the above handsome amount. If this be not a grossly 

 exaggerated estimate and over-sanguine expectation 

 unlikely to be realized, the inventors of steam-cultiva- 

 ting machinery might very well head their advertise- 

 ments — " To gain two pounds per acre annually in 

 heavy-laud farming, buy a steam-plough" ; or " How 

 to make a fortune on chiy land in two years at present 

 prices, by means of the steam plough !" 



From inquiries made on the spot, we are enabled to 

 give tlie calculation of this expected profit. No one 

 will dispute the moderation of the stated expenses 

 incurred in working the steam plough, amounting 

 to £12 per week for thirty weeks in the year, in- 

 cluding the allowance of .^I'iO a year for maintaining 

 the efficiency of the machine. If anything, this ^12 

 appears to be £2 too much rather than too little. 

 Neither will anybo'iy be disposed to question the just- 

 ness of an estimate — that 2s. 6d. per acre over half the 

 farm is saved in preparing the ploughed land for the 

 drill, owing to the less number of rollings and harrow- 

 ings required ; or that 28s. per acre upon a fifth of the 

 farm is saved in preparing ground for the fallow 

 crop — the difference being between one autumn 

 smashing-up and two scufflings by steam-power, as 

 compared with three ploughings and three scufflings by 

 the ordinary system with horses. This is, in reality, 

 understating the case ; for more ploughings and 

 grubbings are certainly required, as a rule, in 

 working a piece of strong land fallow. And further, 

 we think that the increase of corn, roots, and artificial 

 grasses — to be looked for as a consequence of deepening 

 the soil to a 10-inch staple, double the depth of the 

 ploughing hitherto practised, and as an effect sure to 

 follow from breaking down through the "pan," pul- 

 verizing the soil to an extent and perfection not possible 

 with the slow-moving horse plough, and ceasing to pug 



and poach with the hoofs of horses and oxen — all this 

 cannot be fairly estimated below the figure stated ; 

 that is, equivalent to 8 bushels of wheat per acre upon 

 half the farm. From these particulars, then— not 

 likely to be challenged as strained, unfair, or unreason- 

 able in the least degree— how do we make out the 

 enormous gain of 37s. per acre, or the £'1,500 a year 

 from 800 acres ? 



The steam plough, then, with expenses of the first 

 start, cost .£750 ; and one year's working, and 

 wear and tear, come to £360 — making a total outlay 

 of £1,110. Mr. Langston employed on his large hold- 

 ing 24 horses and I2oxen. Tliere are now no oxen, and 

 only 18 horses; but 4 of these are kept for doing work 

 on the estate, the farm having the benefit of them during 

 harvest. Still as 14 horses are believed by Mr. Savidge, 

 the manager, to be amply sufficient for all the labour re- 

 quired — seeing that the steam machinery, beingself-loco- 

 motive, never calls for their assistance in removal from 

 field to field, and the stacking of a considerable propor- 

 tion of corn in the fields makes the journeys of the 

 harvest-cart shorter — we take 14 horses as the requisite 

 future team. The 12 oxen have been sold, fatted, for 

 £240; add 10 horses for £300, this makes £540 

 realized. Then there is the year's expense of these 

 animals saved — the horses say at £30, and the oxen at 

 £12 each, and the wages of the six men and six boys who 

 worked them ; making in all £1,110, just the same sum 

 as that expended in the purchase and year's working 

 of the steam plough. The machine may thus be said 

 to have earned itself in the very first year; and is not, 

 therefore, a heavy addition of fresh capital, but a sub- 

 stitution of the capital in the form of mechanical appa- 

 ratus for an equal amount of existing capital indraught 

 animals, provender, &c., and labourers' wages, already 

 invested in this extensive business. So that on large 

 farms the purchase of a steam plough is easily within 

 the tenant's ability, without requiring additional means 

 on his part, or in any way crippling his funds for the 

 year. This is a point worth thinking about ; but we 

 must now pass on to our calculation. Making a rough 

 valuation at the year's end, we find that the ."team ma- 

 chinery is worth some £200 more than the draught 

 animals would have been (that is, reckoning the horses 

 to be worth £5 a-head less, and the oxen £2 a-head 



