THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



U7 



a-day, with 12^ cwt. of coal. These, at 10s. lid., 

 added lo the hibour, &c., 17s. 4d., amount to 28s. 

 3d. ii-day, or 5s. 8d. per acre. No. 4; 23 aci'es, was 

 ploughed at the rate of about 4} acres a-day, with 

 14i cwt. of coal. The coal and labour come to 29s. 

 9d. a-duy, or 7s. per acre. No. 5, 9 acres, was 

 ploughed at the rate of 4i acres a-day, with 10 cwt. of 

 coal. Coal and labour come to 2Gs. Id., or about 5s. 

 9d. per acre. No. G, 12 acres, was ploughed at tlie 

 rate of about 4 J acres per day, with 12 cwt. of coiil. 

 Labour and coal amount to 27s. lOd., or about 

 5s. lOd. per acre. No. 7, 22 acres, was ploughed at 

 the rate of more than 4J acres per day, with 14J cwt. 

 of coal. Labour and coal amountiug to about 30s. 2d. 

 a-day, or about 6s. 4d. per acre. No. 8, 10 acres, 

 was i)loughed at the rate of 5 acres a-day, with 11 

 cwt. of coals ; coal and labour, &c., amounting to 

 268. lid., or about 5s. 4d. per acre. No. 9, 7 acres, 

 was ploughed at the rate of 5^ acres per day, with 

 6J cwt. of coal. Coal and labour, &c., came to 23s. 

 2d., or about 3s. 9d. per acre. 



From these particulars we may frame a table as 

 follows, the fields being arranged in order from the 

 heaviest to the lightest work, as indicated by the quan- 

 tity of coal burnt per acre. 



It appears, from this statement, that the comparative 

 cost of ploughing land ought not to be estimated from 

 the depth only ; for No. 4, at 10 to 11 iuches, is a good 

 deal harder wurk than No. 7, at 12 inches ; No. 6, at 

 only 4 inches depth, and No. 3, at 4 to 5 inches depth, 

 were twice as hard work as No. 9, at 6 inches. And 

 No. 8 and No. 5 were about alike in respect of fuel 

 consumed per acre ; yet the former was at more than 

 double the depth of the latter. Hence, the judges at 

 agricultural meetings, as well as farmers in general, 

 are liable to form very erroneous comparisons between 

 steam-ploughing and horse-ploughing, as respects 



economy, if they merely reckon according to the depth 

 of the work. Ilorscs arc pushed through their acre a 

 day just the same, no matter whether the 4 or 5 inch 

 be as difficult as 10 incli ploughing or not; while such 

 deep work as 9 or JO iuches is allowed extra time and 

 price for, when perhaps it may have been no harder 

 to plough tlian the other. But the dynamometer 

 will now enable us, in future trials, to ascertain the 

 value of any horse-work performed, without taking 

 depth or other conditions into account. 



It appears that beside the variable amount of re- 

 sistance of the soil in different fields to the passage of 

 the plough, arising either from stiffness of the ground, 

 rocky nature of the subsoil, or <hy great depth of the 

 work — a resistance itlt and indicated at once by the 

 steam-engine, though horses manifest their fatigue in a 

 less sensitive degree — there is also a difference in the 

 amount of coal burnt, occasioned by delays in work- 

 ing, in case of very angularly-shaped fields, an also 

 during foggy weather. 



The largest amount of work done in a day was in 

 ploughing No. 2 — putato land for wheat, the ground 

 clear and dry, the days 9 hours long, and no time lost 

 — 14 acres in two days, or 7 acres per day, at a total 

 cost of 4s. 3d. per acre. Of course, with longer summer 

 days, 8 or 9 acres would have been turned over, at a cost 

 of say 3s. 6d. per acre, including everything. No. 1 was 

 rather wet and heavy, and loss of time was occasioned 

 by misty mornings. JV'o. 3 was so angular in form 

 that the ploughing could not be worked at highest 

 speed. No. 4, oat land for potatoes, was very hard- 

 bottomed, the plough coming often against the chalk 

 rock, and breaking many shares ; but the work was 

 very good, being left as if dug by spade. In ploughing 

 No. 5, invery foggy weather, the engineer, not being 

 able to distinguish the signals, ran the plough against 

 the anchor, and broke the sheave. In No. 6, the shares 

 frequently came against the chalk rock at 4 inches 

 depth ; with the work slow, owing to the angularity of 

 the fences. On November 12th, there occurs the 

 memorandum of " Examining brasses, &c., half a 

 day" ; and on November 19th, " Examined tackle and 

 engine, a quarter of a 3ay." 



We must again reiterate our caution, that while the 

 economy of performance may vary so much that 011 

 clay land you may save more than one-half, and on 

 some light land find little comparative saving over 

 horse-ploughing, there are plenty of other good reasons 

 why the steam-plough will pny handsomely, and re- 

 lieve the farmer of many difficulties. 



STEAM CULTIVATION. 



BY MK. J, J. WILLIAMS, OF BAYDON, WILTS. 



The usual monthly meeting of the Hunffevford Farmers' 

 Club was held at the Bear Hotel, on Wednesday, February 

 lat, when Mr. J. Williaras, of Baydon, Wilts, delivered an 

 address on " Steam Cultivation : The Past, Present, and 

 Future." The chair was occupied by Mr. H. Cuadsll. 



Mr. Williams said— Iu complving with the wishes 

 of your coiomittee, to introduce the subject of Steam 

 Cultivation for discussion this eveniag, I thought it would 

 be as well to divide the subject iuto three parts — the 

 past, the preeeut, and the future : the two first of 

 these, in order to develope what has been done by the 

 several systems of hauling and modes of culture, v;ith its 

 effects, as far as has been ascertained : tUe lattvr, to ilhiatrnte 

 ahd pomt out from past exparience the most practical and 

 economical method for future observation and guidance. It 

 Bppears thst, for many years past, « fe^y individuals have been 



impressed with the idea of the practicability of cultivating the 

 land by steam power, and from time to tirae have made at- 

 tempts to accomplish this great object, but they have all more 

 or less failed till withiu the last seven years, when a new oja- 

 terial, " the wire rope," has been produced, whicli has thrown 

 a new light on the subject, and caused the present inventors to 

 be successful, where their predecessors failed for want of this 

 useful article. As a proof of this, au invention of Mr. Heath- 

 coat, ti:,e late, and, if I mistake not, the present, M.P. for 

 Tiverton, so long as 28 ye?.rs ago, might have succeeded, had 

 he been enabled to use the wire rope instead of chain, which, 

 to be of sufficieist strength, was too weighty frir any practical 

 purpose. As nothing of any importance can be obtained 

 from these early trials, I will merely observe of Mr. Henth- 

 coBt's plan that, had he possessed the wire rope, and had at 

 that time good cultivating implerneuta, my belief is, that ot 



