40 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZLXE. 



therefore be of some benefit." The quantity of nitrogen 

 supplied by the ammonia and nitric-acid of rain is so 

 considerable (largest of all in the vicinity of towns), in 

 addition to that which is obtained by the soil or plants 

 directly from the air, that it " appears quite con- 

 ceivable that, under favourable circumstances, the soil 

 and plants growing upon it may obtain as much 

 nitrogen from the atmosphere as may suffice for many 

 of the crops usually grown, without the agency of ma- 

 nure — a supposition which the results obtained by the 

 Rev. Mr. Smith, of Lois-Weedon, tend to justify. And 

 the above calculations would also point to the propriety 



of employing mostly mineral manures in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of large towns, trusting to the atmos- 

 phere supplying the greater part of the necessary nitro- 

 gen and carbonic acid." 



Of course the practical inference from this demon- 

 strated richness of the air and its moisture — both in 

 substances which directly feed, and others that cook or 

 prepare many ingredients present in the soil, but in a 

 raw, unpalatable condition for plants — is, that deep 

 drainage, deep culture, and elaborate surface pulveri- 

 zation ought to be, wherever practicable, main points 

 in our husbandry. 



BOYDELL'S TRACTION ENGINE AND ENDLESS RAILWAY. 



On Wednesday, May 27, we left the "busy hum" of the 

 city, to resort to where the ploughman has been wont to 

 " plod his weary way." In plain terms, we joined the 

 company who went to Wimbisb Hall Farm, to witness 

 the trial of a machine, that beyond a doubt is one of those 

 inventions destined to supersede, to a certain extent, the 

 most ancient implement of husbandry — the dexterous 

 management of which has hitherto constituted the 

 proudest achievement of the agricultural labourer and 

 the glory of the farmer. Notwithstanding the claims 

 that prescription confers upon this old and favourite 

 servant, simplified and perfected as it has been by 

 science, and beautified by artistic skill, its condemnation 

 as a cultivator solely dependent for its application upon 

 animal power, is sufficiently insured to render its decline 

 but a question of time. Ere long it must be allied with, 

 or superseded by, the monster energy of steam in place 

 of horse power. 



Wimbisb Hall is situated at the distance of four miles 

 fiom Saffron Walden in Essex. The farm on which 

 the trial of the Traction Engine took place has recently 

 changed hands, being now tenanted by a young farmer 

 of the name of Woodham. The soil consists of a strong 

 — very strong clay, common to the district, but having 

 a subsoil of a mixture of clay, sand, and marl. The 

 tract of land evidently over-lies the chalk basin, the 

 outcrop of which is seen on the east side of Walden, 

 where the bed of that mineral is of indefinite thickness, 

 but exhibiting at the Walden Lime-works a perpen- 

 dicular face of 25 or 30 feet. The field on which 

 we found the machine at work was perhaps as un- 

 favourable a one, for the success of the trial, as could 

 have been selected in the whole kingdom. With a soil 

 naturally heavy, adhesive, and intractable, it had, as a 

 matter of course, been latterly neglected by the out-going 

 tenant ; and, being under a dead untilled fallow, was 

 sufficiently hard-baked by the sun, wind, and rain, al- 

 ternately, to make it difficult enough to manage under 

 any circumstances, but particularly so with a new 

 machine, handled by men unaccustomed to its pecu- 

 liarities. Added to these disadvantages, was the ar- 

 rangement, by which the land was to be ploughed 

 athwart the old ridges, which greatly increased the 

 difficulty of working the ploughs. It was remarked to 



us by several old farmers, that " if they worked well on 

 that land, they would do so anywhere." 



There were only three ploughs at work when we 

 reached the field. On the first day (Tuesday), there 

 were, as we understood, six, or rather three double 

 ploughs; but it was evident these were not adapted, in 

 point of strength, to the stubborn character of the soil, 

 for all of them were broken or strained. Those sub- 

 sequently used were the common ploughs of the farm. 

 The machine was travelling at the rate of about three 

 miles per hour, or probably two and three-quarters 

 miles, exclusive of stoppages. Its motion was steady 

 and direct ; and it appeared to be under as complete 

 control, in regard to stopping and backing, to an inch, 

 as a horse ; the ploughs performing their part with per- 

 fect efficiency, if not with ease to the men who held 

 them, and who had evidently no sinecure berth of it. The 

 furrows turned were fully a foot in width, and four, six, 

 eight, and even ten inches in depth, accordingly as the 

 managing engineer wished to test the capability of the 

 machine. We particularly observed that the furrows, 

 instead of being turned over in one continuous, un- 

 broken surface, which, in the common ploughing of such 

 land, renders the harrow useless until the soil has been 

 mellowed by the atmosphere, were, by the quick action 

 of the ploughs, broken up and separated, so as to ex- 

 pose the whole body of earth to the action of the air. 

 We have no doubt that, if necessary, the harrows 

 might have been efficiently employed the next day ; for, 

 on pressing the soil with the foot, it at once crumbled 

 to pieces. We mention this as of particular import- 

 ance on so adhesive a soil as the one on which the trial 

 took place. In conversation with several of the far- 

 mers of the district, they one and all expressed their 

 approval of the manner in which the ploughs performed 

 their work. Some of the older ones feared the plough- 

 ing " was too deep," admitting, however, at the same 

 time, that, where the land-drains had been dug (which, 

 of course, were much deeper), they would expect the 

 best crops, either of corn or roots. A delay of three 

 hours took place, in consequence of the breaking of 

 a piston belonging to the pump. This, however, was 

 neatly repaired by a smith in the village ; and the ma- 

 chine got to work again about four o'clock. 



