THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



131 



of before. Yet, no matter how profoundly the tool 

 sinks, or how stubborn the mass of cohesive clay forced 

 tlirougli, the workmen can steer in the requisite direc- 

 tion with that clover adaptation of the woodman's 

 " gin," by altering tlie lock of the wheels. Could not 

 some mechanist contrive a plough to go straight, while 

 following at the end of a wire-rope ? Thus the drain- 

 ing engine was wondrously suggestive. And Mr. 

 Smith, of Woolston, imbibed ideas which, instead of 

 conmitting to print, he perseveringly carried into 

 practice— with results the most astonishing and invalu- 

 able. 



But lot us look at Mr. Fowler's own course, as an in- 

 ventor : that is, in matters wliich have come before the 

 public in connexion with steam power field-work. And, 

 indeed, every farmer now-a-days ought to be perfectly 

 familiar with the principles of construction of the dif- 

 ferent kinds of steam-tilling apparatus, or he is apt to 

 misjudge the reports of progress that reach him; 

 thinking he knows the "steam-plough" pretty well, 

 having seen it half-a-year ago, when, in fact, almost 

 every month it is coming out with important modifica- 

 tions. We hope our readers will keep up their me- 

 chanical knowledge of what is going on in this im- 

 portant department of agricultural impi'ovement ; par- 

 ticularly as we find even our old correspondent the 

 " Old Norfolk Farmer " inadvertently stating that 

 " Messrs. Fowler's and Smith's systems are similar to 

 each other in all respects, I believe, except that the 

 former works with a plough and the latter with grub- 

 bers." 



In the autumn of 1849, Mr. Fowler's attention was 

 drawn to the great expense of laying drain-tiles in the 

 ground ; and he determined to substitute machinery 

 for the manual operation, if it were possible. Lam- 

 bert's mole-plough figured in the " Annals of Agri- 

 culture'' many years ago. The practice of mole- 

 ploughing was common in some heavy-land districts; 

 and it appeared to him that there would be no diffi- 

 culty in making the same machine draw in some 

 material to be left in the hole made, and thus 

 form the drain. Mr. Saul, of Garstang, had pro- 

 posed such an idea years before; but it still re- 

 mained to be actually realized. It is not necessary to 

 detail all the various experiments of the inventor's no- 

 viciate. All the tackle that could be procured was far 

 too weak to answer the purpose. Chain and hemp rope 

 were tried; but when strong enough, were found to be 

 of so great a weight as to render moving about imprac- 

 ticable. Recourse wa9 then had to wire rope ; 

 and in July, 1850, Mr. Fowler was able to bring 

 befoi-e the Royal Agricultural Society, at their Exeter 

 Meeting, a machine that would bury drain pipes 

 made of wood to the depth of 2| feet. The windlass 

 was a travelling one, worked by horses going round 

 and round — and propelling itself by winding along a 

 rope laid out in the required direction anchored at 

 the end. The drain plough followed the moveable 

 windlass — the horses walking in a series of eccentric 

 circles, or, more properly, spirals, and so gradually 

 passing up the field. Into a description of the drain- 



plough itself, the construction of the windlass, the con- 

 trivances for manufacturing the loood pipes, &c., we 

 need not now enter. The great inconvenience in ad- 

 justing the rope to the length of the field, the difficulty 

 of keeping it tight enough to cause sufficient friction 

 on the winding barrel, and the wear and tear caused 

 by the friction, led at once to the abandonment of this 

 plan of windlass. A remarkably simple and easily 

 portable capstan was then made. This, stationed on 

 the headland, coiled the rope upon a drum, the vertical 

 axis of which carried the four arms or levers by which 

 the horses caused it to revolve. Two men in five 

 minutes can raise and pack this windlass ready for 

 removal ; and when properly fixed, with its broad iron 

 plate let into the ground and a strut set out at an angle 

 to hold the machine upright, it is capable of resisting 

 all the power of four horses working with a leverage of 

 twenty to one. For applying horse-power to occasional 

 heavy field-labour, such as pulling down forest trees, 

 or removing cannon or stores over a difficult country, 

 a more compact and effective windlass cannot be 

 desired. The plough was also improved in form and 

 capabilities. Experiments also showed that ordinary 

 earthen tiles could be laid with ease and accuracy 

 (which had previously seemed doubtful) ; and in the 

 spring of 18.')1 the plough was perfectly competent to 

 perform drainage on good cutting clay soils, in some 

 cases four feet deep, as shown on Wormwood Scrubs, 

 near London. But the principal fact demonstrated (as 

 bearing upon the present subject), was the practicability 

 of managing great lengths of wire rope in a field, with 

 comparative ease— the plough being often drawn a 

 quarter-of-a-mile from one fixture of the horse-power 

 windlass. 



In 1853 it was determined to apply steam-power 

 to the draining plough. The first attempt was 

 nof that which our readers saw at Lincoln in 1854; 

 but the engine, windlass, and plough were all combined 

 in one carriage adapted to travel over the land. The 

 winding apparatus was attached in front, and driven 

 by gearing from the engine crank-shaft, while the 

 plough followed behind — the rope being stationary, and 

 anchored at the end of the drain. Thus, the usual 

 habit of beginning with steam just where you began 

 with horses, was adopted ; but with a similar ill- 

 success ; for the travelling steam windlass answered no 

 better than the travelling horse windlass, though for a 

 different reason. The great weight on hilly land, and 

 the impossibility of managing such a ponderous 

 machine in the field, rendered it impracticable, and it 

 was accordingly abandoned at an early stage. Mr. 

 Fowler then decided to fix the engine and windlass in 

 one corner of the field, pass the rope along the head- 

 land and round a pulley anchored at the head of the 

 drain to be cut; a smaller rope being passed round 

 another pulley at the bottom of the field, so as to be 

 hauled out when the larger rope was being wound up, 

 and thus be ready to pull the larger rope and imple- 

 ment back again when the drain was finished. This 

 method worked very well, at once provhig the perfect 

 feasibility of applying steam-power to the purposes of 



