THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



143 



STEAM CULTURE, 



Sir, — In my last letter 1 referred to the meeting 

 of the Society of Arts on Wednesday evening, 8th of 

 December, at which Mr. Ilalkett read a paper on the 

 principle of his system of " Guideway Steam Cultiva- 

 tion." And having paid considerable attention to the 

 subject of steam culture in general, and to Mr. Hal- 

 kett's plan in particular, I am induced to give you my 

 thoughts upon it. 



It has appeared to me for some time that the agricul- 

 turists generally, including the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety, have mistaken the capabilities and the mission of 

 steam povrer, as applicable to the operations of the 

 farm. They have started with one idea only in cultiva- 

 tion — namely, ploughing — to which they have adhered ; 

 and the Society has endorsed the error by offering and 

 awarding their largest prize for the best mode of accom- 

 plishing it. I look upon this challenge of the Society as 

 calculated to lead the machine-makers upon " a false 

 scent," which has not, and cannot, lead to an econo- 

 mical result. I will explain what I mean by a reference 

 to the manner in which steam power is applied in other 

 departments of industry. If, for example, we go into 

 the workshop of an engine or machine manufacturer, 

 what do we see ? If you look up you will see a shaft 

 or spindle running from one end of the building to the 

 other, connected at one end with the steam-engine, and 

 furnished throughout its length with a numerous series of 

 wheels, to which are applied straps connected below with 

 machinery of every description used in the manufactory, 

 such as lathes, polishers, grindstones, cutting-machines, 

 &c., &c. All these may be carried on, either simulta- 

 neously or as they are required, without any change or 

 modification of the motive power, or any interference of 

 one operation with another. Such is also the case in all 

 the great manufactories in which steam power has super- 

 seded hand labour. Every operation is performed by 

 the same engine, which, with all the moving apparatus, 

 is so arranged as that any one operation, or all simul- 

 taneously, may at any moment be put in action. And 

 this^ I maintain, is the mission of steam povver in agri- 

 culture as well as every other kind of industry. 



Now, the specific challenge of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society is the production of a machine iox steam plough- 

 ing only ; and I do not hesitate to affirm that it is impos- 

 sible, from the very nature of steam power, for that 

 operation to be performed economically, or with com- 

 plete efficiency, upon any of the systems hitherto pro- 

 duced, unless it is Mr. Halkett's : to which I now beg 

 to direct the attention of your readers, confining myself 

 to facts, and leaving them (the readers) to judge how 

 far it is capable of fulfilling the mission which steam 

 power is destined, as I firmly believe, to accomplish in 

 the cultivation of the soil. 



Let me not, however, be misunderstood. In adhering 

 strictly to the terms fixed by the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, the three principal competitors— Messrs. Boy- 



dell, Fowler, and Smith— have severally displayed great 

 ingenuity, and probably, so far as the object in view is 

 concerned, have applied the power of steam in 

 the only methods in which it can be applied to a 

 single and isolated operation, unconnected with any 

 other mechanical aid. In this respect, perhaps. Boy- 

 dell's system would be the most complete, were it not 

 for its elephantine proportions, which bear so heavily 

 upon the land j otherwise, with some alterations and 

 improvements, especially in the mode of draught, it 

 might be made applicable to the purpose, but certainly 

 not economically so. For conveying heavy goods on 

 common roads, in countries where there are no rail- 

 roads, it is admirably adapted ; and the facility with 

 which it rises an incline of one in five is a quality that 

 distinguishes it from its competitors, and renders it of 

 great importance to governmental establishments, and 

 will insure it that kind of patronage. Messrs. Fowler 

 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 grubbers. And here I con- 

 ceive the Royal Agricultural Society has committed an 

 injustice by the strictness of their terms, to the letter 

 of which they felt themselves bound to adhere. Mr. 

 Smith's was certainly the original one, and I suppose 

 was as capable of working with ploughs as Fowler's. 

 But because he adopted the grubbers, as more efficient 

 with the same power, and cheaper than ploughs, he was 

 deprived of his claim to the prize. Being both, how- 

 ever, adapted only to the performance of one operation, 

 and not being economically superior to the common 

 plough, they do not come up to my ideas of the impor- 

 tant mission of steam-power. In addition to this, it 

 must be confessed that they are a round-about method 

 of accomplishing a simple operation ; and the enormous 

 friction upon the ropes used for the traction will always 

 render it an expensive process. I therefore say, with- 

 out any limitation or reserve, that neither of the three 

 systems illustrates in a manner worthy of the public 

 patronage the capabilities of steam-power, and what J 

 consider to be its undoubted future mission in the cul- 

 tivation of the soil. It remains, therefore, forme to 

 describe Mr. Halkett's system, and to show how far it 

 is calculated to accomplish that mission by effecting an 

 economical, beneficial, and, above all, entire perform- 

 ance of the whole round of operations of husbandry, 

 from the ploughing of the land to the housing of the 

 crop. 



The " guideway" system consists, in the first place, in 

 laying down the land with a series of permanent rails — 

 in the same manner as on a common railway, only at 

 the distance of from 30 to 50 (or more) feet from each 

 other. Secondly, a machine or platform of strong 

 timber, reaching across the intervening space between 

 the rails, rests upon them on eight wheels, and is pro- 

 pelled forward by steam-engines, one being placed at 



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