THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



157 



saving of £1,036, equal to 5 per cent., and vfhich, when added 

 to 4 per cent. alreaJy received, makes a profit of 9 per cent, by 

 saving on labour alone ; to which, if £1 for extra produce be 

 added, we have a total profit of 14 per cent. ; if £2 for extra 

 produce, we have a profit of 19 per cent, on capital for laying 

 down a most permanent system of guidewaya ; in fact, one of 

 an almost indestructible character. 



Explanation of Balance Sheet. — In line noted letter 

 (a) I say " Interest on capital at 4 per cent." This I suppose 

 to be sufHcieut interest, the investor being supposed to with- 

 draw the money from the funds or other good security. If 

 the money is borrowed, the interest must be larger, but it will 

 be seen that this makes no difference in the result. 



Line (6) '■ Capital for stock £2,500." No account is taken 

 of the profit or interest the agriculturist makes upon the 

 £2,500, as the same amount of capital is required for horses 

 and horse machinery on the opposite side. Only the interest 

 for depreciation and wear and tear is put down here. 



Line (c) " Locomotive cultivator with 25 horae power." A 

 steam engine will always work up to a higher power than is 

 denominated by its nominal horse power, and I could easily 

 make 25 horse-power engines work up to 40 horses (the 

 amount of horses given on the opposite side), but this is not 

 why I have put 25 horses in engine power as suiiicient against 

 40 horses on the opposite side ; on the contrary, for every one- 

 horse power used in flesh I intend to place one-horse power in 

 steam. My explanation is this : — 25 horses working 12 hours 

 for 250 days, and 12 hours extra for 20 nights, are equal to 40 

 horses working 8 hours for 250 days. 



Line {d) " Ten trucks, &c.'" The interest for depreciation 

 and wear and tear is put at 8 per cent, in this case, the wear 

 and tear not being great. 



I have gone upon the broad principle of putting one-horse 

 power working in steam for ever horse working in flesh, but I 

 have over estimated very much, for one horse will cart onl- 

 one ton with the load running upon the ground, while one 

 horse power will cart several tons with the load running upon 

 my guideway. I have the advantage of the less draught of 

 the ploughs by their not resting upon the bottom of the fur- 

 row pan, wTiich in Mr. Pusey's experiments was found equal to 

 fully one-third loss of power ; and the draught of all imple- 

 ments will be less from the looseness of the soil, from not con- 

 solidating the ground by treading upon it ; in fact, when we 

 see that market gardens plough land often at 10 and 12 inches 

 deep with one pair of horses, this will become very apparent, 

 but I thiuk it better to take to myself the advantages which 

 will accrue from better tillage and more frequent hoeings, &c., 

 than to reduce the horse power of the engines ; in fact, prac- 

 tical knowledge will point to the reverse of a reduction being 

 the proper direction. But, howsoever this may be, there is a 

 commercial advantage due to the above facts in my system for 

 which I have not given myself credit in my balance sheet. 



If land is undulating or hilly, it necessarily requires for its 

 cultivation more horses than the same acreage does upon the 

 flat. In the case of my system, I should require the same in. 

 crease of power ; but, inasmuch as the labour bill on my scale 

 is so small in comparison with the labour bill on the opposite 

 side, namely, as £936 is to £3,076, any per-centage increase 

 of labour on my side tells considerably less upon profits than 

 it does in horse farming. It may still be objected that the 

 weight of the machinery (the engines and cultivators) being 

 considerable, an amount of waste power will occur greater 

 than that with horses. Now, this will not be the case, for my 

 machinery, including the engines, girders, wheels, and all other 

 parts, can be manufactured at the weight of not much more 

 than oue hone for every horse-power of the engine, and as the 



power expended in rising a hill resolves iteelf into two ele- 

 ments, the one tlie draught upon the implement or the load, 

 and the other the rise of the whole weight a certain number of 

 feet perpendicular height in a certain number of minutes, and 

 since, in both cases, tlie elements are nearly the same, the 

 power expended will also be nearly the same ; but as, on my 

 side, the advantage is found, that for every expenditure of one, 

 horse power in horses I can do the same at one-fourth the cost, 

 so whether the land is undulating or fiat, I can do the work at 

 a great commercial advantage. 



But let me take a question of still greater importance. If 

 it is true that a large amount of cultivation is beneficial, or if 

 a soil be so stubborn as to require an extreme amount of la- 

 bour, how easil}' I can give it ! For instance, if I employ half 

 as much more machinery, men, and coals, and give an amount 

 of cultivation equal to 50 per cent, more, I can do this at the 

 increased cost of £468, namely, half of £936 ; while to do the 

 same on the opposite side would require an increased cost of 

 £1,538, which is the half of £3,0/6. 



If the amount of labour is increased on a farm, we shall find 

 that on account of the cost of ray operations being so small^ 

 while the interest upon the rails is a fixed quantity, the advan 

 tages on my side rapidly increase. This, which is so much 

 the tendency of the day (especially in an increase of work re- 

 quiring care), is well met in my system, by its being so ad- 

 mirably adapted to assist in performing and in cheapening the 

 more delicate operations, thus facilitating double croppings, 

 increasing largely the cattle feeding produce, the head of cattle 

 for sale, the manure raised upon the farm, the richness of the 

 soil, and the production of corn. 



Profits. — In consequence of the small cost of each opera- 

 tion, it is found that after paying the interest on the money 

 for laying down the rails, and an annual charge per acre for 

 their constant renewal, a saving of from 20s, to 24s. per acre 

 will be effected in the case of well-cultivated farm land. If to 

 this is added from £1 to £2 per acre as the increased value 

 of produce on account of superior cultivation, which is consi- 

 dered by competent judges due to the guideway system, these 

 two sums will form an ex^ra profit of nearly £3 per acre. lu 

 the case of a more laboured and profitable cultivation, such as 

 rough gardening and market gardening, theadditional profit will 

 rise as high as from five to six pounds per acre. These sums 

 form a profit of from 10 to 40 percent, on the capital laid out 

 for rails, which will be shared between the landowners and 

 their tenants primarily, but eventually the benefits will go 

 wholly to the landowners. 



At first sight, the advantages in a commercial point of view 

 in the accompanyisg sheets are apparent as producing a large 

 interest for the necessary outlay for rails, &c. ; but not only is 

 this true, but to the landlord the system holds out the greatest 

 benefits, either with or without outlay on his part, by increas- 

 ing the value of the fee simple of his land, an increase in value 

 which holds to all the future. 



For, allowance having been made for interest and depreciation 

 on capital in laying down the rails, the profit becomes in effect 

 an increased rent, and being a permanent increase of double 

 and treble the present rent, it will increase the fee simple of 

 the land to double and treble its present value, in the same 

 manner as the value of land is increased by drainage, or as the 

 improved system of husbandry introduced into Norfolk, and 

 copied into other counties, raised its value from five to tenfold. 

 I have said permanent increase of value, for this increase is 

 evidently not only irrespective of the source from whence the 

 capital comes to lay down the rails, but of the depreciation 

 and wear and tear of the rails. 



It is evident that the tenant under a long lease will receive 



