THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



503 



power; who have already lessened the strength 

 of their teams, and who believe they have increased 

 their production by the process. But we don't hear 

 or see any of these at the Farmers' Club. Unfortunately, 

 neither Mr. Smith nor his representatives, the ^Icssrs. 

 Howard, were i)resent; although, if they have anything 

 of this kind to tell us, they should have been. It is 

 the common fate of inventors and enthusiasts to be 

 considered too sanguine ; while, if Mr. Mechi had only 

 demonstrated what one farmer had done, in place oi 

 going to his more congenial task of denouncing all tliose 

 who had not done, he might have been far more effec- 

 tive. That steam-cultivation will come, everybody is 

 quite ready to admit; the point to prove now is, that it 

 has come. 



Our lecturer himself, be it remembered, goes beyond 

 his own mark. With all his enthusiasm and ambition 

 to " show a light," there is as yet no steam-plough at 

 work at Tiptree. Even if there were, we should be 

 rather inclined to doubt the great force of the example. 



Too much credit can scarcely be given to his Royal 

 Highness the Prince Consort, who is about to put both 

 Fowler's and Smith's apparatus in work. This is, at any 

 rate, a hint for other landowners, who have been quite as 

 reluctant in the business as any of their tenants. In fact, 

 both are alike holding back for some more positive de- 

 monstration. We think this, even thus early, might 

 be supplied. Piquant as the mutual abuse of the rival 

 houses may be, we fear the proof will rarely bo accepted 

 in such a form. On the other hand, if a man can calmly 

 assure his fellows that he has tried tlie experiment with 

 economy, convenience, and advantage, there are hun- 

 dreds and thousands only waiting for the signal. Mr. 

 Mechi wrote his subject, " The Advantages of Steam 

 in Agriculture : how far they have been availed of." 

 To a certain extent we all knew how far. The very 

 marrow of the matter went beyond this ; and the one 

 striking want of the paper, as well as of the subsequent 

 discussion, is some such " a modern instance." It 

 might have been commanded. 



LONDON, OR CENTRAL FARMERS' CLUB 

 STEAM IN AGRICULTURE. 



The ordinary monthly meeting of the members took 

 place on Monday, May 2. Mr. Thomas, of Bletsoe, pre- 

 sided, supported by Messrs. T. Owen, Spencer, Skelton, 

 H. Trethewy, J. J. Mechi, J. A. Williams, W. Fisher 

 Hobbs, J. Russell, P. A. Halkett, J. Fowler, jun., 

 Collinson Hall, J. G. King, J. W. Paul, L. A. Couss- 

 maker, E. Purser, W. Cheffins, J. Purser, W. Heard, 

 .1. Tyler, H. Shotter, J. Cressingham, James Wood 

 (Sussex), J. Wood (Croydon), J. Parkinson, D. Drake- 

 ford, C. J. Brickwell, T. B. Browne, W. Eve, E. B. 

 Acton, Smallbones, D. Christie, Bazin, D. Reid, J. L. 

 Baker, J. W. Squier, W. Carr, J. Smith (Stevenage), 

 W. H. Venn, &c., &c. 



The subject to he introduced by Alderman Mechi 

 was, " The Advantages of Steam in Agriculture, how far 

 Ihey have been availed of." 



After a few introductory remarks from the Chair- 

 man, 



Mr. Mechi said: I purpose, first, to review the 

 general benefits conferred by steam, to estimate the ex- 

 tent of its use in our manufactures, locomotion and 

 mercantile marine, and to see in what relation, in this 

 respect, agriculture stands to the other industrial occu- 

 pations of the kingdom. I shall also glance at the pro- 

 • gress of steam culture, recognise with gratitude the 

 merits of its early pioneers, and indulge in an opinion 

 of what our use of it in culture ought to be, and ulti- 

 mately will be. I shall also consider the question of 

 fixed or portable engines, the value of steam for irriga- 

 tion and drainage, on what sized farms an engine will 

 pay, and add some pi-actical hints about steam-engines 

 and boilers. Nine years ago I addressed a rural 

 audience on this subject with the following introduction, 

 which so exactly represents my present feeling that I re- 



peat it : " Steam ; mighty steam ! The term suggests a 

 thousand pleasing and profitable reflections: that marvel- 

 lous and almost invisible power which brooks no oppo- 

 sition — which never tires. Scouring the plains, pierc- 

 ing the hills, threading the valleys, and ploughing the 

 wide ocean ; mastering, with indignant ease, time and 

 space, wind, water, and seasons ; the varieties of its 

 power may well amaze us. Here it is wielding the pon- 

 derous hammer that gives shape and consistence to 

 gigantic metallic masses ; there it weaves the gossamer 

 web, or twists the slender fibre ; it plunges the hardy 

 miner deep into the bowels of mother earth, and raises 

 from her lap her mineral and metallic treasures; these 

 glow and flow with liquid meltings at its powerful blast; 

 here it is printing bank-notes, there it is coining golden 

 sovereigns ; to-day it is preparing food and clothing 

 for the body ; to-morrow it feasts the mind, spreading 

 far and wide, in countless numbers, the broad sheets of 

 intelligence. Instruments of death and of preservation 

 alike acknowledge its power. What a comprehensive 

 word is this said steam ! It means peace, progression, 

 civilization, education, abundance, and cheapness ; it is 

 the death-blow to monopoly and privation. Ignorance 

 and prejudice shrink away at its approach : the iron 

 barrier of separation is broken by it ; the interposition 

 of time, of distance, or of poverty no longer wounds the 

 tender aff"ections ; it increases alike our political power 

 as a nation and our morality, for the increase of physical 

 comfort must, in a Christian community like blessed 

 England, predispose to moral good. But if this all- 

 pervading power clothes the body with elegance and 

 cheapness, and stores the mind with knowledge and 

 intelligence, can agriculture alone escape its influence ? 

 Impossible. It must and will feed, as well as clothe, 



