130 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



pended from the under-side of the frame, and are so 

 arranged that, while one set (a) are in action, the other 

 (b) are out of the ground. 



As the turning of so large a piece of mechanism — 

 fifty feet in width — on the field is not contemplated, 

 special arrangements are made, to shift it from the 

 " bout" of land which it has finished ploughing, to the 

 next part not yet operated upon. At the headlands rails 

 are laid down (a a) ; on these trucks, represented by the 

 darker lines (b b), are made to traverse. The large 



steam cultivating frame is received on the floor 

 (c) of these trucks, and moved along by winch 



power in the direction of d. The field arrange- 

 ment will be thus : Let a a a u represent the 

 rails laid at the headlands ; the lines h c,e d, the track 

 of the side-supporting wheels of the framework, which 

 is supposed to be traversing in the direction from b to 

 c ; the space between the lines b c, d e being ploughed 

 or otherwise cultivated. On reaching the headland a a, 

 the framework is passed on to the beam trucks travers- 

 ing the rails (a a), and is worked along till it reaches a 

 point, so that, while one set of wheels work in the old 

 track (d e), the other shall work in a new track (/ ff), 

 fifty feet distant from d e. The cultivator is thus passed 

 from the beam truck to the ground, and made to tra- 

 verse by steam power in the direction/^, ploughing or 

 cultivating the space between the lines d e, f cj. On 

 reaching the lower headland, the cultivator is passed on 

 to the truck beams, and moved laterally till the wheels 

 shall run in the new track (7* i) and the old one (/ g), 

 traversing in the direction h to i, and ploughing or cul- 

 tivating the space between the lines fg,h i. In this 



manner the whole field is cultivated, with the exception 

 of the headland spaces (a a, a a), which the inventor 

 proposes should be grass, and fenced ofi' from the part 

 under cultivation. The field will be cultivated in strips 

 fifty feet wide ; while the wheels, running always in the 

 same track, will form these, as the lines b c, d e, f g, 

 and h i, into hard, well-beaten, smooth tracks, over the 

 surface of which the endless rail will be made to tra- 

 verse, with little loss from friction. The engines are 

 fitted with reversing gear, and can be disconnected from 

 the platform, so as to be available for other farm work. 

 "The engines," says the inventor, " like those of the 

 Great Eastern steamship, are not in any way connected ; 

 and there is no occasion for them to be so, as both sides 

 of the cultivator progress at the same rate, even if the 

 engines be of diff"erent power. No motion takes place 

 on one side of the cultivator without being communi- 

 cated to the other side, through the framework, the 

 bracings and great strength of the girders and general 

 trussing precluding any contrary action. Even if one 

 series of wheels have to pass over any slight elevations 

 or undulations, and so to traverse a greater length of 

 land than the others, the velocity or revolutions of such 

 wheels will increase accordingly ; but both sides of the 

 framework will still progress at the same rate, and con- 

 tinue an onward course, without deviating from ihe 

 straight line." 



The value of the following statements, furnished by 

 the inventor, will best be understood by the reader 

 without any comments of our own : 

 Annual Expenses g^.JF'arm of 1,000 acees, culti- 

 vated BY Steam Powee under Grafton's System. 



£ 8. d. 

 Expenses and depreciation of endless rail, locomo- 

 tive, and implements, costiner £1,500, at 15 per 

 cent. .. .. .." .. .. 225 



Coal, at 2Gs. per day— 250 days .. .. 250 



Oil, &c... .. .. .. .. 10 



Engine driver, at 48. per day ; and two attendants, 



at 2a. per day each ., .. ,. 124 16 



Five constant labourers .. ., .. 155 



Labourers for hand operations . , ..5000 



£814 16 

 Annual Expenses of a Farm of 1,000 acres, culti- 

 vated BY Horse Power under the Present 

 System, on Clay Land. 

 For a Farm of 200 acres : Capital (eight horses, four ploughs, 

 harrows, horae-hoes, scarifiera, two waEreons, rollers, four 

 carta), £500. 



Depreciation of stock, at 15 per cent. . . 



Horse keep—corn, 100 qrs. ; hay, 30 tons 



Labour — 

 Four carters, 128. per week . , £124 16 

 One horse keeper extra .. 31 4 



Three labourers .. ., 105 6 



£ 



75 



244 



100 acres corn-hoeing, at 4s. 

 Cutting 50 acres of corn, at 83. 



Multiply by 5, for 1,000 acres : 



-261 

 20 

 20 



621 6 



£3,106 10 



Deduct 15 per cent, on £200-tbe saving in 1 on a n 



machinery on a large farm over the smaller,. / *5U u u 



£3,076 10 

 This sum shows the farmer's annual field expenses 

 for ordinary field cultivation on the fourth or fifth shift 

 system, exclusive of all extra labour for harvest, &c,, 

 but including all that can be done by machinery in the 

 field. ' 



In our next paper we shall glance at the other novel- 

 ties in the implement galleries. R. S. B. 



