THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



473 



per acre throughout the colony is about llg bushels of 

 wheat, 161 bushels of barley, 20 bushels of oats, and 

 GTi cwt. of potatoes. Wheat, which fetched 3s. Gd. 

 and 3s. lOd. per bushel in 18.30, was sold at 4s Dd, to 

 7s. 9d. in 1858. Flour, which sold at £10 to ^"11 per 

 ton, now realizes £14 to £17 los. Instead of import- 

 ing flour and grain Adelaide can now export largely, 

 shipping 25,0J0 to 30,000 tons of flour and 3G,000 

 quarters of wheat annually to the neighbouring colo- 

 nics. There ore 74 flour mills in the colony nearly all 

 worked by steam, and 22 machine manufactories, 

 although iini)k'ments and machinery to the value of 

 i'3.3,000 are imported from the United Kingdom. 



The superior quality of the grain of South Australia 

 is well known. In 1858, the first prize was accorded to 

 wheat grown on the hills weighing 081bs, 11 oz. per 

 bushel; and that which carried ofi" the second prize 

 weighed G7Ibs. 10 oz. Tlie best qualities grown on the 

 plains weighed respectively G51bs. 12 oz. and Oolbs. 

 7 oz. Prize barley grown on the plains weighed 551bs. 

 14 oz. and Solbs. 1 oz. We are somewhat surprised at 

 the low average yield of wheat in the colony ; for in 

 Tasmania the average produce has been for some years 

 from 19 to 21 bushels per acre; while on good farms 

 the produce is double that quantity. By colonial law 

 there the market-bushel of wheat is fixed at 601bs. 

 The best samples of South Australian wheat shown at 

 the Exhibition in 1851 only weighed G41bs. per bushel, 

 and yet for perfection of growth the first place was ac- 

 corded to it of all wheat exhibited, and it was remarked 

 by well-infoimed judges, that, as regarded weight, 



strength, and colour, it could not well be surpassed. 

 The samples of wheat, barley, and oats, shown by 

 Messrs. Heath and Burrows, and Messrs. R. Hallet 

 and Sous, were nearly all equally matchless. The oats 

 weighed 461bs. the bushel, and the barley would have 

 netted the highest price given for malting — 34s. — if 

 it could have been obtained in bulk. 



The culture of the grape for the production of wine 

 is a pursuit to which much attention is devoted, and 

 that promises to be very productive. In 18G0 there 

 were 2,201 acres of vineyard, and upwards of 3,000,000 

 of vines planted, of which about half were in bearing; 

 180,324 gallons of wine were made in that year, be- 

 sides 13,5Gl cwts. of grapes sold. The quantity of 

 wine made shows an increase of 40,000 gallons over 

 the preceding year. 



Passing next to a consideration of the live-stock, wc 

 find a very rapid increase shown. In 1850, there were 

 in the colony but G,488 horses, G8,20G horned cattle, 

 897,8GG sheep, and 1,297 goats. In 1858, the numbers 

 were returned as follows : horses 34,G29, horned cattle 

 375,507, sheep and lambs 3,108,501, and goats 2,.339. 

 The value of these has greatly increased. In 1850, 

 sheep were worth but 6s. to 9s. per head ; now they 

 are worth 18s. to 21s. Working bullocks have trebled 

 in price, fetching £''10 to £13. Horses, which could 

 then be bought for £15 to £30, have doubled in price. 



As an agricultural colony, the facts and figures ad- 

 duced prove that South Australia is progressing favour- 

 ably and rapidly. 



THE AMOUNT OF POWER APPLIED IN STEAM PLOUGHING. 



" Blessed is he tliat expecteth nothing ; for he shall 

 not be disappointed." Tiiis is a significant proverb, 

 and in a limited sense applies to those sober and rea- 

 sonable people who know better than to reject a pre- 

 sent good thing because of some fancied hypothetical 

 better thing in the future. We have shown why we 

 consider that no very surprising advance upon the 

 mechanical performance of our best steam ploughs is 

 likely to be realized. There is a certain amount of 

 resistance in the soil to be overcome — a certain amount 

 of power applicable to the task of overcoming it ; and 

 the percentage of this motive-power already brought to 

 bear upon the actual work of cutting and moving the 

 ground is so large, that but little remains to be saved 

 from waste in friction, inertia, and other sources of 

 subtraction from the effective force of the motor em- 

 ployed. It is worth while to examine a little further 

 into this question; and the judges' report of Canter- 

 bury trials enuble us to do so, though accurate experi- 

 ments with dynamometers of adequate power yet re- 

 main for the Leeds meeting to supply. Fowler's 

 plough worked 4 furrows at once ; what was the total 

 draught? Busby's iron plough showed the draught of 

 a single furrow to be 49 stones ; and deducting, say 12 

 stones for the draught of the plough empty (according 



to many dynamometric experiments), we have 37 stones 

 as the resistance of the work itself. Thus the resis- 

 tance to Fowler's four-furrow plough would be 

 (37 +4) 148 stones. To this add the draught of the 

 implement empty, which, judging by the draught of 

 vehicles on similar wheels, should be about 20 or 22 

 stoaes, and we get 168, or probably 170 stones as the 

 total draught of the plough. 



We have said that dynamometric trials with common 

 ploughs have demonstrated that about 12 stones' draught 

 is due to a plough when drawn along without doing 

 any work, arising from the mere weight of the imple- 

 ment itself sledging on the furrow bottom. Confir- 

 matory of the fact that supporting the weight of the 

 plough-bodies in Fowler's implement does lessen the 

 draught due to each, we have the experiments tried by 

 Mr. Ilalkett. For we are informed that he found the 

 draught of a Howard's plough in work to be 3 cwt. 

 when drawn along resting upon its sole, but only 2 cwt. 

 when suspended to his platform running upon the 

 guide-way rails. 



The pace travelled was 225 yards in 2| minutes, as 

 noted by us at the time, though not named in the 

 judges' report. But by reckoning from the data of 2 

 rods 38 perches ploughed in 40 minutes, and the 



