boydell's traction engine and endless railway. 



niaimtre under Jiny circninstances, hut particularly so with a now niacliiiic, liaiHllcil 

 by men unaccustomed to its peculiarities. Ad(ie<l to these disadvantajres, was 

 the arranp;enieiit l)y which the land was to be ploutrhed aihuutrt the old ridfres, 

 which greatly increased the difUculty of working the ploughs. It was remarked 

 to us by several old farmers, that "if they worked well on that land, they would 

 do so anywhere." 



There were only three ploughs at work when we reached the field. On the first 

 day, there were, as we understood, six, or, rather, three double ])louglis; but it 

 was evident these were not adapted, in point of strength, to the stubl)orn charac- 

 ter of the soil, for all of them were broken or strained. Those sul)se(pientiy used 

 were the common ploughs of the farm. The machine was travelling at the rate 

 of about three miles per hour, or probably two and three-quarters miles, exclusive 

 of stoppages. Its motion was steady and direct; and it appeared to be under as 

 complete control, in regard to stopping and backing, to an inch, as a horse, the 

 ploughs performing their part with perfect efQciency, if not with ease to the men 

 who held them, and who had evidently no sinecure berth of it. The furrows 

 turned were fully a foot in width, and four, six, eight, and even ten inches in depth, 

 accordingly as the managing engineer wished to test the capability of the machine. 

 "We particularly observed that the furrows, instead of being turned over in one 

 continuous, unbroken surface, which, in the common ploughing of such land, 

 renders the harrow useless until the soil has been mellowed by the atmosphere, 

 were, by the quick action of the ploughs, broken up and separated, so as to ex- 

 pose the whole body of earth to the action of the air. We have no doubt that, 

 if necessary, the harrows might have been efficiently employed the next day; for, 

 on pressing the soil with the foot, it at once crumbled to pieces. We mention 

 this as of particular importance on so adhesive a soil as the one on which the trial 

 took place. In conversation with several of the farmers of the district, they one 

 and all expressed their approval of the manner in which the ploughs performed 

 their work. Some of the older ones feared the ploughing " was too deep," admit- 

 ting, however, at the same time, that, where the land-drains had been dug (which, 

 of course, were much deeper), they would expect the best crops, either of corn or 

 roots. A delay of three hours took place, in consequence of the breaking of a 

 piston belonging to the pump. This, however, was neatly repaired by a smith in 

 the village, and the machine got to work again about four o'clock. 



Having thus given our opinion of the work performed (in which respect, we 

 consider the trial to have been successful), we have the less pleasing, but not less 

 necessary task of stating what, according to our views, are the most apparent 

 defects of the machine. These are chiefly confined to the mode of traction, which, 

 as applied when we saw it, appeared irregular and confused, rendering the ploughs 

 very liable to be thrown out of their work. It struck us that this was chiefly 

 owing to the distance between the tractive power and the plough ; or, in other 

 words, the length of the traction-chain, which increases both the difficulty of hold- 

 ing the plough and the irregularity of its movement. In common ploughing with 

 horses, it is considered that the nearer the plough is to the motive power, the 

 steadier and more regularly it works — on the princii)le that the segment of a 

 small circle is under more complete control than that of a large one, the gyrations 

 of which, too, are wid^r when a disturbance takes place. 



Another inconvenience (arising, we apprehend, from the same cause), is the 

 great strain upon the men holding the ploughs. This, on such a soil as that of 

 Wirabish Hall Farm, must very soon exhaust their strength. And besides, the 

 ins approaching so near each other, are liable to get entangled, whilst the men 

 it very difficult to keep clear of them and avoid an accident. They certainly 



