100 Report on Steam Cultivation. [Eeed. 



were content to abide by the employment of horse power, 

 because they could point to fields so cultivated which did not 

 show to a disadvantage beside lands tilled by steam power. 

 The superiority in either case depends, not upon the power 

 itself, but upon the man who wields it, Mr. Kersey Cooper 

 said during the visit of the Committee to him, " I have been 

 over many steam-cultivated farms without perceiving any ad- 

 vantage, and I have been over others where 1 have seen as many 

 advantages as I can show myself. In a great many instances 

 steam cultivation is not a profitable investment, not from any 

 defect of power or mechanical construction or outlay, but because 

 few take the advantage they should and might do from it ; here, 

 as elsewhere, success is only obtained when one combines business 

 habits with a knowledge of scientific principles." This remark 

 entirely concurs with our experience, which goes to prove that 

 it is the man, and not the apparatus, to which the results are 

 mainly due. 



Much difference of opinion was encountered as to the cha- 

 racter of the soil under consideration. Almost invariably it was 

 represented as unusually heavy. For this reason one question 

 asked was. How many horses do you use in ploughing one acre 

 to a depth of G inches ? These answers corrected, where prac- 

 ticable, by personal observations, enabled us to classify the farms 

 according to the texture of the soil. 



The statements contained in each Report are simply the 

 condensed results obtained from the questions put. Where the 

 Committee venture to express their own opinions or to make a 

 suggestion, their responsibility for the same has generally been 

 made sufficiently clear. They have been careful to ascertain the 

 price of manual labour, of horse power, and of coal, &c., in each 

 district, as well as the various estimates of wear and tear, main- 

 tenance, (S:c., and have avoided the intrusion of what are termed 

 " received data," It has not been considered necessary in every 

 case to carry out a calculation exhibiting the price per acre ; 

 but such data have been furnished as will enable any reader 

 to do this for himself. 



Section A. Heavy-Land Fakms. 



No, 1, Mr, W, T. Allen, Little Stambridge Hall, Rochford, 

 Essex, September 4, This gentleman occupies 3000 acres of 

 land, 500 acres being grass. That part of the land which is 

 moderately stiff is around the house at Stambridge. The 1700 

 acres of heavy land is part of Wallasea Island, which contains 

 in all 3000 acres. The soil of this island is a stiff blue clay. 



