Reed.] Report on Steam Cultivation. 145 



Cost of Worh. 



Manual and Hovse-Iabonr : — £. s. d. 



Enaineer 3 G 



Windlass-mau 020 



2 anchor-men 4 6 



Ploui;liniau 02 3 



2poftei-boys 030 



Boy, horse, &c 066 



119 



Coal (15cwts.) 12 



Oil and grease 1 6 



Total daily expenses .. .. 1 15 3 



N.B. — Coal, 16s. per ton home ; consumption per 10 hours, 15 cwt^. =: 12s. 



Examples of work done abroad : — A 24-acre field cultivated once, harrowed 

 twice = 72 acres, 5 days at 11. 16s. per day = 9Z. = 7s. O^rZ. per acre.*! \K 

 22-acre field cultivated twice, ^ three times = 55 acres in 6 days at^l?.'16s. 

 per day = 10/. 16s. 

 The number of horses kept on the Watton Farm 



before steam were 16, there are now 12 



The number of horses kept on tlie Bengeo Farm 



before steam were 18, there are now 12 



34 24 



The reduction, therefore, amounts to 10, and leaves 2 horses 

 to 66 acres of land — a very large disposable horse-power — 

 which with the 10-horse power engine should be more than 

 sufficient. For want of a plough, surplus horses are, clearly, 

 kept to do what otherwise might be done by steam. The dis- 

 tance of this farm from the house causes, of course, more outlay 

 in this direction, Mr. Palmer is, however, perfectly satisfied 

 with the result, and states that the corn-bill is now 200/. a year 

 less than it used to be. He considers that if he had the Bengeo 

 farm with 18 horses and the present engine it would be good 

 policy for him to lay out 500/. in engine and tackle only to work 

 4 or 6 weeks after harvest, and lie idle all the rest of the year. 

 5/. per cent, on the 500/. ( == 25/.) would suffice to keep it in 

 working order. Speaking of his own district, he considers the 

 want of means on the part of the farmers a sufficient barrier to 

 the application of steam. For the most part they have more 

 land than their capital will cover. The landlords, too, are 

 obstructive ; they are far too fond of game to allow the wide, 

 sprawling, irregular hedgerows to be grubbed up. We listened 

 to a strange tale about the combination of labourers to break up 

 the machinery. But the spirit of the thwarted master rose with 

 the difficulties that opposed him. Men were procured from a 

 distance, to whom good wages were paid ; the work then went on 

 in first-rate style ; for, seeing that he could do without them, his 

 own people begged to be employed, and have since worked well. 



VOL. III. — S. S. L 



