'166 Report on Steam Cultivation. [Eeed. 



From their experience, Messrs. B. and S. affirm such work as 

 the above, if done by horses, would have cost from 145. to \Qs. 

 per acre. On first entering the farm they were obliged to 

 purchase every particle of horse keep, and their books show 

 that each horse cost 15^. a week. 



The reader will at once exclaim at the small amount of work 

 done. He will object, with ourselves: "Here is light land, 

 advantageously laid out in large plots, with straight boundaries, 

 good engine roads, a good water supply, J a liberal scale of 

 wages with an additional piece-work inducement to the work- 

 men, owners well acquainted with machinery, provided with a 

 good staff of engineers and admirable workshops, wherein all 

 repairs can be effected — why is it that the result is so dispropor- 

 tionate to the advantages ? The tenants offer no explanation, 

 they merely hand in the account. They surmise that the engine 

 should be of 1 4-horse power instead of 10-horse power ; but 

 from what we saw, the implement working at a 10-inch minimum 

 depth in wheat stubbles, did not appear to be doing more than 6 

 horses would master. The registered steam pressure was 80 lbs. 



Notwithstanding this showing, these gentlemen lean decidedly 

 to the adoption of steam in preference to horse cultivation. 

 " Against this outlay," they say, " we have to balance such 

 advantages as these : the saving of one-third horse power, the 

 deepening of the staple, the getting rid of weeds, which have 

 almost disappeared, the doing this at a time when it could not 

 have been done by horses, the improved cultivation generally, 

 the increased facilities afforded for a better and more frequent 

 cultivation of fallow crops, both in spring and autumn. This 

 extra tillage has been mostly given to the valley or deeper staple 

 fields, which return as much for tillage as the higher and 

 thinner soils do for manure. On deeply cultivated land manure 

 appears to produce the greatest results. Steam enables Messrs. 

 B. and S. to obtain an extra crop, potatoes or peas (both early) 

 for the London market, before turnips. The despatch essential 

 to this operation is only to be attained by the employment of 

 steam. The farm appeared to great advantage. Cleanliness 

 prevailed throughout, the root crops were beyond an average, 

 and the stubbles gave indications of strong crops. Since our last 

 visit, a 14-horse-power engine has been purchased. 



No. 25. On the 7th September we visited Lodge Farm, in the 

 parish of Higham, Suffolk. This farm, occupied by Mr. E. 

 Fyson, is similar in character to those farms in Norfolk of 

 which Mr. Hardley said, that they " might be ploughed with a 

 pair of rabbits and a clasp-knife." It consists of 950 acres, 16 

 of which are in grass. It is situated on an exposed, undulating 

 chalk-range. The fields are very large, and the staple thin and 



