Reed.] Report on Steam Cultivation. 173 



800 Down ewes are pastured, being folded at night. The arable 

 land is a marl upon chalk ; it requires no drainage, and can be 

 worked with 2 horses when thoroughly dry, though sometimes 3 

 are used. The fields, which vary from 30 to 40 acres, are 

 divided by turf borders and much intersected by foot-paths ; there 

 are no hedges. The Earl gives his consent to such improve- 

 ments as the tenant chooses to make to facilitate the use of 

 steam ; but the engine is without a shed, and the buildings are in 

 that state which is well described by Lord Palmerston's term 

 "ramshackle." The water-supply would be difficult, were it not 

 for the Water Company which supplies the town. The payment 

 of 3/. annually secures the right of drawing from the main, which 

 is within a mile of most parts of the arable portion of the farm, 

 any quantity of excellent water. At full work the quantity used 

 is 800 or 900 gallons per day, which at the Lewes rate would cost 

 5^. 6r7. 



The Course of Cropping. — On 61 acres of the stiffest land, 

 wheat alternates each year with a green crop ; if possible, and 

 possible only by the use of steam, with two green crops. All 

 green meat finds a ready sale in Lewes. 308 acres of milder 

 land is thus cropped : — Wheat, oats, green crop. The remainder 

 is being brought in to a course wherein two green crops are fol- 

 lowed by a straw crop, the straw crop occurring once in three 

 years. The former course of cropping was oats, green crops, 

 wheat. 



Beyond the advantages apparent from these changes, to compass 

 which steam was introduced, the labour of 20 oxen and 2 horses 

 — equivalent to that of 12 horses — has been dispensed with ; 

 whilst all the operations of the farm have been quickened, for 

 this always follows. The horses now are 14 in number (about 2 

 to 70 acres of arable land). 



The Apparatus (Fowler's) was bought December, 1864. The 

 engine, l4-horse power, with double cylinder, traction, was 

 made by Burrell of Thetford, and is used for thrashing at home 

 and abroad (550/.), chafF-cutting, and contract-ploughing ; also 

 a 4-furrow plough, 1 scarifier, 800 yards of rope, anchor, porters, 

 &c., costing altogether 875/. Subsequent addition — 1 culti- 

 vator, &c., cost 70/. ; total, 945/. 



The Repairs, Renewals, Wear and Tear. — The sharp flinty 

 nature of the soil and the steep inclines cause much wear of rope, 

 rope-porters, and shares. Most of the repairs rest upon these 

 parts of the apparatus, not omitting the anchor. Judging from 

 his present experience, Mr. Ellman considers that 15 per 

 cent, charged upon the outlay would cover these expenses, 

 and also serve for the perfect maintenance of the entire ma- 

 chinery : — 



