Clahke.j Report on Steam Cultivation. 2G5 



burnt bits arc still plentiful ; the " brick," which has a tendency to 

 sink, is continually brought up ajj^ain by the doeply-burrowinji^ancl 

 upturnlnc^ tiu(!S of the cultivator, and tlu; texture of the soil thus 

 permanently kept milder and more free-w<)jkin<j^. This said 

 piece has never been dunged within the memory of man : a high 

 degree of fertility has been maintained by draining, burning, 

 deep tillage, and feeding-off vetches by sheep supplied with oil- 

 cake ; while ',\ cwts. per acre of guano are applied for wheat. 

 Mr. Kandell keeps more stock than he formerly did, in conse- 

 quence of having more produce for consumption. But then a 

 peculiar feature in his system is, that none of the sheep an; win- 

 tered on the clay-land, but in yards bottomed with burnt clay, 

 renewed from time -to time, and removed with the urine absorbed, 

 and the droj^pings incorporated with it into a fine manure. So 

 that this land is not subjected to the pugging of the feet of a 

 Hock, the feeding off of vetches being, of course, a summer or 

 dry-time operation. On the vein of lighter land we saw (in 

 September) the Shropshire tegs grazing a superb stock of thick- 

 stalked leafy rape, through iron hurdles propped leaning from 

 the fold ; the best possible plan iov preventing waste, and saving 

 the young sheep from a life of uninterrupted damp or wetness in 

 wandering under the branching greens, or lying upon the cold 

 lialf-eaten stalks. 



In 1857 Mr. Kandell bought a Clayton- and -Shuttleworth 

 10-horse portable for 250/., and a Smith tackle (with 3-tined 

 grubber), made by Humphries, of Pershore, costing 200/. Since 

 then a Howard Ij-tined grubber has been added, and a Fowler 

 t-i-furrow plough lately purchased at loO/. more; making the 

 whole investment 580/.* Heavy expenses wc^re incurred during 

 the first few years of apprenticeship, caused by such accidents 

 as the drum-flanges breaking and cutting the rope to pieces. 

 Latterly the breakages have been very trifling, though the wear 

 of rope is a heavy item : the repairs (chiefly consisting of renewal 

 of rope) have amounted to 280/., or an average of about 25/. 

 a year ; and as the annual performance (with average seasons) 

 has been 230 acres, the direct " wear and tear " has been 'Is. ''Id. 

 per acre. We can easily calculate, then, what it costs Mr. Kan- 

 dell to keep a steam-cultivating machine permanently efficient. 

 No work is done for other people ; but the engine is employed in 

 the farm - thrashing ; how many days in a year is not stated, 

 but, on a farm cropped like this, we may safely say for 25 days ; 

 while, at the daily rate of work stated by Mr. Kandell, the 

 tillage (with removals and stoppages) must have occupied 

 about double that time. We have thus to deduct one-third the 



The plough cost GO/. ; the whole investment was 530Z. — C. K. 



