Clarke.] Report on Steam Cultivation. 21'.\ 



averaging 20 to 40 acres each, Mr. Bomford having shaped them 

 " with a view to steam ;" and, in one instance, ten little fields 

 have been thrown into one. The farm is not overburdened with 

 timber, and the greater part of the trees are profitable in a way 

 undreamed of by farmers of many counties ; they bear orchard- 

 fruit. Noticeable among these are the Pershore plum, which are 

 sent to the manufacturing cities from the district of Pershore by 

 thousands of bushels, of which apricot-jelly is made! There has 

 been no necessity for laying out new roads for the steam-horse — 

 or, rather, for the steam-team — as Mr. Bomford works a pair of 

 engines. And, as for travelling his ponderous tackle about these 

 clay-fields, there is no difficulty whatever in reasonable weather ; 

 while he declares it a good thing that he cannot move his 

 engines about in wet weather, as this keeps him from working 

 when the land is not in a fit state. Opportunities have to be 

 watched in a catching time ; for one of the engines had to be left 

 in a field all one winter, and came out (literally, for it was not 

 pulled out, being self-locomotive) in spring over the wheat. 



In February, 1864, Mr. Bomford procured a couple of 12-h()rse 

 engines of Savory and Son, of Gloucester, constructed with a 

 large shell-drum enclosing each boiler, on which the rope is 

 wound in a single layer of coils, the two engines hauling the 

 implement to and fro between them on the" usual "double- 

 engine " system. The implements used are a Fowler 4- furrow 

 plough, a Fowler 7-tined cultivator, and a Howard cultivator 

 made especially for Mr. Bomford, 7 tines instead of 5 tines in 

 width; and the character these several tools have gained for them- 

 selves here is, that Fowler's cultivator is the best for breaking up 

 whole ground ; and Howard's, while too heavy in draft for this 

 purpose, is the best broad one for " crossing.'' The price of the 

 machinery would be 12U0/., though, in this case, the bargain was 

 partly " a clump for other tackle." No exact account of repairs 

 has been kept ; but nothing very serious has occurred in break- 

 age, and Mr. Bomford's own calculation is that the " wear and 

 tear and repairs " will be covered by 1\ per cent., while 5 per 

 cent, should be allowed for a renewal fund to buy a new set ; to 

 which, we suppose, 5 per cent, more must be added for interest 

 of capital invested. This makes 11^ per cent, on first cost, or 

 210Z. a year — a heavy sum ; but then the amount of work done 

 has been great, for the tackle has been employed for 100 davs in 

 a year. The daily working-charges are as follows: — Two 

 engine-men, 65. ; one ploughman, 85. ; a water-cart man, 2s. Gd. ; 

 and two strong lads, 3^. (kl, — the manual labour, well paid, 

 amounting to 155, These hands, when not steaming, are at 

 ordinary work on the farm. One horse draws the water when 

 within reasonable distance of the supply, say 2s. Gd. per day. 



VOL. III. — S. S. T 



