ClAEKE.] Report on Steam Cultivation. 313 



efficiently. We found the ganj]^ all in " white duck" suits, caps 

 and jackets, in regular engineer's fashion — which simple circum- 

 stance appeared to tell much about elevation of farm -labourers 

 from the old plough-tail drudgery, and the heavy phj/sique and 

 slow mental apprehension inevitably connected with long slops, 

 coarse corduroys, and lumbering high-lows. 



The performance of the tackle amounts to G up to 9 acres 

 ploughed or dug, or 10 to 16 acres cultivated in a day of 

 10 hours. From September 14th, 1865, to November 17th, 

 1866, the work done was — 



Acres. 



Of digging, in .. 51 daj's of 10 hours each .. .. 394 



„ cultivating, in 20 „ 253 



„ harrowiug, in 12 „ 448 



83 „ 1095 



Thus an average day's work was — of digging, 7 '. acres ; of culti- 

 vating, 12 > acres ; and of harrowing, 37 ', acres. For these 83 

 " days' work " steam was " got-up " on 127 days ; and much more 

 Avork would have been done had it not been for the stones m.et 

 with in this first year's breaking into the subsoil. 



Mr. Wilson's "home" buildings (where, by-the-by, we saw 

 one of the best contrived and best appointed piggeries yet 

 devised) having a fixed engine for thrashing, grinding, «Scc., he 

 does not at present put the ploughing-engines to any but their 

 tillage engagements ; but at an "off" farmstead he is going to 

 have a fixed machine, which will be driven by one of the 

 plough-engines. We may observe, in this place, that one reason 

 why steam culture extends slowly in these northern latitudes, 

 Avhere the price of fuel is so tempting, is because almost every 

 barn has its steam-engine chimney of brick instead of iron — that 

 is, fixed instead of portable engines everywhere abound ; and 

 though in many quarters there has been no objection to oust the 

 old Scotch thrashing-boxes, and put in grain-saving modern 

 English ones, it is a very different matter to abolish the fixture- 

 engine system altogether. 



Mr. Wilson's double-engine apparatus has done some work 

 for neighbours ; that is, over 235 acres upon nine farms, since 

 autumn, 1865. The charges are — for ploughing or digging, 

 10.s\ to 14^. per acre on light land, and 12.";. to 21^. on strong 

 land ; and for cultivating once over, lO.y. to 12^. per acre on 

 light, and 10^. to 15^. on strong land ; and for cultivating twice 

 over, 16s. to 20s. per acre on light, and 20s. to 265. on strong 

 land. The farmers find coal and water. On this contract-work 

 the steam-hands have a " perquisite " — od. per acre to the " head 

 engineer," and a '■'■ douceur" to each of the other men and boys. 

 One result is, that a next-door neighbour has parted with 



