CoLE:\rAN.] Report on Steam Cultivation. 425 



naturally enquire liow it is that steam culture has made 

 comparatively so little progress. Want of accurate information 

 may be one cause, deficiency of capital another, and possibly 

 want of confidence in the security of tenure a third. And this 

 brings us to another point, viz., the necessity for co-operation 

 between landlord and tenant. Farms require more or less pre- 

 paration for steam, fences should be taken up, and in some cases 

 roads made. The latter work ought to be carried out by the 

 landlord, and a fair interest paid by the tenant. Again, trees 

 left in the arable fields present a serious obstruction, and unless 

 landlords are prepared to assist tenants in such matters the latter 

 may well hesitate to incur the large outlay required. In the 

 majority of instances, we found the proprietors satisfied with 

 results, and, having once experienced the advantages of steam 

 over horse-power, unwilling to go back to the old system ; in one 

 instance we have the incoming tenant taking the machinery at a 

 valuation, entirely as a matter of choice, convinced that it would 

 pay him well to do so. This is most important testimony, and 

 is not weakened by the fact that we have a case of an opposite 

 nature, since the peculiar circumstances perfectly justify the 

 action of the incoming tenant. 



A point of great importance on strong land is the effect of 

 steam cultivation on drainage and produce. With the excep- 

 tion of Lord Zetland's farm where extraordinary horse culture 

 had been adopted previous to the introduction of steam, and 

 that of Mr. Pease, where steam had not been fairly tested, the 

 evidence is favourable on both points, and we find as the result 

 of experience that which we already anticipated theoretically, 

 viz., that the increased depth of surface and the absence to 

 pressure greatly increase the absorbing powers of the soil, and 

 consequently assist the action of the drains. So long as we 

 trample a hard pan a few inches beneath the surface, so long 

 must we have surface-furrows and high-backed lands, in order 

 that the rain-water, which cannot enter, may run off rather than 

 lie stagnant on the surface rotting plant-life. We fail of exact 

 evidence as to increased produce because farmers, as a body, 

 will not, and indeed cannot, carry out accurate experiments. 

 In many cases the increase has not been sufficiently marked to 

 be visible to the eye, whilst in others from 4 to 8 bushels per 

 acre is the estimated increase of corn-crops, and such a result 

 would add materially to the profits on steam. 



The next point to be considered is the area on which steam 

 can be profitably employed. We have seen one instance where 

 good results were obtained on 138 acres, but the circumstances 

 are too exceptional, and the general management too remarkable. 



