684 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



They probably went a little deeper tban necessary. Perhaps tliey 

 broke the pan, and probably some part of their imjjlements also. It 

 was not, therefore, until their second course through the farm that 

 they realised the great advantage derivable from the system. Mr. 

 liandell was one of the few men who had been long at it ; and cer- 

 tainly, to raise, as he had done, the value of a farm consisting of a 

 strong blue tough clay from 8s. an acre to its present value, said 

 a great deal for the utility of steam cultivation. Most fervently did 

 he hope that the best wishes of the Council for the furtherance of 

 English agriculture, and especially for steam cultivation, would be 

 amply realised through this Keport. 



Mr. Beale Browke said he was the occupier of about 2000 acres of 

 land, and had been in possession of one of Fowler's sets of tackle for 

 six years. This he had kept in constant use, and he had arrived at the 

 conclusion that it was a fine weather implement only, and that in such 

 circumstances it was most valuable ; but it ought not to be used at 

 any other time. He did not think that the cost of working, had 

 anything to do with the question; in comparison with horse-labour, 

 the chief advantage of it v.as, that it could be used and made to do an 

 enormous amount of work at the right time. After repudiating the 

 notion that in consequence of the adojjtion of steam cultivation, they 

 would be able to do without manures, he said one of the faults ho 

 found with the system was, that he sometimes went deeper than he 

 wished to go ; but on the whole he could speak most highly of it, and 

 his only wonder was that it was not more widely adopted. 



Mr. Morton suggested that as the reports were of so valuable a 

 character it was desirable that they should be circulated in a cheaper 

 form than in the Society's Journal. 



The President stated that it was intended to publish them in a 

 5s. volume directly ; and that if it were found necessary the Council 

 would no doubt be prejiared to publish an extract at a still lower price, 

 eighteen pence or a shilling. As Mr. Browne had described his imple- 

 ment as a fine-weather one, he wished to know whether that remark 

 applied to Fowler's only or to any other steam api:)aratus ? 



Mr. Browne rejjlied that ho could not speak much of any other 

 than Fowler's, because he had never had any other, and no other was 

 used in his neighbourhood, Swindon in Wiltshire. In wet weather it 

 was found that tlie tackle broke ; and, in fact, he was of opinion that 

 the time for bringing it out was when the sun shone on both sides of 

 the hedge, and they could do a good long day's work. It had been 

 observed that the ordinary agricultural labourer was not qualified for 

 the work, but he had installed his men into the office, and, following 

 the instructions given by Mr. Fowler, had had no difficulty whatever 

 in working the apparatus with them ; of course theii- wages had to 

 be raised. 



Mr. James Webb said that within a radius of seven miles of 

 Evesham, there were not less than nine sets of tackle at work, so he 

 was obliged to follow the stream. Those who used it five or six years 

 ago were using it now, those who had come into the neighbourhood 

 since had adopted it, and there was not one instance of its proving 



