364 
the larger country estates of Sweden, combining as they do arable field with handsome 
woodland, hill, valley, and lake, are scarcely anywhere surpassed ; and no traveler 
should form a judgment of Sweden till he has seen something of them. 
I have the honor to be, &c., 
C. C. ANDREWS. 
Hon. HaMILTon FIsuH, 
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 
STEAM-PLOWING IN ENGLAND. 
A communication on this subject from a farmer of Huntingdonshire, 
England, and kindly furnished to the Department by Mr. John C. Wal- 
lis, of Cumberland County, Virginia, will be found to contain facts of 
considerable practical value to those interested in this system of cul- 
ture. The writer says: 
I think it is cheaper than horse-power, since it requires three and sometimes four 
horses to do less than an imperial acre per day. I need not go into statistics to prove 
this further than to say that we bought our tackle in 1859, and are still using the 
game windlass and cultivator we then started with, and the former has not cost us £5 
for repairs during the time, nor has the latter except for the wearing parts—the wheels 
and shares. We have had 1,000 yards of new wire-rope twice during the time, at a 
cost of £50 each time, and we now need 1,000 yards more. In regard to the engine, 
the cost is little compared to the work done, provided it is of sufficient power; a 10 
horse-power is quite sufficient for our implements. Concerning the matter of the best 
system I am not in a position definitely to say, but my opinion is that, with a farm 
of, say, 1,000 acres or upward, Fowler’s double-engine system might be employed 
to advantage ; but on a farm of less size perhaps Smith’s round-about plan would suf- 
fice. But ona farm cobsisting of land light and dry enough for a pair of horses to plow 
an acre and upward in a day, I have seen no system to supersede it at present, yet I do 
notsay wemaynot, * * * butIcansay that all my neighbors envy me the mode of 
steam-cultivation, both on account of the quantity and quality of work done, and the lit- 
tle cost of it. However, few farmers have sufficient capital to spare, £500, for a 10 horse- 
power engine and the proper plow. But if I had a farm of 300 acres of strong land, I 
would try hard to spare £200 for the tackle, even if I had to hire the engine to work it. 
The cost of steam-cultivation stands something like this: I pay the men 3s. 3d. per 
acre the first time over, 3s. the second, and 2s. 6d. per acre if I go over it a third time 
with my large cultivator, and we average over six acres per day ; so that the following 
is about the cost of a day’s work: 
8. d. 
BMLCTER TAG OS» 2. | ate Se ee - Sa eee Perr ae Sao soe | 1s 0 
lew soncoals; ats. 68. 25-6 52ce poe meee ce wins 3 oe eee eos os cep pe 1b, 0 
Maniandi horse to supply water..< --sermer--- o-oo 6--- ose oes oe ee ee ee 3° 6 
ORE See tee ecu = boat leo. coe Oe > oe oles oe eee eee 1 0 
Wear and tear and depreciation in value2.2... .- 222. 252. 22-202 basses sees eee 10 0 
In all, £2 11s. 6d., or 8s.7d. per acre, equal in United States currency to $2.14 per acre. 
I think you will agree with me that we cannot get the work done with horses for the 
same money, even without regard to the superiority cf the work. I think in a former 
calculation I put the wear and tear at £1 per day, but experience has proved that too 
much ; for, as our men get more accustomed to the work, the breakage is less ; and now 
I have allowed 7s. 6d. per day for hauling water, whereas we often do without the horse. 
When it is near, a man can carry it. 
As to the increased yield per acre of grain through this system, I think it has, with 
the extra assistance of increased quantity of manure, increased the yield about 8 
bushels per acre, and in most seasons it certainly does assist the drainage and enables 
us to grow much more and better roots; but in such an exceedingly wet season as the 
last all the advantages disappeared in that respect. The land was like so much plastic 
clay, and although we grew some good roots, it was so wet that they could not be fed 
on the land. But then again the steam-plow came to our aid, for though we had to 
cultivate the land four times over and crush it with our heavy crosskill roller twice 
over with the engine, yet we got it to a better and finer tilth, and got in the oats better 
this spring than we could possibly have doue with any amount of horse-labor; so that, 
aithongh it has not quite realized all that some sanguine people expected, yet it is 
steadily increasing in use. A great deal has been done in this neighborhood this spring, 
but I think that 25 acres per day is the most I have heard fof. Perhaps less than 20 
