SECRETARY'S REPORT. 209 



country, it must be under peculiar circumstances upon some 

 of the large estates of the West, where it is a great olyect to get 

 on with such work at a particular season, and where sufficient 

 force cannot be had to work in the ordinary way. That is, 

 where time is a great object with less regard to expense. 



I made very minute inquiries of the men at work with the 

 engines upon the field, as to the cost of running the machine, 

 wear and tear, fuel, <fec., for the purpose of comparison with 

 our slower modes, and I could not resist the conclusion that 

 the cost was quite as great, or would be for us, where labor is 

 more expensive. 



It stands about as follows : The original cost of the machine 

 is from $1,500 to $2,000. But that may be partially left out 

 of the account, because it may be used for many other purposes 

 on a large farm, as well as the seven or eight horses which the 

 same money could buy. But there is the wear and tear of 

 ropes and machinery, no small item, and the consumption of 

 fuel, several hundred pounds a day. It takes eight men and 

 one boy to work the machine, also a horse and cart to bring 

 fuel and water. . Under ordinary circumstances, with the neces- 

 sity of stopping to change positions, or for repairs, it is not to be 

 supposed that any of the steam ploughs we saw at work could 

 average over eight acres a day, at the most. In my opinion, 

 four men, with each a good span of horses, and a good American 

 plough, would do equally good and as much work in a day as 

 those machines, and the cost would be somewhere in the neigh- 

 borhood of ten or twelve dollars. The average cost per acre 

 by the machine is over two dollars, probably nearly two and 

 one-quarter dollars. 



No doubt great improvements will be made, and the machines 

 be simplified so as to require less men in attendance. But if 

 the facts I obtained on the spot are to be relied upon, I cannot, 

 for the present, see the economy of steam cultivation, except in 

 peculiar and exceptional cases. 



And so this groat agricultural fete, to which all the world 

 was invited, has drawn to a close. It is admitted to be, take it 

 all in all, the grandest and most complete exhibition ever made 

 by the Royal Society, which is, perhaps, as much as to say it 

 was the grandest ever held in the world. In some particulars, 

 preceding shows have surpassed it, it is said by those who have 



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