STEA3I-P0WER FOR FAR3IERS. 



525 



STEAM-POWER FOR FARMERS. 



THX EXTENDED APPLICATION OF THE STEAM-ENGCKE. OR OTHER IMPELLING POWEE 

 OF THE THRESHING-MACHINE, TO FAPwM PLTRPOSES : 



BEl.VG EXTRACTS FROX AN ESSAY OS THIS SUBJECT, ET EOBT. RITCHIE 

 Civil Engineer, Edinburgh Premium. Ten Sovereigns. 



F. R. S. S. A. iC. 



The rapid advancement which Great Britain 

 has made by the influence of her steam-power 

 and machinery in mauatacmres. commerce, and 

 navigation, has not been without a correspond- 

 ing etiect. though perhaps not to the same ex- 

 tent, in Agriculture. The proof of tliis is visible 

 in the strenuous exertions made by agricultu- 

 rists, of late years, to avail themselves of the use 

 of machinerj' and improved implements of hus- 

 bandry to economize labor. W ith the power of 

 the steam-engine at command — although not 

 now. perhaps, to the extent it may ultimately be 

 made available — the British fanner has it in his 

 power, at a moderate expense, on almost every 

 farm, to lessen the labor of the barn, to extend 

 its application to various useful purposes, and to 

 place farm economics in a positioiyof advance- 

 ment which they have not hitherto attained. . . 



By far the greater portion of the threshing- 

 mills erected in the agricoltaral districts of Scot- 

 land are propelled by horse-power ; but how- 1 

 ever convenient the tise of the horse-^valk and 

 fixed threshing machine was to the farmer, and 

 justly considered, when introduced, as a great 

 improvement in bam operations, and is yet es- 

 teemed so, stUl it has not been •without its incon- 

 veniences ; but when contrasted with the labori- | 

 ous employment of the flail, yet so generally in 

 use throughout the world, its greater expedition - 

 and efliciency become apparent : and. vrhen we 

 consider tliat the use of the flail was better than 

 tlie feet of animals, we may be enabled to form 

 some idea of the value of the horse-mill to farm 

 purposes. Still, of later years, the intelligent 

 farmer has hailed, with much satisfaction, tlie ' 

 apphcation of a new impelling power to the ; 

 Uireshiug-machine — a power whose dominion 

 extends over every branch of the arts and manu- 

 factures of our country — which has given an im- 

 pulse to modern nations, a command over the 

 produce of every climate, and of which the most 

 learned nations of antiquity never could sur- 

 mise. I 



The application of steam-power to farm pur- ! 

 poses seems by far the most important improve- ! 

 ment which has been made, connected %vith Ag- i 

 riculture. in these limes, and must from its ob- 

 vious advantages, soon supersede even.' other 

 power, except, perhaps, in a few isolated situa- 

 tions, where an ample water-power can be ob- 

 tained, or where the smallness of the farm.smake 

 it unimportant. 



It is a good many years since steam-power 

 was first applied to farms in Scotland, and, in 

 the borders of England, in some few instances, 



* The author, by permission of the Directors of the 

 Society, intends shortly to pubhsh this Essay entire, 

 with drawings fully explanatory of the different kinds 

 of engines used on farms, mode of attachmect to old 

 mills, and connected with subordinate machines ; 

 with a historical sketch. 

 (1113) 



fix)m twenty to perhaps thirty years ; but it is 

 only within the last ten or fifteen years that it 

 has become general, if it can even be said to be 

 yet in general use. 



The advantages of the steam-engine over 

 wind, as the impelling power to the threshing- 

 machine, appear to be, that it is always at com- 

 mand, and ready to perform the \vork required 

 by day or night. Its advantages over water- 

 power are. that neither heat can dry it up nor 

 cold freeze it. Its advantages over horse-povr- 

 er are, that the motion is more regular and tlie 

 work must be better done ; for horses, in the 

 threshing-mill, generally puU unequally, while 

 the strain upon the limbs, in this severe work, 

 proves injurious to them. AVhen the farmer, too, 

 has always his horses fi^sh and ready for the 

 field, he can do more work with fewer horses ;* 

 and if a pair or more can be saved, it is an im- 

 portant item to him. 



One manifest advantage of steam, as the first 

 mover of machinery, arises from its rapidity and 

 certainly. If the farmer, therefore, can "bring 

 his grain on the shortest notice into market — if 

 he can either thresh one stack or a dozen with- 

 out stoppage, and so avail himself of any sudden 

 rise iu the market, without delaying or retard- 

 ing the other operations of the farm — he possess- 

 es advantages invaluable, though no other were 

 attained — advantages which no other means of 

 threshing can give him. But steam-power like- 

 ^^-ise possesses that steadiness of action which 

 cannot be obtained \%hile employinsr the horse, 

 aud a much greater qoantity of com can be 

 threshed in a day. The usual qnantitj' of com 

 threshed by a six -horse steam-power, "is at the 

 rate of five quarters per hour, but four quarters 

 may be taken as the general quantity to thresh 

 easily ; however, the quantity mu.*t vary ac- 

 cording to the grain and straw. If the averaire 

 of horse-power, as generally driven, be taken "at 

 tliirty quarters per diem, the average of steam- 

 power may be taken at fifty quartere, giving an 

 advantage of twenty quarters in fa vor*of steam- 

 power, whUe the latter is kept up at no other ex- 

 pense, save fuel of the cheapest description — 

 culm or dross is generally used — and, unlike the 

 horse, when not working, costs nvthincr ■' hence, 

 in even,- point of view, the use of steam-power 

 on farms must prove advantascous. 



The author of the excellenr Treatise on Agri- 

 culture in the last edition of the Euci/clopctdia 

 Britannica, seems to have fallen into an error 

 when he says, "Wind and steam-power re- 

 qviire too much expense for most farms, and 

 that the use of steam must be confined for the 

 most part to coal districts." From the recent 



* The savins of a pair of horses to the farmer has 

 been estimated at fuUy £100 per ;inuum. Some tann- 

 ers tell me, who have steam-power, that tbey can 

 save a pair of horses out of four, on large farms. 



