1837.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



631 



practical enfyiiieer and mechanist of forty-five 

 years' standinij. The strongest expectations 

 therefore are entertained that his sleani-plouirh on 

 trial will realize the favorable opinions that are 

 formed of its efficiency. 



"This steam-plou<;h is worked by Upton's patent 

 lever steam-engine, and ids air furnace boiler. If a 

 sinsjle shared plough, the space occupied bj' the entire 

 machine will be four feet lonti; by ten feet ; if for 

 trencii ploughing, the dimensions will be the same ; 

 if for ploughing two, three, or more parallel furrows 

 at once, the breadth and fnigth will be about five feet 

 by twelve feet. The work done by tlie trenching 

 plough will be equal to any spade husbandry ; and that 

 by tile parallel shares will be found very superior to 

 any horse ploughing; inasmuch as the ground will 

 not be trod and rammed down by horses' feet ; and as 

 the steerer or ploughman, &.c. wdl ride on the ma- 

 chine, the land will be left as open and light as possi* 

 ble, and resemble that of garden culture. To the 

 steam-plough a harrow, drill, and seed-box can be at- 

 tached when requisite, and the entire operation per- 

 formed at one going, when it is for the last ploughing, 

 without trampling the soil. The spots left in the angles 

 of the field by Upton's steam- plough will be smaller 

 than by any horse-plough, as the steam-plough will 

 turn, if a single share, in thrice the breadth and length 

 of a common wheelbarrow ; and if a three-shared 

 plough it will turn in the space of a small one-horse 

 cart. The simplicity of construction and small num- 

 ber of parts composing this steam-engine and boiler, 

 and the great safety and security of the latter, will 

 prevent the necessity of frequent or expensive repairs, 

 as the only parts of the apparatus most liable to wear 

 and tear are the ploughshares, the soles, coulters, and 

 harrow tines, which will only require the same repairs 

 as if drawn by horses. The engine and its boiler is 

 calculated to go 50^000 miles, or more, before any re- 

 pairs could be wanted, unless from accident or unfair 

 usage, and whenever, from long use, very much worn, 

 if the boiler were to burst, it could only extingush its 

 own fire without injury to any person close to it. The 

 plough will require one steady man to direct or steer it, 

 and a tractable boy to attend the fire and turn the 

 steam off and on occasionally, the engine being of the 

 most simple and efficient construction. The water- 

 tank will require replenishing uovn^ and then, and per- 

 haps fuel will be required two or three times in the 

 course of the day, and the boiler is admirably con- 

 structed for burning either wood, peat, or coke, or coal 

 may be lued. The single plough is ealculated to do 

 two acres per day, and as the person will not be fa- 

 tigued by walking over the rougii ground, nor have 

 any horses to rub down and feed alter coming home 

 from the field, they could remain out a longer time. 

 The double plough would do four acres, and the three- 

 shared plough would do about six acres per day. The 

 counter or trench plough would do about two acres per 

 day ; but as it would be equal in power to the double 

 shared plough it woidd require the same quantity of 

 fuel and expense. The land cultivated by this plough 

 would doubtless be found from its efficiency to pro- 

 duce crops nearly if not quite equal to spade husban- 

 dry, with which mode of cultivation I am tlioroughly 

 well acquainted from practice ; and it would in such 

 cases pay for the steamer the first season. As to the 

 expense, there would be required one good steady 

 ploughman, who never ought to receive less than 2s. 

 6d. per day, and a tractable boyorlad as firemen at Is. 

 per day, as thus : — One man per day, 2s. 6d. ; one boy, 

 Is. per day. If coke is used as fuel, I shall state it at 

 the London prices, although in many districts it is 

 much lower, therefore, the single plough would require 

 about twelve bushels per day, which, at 6d., is 6s. 

 Ploughing two acres per day at 4s. 9d. is thus 9s. 

 6d. Now, it will appear manifest that if two acres 

 can be ploughed per day with a single shared plough 



for 9s. 6d., six acres per day could be ploughed 

 at a cheaper rate, in proportion, inasmuch as there 

 would only be the same number of j)eople employed 

 as before : — Thus wages per day, as belbre, 3s. 6d. ; 

 fuel per day, as before, 3s. per acre, ISs. ; ploughing 

 six acres per day, at 3s. 7d. is thus £\: 1 : 6. As 

 the ground would not be trodden and rammed by horses 

 or men in the various operations of ploughing, harrow- 

 ing, sowing &c. there can be no doubt that superior 

 crops would be obtained, and in some sods deep 

 ploughing is very beneficial, which could be done by 

 steam better than by horses, for steam never tires ; 

 and as for treading the ground it is generally very det- 

 rimental, for I have frequently observed that in some 

 soils, wherever a horse's foot hole is left, corn seldom 

 thrives to well, and in many instances in retentive land 

 and cold seasons, perishes. I once had a good field of 

 six acres of wheat entirely ruined and destroyed by a 

 posse of horsemen who lived many miles away from 

 my farm hunting in my fields; to complain was use- 

 less, and as to purchasing law, what farmer or trades- 

 man can afford to pay for it ? 



" As to the expense of ploughing with horses, there 

 is much variation, some soils requiring only two, some 

 three, and some four; it will be fair therefore to take 

 three as the average number. Now I took great pains 

 to measure and find what was the lowest expense of 

 my horses' keep for three or four succeeding years, 

 and it amounted to twenty pence per day each, which 

 is, I believe, five pence more than now is allowed for 

 the the keep or starvation of a poor old worn out 

 ploughman, or his master, for one entire week ! There- 

 fore a single team of three horses cost per day (and 

 generally ploughed near an acre) 5s. ; my ploughman 

 received per day, 2s. 6d. ; the driver, Is. ; in all, 8s. 6d. 

 An acre of land, if ploughed by steam, would cost 3s. 

 7d. Dilference per acre, and better work done, 4s. 

 lid. Although a good and perfect steam plough may 

 be thought a very desirable machine for the West Indies, 

 Canada, Australia, and the colonies generally, yet, 

 unless it would do something more than plough and 

 harrow, I thought it wouljd not be approved of, and 

 from my own practice in farming! know whatis want- 

 ed by a farmer; and being by profession a steam-en- 

 gine manufacturer and mechanist, think I know, or am 

 more likely to know, and to produce what will answer 

 the farmer's purpose much better than some of those 

 itinerant philosophers, travelling speculators, and soi- 

 disani steam-plough makers, who have been to my fac- 

 tory to endeavor to see what I was doing ; but in vain, 

 for I would show and explain nothing to them. Wishing 

 to produce a machine of the utmost simplicity and gen- 

 eral utility, I have so contrived my locomotive engine, 

 that I can detach the ploughs, &c. from it, and send it 

 away to the fold yard, where I will suppose there is a 

 common dung-cart ready loaded for it to take away. 

 My locomotive would take the cart to the field, where 

 the steerer would have to tilt it in the usual manner, 

 and then draw out as much manure to form one heap 

 as he pleased — to form as many heaps as he pleased, or 

 to tip and shoot the residue, or the whole load at once if 

 required. The steersman would then take back the 

 empty cart at a trotting pace, if he chose, and fetch 

 another loaded one. 



" The expense of hauling manure it is requisite to 

 calculate from some given data, in order to ascertain 

 the expense ; and having, in the course of many year's 

 practice as an engineer, paid as much for the hire of 

 horse and cart work as almost any practical man in 

 this or any other kingdom, besides keeping several 

 good teams of my own, I shall go as near the wind's 

 eye as I can carry sail, and assume a distance. Say 

 the average distance is one-third of a mile out, and 

 one-third of a mile back, and that the time taken up 

 in tipping the load and exchanging carts would be equal 

 to one-third of a mile more, making one mile in time 

 and distance per load. Now, as my teams for years 

 regularly did 20 miles of ground per day, when haul- 



