APPLICATION OF STEAM TO AGRICULTURAL PUEPOSES. 57 



The price of the Messrs Howard's apparatus stands thus : 



10-horse power engine, 



1 windlass,* ...... 



1600 yards of steel-wire rope, 



Joint for connecting engine with windlass, . 



1 double snatch-block, .... 

 5 single snatch-blocks, .... 

 7 anchors, . . 



21 rope-porters, . . . . . 



2 anchor-couplings, ..... 



2 beetles, ...... 



31 levers, ...... 



2 crowbars, . . 



1 rope-coiler, ...... 



Patent double steam-cultivator, 5 tines, 



In reference to the working abilities of the above, the following 

 extract, taken from the 'Mark Lane Express' of August 27, 1866, gives 

 a good description of what has been done by Mr Hope on his farm of 

 Fentonbarns, in East Lothian, Scotland : 



Fentonbarns consists of 670 acres. This includes the space occupied by build- 

 ings, gardens, fences, and roads. The farm is held under a lease of twenty-one years, 

 nearly two-thirds of which has expired. The farm was occupied by the father and 

 grandfather of the present tenant, and has been in possession of the family for up- 

 wards of eighty years. 



The lands being frequently difficult to reduce, involving a great amount of horse- 

 labour, one of Howard's cultivating apparatus with engine was obtained in the 

 autumn of 1864. The engine is of 10-horse power. The price of the whole was 

 .650. The length of wire-rope originally obtained was 1600 yards ; since that time 

 400 yards additional have been procured. The increased length of rope has tended 

 to expedite the cultivation of the land, particularly where the fields are large. The 

 additional length of rope has proved so decided an advantage that Mr Hope recom- 

 mends that not less than 2000 yards should be obtained at first by those purchasing 

 one of Howard's steam-cultivators. The cost of repairs of tackle has been almost 

 nothing, the breakage having been so insignificant that 5 will cover the whole out- 

 lay. This expense for repairs, taking into account the number of land-fast boulder- 

 Btones and the extent of land gone over, is a remarkable example of the successful 

 application of steam-power to the stirring of the soil. We were shown a heap of stones, 

 weighing not less than 100 tons, which had all been taken from one field. These 

 stones had been under the common plough-furrow, and it was only when the steam 

 cultivator was used that their presence was discovered, and their consequent extrac- 

 tion from the subsoil effected. The land-fast stones are marked as they are touched 

 by the points of the cultivator, and labourers afterwards remove them by means of 

 spade, pick, crowbar, and frequently by the use of gunpowder. Where the obstruct- 

 ing rocks reach the surface they have in two or thre fields been quarried, and earth 

 carted on to form a soil. The fields, numbering twenty-seven, are generally large. 

 The fences are usually straight a condition favourable for the application of steam- 

 power, even when the engine is stationary, as in this case. The time required to lift, 



