THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR WASTE LANDS. 235 



holdfast stones bedded in the soil, there is no reason why it should not 

 be so employed. There are many large portions of waste land in this 

 country which are free from large stones and roots, and which might be 

 advantageously brought into cultivation by means of steam-power. 



There were about one hundred acres of moorland on this estate in 1867, 

 the site of which is comparatively level ; the soil is a peaty loam, with a 

 subsoil of a sandy character resting on rock. It was covered with heath 

 intermixed with a few coarse grasses and fern. Considering that it was 

 a good subject for cultivation, the proprietor, Major Stapylton, decided 

 upon having it brought into cultivation, and to have it done by steam- 

 power. Its elevation is about six hundred and fifty feet above sea-level. 

 Between the soil and subsoil already mentioned there was a thin band 

 of hard pan, usually called moor-band pan. This pan is, I believe, formed 

 by the oxide of iron which exists in the soil ; and being washed down by 

 the rains, it forms an impervious body into which the roots of any plant 

 will not penetrate, and the rain-waters cannot get freely through it. If 

 this pan is broken, and the soil kept deeply stirred from year to year, the 

 iron matter will not again unite, but will be gradually washed away by 

 rains. In proceeding to reclaim this portion of the estate, we formed 

 large masses of plantation to the north, north-west, and east of it. Two 

 new roads were formed on two sides of it, and then we proceeded to the 

 actual improvement of the soil itself. The heath on the surface was 

 about an average length of eight inches ; this we set fire to on calm days, 

 and had some workmen at hand all day to see that the fire did not go 

 beyond the boundaries of the part under operation. Having had this 

 done, I made a contract with a gentleman in the Eiding, who possesses a 

 set of Fowler's double-engine steam-tackle, to plough and cultivate the 

 land. 



The engines are locomotives, or what are called " traction" engines ; 

 and in proceeding to the land to be cultivated, they worked themselves 

 up a steep road with a gradient equalling 1 in 6. They, however, went 

 up quite easily, pulling both a four-furrow plough and large cultivator 

 with them. The engines are ten-horse power, and of the same description 

 as described under Steam Cultivation. I also contracted for the carriage 

 of the coal from our station, which is nearly three miles from the land 

 referred to; and I agreed with an adjoining tenant to supply the engines 

 with water, by using a water-cart, at so much per day. 



The engines commenced work by ploughing with the four-furrow 

 plough to a depth of eight inches this was down to the pan already 

 described ; but they had not proceeded far when it was found that the 

 surface of the soil, being full of strong heath-roots, was very tough, and it 

 was considered the strain upon the engines* was too much with turning 



