346 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[May If, 





chaff-cutters, and any 

 power has hitherto been 

 have never had a doubt, 



duced at the meeting last week by Mr. J. * ilUms, of 

 Baydon, Wilts. The following is an abridged ^report 

 of his remarks :— There can be no doubt that, the 

 manufacturing interest owes its hitherto flourishing con- 

 dition to the unlimited power of steam. Equally 

 pparent to all who are practically acquainted with 

 agricultural pursuits is the expensive mode of cultiva- 

 tion that farmers have been obliged to adopt— viz., 

 manual and horse labour. Fortable steam-engines now 

 being at our command, I will attempt to describe the 

 purposes to which they have been applied, and then call 

 attention to the possibility of cultivating the soil by 

 means of this gigantic power. With respect to thresh- 

 ing machines, grind! ng-mills, 

 other purpose to which sttani 

 applied about a homestead, I 



since I saw the first portable engine practically at work, 

 that it was the engine best adapted for general farm 

 purposes. A fixed engine, it is true, has its advantages, 

 requiring less fuel, having its water at hand, and being 

 always ready for work, while the work is done to the 

 best advantage under cover ; but against these advan- 

 tages must be placed the immense cost of hauling the 

 whole produce of the farm to one point, fi hen draw- 

 ing the whole of the manure back again. [Mr. Williams 

 then described his plan for avoiding this cost.] 



I will imagine a farm of 300 acres in extent, and whether the 

 homestead be at one end (which is too o: n the case) or in the 

 centre, I will assume the produce of the 100 acres nearest the 

 homestead to he drawn thereto. The produce of the other 200 

 acres can then be stacked near to where it grew. If the four- 

 fieW system be adopted the very land which produced the Lent 

 atraw ctop wili require the manure next year, either for a green 

 crop or for Wheat; and, assuming that a crop of Turnips or 

 Swties is growing in an adjoining eld, the rick can be plao 

 close to the piece, that the fodder may be consumed with the 

 Turnips; the steam -torine being taken there for threshing the 

 earn when required. Of course a pen or yard of hurdles must 

 be made for the sheep; and when they have linished, the straw 

 Jeft will be o- little value, provided it is left in that state; hut by 

 doubling the hurdles with straw between, and having an old 

 waggon-carriage lengthened and roofed, containing a small 

 granary over the hind part similar to this model on the table, a 

 temporary yard for pigs, with a house, will be obtained, and with 

 good feeding the straw will be converted into excellent manure. 

 The pigs, likewise, will isume any stray corn which may be 

 left in the same, and will be far more healthy while shifting 

 from place to place thau they are when continually kept in one 

 yard at borne. A portion of the animal manure made at the 

 homestead could be drawn and mixed with that which was thus 

 obtained and the heap would he as good in quality as if the 

 bulk of the straw had been drawn home to the fixed engine ; 

 the expense and time of double cartage being, moreover, saved. 



Returning more immediately to the subject of steam 

 power, I will next notice Mr. Meehi's irrigation by 

 steam. The system of irrigation appears to be adopted 

 in some few instances in Scotland, and with very great 

 success ; but how far it will answer the purpose in a 

 general way, except where an unlimited supply of liquid 

 manure can be obtained, I am not prepared to say, and 

 I doubt if (except in few cases) it would ever repay the 

 outlay required to bring it practically to bear. Mr. 

 Mechi has written to me respecting his steam-engine : 



"My steam-engine is at 30 lbs. pressure per inch, and 70 

 revolutions per minute, of six-horse power: but as we work at 

 70 lbs. per inch, and evaporate 70 gallons of water per hour, we 

 get lt-horse power out of her; she works a pair of 4 feet 4 inch 

 mill-stones, drives the chaff-cutter, threshing machine, and 

 drawing machine, pumps all the water for the live stock, works & 

 pair of 'force pnmps for Irrigation, 20-inch stroke, and 6 inches 

 diameter, throwing 100 gallons per minute ; a Linseed- crusher 

 and an air pump are also det tding on the steam-< ine. It has 

 been in tise eight years, and is likely to last many more ; the con- 

 sumption of fuel is 10 cwt. of coal per diem of 10 working hours ; 

 without it we should be in a poor predicament.'' 



Fowler'sdraining plough is another instance of the prac- 

 tical application of steam power to agricultural purposes. 

 I made a journey into Hertfordshire about two months 

 since to witness its operation ; and I feel convinced, from 

 what I there saw, backed by my own experience, that 

 the bringing of steam power into general use is only a 

 question of time, 



I saw there an eight-hoTse power enghu . made hy Clayton 

 and Shuttteworth, drawing not less, in my opinion, than 200 

 horse power, including the ction of the machine, wire rope, &c. 

 The engine was stat iary at one end of the field, and the dis- 

 tance at which it appeared capable of working the plough at the 

 further end was nearly, If not quite, half a mile. It did its work 

 in a most practical manner, drawing in the pipe tiles, and finish- 

 ing the work to the satisfaction of all who saw it. 



I now come to that part of my subject which has re 

 ference to what is most to be desired, but what also 

 there is no question is the most difficult, viz., the 

 ploughing and cultivating of the soil by steam power 

 [Mr. Williams then rt rred to the history of the 

 subject.] Lord Willoughby D'Eresby has been some- 

 what successful with his ploughs. His steward, Mr. 

 Scott, writes me word : — 



" We now use three ploughs at once, and they work right and 

 left-hand ed, alternately; we can plough in eight hours about 

 four acres of land, at a cost of about 35*. per day, including 

 mens wages, fuel, oil for engines, and a horse and watercart to 

 convey water to the engines. ' You will observe this is some- 

 what less than 9*. per acre, and considering that Lord Willoughby 

 uses two engines, one at each end of the field, which must be a 

 great expense as regards fuel (it being necessary to keep up two 

 fires, wl only one engine at a time is at work), if the land is 

 well ploughed at that c st, it is a step in the right direction. 



The Marquis of Tweeddale, at Yester, in Scotland, has 



been ploughing by steam-power. I am informed by his 

 Lordshi 



^ ,. . t u3Ti,„* u^vAnfoH a flfpAm- 1 not only to the fanner hut to the kingdom at Uro» 

 Mr. Usher, of Edinburgh, who "" m * ent "J * ' |°"™ the food previously consumed mi S ht%nd wVulr 



plough to travel over the surface of the soil and plough - - 



r , ° , , . _-* „^»;«« Bfntps. in reply to a 



the ground by a rotary motion, states, in 

 letter which I wrote to him :— 



" The drawbacks I had in my first machine were want of steam- 

 powlr'and^mth weight. The first of these I tejjolm.^ 

 in the new one by having 210 feet of heating surface in the 

 boiler wlinTwo feet in the last one, which gives „x horses 

 moe st^m" and the latter objection I think ,-,11 be entirely 

 overcame by'this additional power. The work done I th.nkw 

 nearlv nerfect being exactly such as C. AN . liosicyns nas sec 

 fortta^ the little volume ' Talpa^and the expense per 



acre is about one-third of the cost by horses. 



I will now add that, having been studying this subject 

 for the last three years, I have succeeded in bringing 

 out a very different implement from any of those which 

 have been before described, viz., "a ploughing machine;" 

 and so satisfied am I of its practicability that I have 

 taken out a patent for the invention, 



I came to the conclusion that steam-ploughing ought to be 



done by the simple 4, 5, or 6 horse-power engines, which are 



generally used for farm purposes. Such an engine would be 



quite sufficient to propel from three to six ploughs at a time, 



according to the nature of the soil, inasmuch as my engine (one 



of five- horse-power), which drove a strap nearly at the rate ot 



20 miles per hour, by reducing the speed to about two miles per 



hour would increase her power exactly in the same ratio as the 



speed was diminished. I immediately set about constructing a 



machine, to be driven by the engine, which will plough a 20-yard 



land without moving, and draw the ploughs in furrow backwards, 



as well as to her, hy means of a pulley fixed in a frame at the 



other end of the field. If steam-ploughing is brought about, It 



should be done by the same engine that does the other work ot 



the farm; and. as a six-horse engine is the outside power that is 



generally required for that work, so it will he quite sufneieut for 



all field purposes. Remember, one of the difficulties the Marquis 



of Tweeddale has met with is the weight of the engine ; and Mr. 



Usher has written to the same effect. And again, there is 



another grand consideration, viz., the cost of the engines, more 



especially where two are used, which would put it out of the 



power of most farmers to meet so great an outlay. I am 



that with a six-horse-power engine driving a machine I 



better account. I have been often asked. If doTw» * 

 your horses what will you do for manun T Quetfiflhl 



as well be put, " What will you do with the food ttaboniZ 

 consume ? " As this is the last and most interesting put <* #u« 

 question, let me state, though I shall probably astonjfc 



my hearers in doing so. the amount of animal food wMek^Lu 

 be produced with the farm produce thus saved. It irtfl ll^S 

 from the above calculation that hy dispensing with oa*m*^ 

 the horse power necessary to cultivate the soil, a savIajTui 



nd fodder would he effected to the amount of 18,800,000{. uj? 

 if I take the price of beef and mutton at Id. per lb., or it Si^L 

 stone of 8 lbs., the food so rescued from consumpti ^ ■ — ■ ■ 



would produce, assuming that they would not be fed at aC 

 80,571,500 stones of meat; or 805,715 oxen, of 100 sUn§.3 





certain, 

 am now 



about to make, considerably lighter than the one I have tried, 

 I shall be able to draw, at the rate of two miles an hour, from 

 four to six ploughs at once at the ordinary depth which is 

 ploughed in the west of England, to plough both to and from 

 the engine, draw out the spare rope, plough from 10 to 20 yards 

 in width without moving the engine; and when required to 

 move, the engine shall propel both herself and the machine on to 

 the next land. As far, then, as I have heen enabled to observe, 

 I do not hesitate to give it as my opinion that it is or will be 

 practicable to cultivate the bulk of the soil by means of steam- 

 power, and that it is only a question of time as to the best mode 

 of doing it. The remainder of the question which I have under- 

 taken to introduce is, 'if this great work should he practical, 

 what would be its natural i nits?' There are three especial 

 objects which I have no doubt will be affirmed if this gigantic 

 undertaking can be accomplished. In the first place, the work 

 on all wet soils will be much better done, as the treading of the 

 horses will be avoided; and again, with regard to a wet season, 

 when the farmers, afraid of getting behind with their work, often 

 go to plough when they ought not to do so, thereby doing as 

 much harm as good. In the second place, I will allude to the 

 individual benefit which the farmers and labourers will in all 

 probability derive from this system. The farmers would require 

 a considerably less amount of horse-power, which is always a 

 sinking fund ; they would be enabled to do their work at the best 

 seasons, and I imagine at considerably less cost. I am not pre- 

 pared to say at what cost; but I will assume, from what I can 

 judge of my own proceedings, and looking forward to a more 

 perfect system, that I should be able to plough 6 acres per day of 

 nine hours with a 6-hors* engine. The expenses, as far as I can 

 look into them, from the number of hands required, would be 



• t ■ 



« • ■ 



about as follows :- 



Da. 



6 cwt. of coal 



Oil 



Water-carting... 



Engineer 



Steersman 



Conductor 



Four men, at 2s. each 



Two stout lads 



* • • 



• # • 



• • • 



• • t 



£ 













 

 

 

 

 



s. d. 

 6 



1 

 2 



3 



3 

 3 



8 



2 





 6 

 

 

 

 

 





Cr. £ 



By ploughing six acres 

 of land, at 5$. Qd. 

 per acre 



s. d. 



or 8,057,150 fat sheep of 10 stones each. Such, sir, would te2 

 result if this desirable object were practically carried at 



Mr. Mechi said that on level land there could be nodcafcte 

 steam-ploughing, as conducted by Lord W. D'Ereaby, wti w . 

 fectly successful ; and as to cost, so far as he could disconrt 

 would he about the same as that which had been stated It y 

 Williams. But there was one material objection wbenmr i fe£ 

 happened to have an elevation, and that objection aroei tot 

 the ploughs, hut from the form of the engines. Tbey bad a| 

 horizontal tubes, and the moment they were off level grand t 

 part of the tubes would of course be without water, and lialit to 

 be burnt out. The result was that in the field in whicb bt it* 

 them operating the parts on the slope'could not be ploughed. If 

 vertical boilers could be used, that difficulty might be otw 

 but, unfortunately, success in this respect had not y* 

 attained. As to his (Mr. Mechi' s) acquaintance witi 

 power, he believed that Mr. Romaine's engine would aafl 

 ceeded, and he had spent some money in irking one. The r*. 

 volving wheels performed 240 revolutions iu*a mimrta, and the 

 earth and stones were made to fly in all direction!; tor tat 

 process an amount of power was consumed which waa ritngatti 

 disproportionate to the quantity of land moved. Thew «ai aat 

 time for the prongs to get into the ground; and he really ttagat 

 that with 15 revolutions a minute he should have done bait 

 than with 240. How far the engine would have the power tfaav 

 pelling itself he was unable to prove, because he adopted at 

 improved system of boiler; and in order to get over the at 

 the tubes were made vertical instead of horizontal; but vitktk 

 high-pressure the first attempt sent the water and stem u i 

 shower out of the boiler over the horses. The boiler thai raid 

 do a great deal of work in a horizontal form would, vita flat 

 tubes were placed vertically, throw out the water with t> steam, 

 and soon become emptied. His experiment failed, tkavefcr 

 because there was too much velocity and too little staua. aad 

 he did not continue it, inasmuch as it would have required b hi 

 large expenditure of time and an enormous outlayrf cap 

 and it was certainly not his wish to spend another 500?. op* it. 

 He had seen the model of Mr. Usher's s team -cultivator, aad* 

 had a strong opinion that, on account of its slow motion, it vr 

 effect the perfect cultivation of the soil. One very wfa Uin» 

 tion he observed on Lord Willoughby D'Eresby s farm. PjalJ 

 that his chains almost always broke from the concoasi oiof nil 

 with iron, his lordship provided a remedy by tl \ e . 1 ° tro *J~ i 

 a thick collar of vulcanised Indian rubber, which acted ai i 

 spring, received the blows, and enabled the operation to»£ 

 formed satisfactorily. With regard to fixed engines, bettw 

 not what might ultimately be done by them. 3 At J h ««*J™T* 

 manufactory of Mr. Salt, in the neighbourhood of U#% m 

 extent of shafting would reach two miles; ^ i ch protndttBW 

 time might come when the small amount of friction ™""~ 

 from fixed shafting might carry the farmers ideas nwen wn» 

 thin they had yet gone upon the subject of \ ™} Q Sy*?Z 

 of steam-power. The friction arising from shafting jraajw 

 small when properly attended to, and 640 square wr»w«J Jg 

 a square mile, if the farmery were placed in t temiw m m» 

 farm, then the extremities of the farm would be only ban » 

 distant ; thus it became a question of importance to ""« 

 shafting or pulleys with fixed engines might be used nr nm 

 poses of cultivation. . m 41^ 



Mr. R. Baker bad never thought it deaf** W^ m 

 steam-engine should operate over a very large sp* j* 

 land atone time ; but rather that it should be Kept pa 

 certain limit, within which it would work witt m 



consequently, a large enclosure would r*WJ^ 



1 13 



tage 



the whole of* 



18 6 



Wear and tear, 15 per 



wvilL* .,. «•• ••• V 



4 6 





£1 13 



bettlNtf 





£1 13 



That with two 14- horse-power engines he propels two ploughs 

 at the rat ,f 2* miles per h< , ploughing the immense furrow 



111 VL 5 "l' 1 ^ '> * hil tne twn furrows take a 



•2* th °[ 80 * nches , or 15 inches etrh. The soil is generally a 

 lUrT tenach ns clay ; so you may im oe the immense strain of 

 two such furrows, with t! - Hon of the rope going at the rate 



If these figures of mine at all approach to what may hereafter 

 prove a fact, it will require* but little argument to convince any 

 farmer that to plough or cultivate the land for 5s. 6d. per acre is 

 what he has never been able to do before. With respect to the 

 labourers, I am satisfied that the more machinery and steam 

 power are introduced, the better will be their position in society. 

 It is a mistaken notion to suppose that the introduction of steam 

 power will displace the demand for manual labour; for facts 

 prove the contrary. Those who employ the greatest amount of 

 machinery employ likewise the largest number of hands. Lastly, 

 I shall place before you a statistical account of the immense 

 benefit the nation at large would derive from the practical 

 accomplishment of this herculean task. If I fix the horse-power 

 necessary to cultivate the land of Great Britain at four to every 

 100 acres, I cannot be far wrong; and taking the number 

 of cultivated acres at 47,000/ », and multiplying them 

 by four to every 100, I arrive at the enormous quan- 

 tity of 1,880,000 horses kept for the purpose of tilling the soil ! 

 They cannot, in my opinion, tailing the prices of the past year, 

 be kept for a less sum than 30Z. each, to which must be added 51. 

 per horse for casualties (depreciation), wear and tear, shoeing, 

 and harness. There are various opinions as to the cost of main- 

 taining a horse for a twelvemonth, but in 99 cases out of 100 it 

 is all assumed. By not reckoning strictly everything horses 

 consume, people aTe led to suppose that they can be kept for a 

 less sum than I have named: but where a regular account is 

 kept the case is different. I can mention an instance of a gentle- 

 man who is present (Mr. Thomas, of Bedfordshire), who is noted 

 for the admirable accounts which he keeps, and who has written 

 to me to the effect that his horses cost him, with corn at the 

 present price, not less than 145. per week, or 367. 8s. per annum, 

 besides casualties, wear and tear, &c. I do not take his figures, 

 because I think the bulk of fhe horses alluded to are not kept so 

 well as his; but it is a question whether such keeping is not the 

 cheapest in the long run. Reckoning, therefore, the mainte- 

 nance of each horse at 30?., the annual amount is the same as the 

 cost price before mentioned, viz.. 56,400,000/. I It has likewise 

 been asserted by our friend Mr. Baker and others, that the 

 horses consume from a fifth to a fourth of the whole produce 

 of the soil. It r.ow remains to consider what portion of this 



«*» 



be worked in portions, rather than m 

 extent at once. In that case the engine ^'S 11 ' 

 in a transverse direction across the field on a nen . 

 the rails to be so arranged that they m'gl" 

 and laid down again as the engine was roovee w ^ 

 Where great resistance was offered, a stow »»■ ^ 

 obviously preferable ; and, in his opinion, «»«—- 

 • more advantageous in point of utility and _^ 

 that the engine when fixed should move a 1«F 

 of cutting implements or ploughs slowly, w « 

 should work quickly, and move a plougn » 

 lerated rate. , _ . iW ;.M «tM^ 



Mr. Williams's plan, as he saw it at the Bjm«*e», § ^ 

 three ploughs in continuous succession, M ?Pl a tbrW jl*£ 

 the right direction. An engine that ^rtdnwM^^ 

 at on£ would move six, nine, or twelve, V™y**JXr*m1* 

 employed was sufficient. Thus when oncetl w e P^ ^£ 

 it would accomplish a great deal of worK w " u " to tb»t ••• 

 of removal ; but the motive power must be em , t rary ^ *» 

 was prod uced in a locomotive engine, i ne ■«« TM ^ 



purpose of propelling itself in a ^™S ut .. d "?r d at***' 

 tions of an engine used for cult T^S th p e n S wcaW *]Z 

 opposite direction from that which the engine ^f. 

 Aid, so that to move it on the wm«T«>»« „*,,. fj 

 horse power, or a power impendent ^ ^^a* «M ** 

 he saw the various processes that «»^ ' tbe n*»»J2 

 in large manufactories, he could not imeg me _tn ^^P 

 ing over the land G or 8 inches in depth preseu ^ 

 mechanical difficulties. , InfoTttiri^' 



Mr. J. Howard (Bedford) came. for «f«» 

 to learn the " doom of the plough —« . but fc, e» 

 the implements now in use are concerned^ ^^ 



fessed that he was as much as eve „. ffecte d bjr*5, 

 how the cultivation of the land can be en ^ mt0 ^ 

 power, that is, as to how it can be ^J 



and efficiently ; for there is no "fP"*™, W*J 



Any sanguine gentleman nj^tf* 



fg» 



in the way. 



0» 



Any sanguine 8 c "r" if be 

 acres, or anv quantity, ploog bed bj we . 



pay for it. 'Engineers could be found also, .£ 

 were given and payment guaranteed,^ *^ ^0 



accomplish the work, 

 to the desirability of 



i„?„ could b. -r; m 



of 2i miles pir hour! li \* lorflsWp i nti * some'of the dim- horse-power could he dispensed with, provided steam could be 

 culues ne ban had to c« \ with ; Rmoamt which are stones, applied as a substi tute ? U the bulk of the soil could be tilled by- 



steam, I am inclined to think half the horses might he spared, by 

 stacking the corn in harvest where it grew, as I mentioned at the 

 commencement of my remarks ; but as I wish to keep within 

 bounds, I will only take a third, which would amount to the 

 number of 626,666 and a fraction, and then the annual cost of 



maintaining them would be 18,800,0002.,, which would be saved, 



;rilage'oflheTand,'and •«/ j^°^S- ****' 

 this powerful agent would be tne » * ^ - 



culture ; but as to the mode of *»»g ^ *-* 





pan, and roo.a of trees, wt.icb from the circumstance of hi 

 plonghmg to the depth ef IS ineh . of ,,ne renders him the 

 more liable to meet with. 1 he has overcMne these obstruc- 

 tions by ploughing * i horses in the localities where thev 

 existed, and having tnce been iurmcunted the difficulty no longer 



exists. 



appeared to be totally In the ^1^. $**& 

 alluded to the success of ^?TJ. \* the -.^ 



and, 

 made 



experiments in steam -P ,0 "g h, "» „,„„. 

 should be misled by the stateniej M ^ h§d 

 (Mr. Howard) would just sa.v , ^ , ^ 



plough operation at Lord Willow / 





tbe 



