544 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[September 



power to field cultivation having now been 

 described, in most of the principal points of 

 its construction, with sufficient perspicuity, 

 it is hoped, to be understood without the aid 

 of diagrams for elucidation, it may not be 

 out of place to offer some brief remarks on 

 the economy of its use. 



As to the dimensions of the machine : 



ft. in. 



Its length is proposed to be - - 15 

 Its breadth is as follows, viz : 



ft. in. 



Outside diameter of boiler, 3 7 J 



Breadth of side beams of 



frame, 6 in. on each side, 1 



Intervals between driving- 

 wheels and frame, 1 in. 

 on each side, 2 



Breadth of dr'ving-wheels, 



1 foot each, - - 2 



Extreme breadth of machine, 6 (H 



As to the weight of the machine — 



Boiler, engine, and purchase gear, 

 with water in boiler, and fuel in 



the fire box, - - - 41 cwt. 



Frame, wheels, and water tank, - 22 " 



Water in tank, ,- - - 10 " 



Coke on platform, - - 3 " 



Total weight of machine, - - 76 cwt. 



The foregoing statement is fully the total 

 weight of the machine, including a supply 

 of water and fuel for half-a-day's consump- 

 tion. The following comparison with a 

 wheel carriage passing over the ground may 

 convey an idea of the pressure on the soil 

 by the weight of the machine. A single- 

 horse Scotch cart with its load is seldom less 

 than 24 cwt., that is, 9 cwt. for the cart, and 

 15 cwt. for the load. It may be said that a 

 portion of this load is borne on the back of 

 the horse; but in answer to such exception, 

 it may be replied that the horse bears a 

 much less portion of the load than his own 

 weight, besides which, the trampling of the 

 horse is more injurious to the tilth of the, 

 soil than the weight of the cart-wheels; 

 and therefore, in the comparison about to 

 be instituted, there need not be any deduc- 

 tion from the whole of the load of 24 cwt. 

 being borne by the pair of wheels of the 

 cart. Supposing the hoops" of the wheels 

 of a single-horse cart to be each 3 inches in 



breadth, there is a weight of 24 cwt. sup- 

 ported on a breadth of 6 inches; whilst in 

 the engine there is a weight of 76 cwt. sup- 

 ported on a breadth of 72 inches. That is, 

 in the cart 4 cwt. per inch of breadth of 

 the wheels, against little more than 1 cwt. 

 in the engine; or, in other words, the press- 

 ure of the engine is only about one-fourth 

 of that of a loaded single-horse Scotch cart. 



The engine described in the present pa- 

 per, with a pressure of steam on the pistons 

 of 40 lbs. per square inch, may be consid- 

 ered as six-horse nominal power; but by the 

 purchase gear, the machine becomes equal 

 to 36-horse power. Allowing 12-horse pow- 

 er to be absorbed in propelling the machine 

 itself on tilled land, which must be allowed 

 is an ample deduction for that purpose under 

 the most unfavorable circumstances, there 

 remains 24-horse power available for the 

 traction of implements, which amount, of 

 furce will scarcely ever be required in till- 

 age operations, except when ascending planes 

 of considerable inclination. 



The machine being simple in its construc- 

 tion, may be easily managed by agricultural 

 laborers; it is not, if well made, liable to 

 be out of repair; and when, by accident or 

 otherwise, repairs may be required, these 

 may be readily effected at a moderate cost. 



Besides the use of the machine for loco- 

 motive traction, by having the ends of the 

 crank axle extended somewhat beyond the 

 side framing, it may, on removal of the pur- 

 chase gear, be used as a fixed engine, for 

 driving fixed machinery up to, or even be- 

 yond, six-horse power. 



Before proceeding to specify the construc- 

 tion of the implement to be used as a means 

 of applying steam power to cultivation by 

 the engine previously described, it may be 

 well to state the operations. of tillage that it 

 may be required to perform. 



In the first place, a more or less frequent 

 inversion of the soil, according to circum- 

 stances, is indispensable. In the second 

 place, a complete comminution of the soil, 

 so that the greatest number of particles may 

 be acted upon by air and moisture, and, at 

 the same time, a commixture of the parti- 

 cles with manuring substances, applied to 

 maintain and increase fertility, must be tho- 

 roughly effected; and another most impor- 

 tant end to be obtained by this means, is a 

 complete removal of all weeds. And lastly, 

 when the soil has been thoroughly under- 

 drained, the subsoil may be broken up, and 



