86 On the Reduction of Horse Labour by single Carts. 



Calculations of the relative Proportions of Team Labour, and of the 

 saving effected by pair-horse ploughs, single carts, &c. 



Expended witli 4 horses per 100 acres. 



Saving effected. 



In ploughing, 

 „ horse-hoeing, 

 „ dragging, 

 „ Suffolk driU, &c. , 

 „ harrowing, 

 „ rolling, 



„ carting . . 



about 

 '50 per cent. 



12 per cent. 

 38 per cent. 



by 2, and (occasionally) 1 horse ploughs, ^ 



and double-ridging ploughs . . . (27 per 



by pair-horse cafs-claw drag . . . .J 

 by 1 horse 6 feet heavy roll, being 33 per"! 

 cent, in the implement, and 10 or 12 f 1 per 

 per cent., on the general labour, whenj cent, 

 heavy rolling is perfonSfed . . . j 

 by single-horse carts . . . . 19 per cent. 





Total saving ... 47 per cent. 



Calculations on the general system of this district would pro- 

 bably show that carting scarcely bears the proportion of one- 

 fourth to the whole team labour. 



Let me now answer the question which will be asked. In what 

 manner is the saving by single carts of about one-fifth of the usual 

 proportion of horses effected ? By considering that to move a 

 bulk from one spot to another^ in the way that field operations 

 are carried on by a continuous chain of loading at one end and 

 discharging at the other, seldom less than 3 carts are employed, 

 and that in the usual practice of the southern counties, one horse 

 occupies the stand-cart or waggon, and 3 horses each of the other 

 two that are in motion ; the work thus going forward with 7 horses. 

 If 2 horses in a cart are used, 5 will be the number engaged ; and 

 if 4, the number will be 9. Now, I am prepared to show, not by 

 any series of experiments, but by the routine of my farm for the 

 last ten years, that the same amount of work, when at a moderate 

 distance, may be performed by 3 horses in separate carts; and 

 that it is only at the greatest distance in which 3 three-horse carts 

 are able to keep up the chain, that 4 may be required. And 

 these will keep the same number of (and from low-filling, some- 

 what fewer) loaders engaged, and consequently accomplish the 

 moving of an equal bulk. As this may seem a little paradoxical, 

 I will enter into the reasons which combine to effect it. 1st. A 

 horse thus harnessed draws more in proportion with equal ease ; 

 2ndly, the misapplication of his strength in the constant draught 

 of a heavy carriage is prevented ; 3rdly, he moves more briskly and 

 freely, and turns, &c. with less loss of time, and when any check 

 occurs the loss is saved that takes place by the hinderance of a 

 large number ; and, lastly, there is a certain convenience and ready 

 manageableness which can be better felt than calculated or de- 

 scribed. 



I. Practice and general opinion are agreed in assigning a 

 greater power of draught to a horse working singly than to any 



