Experimental Inquiry on Draught in Ploughing. 239 



about equal substance in line. But, wlmtever advantage they 

 may have gained from being both next to the plough, or from 

 their back, band, I must admit that much is to be attributed to 

 the superiority of their breed, and also of their condition, which 

 was so high that, as has been already mentioned, it was even 

 said the pair must cost as much to keep in that state as the 

 ploughing-team of four, whose place they would have to sup- 

 ply. This question of expence being a most material one for 

 the practical farmer, I requested information of Mr. Morton, as 

 to the cost which Lord Moreton had incurred in the keep of five 

 pair of Cljdesdale horses on Whitfield farm, in Gloucestershire ; 

 and that gentleman was so good as to supply me with an account 

 of it from the farm books. My friend Lord Moreton's horses cer- 

 tainly appear to be extremely well fed, their allowance being hay and 

 four quarterns and a half of corn each day, of which one -sixth part is 

 beans and the rest oats. I believe that the medium allowance of 

 our horses, on the other hand, is cut chaff, with one bushel of corn 

 weekly. The expense of feeding each horse for the summer half 

 year was 18/. or 36/. for the year. The expense of a farm-horse 

 in this neighbourhood is reckoned, I believe, at 25/. The pair, 

 therefore, at 72/. yearly, would be about as expensive as our 3 

 horses at 75/. It is true these Clydesdale horses are worth their 

 keep, for it appeared to me, during the trials, that their fair work 

 was at least a draught of 12 stone, while that of our own is cer- 

 tainly not more than 8, so that the pair equals the three in the 

 work (24 stone) as well as in the expense of their keep : still there 

 is no saving, which is the question we are now considering. 

 There would be a saving in substituting a plough of 3 cwt. for 

 one of 4 cwt., and thus reducing the actual team of four horses to 

 three : there would be no saving, so far as we have yet gone, in 

 substituting the Clydesdale pair for the remaining three, since the 

 expense of keep would be the same for the two horses as for the 

 three. 



There is, however, one more point to be considered — the pace 

 of the horses — the most important point, in fact, since it is the 

 same thing with the quantity of work done in a day. It was im- 

 possible not to observe the superior quickness of the Clydesdale 

 horses at work, and on inquiring of the Scotch ploughman, I 

 learnt a fact, since confirmed by Mr. Morton, which completely 

 turns the balance of expense as well as power in their favour, 

 namely, that while the work of our ploughing teams is at best 

 three quarters of an acre upon strong ground (and sometimes as 

 much as an acre upon the lightest), the daily task performed by 

 these Scotch horses, upon strong land, is one acre and a quarter; 

 and this quantity, or one acre Scotch, he stated to be the usual 



