484 
Report on the Exhibition of Implements^ 
method should be considered as elements of the first consequence. 
As an appliance to palliate existinj:!^ defects of this nature, and 
as the <ierm of a superior system of mechanical arrano:ement in 
barns, Messrs. Ransome's contrivance merits the highest com- 
mendation. 
Steam- Engines. — The truth of the last romarks will receive 
the acknowldgment of all those agriculturists who have ap])lied 
or desire to substitute fixed steam-engines for manual or horse- 
power, as the prime mover of their barn-machinery. Then it is 
that the disadvantage of crippled space and previously bad 
arrangements becomes prominently apparent, from the difficulty 
of connecting the power with the machines, in such manner as to 
unite economy of outlay with convenience as respects the fold and 
stack yards. These are points especially deserving of study by 
persons erecting new farm-buildings. 
The show-yard contained six well-constructed steam-engines, 
three of which were of the travelling kind ; and two of these were 
set to work at Mr. White's, of Rough Heanor. A premium of 
10/. was awarded to each of the exhibitors — Mr. William Cam- 
bridge, of Market Lavington, Wilts, and Mr. Alexander Dean, 
of Birmingham. The .Judges cannot presume to pronounce an 
opinion as to the comparative merits of these engines, to deter- 
mine which would require a longer and much more severe trial 
than they w ere able to submit them to. Both appeared to pos- 
sess the qualifications necessary for good working and safety. 
It will be in the recollection of the Society that the first porta- 
ble steam-engine which appeared at any of their meetings (and, 
it is believed, the first of the kind introduced to the notice of the 
agricultural world) was that exhibited at Liverpool, in 1841, by 
Messrs. Ransome ; of the performance of which, during a short 
period, a separate report was made. This engine, on the disc- 
principle, was afterwards converted into a locomotive, and again 
tried at the Bristol Meeting, in conjunction with a travelling engine 
by Mr. Cambridge, and both received premiums. The Judges 
may now report that the manufacture and use of travelling steam- 
engines is become a systematised business. In Lincolnshire, 
steam-engines both fixed and portable are becoming general on 
large farms. They are also let on hire. The charge made for 
threshing is necessarily dependent on the quantity of grain capable 
of being threshed out in a given time, and whether the straw has 
been reaped or mown ; also, in some degree, on the amount of 
work to be done. It will be useful to the Members of the 
Society to be informed that the hire of engines for wheat and 
barley threshing varies between Is. and Is. 'Sd. per quarter, in- 
cluding the wages of the engineer and the feeder of the machine ; 
the farmer usually finding coal and the assistant hands. The 
