Report on Implements at Preston.^ 
737 
Messrs. J. Fowler and Co. exhibited three new implements 
that attracted much attention and interest. No. 1798 was a 
Compound Road Locomotive, arranged to drive all four wheels, 
the hind ones by a pitch chain on the near side, and the leading 
wheels by a pitch chain on the off side. By means of a "jack-in- 
the-box " gear the front axle can be turned in any direction in 
steering, and adjusts itself to the inequalities of bad roads. It 
would seem an easier matter to drive all the wheels in an engine 
running upon rails, and never varying in their circumference, 
than those in a traction-engine liable to vary somewhat with the 
quantity of dirt that occasionally adheres to their surface ; but 
traction-engines are often stopped because bridges are not strong 
enough to bear their weight, and a light engine driving all four 
wheels will be as efficient as a heavier one that only drives two ; 
the latter might stick fast in soft or rough places, where the 
former could pass through or over the obstruction. The "jack-in- 
the-box " gear, as at present arranged, seems somewhat near the 
ground if it is intended to work in soft places. 
No. 1799 is a plough for ditching purposes on the balance 
principle, that has been supplied by Messrs. Fowler and Co. to 
the South Australian Government, and extensively used by them 
to form the miles of ditching that leads water in the rainy season 
into the great tanks and reservoirs required to retain a supply 
for stock through their long-continued seasons of drought. It is 
designed to make a ditch in two operations, 2 feet 6 inches deep, 
1 foot wide at the bottom and 2 feet wide at the top. There 
are two skifes, each with three cutting edges, to cut the bottom 
and the two sides, and followed by a very large breast that turns 
the huge furrow to one side of the trench. The first skife cuts 
the soil to a depth of 15 inches, and the second finishes it to 
the full depth of 2 feet 6 inches. It is intended for use in 
making ditches and for tile draining in England. 
Fig. 31. — Hitchcock's Patent Implement for Cleaning Land, No. 1800. 
Messrs. Fowler and Co.'s third implement, No. 1800, shown 
in Fig. 31 (Hitchcock's Patent), is intended to clear land of 
couch. and finish it at one operation when it is in a drj state in 
