Steam Culture. 
409 
adapted to the work, and, 2iidly, by the extent of work which 
existing occupations can commonly provide. 
Tlie autumn season is the most important. With a few stolen 
days in August, and 20 days on an average in September, October, 
and November severally, 65 working days may probably be se- 
cured, and a not less number in March, April, May, and June, 
or more, if more be then required — making in all 130 days in a 
year. But would as many days as this be often required ? — be- 
cause here the superior efficiency of operations performed by 
steam-power comes into play. I have Mr. Saltmarshe's authority 
for saying that 90 days' work would suffice for the steam cultiva- 
tion on 500 acres of land of any kind with one of Fowler's 
10-horse engines. Mr. Holland assigns (approximately) 90 days 
to the cultivation of 400 acres of arable of an unusually tenacious 
quality. On Mr. Saltmarshe's estimate 130 days would suffice 
for upwards of 700 acres of arable, a very large holding on those 
strong soils which we are specially considering. It is for this 
" culture on a great scale " (to modify a French phrase) that 
Fowler's plough is specially adapted ; here there will be bieadth 
in every arrangement ; the engine will not generally interfere 
with the fixed machinery in constant requisition at the home- 
stead, and roads, fields, ponds, and watercourses will adapt them- 
selves to new requirements. But what is the total of these first- 
class occupations ? To secure a market we must include the 2nd 
class, say of from 400 to 500 acres, on which this economical 
question will arise, — Will you have a powerful engine to 
despatch your work in 80, 90, or 100 days, and then make itself 
generally useful where it can ? — or will you descend to an infe- 
rior power ? 
In the first case, the work will be most seasonably and effec- 
tually done, and with less manual labour ; but more capital will 
be called for — and, therefore, unless a contribution is received in 
consideration of the other uses to which the engine is put, the 
items of interest and depreciation must press rather heavier on 
the cultivator. In the last case, the owner may find that though 
he is sufficiently armed at first, still as our ideas and modes of 
action extend and enlarge, he may before long wish he had a 
little more steam at his command. 
It is, therefore, the wisest policy to get power enough, though 
80 or 90 days in a season may suffice to do the work now as- 
signed to the steam-engine.* 
In the case of Smith's Cultivator, Mr. Pike considers that 90 
* In confirmation of this view it may be asked, How much, in these days of 
elevators, double-dressers, and the combined threshing and cbafF-cutting, is a fair 
eight-horse- power second-hand engine depreciated iu comparison with a six- 
horse-power engine that can simply thresh? 
