Steam Cultwation. 
325 
paired and calculations upset by mishaps of all kinds, is likely 
to have his patience taxed by the sight of a plough-team losing 
time by stoppage. But if the stoppage of one, ruffle his temper, 
how will he maintain his equanimity if the stoppage of one, 
disables and stops three ? Yet in effect, any little breakage in one 
part, causing the stoppage of a 12 or 14-horse power steam- 
plough, really amounts to this. Reckoning, as before, the daily 
expenses of a day of ten hours at 50^., it follows that for every 
minute's stoppage that occurs, the employer loses a penny. In 
this matter time is money, and he whose motto is economy must 
look ahead and keep his implement moving. 
Stoppages are the result of breakages, and the latter may arise 
from general wear and tear, accident, or carelessness ; and while 
great care should be exercised to confine accidental breakages to 
a minimum, yet when they do occur the great thing is to have 
the broken parts replaced or repaired with the utmost dispatch 
and least possible delay. Every minute is a penny. A large 
stone or root, we will suppose in the middle of a 400-yard length 
of cultivation, comes in contact with the cultivator, and a broken 
share, point, skyfe, or rope-joint, is the result of the collision. If 
the ploughman is careful and provident, he is provided with a 
small box fitted on to the plough, in which he carries a spare 
share, rope-joint, a few nuts and bolts, screw-spanner, &c., so that 
in the case of a broken share a new one can readily be fitted on 
in two minutes' time, of whichT:he value is twopence ; but if this 
box is not provided or the necessary duplicates not kept in it, 
and he has to drag his slow length' along to the engine and back, 
the time lost will certainly exceed ten minutes, and the lost 
twopence grows into a shilling. Again, perhaps the work has 
gone on smoothly for some time and no breakage has occurred : 
the men get careless. ' Why need we trouble ourselves to carry 
these duplicates to the other field ? they are never Avanted ;' but, 
behold, some part gives way, and instead of the ten minutes' 
journey to the engine the last field or the smithy has to be visited, 
at the loss of half, nay, more likely a whole hour, that is to say, 
of five shillings. * 
It is these stoppages that prove the bane of the system, and 
yet to a great extent the antidotes ^ire simple and within the 
reach of all, viz., caution and vigilance to prevent accidental 
breakages, foresight to have in stock the necessary duplicates 
to replace those when they occur, and promptitude in repairing 
the damage done. Success mainly depends on the capability 
and industry of the men working the apparatus, especially if 
the farmer does not closely supervise it in person. In many 
instances it is so difficult to get the workmen to appreciate the 
