Steam Cultivation. 327 
that time being baked almost to the consistency of bricks, so 
that a stone no larger than a man's fist was sufficient to cause a 
fracture. 
The number of skyfes broken for the same acreage was 23, 
costing 8s. Gd. each, or rather over Aid. per acre ; this is a 
greater sum than clay soils will, with fair management, generally 
cost for this item ; but in this case the excess was caused by the 
cultivation of 100 acres lately reclaimed from being a fox-cover, 
and the roots overlooked in grubbing told heavily on the wear of 
the skyfes. The mould-boards being steel are durable, and not 
readily damaged ; but on heavy soils, especially when dry and 
hard-baked in autumn, — so that, as in our case, the tearing up 
and throwing aside large blocks of baked soil, rather resembles 
the operation of quarrying, — great pressure is brought upon the 
mould-boards, and the " stays " frequently give way. 
Rope-joints are also subject to frequent breakage, especially 
where the work is heavy and requires full engine-power. 
Stoppages also take place from the anchor being tilted over or 
dragged out of place, in consequence of the soft or loose condi- 
tion of the soil through which it travels, or from the wheels 
meeting with obstructions in the shape of roots or stones which 
throw them out and prevent their retaining sufficient hold to 
resist the strain of the engine. In the former case we have 
found a few turns with a heavy roller along the route to be taken 
by the anchor to be k perfect cure ; but, as prevention is better 
than cure, when the field is designed for a second ploughing, as 
for roots or fallow, it will be well to leave a space of 8 or 10 feet 
wide unploughed by the side of the fence where it is presumed 
the anchor will travel. 
When the anchor does get so much displaced as to require 
readjustment, the time lost in the operation may vary from half- 
an-hour to an hour, according as the water-cart horse or any 
other may be at hand ; and this shows how much necessity there 
is, even in matters of detail, for the farmer's best attention, when 
the loss of 2s. Gd. or of 5s. may depend on so seemingly trifling 
an incident. 
The rope-porters are liable to get broken by not being re- 
moved in time for the passage of the cultivator, and where a hill 
intervenes between the engine and anchor, the top-sheaves of 
those porters which are placed on the summit sustain great fric- 
tion, and are soon cut in two. 
But the most expensive of all the items is the wear of the 
wire-rope. We calculate that this has cost nearly 2s. per acre 
ploughed. Such is our experience ; but in ordinary cases the 
cost seems to vary from Is. to Is. Qd. per acre. On our stiff soil 
a 12-horse power engine working at 80 lbs. pressure is not equal 
