Five Years Progress of Steam Cultivation. 
387 
Still, I have charged 10 per cent, per annum on the cost price for 
depreciation, and also 5 per cent, per annum interest on the capital 
invested, or 15 per cent, altogether ; spreading this amount over 
the number of days' work, or the number of acres, done in a 
year — with a deduction, however, of some 20/. to 40/. for the 
use of the engine in thrashing and other operations of the farm. 
It should also be borne in mind that 1862 was not a favourable 
year for steam culture ; so that, on some of the farms referred to, 
the number of davs' work done was only about half of those in 
1861, and consequently calculations based upon the experience of 
the preceding vear would have brought out much lighter sums 
for interest and depreciation per acre. 
I would remind the unfriendly critic of steam-culture that only 
a small proportion of my " instances "' give results from newly 
improved sets of apparatus : lengthened experience being sought 
for, 1 have necessarily founded the calculation for " repairs and 
rope," as well as the daily and acreage expenses, to a large extent, 
upon practice with machinery far inferior in capacity and durability 
to that now produced by the several manufacturers in question. 
So that, in future, the effect of their mechanical improvements, as 
well as of the spread of better management in working, will be 
to reduce the item of " repairs and rope,"' and bring out a more 
favourable average cost per acre. The " wear " of rope itself has 
been a very variable figure on soft and yielding, or on stony and 
grinding soils ; depending also upon its careful or careless mount- 
ing upon porters, and, again, upon the good or bad quality of its 
metal. ^Ir. Fowler's rope has cost, with Mr. Neames of 
Faversham, nearly 2s. per acre ; with Mr. Frampton of Bensing- 
ton, \s. ; and with Mr. G. Pocock of Bourton, only %d. an 
acre. Messrs. Howard's rope has cost with Mr. Deane of 
Wallingford, Is. Qd. per acre ; with ]SIessrs. Witcomb of Pinton, 
over Is. 6f/. per acre ; with JNIr. Cousens of Godalming, Is. to 
Is. 6^/. ; with the Duke of Marlborough, Is.; and with Mr. 
Kay of Horsham, only 6f/. per acre. Mr. Smith's rope has cost 
with Mr. Norfolk of Louth, 3s. per acre ; with Mr. Looker of 
Wilton, nearly 2s. ; with Mr. Pullen of Sutton Courtney, under 
Is. per acre. Extravagant sums like some of these have helped 
to raise the general average of my tables to Is. 6</. per acre for 
" rope and repairs ;" but hereafter those sets of machinery which 
carry their rope completely clear of the earth, without involving 
an excessive number of rope-porters, will doubtless lower this 
item to about 6c?., instead of Is. 6rf. per acre. Let the said 
unfriendly critic observe, then, that a shilling an acre saved here, 
added to another shilling per acre probably saved (as already 
suggested) by a more reasonable valuation of the item of " depre- 
ciation," will make my " total cost per acre " column 2s. an acre 
too 
