Five Years Progress of Steam Cultivation. 399 
perhaps double the tillage force that he could afford to keep as 
eating-animals all the year rouhd. He can work overtime even 
into the night (as some owners of steam-ploughs already do) ; the 
steam-horse does not fatigue ; moonlight enables the ploughman 
■and rope-porter boys to see what they are about, and the signals 
to the engineman are given by lanterns. The steam-plough ven- 
tures upon land before it is dry enough for the trampling of 
teams, and sometimes seeds a crop which, under horse-tillage, 
would not be sown at all ; and what is most important of all, it 
sets to work after the harvest-waggon, when horses are taken up 
in carriage labour, yet when cleansing tillage under a scorching 
«un is worth double or treble what it is at any other season. 
Instead of dilating upon these wonderful powers and facilities 
which have becom.e the truisms of the present day, I will give 
the opinions of some steam-ploughmen of experience. From 
about eighty more or less lengthened statements, which I had 
copied out for this purpose, I cull, out of charity to the reader, 
a few, exhibiting in a striking light some of the merits of steam- 
tillage on heavy, medium, and light lands respectively. 
Testijiont as to the Value of Stea^i Tillage, 
With Mr. Fowler's Apparatus. 
Mr. E. Holland, M.P., 
Dumbleton, Evesham. 
Mr. E. Ruck, Castle 
Hill, Cricklade. 
TOL. XXIV, 
" The work has been accomplished in a 
manner in which it would have been im- 
possible to have performed it with horses. 
Our beavy clays are turned over like 
kitchen-garden ground ; and what under 
horse-ploughing would have taken six weeks 
to get over, has, under steam, occupied a 
fortnight. Thus we have been independent 
of the weather. The changes which take 
place in the course of cultivation are curious. 
After goiqg over the heavy land two or 
three times, I find that less power is de- 
manded. I am now working fields by a 
pressure of 55 to 60 lbs. of steam on the 
square inch ; whereas, in the first instance, 
I worked at from 80 to 85 lbs. per square 
inch." 
" I consider one operation with steam-power 
to be equal to two by horse-power. The 
work done by the ' digging breasts ' is pre- 
ferable to any hand-labour I ever saw. 
Heavy land drains very much better after 
steam cultivation has broken up the team- 
made pan. The ground works better and 
2 D 
