486 
Report on the Steam Cultivators at Worcester. 
well as of friction. By this means any implement can be used, as no gearinjj 
is required, and any sliaped field can be readily cultivated. The staff of hands 
required is 3 itien and 1 boy. The work performed in this instance was done, 
as usual, at racing speed ; but it does not appear advisable to exceed three miles 
per hour where steady and difficult work is to be done. This, like Fowler's 
double-engine system, seems peculiarly adapted for Continental use, and for 
working for hire in this country where removals from place to place are 
constantly made. 
Plot 5 was taken by Smith, who, though taking a very narrow width, did 
steady, careful, and effective work. His tackle was similar in every respect to 
that entered in Class II. On the lighter land his depth registered 6 inches, 
the work being well cut and not much ridged, and on the stronger portion the 
depth was much the same. (See Table III., p. 485.) 
On the following day Savory attached his engines to Steevens's plough, 
which is evidently a well-devised implement for steam-cultivation, though 
some of its parts were not sufficiently strong for the work on which it was 
engaged. It consists of two frames ; the up[)er one fixed, and the rmder one 
divided into two portions, each being independent. The cutting parts are 
attached to the under frames, and are raised or lowered by means of a rack and 
pinion. This plough was only intended for an 8-horse engine, and was in 
this case consequently over-tasked. Savory also used Fowler's digger, to show 
the capabilities of his engines for working a variety of implements. 
The concluding trials took place on Saturday, July 18th, in an adjoining 
field of old sward, on the heaviest and most obdurately-hardened of clays. It 
was, in fact, a test of the utmost power and endurance of the apparatus in 
most difficult and trying operations. 
1. Fowler started with his 3-furrow digger and 14-horse engine, producing 
wonderful work by digging all the soil to a depth of from 8 to 10 inches, and 
tearing up immense and unwieldly blocks of tmyielding earth, which were 
thrown several feet away. The land was left in a much rougher state than 
could have been desired except for autumn cultivation. 
2. Smith took the next lot with his grubber, which smashed the soil up to 
the depth of 5 to 6 inches, but was very subject to choking, and often, during 
the early part of the work, did not overlap sufficienth% but left a strip of 
unmoved ground between each bout. It had the advantage, however, of 
getting into the furrows in a most satisfactory manner. 
3. Howard followed in his turn ; but did not make the work that could 
have been desired, passing over a large portion of work already done by overlap, 
and in many places not moving the soil sufficiently from its original position. 
4. Fowler comjileted the quartett with his digger, drawn backwards and 
forwards by his double-engine system, making good work to the depth of 11 
to 14 inches ; but, before proceeding far, he unfortunatelj' broke his winding- 
drum. (See Table IV., p. 485.) 
In conclusion, we would remark that there does not seem to be any marked im- 
provement in the steam c?i/<t(;a<cins exhibited at Worcester over those exhibited 
at Leeds in 1861. The apparatus of Messrs. Fowler and Howard, with the 
cxce])tion of some increase in simplicity, appear identically the same as then. 
Mr. Smith's cultivator, however, was not tried at Leeds, and was, therefore, a 
comparative novelty in competition, though it is extensively employed through- 
out the coimtry. The systems of Messrs. Stecvcns and Coleman yet require 
further development, whilst the implements themselves need strengthening in 
some of their parts, so as to adapt them for general use; whilst despite of 
" the economical ap])lication of st«un-])ower to the cultivation of the soil," in 
the case of Messrs. Savory's system there is great room for improvement in 
tlie manufacture and finish of their engines. Stoam-iiower has now been 
