In 1841, after studying English farming, he became interested in improvements in agriculture, and accordingly purchased a farm of about 130 acres, including Tiptree Hall, at Tiptree Heath, one of the least productive districts in Essex. Here he tried deep drainage and the application of steam power, and made the farm profitable. The press acknowledged the services he had rendered to agricultural science by the introduction of modern processes into his model farm. He was appointed to the shrievalty of London in 1856, and in 1858 elected an alderman of the city. He was a member of the council of the Society of Arts, and was a juror in the department of art and science at The Great Exhibition of 1851 and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855. His 1857 publication, "How to Farm Profitably", had in various forms a circulation of ten thousand copies.