The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-14 00:00:00

THE .Ito YAL AGRICULTUAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

WARWICK, JULY 13.
This morning the award of £5O was made to
Mri Fowler for his "Set of Steam Cultivating
ApParatu§ and Balance Four Furrow Plough."
The results on which this decision rests are not yet
made known, and, owing to an error in calculation,
thei engines which had been at work with Smith's
and Fowler's tackle are to be again subjected to the
break.
So far, however, as can yet be ascertained, it is
known that Fowler, taking four furrows 9 inches by
6 inches, employed a power equal to 10 horses, and,
taking 40 inches u ith his cultivator, he employed a
power equal to 8 horses ; whereas Smith's iinple-
merit, taking a width of 30 inches, and breaking up
from 8 to 9 inches deep, required a force equal to
11 horses. But, supposing we allow the power
employed to be equal in both cases, it must not be
forgotten that Mr. Smith requires two opera-
tions to show 'such perfect work as Mr. Fowler
shows at one. This fact alone will allow of even a
more favourable view to be taken of the power
employed by Mr. Smith, and yet leave Mr. Fowler
the gainer.

Apart from this conclusion, however, which
shows that the judges are perfectly correct in their
award, there is another point from which these
different steam cultivators may be viewed. Al-
though the prize apparatus is "the most economical
application of steam power to the cultivation
of the land," it is not necessarily the best farmer's
implement—that is to say, under present circum-
stances, and for a certain period, taking into account
the! great numbers of common seven and eight horse
portable steam-engines there are in the country, it
is e6y to see reasons to induce many farmers to
prefer Howard's apparatus to Fowler s.
The plough trial has been an exceedingly severe
one. It has extended over three long days, durini,
which the thermometer ranged from 75 deg. to
85 deg. _

The judges, Messrs. Rowley and Brassnett, are
worthy of great praise for their exactitude and good
temper. The competitors, too, for implements
have a very human tendency to go wrong just when
they are desired to go right, controlled those feelings
that such a struggle would be likely.to arouse in
a very pleasant manner. The allusion made in the
last notice to an effort to obtain an advantage dur-
ing these trials had no reference to the breaking
off of a portion of the wing of a share, which is an
operation commonly performed by men before using
a ii‘v one.

Lp
aa It m i
de
d May b
Class,
ess remarked
Nsiells sorsr .nit sthatbayn opin the
loe
u,
sgshecfiornsdt ianSaturday'sntdhe trial
Light
Messrs.
Howard's third; ant that yesterday's trials gave
Howard the first prize in the General purpose Class,
Hornsby second, and Rtinsome third; while in the
Heavy Land Class Hornsby again comes first,
Howard second, and Ransome third.
One would have thought that had any special
virtue attached to the new principle of a convex
breast it would have shown its superiority in the
General Purpose Class. Nor is there reason to
suppose that the decision of judges did exclusively
turn upon this point, because price is an element of
consideration, and, all other things being equal, an
advantage in this respect on one side or the other
would necessarily turn the scale. And when we
happen to know that in point of draught the differ-
ence was scarcely to be noted, we are justified in
concluding that the difference in price went some
long way towards determining the award, and very
properly so too. The greater weight .of material
in the Bedford ploughs would increase their ex-
pense, but whether that circumstance is in their
favour or not, taken in connexion with the slight
difference in draught discoverable between the three
prizes ploughs in each class, is a matter for the
public to clear up.
The trial of the three mowing machines—Burgess
and Key's, to which was awarded the medal,
Wood's, and Harwood's—was most satisfactory.

In each case we believe the acre to have been cut
within the hour.

The arrangements in the yard are very complete,
and reflect great credit upon Mr. Gibbs, the hono•
rary secretary, and Mr. Manning.
The Implement Department is very extensive, but
one is not struck by the number of novelties beneath
the sheds.

In the yard allotted to machinery in motion 39
engines were counted at work at one time—truly a
very novel sight.
There is here aanachine for making bricks from
dry clay, patented by Messrs. Bradly and Craven,
of Wakefield, and exhibited by Mr. Chamberlain.
of Kempsey. It will be a complete surprise to those
who consider that clay must be cast in winter, tem-
pered in heat, and wrought in the pug before it can
be moulded. I saw clay taken from the hill side,
ground to powder, and transformed into the densest
bricks possible, fit at once for the kiln, iq the short
space of 1 minute and 30 seconds. The mill is
formed of a pan, in which revolve two heavy
rollers, running on an ordinary cross shaft, carried
by two side cheeks with slotted guides, allowing
the rollers to ride over the material when the charge
is excessive. Beyond the solid metal of this pan
on which the rollers run is a grating, through
which the ground clay drops to a pan
below, whence
it is raised by elevators to the hopper above the
revolving mould table, when it is subjected to
enormous pressure from beneath and above to
expel the air. The table is turned by a
tappet wheel, and moves the length of one mould
each time. This action delivers two empty moulds
under the hoppers to receive clay,
delivers two
bricks fo the attendant, and gives a powerful up-
ward pressure to the clay received in the moulds
that have just left the hoppers. The table is then
stationary, while the two eccentrics give the final
strain upon two bricks from above. The moulding
part of this machine weighs 25 tons. With six
moulds, and driven by a 6-horse
engine, at four
strokes to deliver 24 bricks per minute, it is capable
of giving 330 tons' pressure on the six bricks.
There were dense bricks exhibited made from pure
dry silica, which world of course require great
pressure; ordinary clays require a pressure varying
from 20 to 30 tons on each brick.