The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-17 00:00:00

(From Bell's Weekly Messenger.)
The application of steam to the cultivation of the
soil has at length received a solution which cannot
fail 'to have an important effect upon the farming
produce of the country, and upon the general condi-
tion of those who are immediately connected with
agricultural pursuits. This solution took place at
oolston, on Thursday and Saturday last, when it
was proved to a great body of landowners and far-
mers that the power of steam is capable of still fur-
ther extension than it has hitherto received, and
that it is likely to become the most powerful and,
at the same time, the most economical agent that
the latter can possibly employ. We need scarcely
remark that the inventor of this new agent of agri-
culture, Mr. Smith, has been some time known as a
successful cultivator of the soil, and that the state
of his farm, long before he thought of applying
steam to that purpose, was the admiration of his
neighbours, although he had great difficulties to
contend against in the generally cold and stubborn
nature of the soil. The opinion of Mr. Smith, there-
fore, as a practical farmer, is entitled to great
weight, and the problem which he has been some
time endeavouring to solve, with a rare energy,
which, though perhaps a little too unbridled, is
quite natural to original minds, is simply this—
whether cultivation °by the steam-plough can be.
brought up to the condition of spade husbandry ?
Mr. Smith insists that the most improved of our
common ploughs simply turn over the soil, placing
the former surface from four to six inches below,
and bringing up the smoothed surface of the under
soil to the top. By this process all the seeds, weeds,
and roots are deposited below the surface, and
being divided by the plough are indefinitely multi-
plied. After four or five years these pests of the
farmer become so much increased that he is ob-
liged to leave his land partially barren, for the pur-
pose of removing them, and as the common plough
fails him he is compelled to have recourse to the
scuffler or the cultivator. This is not all ; roots of
the thistle kind spread horizontally just beneath
the part which is trodden down by the horses, and
require deep subsoiling to remove them. In spade
husbandry, moreover, the sell is not turned over to
anything like the extent that it is by the use of the
plough. The system consists mainly of a complete
breaking up of the soil, and of mixing the latter
with manure. There is a difference, also, in the depth
of the cultivation. From four to five inches is the
ordinary depth by the plough, and it is a question
whether it would be generally advantageous to go
deeper, if the subsoil were to be laid on the top. A
spade is from ten to twelve inches deep, and in
good husbandry it is ordinarilythrust tothat depth;
when the leverage is supplied, it does not upturn
the whole of the spit, the lower part being shattered
by the violence that is given to it, while the upper
part is all mixed together and brokea. Again, in
spade husbandry, the soil is not compressed either
by the transit of a heavy implement, or by the pad-
dling of horses, both of which to a considerable ex-
tent diminish the success of agricultural operations;
the first, by rendering the percolation of the water,
and the action of the atmosphere, less free than they
otherwise would be, and the second, by the tread-
ing on the lower surface, which had been smoothed
over by the underside of the share, and thereby
forming a crust or pan which retains the water, and
which can only be removed by a good sub-soiling.
There is, therefore, in all our operations with the
plough, not only a great loss, but enormous waste
•f power. The power which a horse exerts to carry
itself across a field is simply power lost, and the
weight arising from gravitation and non-effective
effort is not only wasted, but produces a compres-
sion of the soil, which previous to seed time is gene-
rally found to be injurious. In spade husbandry,
too, the land is completely cultivated at once—the
breaking-up, the mixing of the soil, and the separa-
tion of the weeds, being performed at one and the
same time. This is a manifest advantage, as on
well-drained land the too frequent turning of the
soil causes the natural moisture to evaporate, which
retards in spring the germination of barley,
turnips, and other plants. We may safely infer,
then, that spade husbandry is superior to cultiva-
tion by the ordinary plough, not because it turns
over the soil more completely, but because it dis-
turbs it deeper, mixes it better, more effectually
removes noxious weeds and grasses, and more
freely admits the percolation of the water and the
action of the atmosphere. The application of steam
to prepare the land to receive the seed is, therefore,
the nearest approximation to this mode of culture,
and, whether by its actual cost or production, is
much more economical than that which has hitherto
been produced by the common plough.
In illustration of these remarks, Mr. Smith, on
taking his visitors over the farm, the crops of which
were in a most promising condition, and the soil,
although a heavy and gravelly clay, in excellent
tilth, stated that he had avoided, as far as he could
consistently, the use of horses for some years from
turning over the soil ; that the peinc;pal imple-
ments he used were the subsoil plough and the cul-
tivator, and that this mode of cultivation had been
attended with the most beneficial results. He had
an average return last year of 46i bushels of wheat
per acre, while the produce of the rest of the land,
where the plough had been used in the ordinary
manure, was so much less that it reduced the
total average, over 90 acres, to 42i bushels.
This shows that the turning over oc. the soil is
not a matter of necessity, and that as good,
and, indeed, a better crop can be secured by
well mixing the soils, as there can be by turning
them over. As regards the relative advantages of
the locomotive and traction plans, be gives the pre-
ference to the latter, from the circumstance that the
loss of power even of a team of horses (from 2 to
3 tons), in carrying themselves across a field, as
well as the waste of power in counteracting their
own exertions, by consolidating that which they
aro employed to render porous, i enormous, while
that of a locomotive engine weighing probably from
7 to 9 tons, would ho still greater, when it was
moving itself across a ploughed field, or up even
a slight acclivity. By adopting the traction system,
the power lost would be only that which was re-
quired to overcome the weight of the ropes and the
friction over the soil, which would be much less
than that required to carry the locomotive, and
little or no power would be wasted in counteract-
ing its own efforts. Besides this, there would be a
great advantage in using au engine which could be
applied to many other agricultural purposes, such
as thrashing, grinding, chaff-cutting, dec.
There were upwards of 300 of the gentry and
farmers of Buckinghamshire and the adjacent coun-
ties to witness the trial, and several from the ex-
treme north and west of England were attracted
for the same purpose.
The first experiment was trenching the land.
The implement was drawn by means of a metal
rope, which, being coiled and uncoiled upon a drum,
put in motion by a steam-engine, stationed in a
corner of the field, passed round three windlasses,
the latter being moved as the new ground required
ploughing. The engine was seven-horse power,
and the rope was three-quarter inch, of four strand.
The entire operation required seven men ; one at
the engine, one at the drum to put in and out of
gear, one to hold the implements, and the others
to keep the rope on the windlasses. The imple-
ment was turned at each end of the land in the
simplest manner possible, and worked throughout
with the nicest precision over the whole surface of
the soil. The depth requited can be easily regu-
lated by lowering or elevating the shares, and as
deep as 19 inches, if requisite, can be thoroughly
penetrated. The work was admirably done, and
had the soil been a little drier, the effect of tho-
roughly shaking and pulverising it would have been
more visible ; as it was, there was scarcely a dis-
senting voice as to its general excellence. The
implements-in general use may, by their ad-
justment, be said to comprise four. No. lis
a combination of shares, subsoilers, and claw
wheels, which is used to break up, trench, and
pulverise the soil. By removing the claw
wheels and shares, and inserting another subsoiler,
a powerful and effective plough is formed, which
may be called No. 2. No. 3is also a modification
of No. 1, and can be used on light soils, where its
wider sweep will enable it to pulverise seven acres
a day. These implements are most effective on
heavy lands ' • immediately after harvest the white
stubbles can be readily broken up at the rate of 4
to 5 acres. per day, and if clean, immediately drilled
with vetches, or if foul, crossed with No. 4, the cul-
tivator, drawn by horses, at the rate of 6 acres per
day. Bean and pea stubbles can be treated in the
same way for sowing wheat. After wheat sowing is
completed, all the manure that is ready may be SHOCKING ACCIDENT IN A MANCHESTER WARE.
drawn out and spread over the land ; the trenching
and subsoiling plough may then be most efficiently HOUSE.—On Monday evening a shocking and fatal acci-
dent occurred in the warehouse of Messrs. John Ponder 1,
applied, as the soil will be all. broken up, the ma-
and Co., Manchester. A hoist used for the purpose of 1
nure well covercd, and the land trenched up and
lifting goods from one floor to another had been fitted 1
exposed to the action of the weather during the whole
with Mr. Hugh Baines's patent self-acting safety appa-
be at once
of the winter. In early spring beans may rates, a contrivance for preventing acoident in case of
planted on the sides of these trenches, when th©
an of the ropes fail ,a ►in the ascent of goods or ser-
i
rows will be about 16 inches apart ; if •
this land is not required for beans, it can be sons
vayeta from one storey to the other ; and on Tuesday
any portion evening a trial was being made of it with six per-
ofcrossed with the cultivator, and reduced to a fine storey the roe was disconnected (which w ould
tilth ready for turnips, or any other crop thought be the same if •
as it was broken), and the patent appara,
in the cage. On the cage arriving at the upper
de:irablo. After a crop of turnips, the cultivator, sus for checking the descent of the hoist should have
if worked by steam, can break up seven acres a day, come into play. The apparatus, however, did net act,
and leave it ready either to receive the seed of bar- I and the contequence was that the cage descended with
ley or of oats. The ease with which the cultivator frightful velocity to the basement floor, a depth of 50
travelled over the laud, and the effective way in feet. Two of the gentlemen in the cage.. Mr. Peacock,
which it broke up its surface, was the theme of mei- bead warehouseman, and bis brother, 1 tad stepped out
versa) praise; upon this point there were no two upon the upper floor just as the rope w. Is disconnected,
7
opinions, and for breaking up stubble immediate) and. were saved from injury, but the other four sustained
y
after harvest, all agreed that it excelled anything
osenelooufstihnejuries, and were carried ttoethe infirmayrhy, where
that had yet been seen in the cultivation of the soil. Baines is
on),f me
one m,
the sufferers, 811 ts.ah In. 1 ig a severe lacers:
EOM, ti on gtatement, which Mr, Smith tott of one foot,
nad Shaw, diedi esinenvi t

NEWMARKET CRAVEN MEETING.
SUBSCRIPTION ROOM.—WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS.
9 to 2 aget Vedette (offered)
6to 1 agst Loyola (taken)
6 to 1 agat Kent (offered)
10 to 1 agst Sydney (taken)
25 to 1 aget Schiedam (taken)
25 to 1 agat Drnmour (taken)
100 to 3 agst Bird-in-the-Hand (taken)
220 to 100 agst Vedette and Kent coupled (taken
CHESTER CUP.
6to 7, agst Leamington (taken)

DERBY.
700 to 16 agst Lambourn (taken)
5,000 even on Lambourn agst Commotion (taken,
THURSDAY.

The Claret Stakes, a subscription of 200 goys each, h ft.
for 4.yr-olds ; colts Sit 7lb ; fillies Bst 21b. D.I. (2
miles 119 yards.) (3 subs.)
Mr. G. W. Fitzwilliarn's Went svortb, by Bay Middle.
ton, Bst 71b (A.. Day) 1
Mr. W. H. Bro'k's Manganese, Bst 21b (.1 Osborne) 2
Sweepstakes of 50 soya each, h ft, for 3-yr-olds; colts Bst
71b; fillies Bit 21b; certain allowances. D.M. (7fur-
longs 201 yards.) (4 subs.)
Duke of Bedford's Cruzada, by Cowl, Bst 21b,
(R. Pettit 1
Baron Rothschild's Western Power, 8411 b (Charlton)) 2
Betting-5 to 2on Cruzada—won by three lengths.
Match of 300 soya • 209 ft ' • last balf of Ab M. (3 fur-
longs 217 yards.)
Mr. F. Robinson's Alliance, by Slane, Bst 41b (4.Day) 1
Lord Stradbroke's Rosa Bonheur, Bst 91b...(Flatman) 2
Handicap Plate of 50 soya for 3-yr-olds and upwards.
T.Y.C. (5 furlongs 240 yards.)
Lord Clifden's Indulgence, 4 yrs, 6st 71b

(T. Fordbam) ♦ w.o.
Mr. 'Brown's Flyaway, 4 yrs, Tat 121 b ....(West) t
Mr. Payne's Mabel, 6 yrs, 7st 71b (Plumb) 3
The following also ran :—Cock of the Nortb, Jack the
Giant Killer, Huntington, Persia, Anemone, Pomoma,
Nightshade, Termagant, Poiish, br f by Melbourne out
of Birthday, Delusion, Renown, Sichmus.
Betting-4 to 1 art Cock of the North, 7to 1 opt In-
dulgence, 8 to 1 each agst Flyaway and Delusion, 10 to 1
each agst Anemone, Mabel, Nightshade, and Termagant.
A dead heat ; Mabel was beaten about a length from the
first two ; Huntington was a good fourth, Cock of the
North fiftb, and Nightshade sixth ; Renown, who got
badly off, was last.
Deciding heat—lndulgence walked over.
Sweepstakes of 100 soya each, h ft, for 3-yr-old colts,
Bst 71b. R.M. (1 mile 17 yds.) (5 subs.)
Lord Glasgow's ch or ro c by Hernandez ......(Wells) 1
Mr. Combe's Traitor (E. Sharp) 2
Sir R. Pigot's Korniloll (Flatman) 3
Handicap Sweepstakes of 20 soya each, and only 5 if
declared, &c , to go to the owner of the second horse,
for 4-yr-olds and upwards. A.E. (1 mile 2 furlongs
73 yards.) (4 subs, one of whom pays 5 soils.)
Mr. Merry's Uzella, 4 yrs, Bst 71b (Kendall) 1
Mr. Byrn's Stormsail, 3 yrs, Bst 41b (Snowden) 2
Mr. Mellish's Squire Watt, 4 yrs, Bst 41b (Wells) 3
Handicap Plate of 70 Boys., for 3-yr-olds and upwards.
Clermont Course (1 mile 6 furlongs 55 yards.)
Lord Clifden's Indulgence, 4 yrs, Est 31b (T. Fordharn) 1
Capt. Connell's Little Tom, aged, Bst 71b ...(Clement) 2
Mr. G. Taylor's Newton-le-Willows, 3 yrs, sst 71b
(carried sst 91b) (Plumb) 3
The following also ran—Tame Deer, Knight of Avon,
Uzella, Jolly Marine, Laura Selina, Neva, Sorceress.
Sweepstakes of 50 goys each, for 3-yr-olds ; colts, Bsl
101 b, and fillies, Bst 61b. Certain penalties for win
ners. Criterion Course (5 furlongs 182 yards). 6 subs
Gemma di Vergy
Lord Nelson
Cruzada
••
Won by a neck ' • bad third.
The Fourth Aske Produce Stakes of 50 sovs each, h ft,
for 3.yr-olds ; colts, Bst 71b ; fillies, Bst 41b ; those by
untried stallions or, out of untried mares allowed 31b.
D.M. (7 furlongs 201 yards.)
Queen of the East
Sweepstakes of 100 soya each, h ft, for 3-yr-olds ; colts,
Bst 7lb ; fillies, Bst 41b. Certain penalties and allow-
ances. D.M. 8 subs.
Vanity

2

Walked over.

LATEST BETTING.
NEWMARKET, LAST NIGHT.
TWO THOUSAND.
sto 1 aget Kent (taken)
sto 1 agst Vedette (offered)
100 to 15 apt Loyola (taken)
7to 1 agst Sydney (taken)
Bto 1 aget Anton (taken)
DEBBY.
25 to 1 agst Anton (wanted)

ANTON AND KENT.—A match has been made between
these horses for 3,000/. It will come off on the Monday
of the Craven Meeting, 1858, across the flat.