393
7 THE ARATOR.
FrOm the American Farmer.
SUPPLEMENT TO T1JE REPORT ON HUS
. SEY'S LOCOMOTIVE STEAM PLOWING
ENGINE. '
'. In submitting their report on this machine, the
committee announced their intention to ascertain
the result of he attempts which had been made in
Europe to invent a locomotive steam plowing en
gine, for the purpose of settling the important ques
tion of priority in an invention which is destined
to mjiko an era in tho agricultural history of the
. world. - . ; vY'-, 'b-'r
The most important, and also the most recent
trial of this description, took place on the 22d of
July, in the present year, at the Carlisle meeting
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
The following account is taken from the Gard
ener's Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, pub-
lished in London, on the 28th of 'July, 1855 :
il Oa Tuesday, the grand point of interest v, r. ;
the trial of the Steam Cultivator. A great num
ber of spectators were assembled in the heavy
1 land 'field, but unfortunately, no engine made its
appearance, except Boydell's, which amused as
well as astonished the com pan V. bv runuincr back-
' O
ward and forward over gras3 or plowed surface,
along or across the lands.
. It was then
tried against a force of men pulling against it, and
it was found that 30 men could stop it; so that,
professing to be 12 horse power, it may be con
sidered as efficient for nearly half that amount,
fully one half being used iu its own conveyance
over the ground, on which it was then working
A frame containing four plows, mounted trpon car
riage wheels, and fitted with levers, for lowering
and raising in and out of the ground, was attach
ed to the engine'in one of its trials. The engine
proceeded slowly, dragging the plows behind. This
arrangement of plows lor the purpose, is the in
vention of Mr. Coleman, and answered pretty well
until one of the plows broke short off, and the
work came to a stand still. , A common iron dou
ble furrow plow was next tried, but not with very
marked perfection of plowing. The trial, in fact,
being merely to see whether the engine could drag
plows behind it, as well as propel itself over the
land. Gibbon's digger wa3 then drawn by the en
ginc. The draught of
this implement, we judged to be about that of six
horses, but the engine of I t horc power could
proceed with it only at the pace of 'i miles per
hour j go that 8 horcc power was nhsorbol in mo
ing the enp-e itself. This fully shcvn-1 the use
fulness of lu.Ii a ponderous machine fur tractive
purposes.
Great disappointment
was felt at the non-appearance of Usher's Steam
Plow.
It has been tested to be of
19 horse power j but the weight seems much great-,
li n n f I strict a o v 1 ricto ntAfA linsl1 "".rv 1 .1
iu uramug it. liiiu iuu oaow laru. Having got up
steam, and attempting to propel itself to the field,
the badness of the road occasioned a slight acci
dent, and this, together with the unwillingness of
the inventor to have the machine tried upon stiff
lea ground in wet weather, has prevented tho pub
lic from witnessing it3 performances.
As we were coming away from the field, im
pressed with the sentiment that the "steam culti
vators were a failure," we received intelligence
uuu anomcr f plow had started in a held half
ii mib o'S. ILiW: : tho best of our way to the
light hud trial iiuLi, t!: ::- enough stood a
portable engine in one con:v, i r pes' and pul
leys; and a plowing ma chine, vM l ' n . The
engine was that belonging to Mr. L . , ' -II,
aud the plow and tackle are the invention
srs. Fisher, of Stamfordbam, manufactured by ...
Roger, of Stocktonon-Trees.
We were informed by the exhibitors, that a 4 torso
engine is sufficiently powerful to work two plows,
and that, with 4 cwt. of coal, it will plow four acres .
in a day, the expense of labor being only that of
two men and a boy. If this- be strictly tho fact,
we have a complete invention, able to plow lfght
land, with a cost of say three shillings per acre.
The Steam Cultivator entered for exhibition by
Mr. Alexander Dusacec, has not appeared, but as
far as mere plowing is concerned, we think the
above contrivance contains 'all the elements of
success." .
The above is a literal copy, omitting only the
descriptions of the engiges and cultivators, which
arc gang plows. It proves conclusively, that no
Locomotive Steam Plowing Engine has yet suc
ceeded in England, where, in the language of the
Loudon paper, the "steam cultivators were a
failure."
The last named machine, (the only One which
seems to have been partially successful,) is a sta-:
tionary engine, and not a locomotive. We havo
- At the World's Fair in Paris, during the pros
cnt vc.ar, to ihich all nations sent thpir most won
ucrkil indention, no ntam plow was exhibited." ?