STEAM CULTIVATION IN CANTERBURY.

Colonist, Volume XX, Issue 2355, 28 February 1878, Page 4

STEAM CULTIVATION IN CANTERBURY.

(FrotntlieLyttetton Times). In the matter of agricultural progress in, Cauterbury, the old adage has been exemplified audthe cart has been rery decidedly placed before the horse. fcThe latest improvements for securing the crops of gram have been rapidly brought into general use, and from all parts of the Province one hears of the successful work done by reapers fand binders. In the preparation of the boil, however, farmers have continued to use the ordinary horse-ploughs, and even the owners of extensive farms have apparently been content with the amount of work thus accomplished, its cost and results. When it is remembered that in the United Kingdom between four and five thousand complete sets of apparatus for steam cultivation are iv use, it seems strange that none of our large farmers have hitherto adopted the same principle, or that no speculator has imported euch machinery for hire. A vast amount of information has appeared on the subject from time to time, and carefully prepared tables of expenditure have been published, showing that in England any ordinary soils could be prepared for crops by the application of Bteam.power, at the average rate of 7s 6d per acre, while from ten to eleven acres of loamy Boil could be well prepared in each working day of nine hours. Further than this, it has been shown that by fche substitution of a " turning cultivator1' for the ," balance plough I"''fro to thirty to fifty acres of work could be accomplished daily on light soils, and that upon shingly grouncL highly satisfactory results could also be obtained. Mr F. B. Passm ore, of Sherwood, Chertsey, is, so far as can be ascertained, the first Canterbury farmer who has taken any steps tc introduce steam cultivation. Some time ago that gentleman placed himself in communication with Messrs John Fowler and Co., an eminent firm of agricultural engineers, who hare immense works at Leads. He ordered from them a complete set of the apparatus for carrying out sUarn cultivation upon what is known as their No. 1 system, including two self-moving engines, fitted with windingdrums, a patent balance plough, steel wire rope, &c. The machinery has been sent out by the Antares, now lying in Lyttelton harbor, and Mr Walter M.Koakes is here as the representative of Messrs Fowler to superintend the fiittingup and efficient working of the machinery, and to imite otherfarmers to follow the spirited and wise example of Mr Passmore. The fact that Messrs Fowler have taken more than a hundred prizes, including gold and'silver medals, in competitions in various parts of the world, together with the gold cup offered by the President of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, is a sufficient proof of the excellence of their machinery. The various systems adopted for steam cultivation may be resolved into two classes. In one of these, only a singly engine is employed, patent anchors taking the place of the Becond, and tbe one engine being fitted with a double winding apparatus. Asa matter of course this plan necessitates the use of a large supply of the steel-wire rope, and the expenditure of a very considerable amount of labor in moving tbe anchor or anchors as the work proceeds. In the other method two engines are employed, involving' a much larger primary outlay. The engines are placed at the opposite sides of the paddock to be operated upon, each baring its winding drum, and a sufficient length of the steel- vt ire rope h required to reach across the field. The plough or cultivator is drawn to and Iro between the engines, and as the work goes on they move themselves along. This they can do with ease, even on a light soil, and they will ascend a gradient having a rise of one in ten, more, perhaps, then.; they would even be expected to accomplish. The engines which Mr Passmore has obtained are of 14-hbrse power, and are identical in Btructure. Tbey have single steam-jacketed' cylinders llin in diameter, and a 12in stroke, their average number of 150 revolutions per minute giving to the implement in use an average speed of two and a half miles' per hour. They require a daily water supply!of 1800 gallons, and .'consume about a ton ;of English coal. These engines have twotravelling wheels, and thus they are rendered invaluable, since they dan be employed either' as portable or traction engines,'and so far as, their use is concerned in any farming opera-, tions horses are entirely dispensed, with, save, perhaps, for keeping them suppliedwithfuel and water. The wire rope is kept free'from the'ground by means of a J series of: pulleys, mounted on light three-wheeled carriages,; and known as porters, lhe implement which Mr Passmore will have in use is termed the patent balance plough. There is,a csn«! tral pair.of large -wheels, above, which the driver is seated, and from this central:} position spring two frames, each-. carrying fiveploughshares and a steering apparatus. Either of the frames can be brought into use, as may be desired, and, as a matter of course, when the implement is being drawn to and fro between the engines,,,the two, sets of shares are u used alternately.. Any desired alteration in the width, of^the furrows is effected by the action of a wedge, by means of which the ploughs are: Bet at an angle varying more or less from the, fra.m,e. .This simple arrangement does away with all;,the array of bolts and screws,, and renders the implement exceedingly ea»y in manipulation. It may be added .that the construction of the.iron frame is such that the shape both of ploughs and mould boards, can. be readily altered to suit local circumstances. ■ ' ;7 . ! There is no need at the: present time /to say more about the steam cultivator. Mr Noakeß intends, so soon as the machinery is in working order, to arrange for a public trial at Chertsey. Th,e farmers will be duly notified, of the date upon which the exhibition will Uke place, and will be invited to attend. The almost underrating level of the Canterbury plains affords peculiar facilities for steam cultivation, and the system cannot fail to grow rtpidly in public estimation; acq uajnted with! tbe , capabilities of the the more s6as*g©q|lemaQ,whoiß intiwsitely W 4V)^or4 «plw»>iwi,