subject connected with the Roman constitution had been successfully investigated and explained, the object and intention of the agrarian laws were entirely misunderstood by scholars for many centuries after the revival of letters. They were invariably represented as intended to prohibit Roman citizens from holding property in land above a certain fixed amount; and as authorising the division among the poorer citizens of the estates of private individuals when these exceeded the prescribed limit; thus legalising a system of plunder which would have been subversive of all social order. No such doctrine had, indeed, been admitted in any well-regulated state, ancient or modern; nor did anything analogous to it appear in the principles or practice of the Roman constitution; yet the expressions used by the ancient authors in reference to these enactments, and the disturbances to which they invariably gave rise, seemed to justify an unfavourable interpretation; and the opinion, when once propounded, was unconditionally received by successive generations of learned men, notwithstanding the many embarrassments and contradictions to which it led.

Romulus is represented as dividing his small territory among the members of his infant community at the rate of two jugera (each extending to two-thirds of an English acre) a-piece, as inheritable property. The whole district, however, was not thus assigned; one portion was set apart for the service of the gods and for the royal domains; and another was reserved as common land for pasture. The stock kept on the common land served to eke out a maintenance which two jugera could not otherwise have furnished to a family, and an agistment was paid to the commonwealth for the pasturage. It is probable that the same principle prevailed under the regal government, and that successive adjustments of the territory were made. Such a law existed among those of Servius Tullius. The equality of property thus established seems to have been considered as a fundamental principle of the Roman constitution; and the agrarian laws were regarded as the necessary means of wresting from the large proprietors the possessions which they had illegally acquired. Machiavelli and Montesquieu both participate in this mistake, and are far from condemning the agrarian laws, even when taken in the common meaning. The former alleges that the interest of every republic requires that the state should be rich and the citizens poor, and thus justifies the assumed spoliation; while Montesquieu receives it as an historical fact that Romulus adopted the principle of equality in his original distribution of the territory of Rome as the future ground of her strength, and that the tribunitian contests were but attempts to restore the original constitution. Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations, b. iv. chap. vii. part i.) assents to the same interpretation, without, however, any expression of approval.

The correct interpretation of the agrarian laws must thus be considered as of modern date. Amidst the violence of the French Revolution a scheme for the equal division of the national property was advocated, with great popular favour, by some of the frantic leaders, who sought a sanction for their extravagances in precedents drawn from the ancient republics, and particularly from the agrarian laws of the Romans. The subject was thus invested with a new interest, and engaged the attention of Professor Heyne of Göttingen, who in 1793 (Opus. Acad. iv. 350-373) addressed to the members of his university a paper in which he successfully combated the opinions which, up till that time, had been entertained respecting them, and showed that their object had been entirely misunderstood. Other writers, as Heeren and Hegewisch, embraced and illustrated his views; but it was reserved for the acuteness and learning of Niebuhr fully to develop the theory which had been

suggested, and to demonstrate the fact "that the agrarian laws of the Romans were in no case intended to interfere with or affect private property in land, but related exclusively to the public domain." The theory of Niebuhr was too startling to meet with universal approval. It has accordingly been assailed by Rudorff, Dureau de la Malle. (Econ. Polit. des Romaines), Puchta, and others, who have ingeniously and plausibly supported the opinions formerly maintained; but their arguments fail to produce conviction. (Class. Mus., vol. ii.) The language of Livy passim, when referring to the agrarian laws, is inexplicable unless the interpretation of Niebuhr be adopted:―

"If," says Dr Arnold, "amongst Niebuhr's countless services to Roman history, any single one may claim our gratitude beyond the rest, it is his explanation of the true nature and character of the agrarian laws. Twenty-four years have not yet elapsed since he first impressions which prevailed universally on the subject; and its published it, but it has already overthrown the deeply-rooted false truth, like Newton's discoveries in natural science, is not now to be proved, but to be taken as the very corner-stone of all our researches into the internal state of the Roman people" (Hist. of Rome, vol. ii.)

In almost all countries the legal property of the land has been originally vested in the sovereign, whether we are to understand under that name a single chief, a particular portion of the nation, or the people at large. In the same manner, the property of all the land in a conquered country was held to be transferred to the sovereign power in the conquering state, and was assumed with more or less rigour as circumstances seemed to require. From the earliest times a portion of the Roman territory was thus regarded as the property of the state, and the profits arising from it were applied to the public service. The public domain (ager publicus) was at first small, but was gradually extended by the right of conquest till it embraced a large portion of the whole peninsula. In this process of extension the subjugated communities were frequently mulcted of a proportion of their lands, varying according to the alleged offence or the resistance which they had offered to the arms of the conquerors. Thus the Boii were deprived of one-half of their territory; the Hernici forfeited two-thirds; and the whole of the ager Campanus, the richest district in Italy, was taken from the inhabitants of Capua on the capture of their city after its revolt to Hannibal.

The lands thus acquired were disposed of in various ways. A portion of them was frequently sold by auction to meet the immediate necessities of the state, and was thus conveyed in perpetuity to the purchasers. The disposal of the remainder depended on the nature and condition of the land, and its position in reference to the bulk of the community. If in good condition and at no great distance from the city, it was frequently assigned, in small allotments of seven jugera (between 4 and 5 acres), to those of the poorer citizens, whose services in war gave them a claim upon the state; while in hostile districts and on exposed frontiers military colonies were planted, each colonist receiving a fixed quantity of land. In both these cases the land so assigned ceased to form part of the public domain, and became the property of the recipients. In some cases the land, after having been assumed as public property, was allowed to remain in the hands of the former owners, who became the tenants of the state for a fixed period, and paid a certain rent to the Roman exchequer.

The preceding remarks refer only to arable or meadow land, vineyards, or olive-gardens, which could be turned to immediate advantage. It is obvious, however, that in a country the greater part of which was acquired by conquest, large districts must have been laid waste, the inhabitants with their houses destroyed, and neither cultivators nor the means of cultivation left. Arrangements of a different description were therefore necessary for lands in this

Turnip drill.-In Scotland, and in the north and west of England, turnips are usually sown on the ridge by a machine which sows two rows at a time. In the southeastern parts of England, which are hotter and drier, it is found better to sow them on the flat, for which purpose machines are constructed which sow four rows together, depositing manure at the same time. Both kinds are adapted for sowing either turnips or mangold-wurzel seeds as required. With the view of economising seed and manure, what are called drop-drills have recently been introduced, which deposit both-not in continuous streams -but in jets, at such intervals apart in the rows as the farmer wishes the plants to stand. What promises to be a more useful machine is a water-drill invented by a Wiltshire farmer-Mr Chandler of Market Lavington. "His water-drill pours down each manure-coulter the requisite amount of fluid, mixed with powdered manure, and thus brings up the plant from a mere bed of dust. Having used it largely during three years, I may testify to its excellence. Only last July, when my bailiff had ceased turnip sowing on account of the drought, by directing the use of the water-drill, I obtained from this latter sowing an earlier and a better show of young plants than from the former one with the dust-drill. Nor is there any increase of expense if water be within a moderate distance, for we do not use powder-manures alone. They must be mixed with ashes, that they may be diffused in the soil. Now, the expense and labour of supplying these ashes are equal to the cost of fetching mere water; and apart from any want of rain, it is found that this method of moist diffusion, dissolving, instead of mingling only, the superphosphate, quickens its action even upon damp ground, and makes a little of it go further."2

Section 9.-Manure-Distributors.

The practice of top-dressing wheat, vetches, clover, or meadows, with guano and various light manures, has now so much increased, and the inconvenience of scattering them over the surface by hand is so great, that various machines have recently been invented for distributing them, which can also be used for sowing such manures over turnip drills, covering three at once. Such machines will probably be used in future for distributing lime, which can thus be done much more regularly than by cart and shovel, especially when it is wished to apply small quantities for the destruction of slugs or for other purposes. It seems quite practicable to have this or a similar machine so constructed as that it could be readily hooked on to the tail of a cart containing the lime or other substance which it is desired to distribute by it. The top-dressing material could by such an arrangement be drawn into the hopper of the distributor as it and its tender move along, and the cart when emptied be replaced by a full one with little loss of time.

A cheap and effective machine, capable of being in a similar manner attached to a dung-cart, which could tear asunder fold-yard manure, and distribute it evenly in the bottoms of turnip drills, would be a great boon to farmers, and seems a fitting object to be aimed at by those possessed of the inventive faculty.

Section 10.-Horse-Hoes.

It has already been remarked that the great inducement to sow grain and green crops in rows is that hocing may be resorted to, for the double purpose of ridding them of

1 See Mr Pusey's Report on Implements, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xii, p. 604. Ibid., p. 607.

of the soil. It is now upwards of a century since Jethro Tull demonstrated, in his books and on his fields, tho facility with which horse-power could be thus employed. His system was early adopted in regard to turnips, and led, as we have seen, to a complete revolution in the practice of agriculture. The peculiar manner in which he applied his system to grain crops, and the principles on which he grounded his practice, have hitherto been for the most part repudiated by agriculturists, who have thought it indispensable to drill their grain at intervals so narrow as to admit, as was supposed, of the use of the hand-hoe only. But the accuracy with which corn-drills perform their work has been skilfully taken advantage of, and we now have horse-hoes, covering the same breadth as the drill, which can be worked with perfect safety in intervals of but seven inches' width. By such a machine, and the labour of a pair of horses, two men, and a boy, ten acres of corn can be hoed in as many hours. Not only is the work done at a fifth of the expense of hand-hoeing, and far more effectually, but it is practicable in localities and at seasons in which hand-labour cannot be obtained.

Garrett's horse-hoe is admitted to be the best implement of its kind. It can be used for hoeing either beans, turnips, or corn, as the hoes can be adapted to suit any width betwixt rows, and the axle-tree being movable at both ends, the wheels, too, can be shifted so as to be kept between the rows of plants. The shafts can be attached to any part of the frame to avoid injury to the crop by the treading of the horses. Each hoe works on a lever independent of the others, and can be loaded with different weights, on the same principle as the coulters of the corndrill, to accommodate it to uneven surfaces and varying degrees of hardness in the soil.

A great variety of implements, under the general names of horse-hoes, scufflers, scrapers, or drill-grubbers, fitted for the draught of one horse, and to operate on one drill at a time, is in use in those parts of the country where root crops are chiefly sown on ridgelets from 24 to 30 inches apart. With considerable diversity of form and efficiency, they in general have these features in common, viz., provision for being set so as to work at varying widths and depths, and for being armed either with hoes or tines, according as it is wished to pare the surface or stir the soil more deeply. A miniature Norwegian harrow is sometimes attached to drill-grubbers, by which weeds are detached from the soil, and the surface levelled and pulverised more thoroughly. Tennant's grubber, with its tines set close together, and two horses yoked to it abreast by a tree long enough to allow them to walk in the drills on either side of that operated upon, is the most effective implement for cultivating between the rows of beans, potatoes, turnips, or mangolds, that we have yet seen used for this purpose.

Section 11.-Turnip-Thinners.

It sometimes happens, as when drought prevails while the earlier sowings of turnips or mangold are made, and this is followed by copious rains and forcing weather, that the farmer finds it impracticable to get the thinning-out of the seedlings overtaken as fast as is needful. To aid him in such emergencies, a class of machines has been brought out, of which Huckvale's turnip-thinner may be named as a type. They are very favourably reported of by those who have used them. Such machines, drawn by one horse, and made to operate upon either one or two rows of young turnip plants, have first a paring apparatus, which clears off weeds from the sides of the rows, and along with this a set of revolving hoes by which gaps are cut in the rows of turnip plants, and tufts of them are left standing at any

required distance apart. This does not dispense with the after use of the hand-hoe or fingers to effect a perfect singling of the plants; but as a large space can be gone over in a day at small cost, it enables the farmer to save his crop from getting overgrown and choked until he can overtake the more perfect thinning of it. The next class that claims attention is

Section 12.-Harvesting Implements.

These, till little more than twenty years ago, comprised only the reaping-hook and scythe. An implement by means of which horse-power could be made available for this important operation has long been eagerly desired by farmers. Repeatedly during the first half of the present century their hopes had been excited, only to be disappointed, by the announcement of successful inventions of this kind. These hopes were revived, and raised to a higher pitch than ever, by the appearance, in the Great Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, of two reaping-machines, known as M'Cormick's and Hussey's, from the United States of America, where for several years they had been used extensively and successfully. These implements were subjected to repeated trials in different parts of England, on crop 1851, but never in circumstances which admitted of their capabilities being tested in a thoroughly satisfactory manner.

At the first of these trials, made under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural Society, the preference was given to M'Cormick's, to which the Exhibition Medal was in consequence awarded. It turned out, however, that at this trial Hussey's machine had not a fair chance, being attended by a person who had never before seen it at work, for, when a further trial took place before the Cleveland Agricultural Society, with Mr Hussey himself superintending his own machine, an all but unanimous decision was given in his favour. Hussey's machine was in consequence adopted by the leading implement makers, such as Messrs Garrett, Crosskill, &c.

Early in 1852, a very important communication from the pen of the late Mr James Slight, curator of the museum of the Highland and Agricultural Society, appeared in the Transactions of the Society, by which the attention of the public was recalled to a reaping-machine of home production, viz., that invented by the Rev. Patrick Bell, minister of the parish of Carmylie in Forfarshire, and for which a premium of £50 had been awarded to him by the Highland Society. This machine attracted much attention at that time. Considerable numbers were made and partially used, but from various causes the invention was lost sight of, until, by the arrival of these American machines, and the notoriety given to them by the Great Exhibition, with concurring causes about to be noticed, an intense interest was again excited regarding reaping by machinery. From Mr Slight's report, the public learned that the identical Bell's machine, to which the prize was awarded, had for the previous fourteen years been statedly employed on the farm of Inch-Michael in the Carse of Gowrie, occupied by Mr George Bell, a brother of the inventor, who, during all that period, had succeeded in reaping, on the average, four-fifths of his crop by means of it every year. Mr Slight further stated, that at least four specimens of it had been carried to America, and that from the identity in principle between them and those now brought thence, with other corroborating circumstances, there is little doubt that the so-called American inventions are after all but imitations of this Scottish machine. When it became known that Bell's machine was to be exhibited, and, if possible, subjected to public trial, at the meeting of the Highland and Agricultural Society at Perth, in August 1852, the event was looked forward to by Scottish farmers

with eager interest. On that occasion it was accordingly again brought forward, with several important improvements made upon it, by Mr George Bell, already referred to, and was fully tested in competition with Hussey's, as made by Crosskill. To the disappointment of many, Mr M'Cormick did not think fit to enter the lists at this or at. some subsequent opportunities.

The success of Bell's machine on this occasion, and at some subsequent public trials, gave it a high place in public estimation, and accordingly many of the implements manufactured by Mr Crosskill of Beverley, were sold to farmers in all parts of Great Britain, and especially in Scotland. After a hopeful start the success of this machine has not been so decided as was at first anticipated. In common with other reaping-machines, it had of course to contend with the disadvantages of unprepared fields and unskilful guides; but in addition to this, it was found to be too heavy in draught, too liable to derangement, and (in the first issues of it) too easily broken in some of its parts to be fitted for general use. These drawbacks were, to a greater or less extent, obviated by subsequent improvements, and the machine continued for a few years to receive a fair measure of public patronage. By-and-by it was in a great measure superseded by other self-delivery machines, such as Burgess & Key's M'Cormick, with its Archimedean screw, which, like Bell's, lays off the reaped grain in a continuous swathe, and by others which, by means of revolving rakes, lay it off in quantities suitable to form a sheaf. In crops of moderate bulk and standing erect, these self-delivery machines make rapid and satisfactory work, but when the crop is lodged and twisted they are nearly useless. The consequence is that for several years, and especially in those districts where reaping by machinery is most practised, the preference is given to manual-delivery machines, on the ground that they are lighter of draught, less liable to derange ment, less costly, more easily managed, and thus more to be depended upon for the regular performance of a fair amount of daily work, than their heavier rivals. And, accordingly, light machines on Hussey's principle, but with endless variations, are at present most in demand.

Before leaving this subject, a remark is due in connection with the strange neglect of Bell's machine for twenty-five years, and the enthusiasm with which it was hailed on its reappearance. The first is so far accounted for by the fact noticed by Mr George Bell, that such specimens of his brother's machine as formerly got into the hands of farmers were so imperfectly constructed that they did not work satisfactorily, and thus brought discredit on his invention. The true explanation seems to be, that at that date the country was not ready for such a machine. Not only was manual labour then abundant and cheap, from the number of Irish labourers, who annually, as harvest drew near, flocked into the arable districts of Great Britain, but thorough draining had made little progress, and the land was everywhere laid into high ridges, presenting a surface peculiarly unfavourable for the successful working of a reaping-machine. Now, however, the conditions are reversed. Emigration to the colonies, and the ever-growing demand for labourers in connection with factories, mines, docks, and railways, have to a very great extent withdrawn the class of people that used to be available for harvest work, and have so largely raised the rate of wages to those who still remain as to render reaping-machines indispensable to the farmer. The progress of thorough draining has at the same time enabled him to dispense with the old-fashioned ridges and furrows, and to lay his corn lands in the level state so favourable for reaping and other operations of husbandry. In these altered conditions lies the true explanation of the former apathy and subsequent enthusiasm manifested by our farmers towards this invention.

Section 13.-Mowing-Machines. Another class of labour-saving machines, closely allied to those we have just described, for which we are indebted to our American cousins, is mowing-machines. Several different forms of these were introduced and brought into somewhat general use during the years 1858 and 1859. Having used such machines for the past fourteen years we can testify to their thorough efficiency, and to the very great saving of labour, and still more of time, which can be secured by means of them. In one instance 30 acres of clover-a very full crop, and partially lodged-were mown in 32 hours, and this under all the disadvantages of a first start. This machine being of very light draught, a pair of horses can work it at a smart pace without difficulty. By employing two pairs of horses, and working them by relay, it can, in the long days of June and July, be kept going sixteen hours a day, and will easily mow from 16 to 18 acres of seeds or meadow in that time, making, moreover, better work than can ordinarily be obtained by using the scythe. These mowing-machines, which cost from £16 to £25 each, have proved a most seasonable and truly important addition to our list of agricultural implements. That they may be used to advantage, it is absolutely necessary to have the land well rolled and carefully freed from stones.

Section 14.-Haymakers.

Haymakers are valuable implements, and well deserving of more general use. They do their work thoroughly, and enable the farmer to get through a great amount of it in snatches of favourable weather. Where manual labour is scarce, or when, as in Scotland, haymaking and turnipthinning usually come on hand together, the mower and haymaker render the horse-power of the farm available for an important process which cannot be done well unless it is done rapidly and in season.

Section 15.-Horse-Rakes.

Horse-rakes are in frequent use for gathering together the stalks of corn which are scattered during the process of reaping, for facilitating the process of haymaking, and also for collecting weeds from fallows. By an ingenious contrivance in the most improved form of this implement, the teeth are disengaged from the material which they have gathered without interrupting the progress of the horse.

We seem to be verging on the time when, by means of machines worked by horse-power, farmers will be enabled to cut and carry their grass and grain with little more than the ordinary forces of their farms.

Section 16.-Wheel-Carriages.

The cartage of crops, manure, &c., upon an arable farm, is such an important part of the whole labour performed upon it (equal, as shown by a recent estimate, to one-half),1 that it is a matter of the utmost consequence to have the work performed by carriages of the most suitable kind. It was for a long time keenly debated by agriculturists, whether waggons or carts are most economical. This question is now undoubtedly settled. Mr Pusey says, "It is proved beyond question that the Scotch and Northumbrian farmers, by using one-horse carts, save one-half of the horses which south country farmers still string on to their three-horse waggons and three-horse dung-carts, or dung-pots, as they are called. The said three-horse waggons and dung-pots would also cost nearly three times as much original outlay. Few, I suppose, if any, farmers buy these expensive luxuries now, though it is wonderful they should keep them; for last year at Grantham, in a public trial, five horses with five carts were matched against five waggons with ten horses, and the five

1 See Morton's Cyclopædia of Agriculture. Article "Carriages."

horses beat the ten by two loads."2 The one-horse carts here referred to are usually so constructed as to be easily adapted to the different purposes for which wheel-carriages are needed upon a farm. For each pair of wheels and axle there is provided a close-bodied cart, and another with sparred sides and broad shelvings, called a long-cart, or harvest-cart, either of which can easily be attached to the wheels, according to the nature of the commodities to be carried. Sometimes a simple movable frame is attached to the close-body to fit it for carrying hay or straw; but although one or two such frames are useful for casual purposes throughout the year, they are inferior for harvest work to the regular sparred cart with its own shafts. In some districts the whole of the close-bodied carts used on the farm are made to tip. For many purposes this is a great convenience; but for the conveyance of grain to market, and generally for all road work, a firm frame is much easier for the horse, and less liable to decay and derangement. The Berwickshire practice is to have one pair of tip-carts on each farm, and all the rest firm or dormant. bodied, as they are sometimes called.

Many farms are now provided with a water or tank cart, for conveying and distributing liquid manure.

Section 17.-Road-Engines.

Although many attempts have been made to adapt the locomotive steam-engine for the conveyance both of passengers and goods on common roads, the results hitherto have not been altogether satisfactory. Progress is, however, undoubtedly being made in this effort; and in not a few instances such engines are actually in use for the carriage of heavy goods. If beet sugar factories should increase in Great Britain, the carriage of the roots from the farms to the factories will probably be performed by traction engines; for the inexpediency of withdrawing the horse-power of the farm from its other urgent work at the season most suitable for delivering these roots to the sugar-maker presents at present a serious hindrance to the cultivation of this crop.

MACHINES FOR PREPARING CROPS FOR MARKET.
(Sections 18, 19, 20.)

Section 18.-Steam-Engines.

The extent to which steam-power is now employed for the purposes of the farm is another marked feature in the recent

JOHNSON

Portable Steam-Engine. (Clayton, Shuttleworth, & Co.) progress of agriculture. We have already referred to the value of water-power for propelling agricultural machinery

2 Mr Pusey's Report, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England vol. xii. p. 617.

when it can be had in sufficient and regular supply. As it is only in exceptional cases that farms are thus favoured, the steam-engine is the power that must generally be reckoned upon, and accordingly its use is now so common that a tall chimney has become, over extended districts, the prominent feature of nearly every homestead. It has been satisfactorily shown that grain can be thrashed and dressed by well-constructed, steam-propelled machinery, at onefourth the cost of thrashing by horse-power and dressing by hand-fanners. So great, indeed, is the improvement in steam-engines, and so readily can the amount of power be accommodated to the work to be done, that we find them everywhere superseding the one-horse gin, and even manual labour, for pumping, churning, coffee-grinding, &c. Wherever, then, a thrashing-mill is used at all, it may be safely asserted that, next to water, steam is the cheapest power by which it can be propelled. The portable engine is the form which has hitherto found most favour in the southern parts of the kingdom. Mr Pusey thus states the reason for which he regards them as preferable to fixed engines:-"If a farm be a large one, and especially if, as is often the case, it be of an irregular shape, there is great waste of labour for horses and men in bringing home all the corn in the straw to one point, and in again carrying out the dung to a distance of perhaps two or three miles. It is therefore common, and should be general, to have a second outlying yard. This accommodation cannot be reconciled with a fixed engine.

Portable Thrashing-Machine. (Clayton, Shuttleworth, & Co.) "If the farm be of a moderate size, it will hardly-and if small will certainly not-bear the expense of a fixed engine: there would be waste of capital in multiplying fixed engines to be worked but a few days in the year. It is now common, therefore, in some counties for a man to invest a small capital in a movable engine, and earn his livelihood by letting it out to the farmer.

"But there is a further advantage in these movable engines, little, I believe, if at all known. Hitherto corn has been thrashed under cover in barns; but with these engines and the improved thrashing-machines we can thrash the rick in the open air at once as it stands. It will be said, How can you thrash out of doors on a wet day? The answer is simple. Neither can you move your rick into your barn on a wet day; and so rapid is the work of the new thrashing-machines, that it takes no more time to thrash the corn than to move it. Open-air thrashing is also far pleasanter and healthier for the labourers, their lungs not being choked with dust, as under cover they are; and there is, of course, a saving of labour to the tenant not inconsiderable. But when these movable steam-engines have spread generally, there will arise an equally important saving to the landlord in buildings. Instead of three or more barns

clustering round the homestead, one or other in constant want of repair, a single building will suffice for dressing corn and for chaff-cutting. The very barn-floors saved will be no insignificant item. Now that buildings are required for new purposes, we must, if we can, retrench those buildings whose objects are obsolete. Open-air thrashing may appear visionary, but it is quite common with the new machinery; nor would any one perform the tedious manoeuvre of setting horses and men to pull down a rick, place it on carts, and build it up again in the barn, who had once tried the simple plan of pitching the sheaves at once into the thrashingmachine."1

To us these reasons are inconclusive.. A fixed engine can be erected and kept in repair at greatly less cost than a portable one of the same power. It is much easier to keep the steam at working pressure in the common boiler than in the tubular one, which, from its compactness, is generally adopted in portable engines. It is, no doubt, very convenient to draw up engine and machinery alongside a rick and pitch the sheaves at once upon the feeding-board, and very pleasant to do this in the sunshine and " caller air;" but we should think it neither convenient nor pleasant to have engine and thrashing-gear to transport and refix every time of thrashing, to have grain and chaff to cart to the barn, the thrashed straw to convey to the respective places of consumption, and all this in circumstances unfavourable to accurate and cleanly disposal of the products, and excessive exposure to risk of weather. Sudden rain will no doubt interrupt the carrying in of a rick in the one case as the thrashing of it in the other; but there is this vast difference in favour of the former, that the partially carried rick is easily re-covered; machinery, products of thrashing, and work-people, are safely under cover; and the engine is ready by a slight change of gearing for other work, such as bruising, grinding, or chaff-cutting.

It is urged on behalf of the portable engine, that in districts where the farms are generally small, one may serve a good many neighbours. Now, not to dwell on the expense and inconvenience to small occupiers of frequently transporting such heavy carriages, and of having as much of their crop thrashed in a day (there being manifest economy in having at least a day's work when it is employed) as will meet their demands for fodder and litter for weeks to come, we are persuaded that on farms of even 80 or 100 acres, a compact fixed engine of two or three horse-power will thrash, bruise grain, cut chaff, work a churn, and cook cattle food, &c., more economically than such work can be done in any other way. It is very usual to find on such farms, especially in dairy districts, an apparatus for cooking cattle food by steam, or by boiling in a large copper, where as much fuel is used every day, and as much steam generated, as would work such an engine as we have referred to, and do the cooking over and above. Even a small dairy implies a daily demand for boiling water to scrub vessels and cook food for cows. How manifestly economical, then, when the steam is up at any rate, to employ this untiring, obedient agent, so willing to turn the hand of anything, in performing the heavy work of the homestead with a power equal, perhaps, to that of all the men and horses employed upon the farm.

Whenever tillage by steam-power is fairly available, there will undoubtedly be an inducement to use the portable engine as a thrashing-power that has not hitherto existed, as there will be a manifest economy in having both operations performed by the same engine. Even then, however, there is a high probability of its being found impracticable to withdraw the engine even once a week for the needful thrashing during the six or eight weeks immediately after

1 Mr Pusey's Report on Implements.-Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xii. p. 621.