Fowler: National and International Steam Power

Ploughing Mechanisation: A Brief History

The industrial revolution had moved many farm workers away from agriculture to seek a new and more prosperous life in the developing towns and cities. As agricultural workers moved away from rural areas, farmers had fewer hands to help them with cultivating and harvesting. The growing urban populations meant a bigger demand for food production at a much faster pace. Farmers now needed more efficient ways of working.

Ploughing was one of the most important jobs of the agricultural year, as it laid the foundation of a good harvest in the autumn seasons. It was a hard, slow job which relied on strong horses or oxen and a good knowledge of the land that was being cultivated. Different areas of the country had their own types of plough which was better suited to the local terrain. For many years, this type of ploughing was the only way to get the job done affordably and efficiently.

When steam engines were introduced to the farm, they were static engines that would power tools like threshing machines. These would normally be in the yard where horses would have initially done the same job. As steam engines were developed, makers added wheels to these machines, and they were able to be pulled to work by horses to power implements including the plough.

John Fowler

John Fowler was born in Melksham, Wiltshire to wealthy Quaker parents on 11th July 1826. An inspiration for his inventions came after a holiday to Ireland in 1849. Fowler saw the devastation, poverty and starvation caused by the Irish potato famine and felt there must be an invention that would help prevent this disaster happening again and make the production of food much cheaper and less prone to disaster in the long run.

Fowler wanted to help reclaim bogland by improving drainage which would allow farmers to wield better and more regular crops. His first invention was a mole plough. The machine, powered by horses, dragged itself across the field on rollers, pulling the mole plough as it went. The mole would have drainage pipes attached behind and these would be laid in the channel created by the mole. On completing each length of drains, the engine would be turned and repositioned ready for the next row.

In the early stages of his company Fowler often outsourced much of his manufacture to other companies such as Clayton and Shuttleworth or Ransomes of Ipswich. His enthusiasm for his work and his ability to solve problems creatively helped him to have long standing working relationships with many people throughout his short lifetime.

Success at the Chester RASE Ploughing Trials 1858

After further experimentation, he competed at the RASE trials held in Chester in 1858. Fowler was up against Thomas Rickett’s rotary steam cultivator, Charles Burrell’s direct traction plough, and William Smith’s own roundabout system.

The judges announced Fowler the winner in the Autumn of 1858, adding in their report that:

‘It is beyond question that Mr. Fowler’s machine can turn over the soil and in an efficient manner at a saving compared with horse labour; while in all cases it is left in a far more desirable condition and better adapted for all the purposes of husbandry. We are unanimously of the opinion that he is fully entitled to the prize of £500’.

John Fowler & Co.

In his 1859 catalogue each machine part was labelled to make replacements easy. In 1860 another Fowler catalogue suggested the machinery was so easy it could be worked by ‘the ordinary farm labourer… and very few parts that cannot be put back in order by any blacksmith’.

Most steam ploughing and cultivation was undertaken by contractors. Many farmers, other than the largest landowners, found the initial cost too high to justify investment. Each set of tackle usually comprised four men and a boy living together in a van which travelled with the engines, implements and water cart.

Fowlers dominated the ploughing engine market and supplied 2,146 of the 2,450 cable ploughing engines sold in the UK. They also supplied the overseas market and between 1880 and 1915 91% of John Fowler ploughing engine sales were exported.

The Decline of Fowler and Steam Ploughing

Steam cultivation was comparatively specialised activity. It worked best in certain soil conditions and where the land was flat and fields larger, typically in the eastern counties.

The UK Government was concerned about the threat to food production posed by German submarines, so they ordered 60 sets of ploughing engines from Fowlers which were then issued to contractors.

The introduction of the internal combustion tractor in the earlier years of the 20th century largely replaced the horse in most of the country. It was far cheaper to operate than steam tackle. Nevertheless, until tractors became more powerful, the steam plougher still had its place in certain parts of the country. It had a renaissance in the second world war to increase food production but soon disappeared after peace came. Because of the power and utility of the cable worked implement was still considered valuable, from the 1930s a few steam ploughing engines had been converted to diesel. Some survive in this form.

The last steam contractor, John Patten, held on in Essex and Suffolk but the firm was wound up after his death in 1960 with many of the engines scrapped.

Developments with the internal combustion engine, a hydraulic system for attaching implements and cheaper production methods made the tractor a truly viable alternative to steam power on the farm and they gradually became the familiar sight they are in the farming landscape today.