Steam-Powered Tractor and Agricultural Machinery manufactured by Hornsby and Son. Exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Victoria & Albert commemorative volume quotes an unidentified contemporary source about the very recent introduction of such machinery into agriculture: "The most remarkable feature in the agircultural operations of the present day is undoubtedly the rapid introduction and use of small portable steam engines for agricultural purposes, especially noticeable in connction with the combines threshing, straw making and dressing machines, unknown until the last two years, on account of the non-efficiency of 'horse-power' applicaton of the working of such apparatus" (p. 83).
References
Gibbs-Smith, C. H. The Great Exhibition of 1851. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office/Victorian and Albert Museum, 1964.
Last modified 16 January 2006