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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

VOLUME THE FIFTH.

(second series.)

JANUARY TO JUNE, MDCCCXLII.

LONDON :
OFFICE, 24, NORFOLK STREET, STRAND.

MAY BE HAD BY OBDER THROUGH ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1% *h I : /

LONDON:
PRINTED BY JOSEPH KOGERSON,
24, KOnrOLK-STllEET, $TIUND.

THE FARMER5 S MAGAZINE.

JANUARY, 1842.

No. 1.— Vol. V.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

The subject of our first Plate is a Cart Stallion, the property of Mr. Robert Bowie,
Gilmidlandj Stirlingshire, to which the First Prize of Fifty Sovereigns was awarded at
the Meeting of the Highland Agricultural Society, at Berwick, September 29, 1841.

PLATE II.

SATIRIST; Winner of the Doncaster St. Leger, 1841.
(For Description see page 16. J

HARLESTON FARMERS' CLUB.

DISCUSSION ON LEASES.

The fourth annual meeting of this useful associa-
tion was held on Friday, Nov. 26, at the Swan Inn,
Ilarleston, when the important subject of " The
cultivation clauses in leases" was brought before
the Club by the Secretary, Mr. R. B. Harvey, for
discussion. Mr. Geo. Theobald was the chairman
of the meeting, and there were present — Rev. C.
Clarke, of Hulver, from the Beccles Club; Geo.
Durrant, Esq., steward of Sir Robert Adair, Bart.,
George Carthew, Esq. ; Mr. Samuel Robinson, and
Mr. Lewis Cottingham, from the Wrentham Club ;
Mr. Geo. Robinson, and Mr. Samuel Goodwyn,
from the Yoxford Club; Mr. Turner, from the
Woodbridge Club ; Messrs. Geo. Gayford, John
Gates, Geo. Salter, L. Palmer, and C. Gillett, from
Norfolk. ; Mr. R. B. Harvey, Secretary , and Messrs.
John Gedney, Frewer, Barham, Dix, Cann, Beau-
mont, Churchill, Hodgson, and Johnson, members
of the Harleston Farmers' Club. The meeting
altogether was not so numerous as might have been
expected, considering the very important nature of
the subject for discussion.

The Chairman, in opening the discussion, said
— We enter upon this subject with the feeling that
it is one of very great importance, and with the
conviction that it is one becoming our interference,
and that we are not trespassing on those matters
which do not belong to us. As a club, we regard
this question as one that demands attentive con-
sideration, affecting, as we conceive it does, the
interests of landlords, tenants, and labourers
throughout the country at large. I hope such a
feeling will prevail ; that you will be cordial in

OLD SERIES.]

expressing your opinions, that no impression may
be left on the mind of any one that we are defend-
ing a class interest, but that we arc advocating a
broad principle — that of obtaining the greatest
produce of the soil. Consisting of tenants, as we
do, I conceive we may assume credit for this mo-
tive; and I hope all who advocate different inte-
rests from ours will at least give us credit for that
motive. It is a question of business, and we feel,
as tenants and cultivators of the soil, and as prac-
tical men, that the matter ought to emanate from
us ; and we hope to show that in endeavouring to
effect an improvement which it is our duty to
suggest, we are studying the interests of our land-
lords as well as ourselves, and that our interests are
mutual. We feel that we advocate the truth, and
wc desire therefore openly to express our opinions.
Mr. R. B. Harvey, the secretary, then opened
the subject. He said he had no idea when
the question was first proposed to the club,
that it would have assumed the importance it has
now attained. The first circumstance which di-
rected the attention of the club to the question,
was an inquiry which arose out of a" discussion in
the club during the past year, " on the best mode
of preparing land for the root crop," upon which
the club arrived at the decision that the compul-
sory ploughing, by which tenants were bound in
their leases, was injudicious and unnecessary. It,
at the time, struck him rather forcibly that such an
opinion having been expressed by a farmers' club,
it became a subject well worthy of their notice, and
he promised to bring it before the club at a future
time. He wished to state now, that with the noto-
riety which the intended discussion of this subject
had acquired, an erroneous impression had gone
B [No. I.— VOL. XVI.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

forth to the public, and which he had heard in
many places when at a distance from home, that
" the Harleston Farmers' Club were about dis-
cussing a question against the interest of then-
landlords." That was a mistaken idea, and it never
entered the minds of the members of the club. It
had been also thought that they were about to dis-
cuss the policy or impolicy of granting leases.
That, he believed, was never contemplated ; but
they considered, as tenants, that whether they
farmed under leases or ageeements, or by the
custom of the country, there were still some
covenants which were burthensome to them, and
with respect to which it was not unbecoming
in them to consider whether any alteration
could be effected. Their object was to consider
whether or not they could make the earth pro-
duce more corn, and thus confer a benefit on
their landlords as well as themselves. He was
sure it must be the wish of every tenant to leave to
the landlords all rights and all property justly con-
ferred ontbeni ; but there were restrictions of a na-
ture it was in the power of them to relax, and it
was hoped that they would grant such an alteration
as should appear to be beneficial to themselves and
their tenants. He did not intend to enter into the
details of the question, but he thought it would be
sufficient to allude to the anomaly that existed in
the present leases, to lead to a full investigation of
the subject. First, with respect to old and new
leases, there was little difference in them, and the
present leases appeared to be constructed upon
pretty much the same form as those of two centuries
ago ; and, without wishing to detract from the
skill or knowledge of those who drew up those leases,
or the practice upon which they were founded, it
did appear to him that considering the rapid strides
agriculture bad made within the last quarter of a
century, it was hardly probable that what might have
been considered good covenants in days gone ^by,
could be so considered at the present time. It'did
also appear to him singular, that in two counties so
celebrated for agriculture as Norfolk and Suffolk, the
covenants in leases should so widely differ in the
most important points. It was a question, therefore,
to be decided which practice was the best. He
alluded to the Suffolk covenants, with regard to the
cultivation of the turnip crop, by which the incoming-
tenant was made to pay for that which lie did no"t
obtain. That struck him as being a very <*ood
anomaly. Those living on the immediate borders of
the two counties were particularly interested in that
part of the question, because a very great many
farmers of Norfolk cultivated on Suffolk covenants,
while others, just across the river in Suffolk, culti-
vated unuer Norfolk covenants. It frequently hap-
pened that on a change of ownership of estates the
covenants required to be altered from the one to the
other, causing great inconvenience ; for in the one
case the landlord had to grant allowances, and in the
other to take money to make the covenants agree
with the plan upon which they were altered. These
two reasons alone were sufficient tojustify the steps
now taken to effect an alteration in the mode of
granting leases. There were other clauses which might
be abrogated, and others added with advantao-e°to
both parties. (Hear, hear. J Oneclause however struck
him as being very injurious, and that was, the
outgoing tenant not being paid for the after grass on
the farm ; there being no compensation allowed him,
he necessarily consumed all, and the incomino-
tenant had no feed on taking the farm. It did seem

to him that the outgoing tenant ought to he paid for
it at a valuation. He was not. quite prepared to
advocate what might be called the free trade ques-
tion of covenants, which exist at the present time in
some of the most cultivated parts of this kingdom —
he meant the southern parts of Scotland, where the
tenants are bound by their covenants to leave the
land in as good a state ns they took it. There were,
it was true, during twenty-one years' leases, certain
restrictions by which they were bound ; but during
the greater part of the time of holding the property,
they were allowed to cultivate the land in any way
in which their skill and science dictated to them.
This, certainly, he thought the best possible mode
for a good farmer ; but laws were made for the bad
and not for the good farmer, and the burthens were
chiefly felt by the good farmer — the cultivator, who
is the best calculated to devise improvements, and
to carry them out. Perhaps English farmers were not
sufficiently advanced to have their leases constructed
upon the same principle as the Scotch leases ; but he
did think that the plan was a good one, where the
landlord is well convinced of the skill and ability of
his tenant, to leave the cultivation of his farm to his
judgment, he being best acquainted witli the nature
of the soil and the best modes of cultivating it ;
taking care that he did not deteriorate it, but allow-
ing him to make what improvements he thought
proper. He would now leave the subject to the
members to enter upon the details of the question.
John Gedney, Esq., said that there were certain
clauses in leases of a particular description, under
which tenants robbed their landlords every day.
He was, to his great sorrow, one of those tenants.
He happened to be a grower of beet root. It was
the custom of his part of the county that fanners
were compelled to plough four times a-year. He
was quite ready to prove that more roots might he
grown on most farms with advantage to the farmer ;
and he was certain that it was not to the interest of
the landlord or tho tenant when the latter wished to
grow a root crop, to compel him to plough up his
land. It was a mistake to suppose that any benefit
arose from such a practice. A root crop could be
grown on almost all land, but the tillage must be
given in the autumn, and not in the spring. Some
thought it necessary to plough four times in the
year, in order to extirpate the grass, but his svstem
was not to have any grass at all. He liked a clean
farm ; he wanted to have a root crop growing and
the land tilled at the same time : nothing was better
for a quick germination of the seed than a good til-
lage and a root crop. He knew a case in the county
of Suffolk which clearly proved the importance of
the present discussion. The three preceding
tenants of the farm in question (about 170 acres)
had failed in it. The present tenant had, with much
labour and expense, brought it into a superior state
of cultivation. It was thoroughly clean, produced
larger crops, and supported more cattle than it ever
did previously — a sheep to an acre, and eighteen to
twenty bullocks ; and now he had got notice from
his landlord to quit the farm.

The Chairman. Can you tell us why he received
notice to quit? Was it any deficiency of tillage?

Mr. Gednev. That was the reason. He had in-
fringed upon the cultivation clauses of his lease by
not giving the land the number of ploughings which
those clauses required. Farmers had better quit
their land than farm under leases which dictate to
tbem how many times they should plough their
land. The object of the farmer is clearly to grow

TIIK FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

more wheat at less expense — to diminish the cost of
production and feed the hungry. If thev could not
grow wheat they must grow something else. As a
case of necessity, ploughing five times must produce
a long fallow. If the root crops were annihilated
the profit of agriculture was entirely gone. The
root crops were decidedly the best preparations tor
the wheat crops. Farmers must enrich their land if
thev would improve their condition. Thev must
check the high price of corn, which was more de-
sirable than any thing else. lie was satisfied, as a
practical agriculturist, that farmers would gtow
more barley on their lands if they had the change
now sought. It was an unfor'unate thing for this
country that there were many persons who attempted
to farm land while thev knew nothing about it. He
was not one who would interfere with the property
of landlords to injure it — he would never speak
against landlords, oidv those who had bad tenants.
He knew it had gone abroad that fanners' clubs
were going to upset their leases, and they were
thought monstrously clever fellows. For his own
part he had never gone to a farmers' club without a
disposition to make his landlord richer ; and he bad
never gone into a farmers' club without condemning
bad farming. He never heard of good farmers
having bad landlords, but bad farmers never had
good ones. It was a great injury to those persons
who were desirous of producing more corn and en-
riching the land, to be checked by a class persons
who knew nothing of farming, but who were ready
to pay more rent for the land than it was really
worth. It was a great evil, and pressed heavily on
the cultivator, that for every one who would give
11. per acre, there were twenty who would give 30s.
He would ask, was his land to he taxed because
there were some landlords who chose to have men
on their land who would impoverish their property?
He hoped the subject would have a full inquiry, and
that if any thing was to be said in opposition, it
would be J reely offered.

George Durrant, Esq. — As an agent, was quite
ready, at any time, when a better mode of farming
was pointed out to him, to take the screw off; but
he must first know his man, and be convinced that
he was pursuing the right system. He thought the
landlords had a right, for the protection of their
property, to introduce the restrictive clauses, but
they would alway3be relaxed when landlords found
tenants whom they could trust.

Rev. C. Clarke. — I rise with some diffidence
on the present occasion, because, although an occu-
pier of land, I do not happen to be a tenant, and
the property which I have to let as landlord is
3mall indeed ; but these circumstances shall not
prevent me from giving you my thoughts on the
subject. Mr. Durrant has truly stated, that re-
strictive clauses in leases are necessary ; but the
question is, whether the present clauses in the Nor-
folk and Suffolk leases are the best and the most
conducive to good farming. A lease is made for
the benefit of the landlord as well as the tenant.
The leading principle of its cultivation clauses is,
that the landlord at the end of the term may re-
ceive his farm back again in as good condition as
he gave it up to the tenant. The lease is for the
benefit of the tenant, in giving him an opportunity
during the term of repaying himself the capital he
has laid out upon the farm. Is it consistent with
these real objects of a lease, at the present
time to insert in it a parcel of obsolete restrictive
clauses ?

Mr. Durrant.— I said they would be relaxed,
although inserted.

Rev. C. Clarke. — But suppose the property
changes hands, and a new landlord comes, what
will be the case then ? He will say, you have in-
fringed the clauses of the lease, and must quit the
farm. What an absurdity to tell the farmer how
many times he shall plough and harrow, and how
much manure he shall put on for a particular crop,
and so forth. Is it not more to the interest of the
farmer than of the landlord that he should get a
good crop, and make the land produce to the ut-
most possible extent. And after all, restrictions
will not make a bad tenant into a good one. See
that he ploughs and harrows as often as you have
restricted him, the land after all may be as foul as
possible. Mr. Harvey alluded to the free trade
question of covenants adopted in Scotland. We
have been told that the Scotch are better farmers
than any in England. But I think too highly of
Norfolk and Suffolk to imagine that the improve-
ments which have been made during the last few
years in Scotland, however, are beyond comparison
greater than in this country. What is the reason ?
Long leases. I believe no lease is taken under
nineteen years : and in my opinion corn rents have
tended greatly to produce these long leases. The
landlords here will not grant long leases, because
they fear when corn falls, the farmers will ask for
a reduction. That has been the case; farmers,
when corn has fallen in price, have asked for a re-
duction ; but they have not given an increase when
corn has risen. The farmers have not stuck to
their bargains, and the landlords have on that ac-
count preferred no lease at all to a losing one. This
has often operated disadvantageously for the tenant
also; he has hired his farm extravagantly high,
with the hope of a reduction when prices fall : his
landlord gets into adverse circumstances, or the
property is sold. No reduction can be made, and
what then becomes of the tenant? I seeno remedy
for these things but corn rents ; and perhaps they
might be paid as the tithe commutation is paid ;
and with them perhaps the landlords might be in-
duced to grant longer leases. I do not see why the
Scotch covenants also should not be adopted, where
the farmer is allowed to cultivate his land as he
pleases, with the exception of the last four or five
years, when he must come under the rotation pre-
scribed by his lease. I would add only two re-
strictions— that he should not grow two crops of
white straw corn in succession ; and that the turnips,
hay, &c, should be consumed on the farm. To
these last I would add the beans and peas grown ;
and I do not think many farmers would object to
it. I would also charge the tenant with damage
if the land is left foul at the end of the term. I do
not see how a farm could be greatly damaged under
such a system ; and under all the restrictions at
present in force in this part of the country, we
often see them left in a very impoverished and foul
state. Why should a farmer be told what he is to
put on land after his wheat is off — where he shall
place his manure, or when he shall lay it on, whether
the land requires it or not ? I believe there is no
other body in England, manufacturers or others,
who are dictated to in that manner. Manufac-
turers, like every other class but farmers, are left
to the exercise of their own judgment. Another
important subject that has been noticed to me, has
reference to fences. I am not going to frighten the
game, but I must say that farmers suffer a great

B 2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

injury in being restricted from cutting their fences
under a certain number of years. When fences are
allowed to grow they become detrimental on both
sides; a considerable quantity of land is nearly lost,
and the farmer loses one-third of his crop on that
land. I like low fences, and I do not wish to have
any high ones. I think really if the landlords
would consider the matter, they will see a mon-
strous degree of futility in these clauses. I do not
think it fair towards a man, to, ask him to lay out
his capital in improving his farm when he is liable
to be turned out at a short notice. Tenants, if they
wish to live out of their property, must have leases
in which they ought not to be restricted too much.

Mr. Fkewek wished it to be strongly borne in
mind by all present, what was the real motive of
the club in bringing this subject forward for dis-
cussion. It was not the intention of the club, as
many had supposed, to upset the property of the
landlords, but their object in taking up this ques-
tion was because the outlay of the farmer is so
enormously greater than it was 25 years ago, which
made it imperative on the landlord to give the
tenant some latitude as a modification of the charges
made upon him. With regard to the operations
of the cultivation clauses, he agreed that they were
too restricted, and that they did not allow the
tenant an opportunity of making the most of his
land. Granting long leases, he thought, was the
only way in which a tenant 'could by any means be
allowed to reap the benefit of his land. Fanners
were now making mo3t enormous outlays, and ex-
tensive improvements to make the land better and
more productive, and it was only just and fair that
the landlord should be asked to put his hand into
his pocket to assist his tenant.

Mr. Gedney said it was naturally to be ex-
pected that a man who laid out his money in ma-
chinery should have some return for it. With re-
gard to the present machinery, the greater part of
it, with all the recent improvements, was not the
best adapted to cultivate heavy soils. He recom-
mended Biddle's scarifier. Machinery was entirely
in its infancy at present, and he was surprised to
find how little farmers talked at their clubs of ma-
chinery and the cultivation of the soil.

Rev. C. Clarke. — The simple question before
the meeting is, if we can perform certain operations
with one ploughing, why should we give four ? If
we can get the land clean and of a proper tilth by
one or two operations, why should we go a round-
about way, to take a great deal more trouble, ex-
pense, and labour, and perhaps not arrive at so
good a point after all ? The question is, why should
we be obliged to do it ? Now that there is so much
talk about the corn laws, and of bringing foreign
corn in, it is the duty of the agriculturist to grow
as much corn as possible at a cheap rate.

The Chairman thought the observations of Mr.
Gedney, with regard to improved machinery, were
quite in point. It was owing to the improvements
in machinery that farmers now thought that the
clauses in their leases should be altered, to meet
the advantages machinery had opened around
them.

Mr. Geo. Robinson made some observations
with regard to the practice pursued in the counties
of Norfolk and Suffolk in reference to the turnip
crop. He thought it a great injustice to the out-
going tenant, under the Norfolk system, that he
was not paid for the crop. He had known an
instance in which an outgoing tenant, after having

ploughed and manured his land for the turnip
crop, had absolutely made nothing; by it; he there-
fore thought he had suffered great injustice. He
thought also that it was injudicious to grow roots
on heavy land.

Mr. Gedney admitted that there were some
heavy lands unfit, for roots, but he found his heavy
land more fit for roots than anything else. He was
not very fond of the long fallow system.

Mr. Robinson was not an advocate for long
fallows, but he preferred growing tares instead of
roots. He fancied even that was a breach of his
covenant to take tares after wheat. He thought
such a clause as that ought to be done away with.
The most important alteration in leases he con-
sidered would be that by which their terms were
lengthened. {Hear.)

Mr. Dtjrkant. — I was 'always favourable to
leases, but since I have seen that landlords have
had to make reductions, I have altered my opinion.
I did sometime ago draw up a table of conditions,
which I then suggested as the best substitute for a
lease, as follows : —

" The intention of the clauses No. 14 and 18 of the
agreements being1 to encourage the tenants to improve,
in the confidence that no undue advantage will be
tnken of such improvements by the landlord, it is
necessary to state on what conditions such allowance
will be made, and upon what scale.

CONDITIONS.

" First.— The allowance can only be claimed when
the separation takes place at the instance of the land-
lord.

" Secondly. — That the tenant shall furnish a list
annually at Michaelmas to the steward or agent, of the
improvements he has made since the preceding Michael •
mas, specifying their nature and extent, and leave a
duplicate thereof, with his signature and date.

" Thirdly. — No allowance will be granted when
the agreement becomes forfeited by non-performance
of the covenant^. In those cases where leases are
granted, no allowance will be made for unexhausted
improvements, such improved culture being the object
of granting the lease, except as excepted in clause,
No. 14.

SCALE OF ALLOWANCE.

For all under-draining done within the preceding four
years.

" 1st year. — Where no crop has been taken, the full
cost price will be allowed ; but if a corn crop has been
taken, three-fourths of the cost price only will be
allowed.

"2nd year.— Two-thirds of the cost price only will
be allowed.

"3rd year.— One-half of the cost price only will be
allowed.

"4th year. — One-fourth of the cost price only will be
allowed.

"All clay, marl, mould, chalk, or sand, gypsum,
lime, rape-dust, bones, bone-dust, or other purclmsed
manure, used for improving the arable, pasture, or
meadow land, will be allowed for in the same propor-
tion, and on the same scale as the under-draining
above-mentioned is allowed for, except in such cases,
where the clay, marl, mould, chalk, or sand, is found
on the farm, in which case the labour only will be
allowed for, according to the foregoing' scale."

The Chairman thought that these conditions
held out an inducement to tenants to make invest-
ments. What he wanted was, that the farmers
should be able to calculate, from the price of corn
for the 14 years past, what it would be for the next
14 years.

Mr. Salter could very easily understand why

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

such land as Mr. Gedney's only required ploughing
once; but where the land was full of grass, it re-
quired four ploughs. On land like that of Mr. Ged-
ney's, turnips might be grown to an enormous ex-
tent. He was not himself a long fallow farmer,
and the plan he adopted was, to sow coleworts in-
stead of roots ; the coleworts he ploughed up at har-
vest time, and then put in tares. With regard to
leases, he thought the best thing the landlords
could do would be to pension oft* their bad tenants.

Mr. Gedney said he attributed the cleanliness of
his farm to the horse-hoeing system and growing
roots. He was ten years before he got his farm
thoroughly clean, owing to the bad management of
the previous tenant. He was not himself frightened
at a little grass, and had no ambition to be what he
would call a clean poor farmer (a laugh).

The Chairman: Is it not possible to thoroughly
clean land with Biddle's scarifier 1

Mr. Gedney : It is ; nothing can do it so well.

Mr. Harvey : Do you attribute the cleanlines of
your land to a departure from the cultivation clauses
in leases 1

Mr. Gedney : Yes, certainly.

Mr. FriEWER made some observations on the inju-
rious nature of the clauses in the old leases, with
reference to the hay crop ; and also on the injurious
system with regard to the feeding of the layers.

Some discussion t»ok place on this point, and the
general opinion was that the operation of the
clauses with reference to the hay crop, and the
feeding of the layers, was very injurious to the out-
going tenant.

The next point discussed was the compulsory
clauses with reference to the application of so many
loads of clay and marl to the soil, under all circum-
stances, whether requisite or otherwise. The gene-
ral opinion was that it ought to be left to the tenant
entirely to determine when the clay or marl should
be applied.

The following resolution was then read by the
Secretary : —

" It is the decided opinion of this meeting, that, inas-
much as the occupier of the land ought to be the best
judge of the proper time for conducting each operation
upon h;s (arm, and of the necessary amcuat of tillage
required for any and every crop, many ot the clauses
in the existing- system of leases, compelling a fixed
mode of cultivation, are unnecessary and injudicious ;
they tend to render skill and science of less value, be-
cause, whatever the latter may dictate, or the former
suggest, the compulsory clauses prevent any deviation
from the lease, or that deviation is effected at the risk of
a heavy penalty.

" It would be impossible, within the limits of a reso-
lution, to allude to all the points which have been dis-
cussed, and upon which a change is necessary ;— but
the Harleston Club deems this of less importance, be-
cause it will be obvious to everyone, that directions for
cultivation, which, beit remembered, these clauses are —
and compulsory directions, too — given at the commence-
ment of a lease, and extending through a terra of
years, over a variety of soils, and still greater variety
of seasons, cannot be so efficacious in promoting- the
best system of husbandry as leaving the details of each
operation to the skill and judgment of the occupier.

" The Harleston Club does, not wish, by this declara-
tion, to do away with all cultivation clauses; it dis-
claims any spirit of dictation, much less any widi to in-
terfere with such restrictive clauses in leases as have no
regard lo cultivation, and which the rights of property
justly confer. It considers it necessary to the advantage
of both landlord and tenant, that certain general restric-
tions in cultivation (such as disallowing two white corn
crops to be grown in succession, and others of a simi-

lar character), are, and ever will be necesmry ; but in
other respects, and where it can be effected without
injury to the rights of the landlord, the Club would
advocate leaving skill and science as much as possible
unfettered, remembering that it is the interest of all
parties, and more particularly of the occupier, to raise
the greatest possible produce from the land, at the
smallest possible cost."

Mr. Frewer moved, and Mr. Gedney seconded, the
adoption of the resolution. The motion was carried
unanimously.

FRAMLINGHAM FARMERS*
CLUB.

SECOND REPORT,

PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, HEED AT THE
TOWN HALL, NOV. 5TH, 1841.

REPORT.

In presenting our second report, we have much
pleasure in referring to the prosperous state of the
Society. It now numbers 120 members.

We have noticed with much satisfaction the re-
gular attendance of members at our monthly meet-
ings, and with still greater gratification the increasing
interest observable in the discussions. Some of
these, we make bold to say, were characterised by a
degree of intelligence highly creditable to those
who took part in them, and displayed in a striking
light the capabilities of combined exertion when di-
rected to any particular object. Still, while we thus
allude to our past proceedings, we are anxious to
impress upon the minds of our fellow members the
fact, " that the benefits of association can only arise
from individual support."

We are of opinion that the Club would be most
usefully employed in the trial and investigation of
such new modes of practice as science and the gene-
ral diffusion of information are from time to time
bringing before the public ; and that such experi-
ments should beconducted with the greatest possible
care, and the results detailed to the Club : we never-
theless cannot help dwelling strongly on the totally
opposite systems pursued by different persons even
in some of the common routine operations of the
farm. We are persuaded that on these points the
interchange of opinions may produce very impor-
tant results. On the free interchange and compari-
son of the views which we have severally gained by
experience, we believe the usefulness of Farmers'
Clubs to be based ; and it is on the extent to which
these may be carried without the sacrifice of private
interest, that we claim the support of the agricultu-
rist. The publication of any improved system, or
the correction of any prejudice so effected, we hold
to be both a mutual benefit and a public good ; and
we 'feel we should not be doing our duty to ourselves,
to our country, and to the profession in which we
are all engaged, if we rejected the aid of collective
experience ; nor would it be befitting the liberal
spirit of Englishmen, that we should profit by the
labours of others without any effort on our part to
make a return. So far as we can contribute to the
advancement of our art without injury to ourselves,
we are compelled by the obligations of civilized so-
ciety to do it ; we therefore call upon vou, as brother
members, to join with us heart and hand in oromotins:
the objects of this Society, and we teader a friendly

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

invitation to all our neighbours to enrol their names,
and co-operate with us.

We now proceed to give such an outline of our
proceedings since our last general meeting, as our
space will permit.

First Meeting, March 5tii.
Subject — " Draining wet Lands." This was intro-
duced by a member, who stated that the mode adopted
must vary with the quality of the soil, whereshoulders
could be kept up, he would not object to them. The
next speaker, after objecting^o cutting drains in the
direction of the furrows, said that he found straw to
last as a filling material 12 or 15 years ; he thought
tiles better adapted to springy soils, where drains
would draw 30 feetor more — was favourable to shoul-
ders, being less liable to fall in where the tilling has
decayed. A third gentleman agreed with the last
speaker, but recommended bushes for filling, as he
bad drained with them 12 years ago, and has not yet
bad one blown. Another recommended tiles in all
soils ; he had seen much of, and had had experience
of their superiority.

An opinion having been expressed that conside-
rable pressure was requisite to form a (inn arch over
the shoulders as quickly as possible, it was appre-
hended by some members that this would render the
soil almost impervious to water.

The expence of draining was estimated as follows :

£ s. d. £ s.

With Ling 2 7 3 per acre, with Haulm 2 1

Furze 2 5 6* Bushes 2 2

Straw 2 10 6 Tiles 5 5

Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting,
and the following resolutions were agreed to —

1st. That hand draining with shoulders is de-
cidedly best for arable lands.

2nd. That 30 inches is a proper depth. (A few
members recommended 2 inches more.)

3rd. A large majority decided in favour of ling
for filling.

4th. Majority of one for 8 score rods to an eye;
minority for 6 score.

5th. With regard to the direction drainsshould be
cut, the members were unanimous for what is here
called " herring bone" or oblique draining.

For draining pastures, the majority were in fa-
vour of using the mole plough.

In reference to tile draining, the annexed resolu-
tion was carried, viz., " That the members present
were of opinion that tile draining would be most
desirable on their springy lands, where the soil
varies, and that, considering the permanent nature of
the improvement, it would be to the interest of the
landlord to assist in the first cost of the tiles."

Second Meeting, April 2nd.

" On the propriety of rearing more neat stock in
preference to buying them for grazing."

The question seemed to turn upon whether we
ought to rear cattle for grazing at all.

There were those who contended that some farms
were peculiarly circumstanced, and would rear cat-
tle superior to those which we buv, provided the
earlier female calves were chosen from an improved
breed (by a cross with a Durham bull for instance),
and weil kept. " The object hitherto," say they, "has
been to breed, not for grazing but for the pail; we
have brought: home-breds to 50 or CO stone at 2
years, and the good keep necessary to accomplish
this, produces manure which will bear comparison
with that of other stock : it is our opinion that young

stock are too poorly fed the first year, as we have
always found tbem to do well on beet or hay if al-
lowed to run out during the day."

In opposition, it was maintained that ours being a
corn district, we cannot possibly make the rearing of
young stock for grazing so advantageous to us as
buying them ; we could not bring a homebred to
three years of age for 10Z. equal to those we buy
for that sum ; there is besides great hazard from dis-
ease and other casualities. A very prominent ob-
jection too with us, to whom good manure is every-
thing, is the comparative quality and quantity which
is produced of that article ; both science and expe-
rience show, that the most valuable fertilizing
portion of the food consumed by young grow-
ing animals is required and appropriated by them
to the formation of bone and muscle; the phosphate
of lime, &c, of their bones being never again re-
turned to the soil until it is bought at the bone-mill
at a cost cf 10s. or 12s- per sack. This party fur-
ther argued that an improvement in the breed could
not be effected to a great extent, as the change from
their own native pastures to ours would soon cause
Durham or any other description of beast to dege-
nerate ; and that the London butchers not only
prefer Scots, but have generally too great a demand
for fat beasts to make it profitable to us to rear.
Experiments which have been instituted on the com-
parative quantity of food consumed by different
animals, were likewise cited as militating against the
system as applied to our district. Finally, to prove
the soundness of their views, they appealed to the
fact of those persons who were breeders, having
discontinued the practice, because they find buying
more advantageous.

As embodying the general sense of the meeting,
the following resolution was agreed to, — "That hav-
ing but a small proportion of pasture land in this
district, and depending almost entirely on the
amount of corn produced for our farming profits,
and bearing in mind that quantity and quality of
manure is a very important consideration, we agiee
in opinion that purchasing beasts to graze is better
adapted to this neighbourhood than breeding them
for that purpose."

Two amendments were however suggested ; the
first to the effect, " that it is the opinion of this
meeting, that with an improved system of rearing
neat stock, it would be advisable to adopt such a
system to some extent, rather than to depend wholly
on north country dealers ;" and the second, " that
it is the opinion of this meeting, that the propriety of
rearing neat stock for grazing in this district must
depend on local circumstances, and that although
most of our occupations are not adapted for such a
system of farm management upon an extensive
scale, there are nevertheless some farms which may
be considered exceptions to the general rule."

Third Meeting, May 7th.
There were two subjects standing for this even-
ing, viz. " Raw manures or mixed, "and " The merits
of clod burning;" both of which v, ere discussed in a
manner which shewed that if the operations of the
practical agriculturist are not always based on
scientific data, they are at least governed by princi-
ples deduced from observation and experience ; and
we heartily wish that some of Our brother farmers,
who through unfounded prejudice still question the
utility of clubs, bad been present. The proceedings
were commenced by a gentleman who advocated
mixed manures, because the necessary heat of fer-
mentation affords an opportunity of destroying the

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seeds and roots of weeds ; the bottom absorbs the
drainage instead of its running to waste by laying
too long in the yard ; the exposure during tbe sum-
mer months to the volatilizing influence of the sun is
avoided ; being short it turns in better with the
plough than raw, plants consequently suffer less
from drought ; tbe loose, porous, earthy covering of
a properly managed heap, absorbs the ammonia
which is evolved ; whilst being firmly trodden down,
fermentation is prevented till the heap is turned over
only a short time before using. Tbe practice of
mixing manures being common in the neighbour-
hood, these views were fully concurred in by many
members, and the authority of the Earl of Leicester,
as well as the articles on nitrification lately brought
before the notice of the public by Captair. Alexander,
were quoted in support of them.

On the other hand, it was contended that there is
a great saving in cartage if raw manure is employed;
whilst every principle of decomposition must be se-
cured to the soil by the process faking place beneath
it, producing as a necessary result a more powerful
vegetative force. Most farmers were approaching
to the raw system by degrees : formerly it was the
custom to keep farm-yard manure on the heap, fre-
quently turning it until completely rotted into a
pasty muss; now it is considered bad management
to turn more than twice, or more than six weeks
previous to spreading it upon the land. This party
bad also a high authority to back them, and they
accordingly appealed to the opinions of the late Sir
H. Davy. .They admitted that with raw manures,
weeds were not so effectually destroyed; but it was
thought this was not without a remedy, since if
weeds were not allowed to grow in the crops, they
could not spring from the manures made with them.

These arguments were again combated by other
members, who were readv to acknowledge the su-
perior forcing power of long manures, but said this
was temporary, too energetic at firt.t, and on good
fresh land apt to produce an exuberant growth of
straw at the expense of the corn — vegetation does
not receive that regular supply of nutriment which
is derired from good mixed manure. The interest
of the debate was considerably heightened by some
explanatory observations on the chemical properties
of manures, and ultimately closed by a resolution to
the following effect: — "That raw yard manure
stamped short, which has not undergone fermenta-
tion on heaps, is the best state in which such can be
applied to promote vegetation" — being entirely ne-
gatived by the subjoined amendment which was
carried — " That this meeting declare it to be their
opinion, that when due attention is paid to the
milking of the heaps, it is advisable to mix manure
before carting it on to the land."

The general feeling of the meeting was likewise
decidedly in favour ot " clod burning."

A calculation was made, that if 2o loads per acre
were burnt and carried off the field, it would not
reduce the soil more than a quarter of an inch ; this
however is never done. The soil when burnt is again
restored to the field, although it is in an altered and
more desirable form ; by tbe operation of the fire it
is rendered light, friable, porous, and highly absor-
bent of gaseous matters, and therefore well calculated
to improve the texture and fertility of heavy reten-
tive land ; it makes it more pervious to both air and
water (two grand supporters of vegetable life) ; it
increases the efficiency of tbe drains by letting the
water more freely to them, and being more friable,
the land works better at a less expense. It further
promotes vegetation by converting into soluble mat-

ters available to plants, vegetable remains, which in
consequence of the usually wet impervious nature
of the soil have become as it were indigestible, and
therefore inert and useless; it likewise has the
effect of insuring the future benefits of such sub-
stances. Such were some of tbe arguments in sup-
port of burning. It was also advocated as being
destructive of the roots and seeds of weeds — of in-
insects, their larvse and eggs ; and as was pretty
clearly demonstrated, it enables land to bear the same
crop in quicker succession, by its supposed effects
on the exudations left by former crops.

Fourth Meeting, June 4th.

" On tbe best mode of making hay and clover,
also stacking and securing them, including the gene-
ral management of grass lands."

First, as to the stage of growth in which clover
and grass ought to be cut. On this point we ob-»
served little difference of opinion, clover being con-
sidered fit when in full bloom, and grass when it be-
gins to change colour ; but the state of the weather^
it appeared, occasions such variations in the rest of
the process of hay-making, that it is difficult to de-
fine a method, or to arrive at any conclusions which
it would be at all times expedient to follow.

Some members recommended making clover on
the swathe, merely turning it the day before carting,
never cocking it at all, asserting that cocks are use-
less as a defence against weather, and when wetted
very troublesome to dry.

An experiment was detailed to shew the compa-
rative value of two different modes of making clover
hay. The one-eigbth of an acre of clover was
mown on the '24th of May ; half was turned on the
26th, cocked '29th, uncocked 31st at noon, recocked
same day, and uncocked again at noon, June 1st— it
weighed 2541 bs. The other half was not touched till
tbe 31st, when it was turned ; next day it was quite
fit for carting, and weighed 295lbs. This person's
conviction was, that the more it is stirred, especially
in wet weather, the more it spoils.

Other members thought cocks did protect clover
in unsettled weather, but that they occasioned a use-
less expense in fine. A third party held out strongly
against making cbver entirely on the swathe,
alleging that it gets unevenly made, and in unkindly
seasons it does much injury to the plant beneath.
The appearance of clover is apt to deceive, and can
never be depended upon unless it has undergone the
sweating process upon the cock ; if this be not al-
lowed, it will take place upon the stack, and being
there unmanageable, it will probably run on to ex-
cess, producing mouldiness or superabundant heat.
These injurious consequences it was said might be
averted by cocking while yet green, as quickly as
possible after it became dry; and that if it were
proper to dispense with cocking at all, it is with a
second crop, to which it is of the least use as a means
of defence.

Such opposite views brought forth two amend-
ments to the annexed motion — " That clover be left
on the swathe till three-quarters made ; turned and
cocked same night, and stirred as little as possible
till carting." 1 st amendment— "That clover be turned
and cocked two or three days after cutting." 2nd
amendment — " That clover should never be cocked
unless there is a prospect of wet weather."

A shew of hands being taken, there was a slight
preponderance in favour of the first amendment.

In regard to converting grass into hay, the Club
concurred in opinion that it should remain on the
swathe in unfavourable weather. Strewing late in

8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

he day was generally objected to. Grass it appears
is injured by the night dews, and equally so by a
burning sun. It makes upon the cock as well as
clover, retaining its weight, colour, and fragrance
at the same time that it is secure from wet ; hence it
seemed many persons get their grass into small
cocks as soon as it can be obtained dry. The follow-
ing resolution was therefore recorded by a verv
large majority : — Resolved, "That grass be cut and
strewed the same day; wind-rowed the next
morning, shaken out and cocked the same evening."
The minority voted " that, if dry, it should be put
upon grass cocks the same night."

The sentiments of the Club on the management of
grass lands are comprised in the following resolu-
tion :— Resolved, " That in this neighbourhood it is
better to feed pastures with neat stock, and colts, and
occasionally only with sheep ; that grass lands when
mown ought sometimes to be manured ; that as it is
almost impossible for the farmer to spare a sufficiency
of farm-yard manure for that purpose, it is much to
be wished that some satisfactory result may be ob-
tained relative to the use of some artificial manure as
a substitute." It appeared that one of the members,
having observed the increase of straw arising from
the employment of nitrate of soda, was induced to
try it for grass at the rate of one cwt. to the acre,
and the experiment succeeded. Another used it on
two pastures — one very poor, the other tolerably
good ; it failed on the first, and answered on the last.
Other substances had been tried by different members
without any very decided effect.

Fifth Meeting, July 2nd.
" The best mode of cleaning corn — hoeing or
weeding ; and general harvest work."

The majority of the members disagreed with those
who never hoe wheat, but who always allow weeds
to attain sufficient strength and size to bear pulling
by hand. The reasons given were these : that
hoeing on heavy lands may be safely and profitably
continued up to April ; that large weeds occupy the
place of, rob, and impede the growth of the corn ;
and that in consequence of the height of the latter,
only men can weed, the expense of which is
necessarily great. The rapid growth of weeds how-
ever will sometimes render it necessary to attack
them after March, and unavoidable circumstances
will occasionally prevent hoeing in proper time : in
these cases weeding by hand must be resorted to, as
late hoeing injures the surface roots.

The conclusion arrived at will likewise shew that
early harrowing is generally advocated in this
district ; but there were some who omit it, and use
the hoe only, considering that it answers all the
purposes of the harrows for loosening the soil and is
more effectual for weeds.

A division gave the following resolution : — " That
wheat on heavy lands should be hoed once or twice
till April ; on light lands till March only ; and that it
is better to cut up weeds early than to let them stand
till they grow large."

As to barley, a large majority voted for weeding
by hand only ; the minority for hoeing early, as beino-
exceedingly beneficial when the surface is crusty",
more quickly done, and more efficacious, particularly
where black grass abounds.

Peas and beans all agreed should be hoed twice,
as soon as possible. Some gentlemen, who had
successfully adopted wide planting (five rows to the
stetch), staged that that system enabled them with the
horse hoe to clean seven acres per day.

Evidence was adduced of thistles being more

certainly destroyed by cutting them an inch above
the ground than just at the surface.

The discussion of general harvest work enabled
the Club to give a more conclusive opinion than was
obtained last year on the mowing of wheat. In the
harvest of 1840, mowing was extensively tried by
several members, who stated it is more expeditious,
and of course less expensive ; it yields more and
longer straw ; the expense of haulmingis saved;
the sheaves coming to an edge on the shock are not
so easily wetted, and when wet are sooner dried in
consequence of being packed loose ; it leaves the
land immediately ready for the plough; and the
men, if paid the same as for reaping, prefer it to the
sickle. Another method of cutting wheat was
alluded to, called scrogging ; and which, according to
the description given, combines all the advantages of
mowing with greater neatness.

August. — No Meeting, on account of harvest.
Septembeh. — No Meeting, owing to the continuance

of harvest, occasioned by the extreme wetness of

the season.

Sixth Meeting, October 1st.

" The propriety of manuring young layers and
barley stubbles for beans." On this subject the
subjoined resolution was carried almost unanimously,
viz., " That it is a good practice to muck for beans ;
and likewise highly desirable to manure young
clover layers."

The Club seemed so entirely of this opinion, that
there was but little matter left for debate. The
chief argument by which it was supported is the ad
vantage which it gives of obtaining two crops before
the fallow occurs.

At the Genral Meeting, November the 5th, the

Prizes were adjudged as follows — for the
Three best red mangel wurzel, to Mr. Henry

Keer.
Three ditto yellow ditto, to Mr. Henry Kerr.
Three ditto Swede turnips, to Mr. James Read.
Three ditto round white ditto, to Mr. James

Read.
Three ditto pudding ditto, to Mr. James Read.
Best white wheat, to Mr. Harsant Sutton.
Ditto red ditto, to Mr. John Peirson.
Ditto barley, to Mr. Goodwyn Goodwyn.
Ditto tick beans, to Mr. Goodwyn Goodwyn.
Ditto Mazagan ditto, to Mr. Henry Keer.
Ditto maple peas, to Mr. Goodwyn Goodwyn.

The Cottagers' Prizes u-ere awarded :

(potatoes)

1. to EphraimHarsum, labourer to Mr. G. Goodwyn,

for the 1st best.

2. to Joseph Keeble, labourer to Mr. H. Keer, for

the 2nd best.

3. to Jonathan Smyth, labourer to Mr. E.Gooch, for

the 3rd best.

4. to John Moore, labourer to Mr. J. Pierson, for

the 4th best.

(onions)

1. to Robert Sheldrake, labourer to Mr. S. Goodwyn,

for the 1st best.

2. to Isaac Beaumont, labourer to Mr. J. Peirson,

for the 2nd best.

3. to David Hearsum, labourer to Mr. E. Gooch, for

the 3rd best.

4. to John Tye, recommended by the Rev. J. W.

Darby, for the 4th best.

Before we close our report, permit us to offer one
word on the plan which we have adopted of dis-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

9

posing- of a part of our subscriptions as awards to

our labourers for the best specimens of garden

produce. We believe you will agree with us, that

this is calculated lo excite a desirable spirit of

emulation amongst that useful class of persons, and

cannot fail to strengthen that identity of interest

which ought at all times to subsist between master

and servant.

T* ^i r\ • . f John Peirson, Chairman,
ror the Committee-^ TT r, c .

(_ Henry Ci.utten, Secretary.

The Library now includes the following works : —

58 Nos. of the Farmers' Magazine, commencing
with February 1840.

(3 Quarterly Paits of the Royal English Agricul-
tural Society.

6 Nos. of the Highland Society's Journal.

2 Alexander's Essay on the soils of East Suffolk.

Hay ward's Agriculture.

Johnson on Fertilizers.

British Husbandry, 2 vols.

Liebig's Organic Chemistry.

Morton on Soils.

Hillvard's Summary of Fanning.

Low's Practical Agriculture.

Smith, on thorough Draining.

The complete Grazier.

Daubeny's three Lectures on Agriculture,
and continues to receive four copies per month of
the Farmers' Magazine, and two copies per cjuarter
of the Royal Agricultural and Highland Societies'
Journals as they issue ; and such other works will be
added in the course of the year as may be decided
upon by the members.

SAPCOTE COW CLUB.

ESTABLISHED 25TH MARCH, 1840.*

RULES AND REGULATIONS.

Patrons. — Thos. Frewen, Esq.; Mrs. Frewcn
Turner ; Rev. John Bickersteth ; Mr. Thos. Spen-
cer ; Mr. Nurse ; Mr. Perkins. Treasurer —
Mr. Nurse. Honorary Secretary — Mr. Britton.

The object of this society is to raise, from time
to time, by quarterly payments among the mem-
bers thereof, by voluntary contributions, or by
donations, a fund to indemnify the insuring mem-
bers against the loss of their cows.

RULES.

1. A committee, consisting of five of the cot-
tagers, shall be elected annually, on the 25th of
March, or on the day following, if that day hap-
pens on a Sunday, who, with the treasurer and
secretary, shall manage the affairs of this institu-
tion. Not less than three of the cottagers, with
the treasurer and secretary, shall be competent to
form a meeting. If a vacancy occur in any of the
said offices, it may be filled up at a special meeting.

2. That the secretary shall be convener of
committee and general meetings, and at all these
he shall attend, or provide a substitute, to make
minutes of their proceedings.

[* A correspondent has communicated to us a
remarkable instance of the value of these clubs. A
cottager, having paid his subscription of two shil-
lings for one quarter to the club, lost his cow in a
fortnight afterwards, and received ten pounds from
the club to purchase another. — Ed. F. Mag.]

3. Every cottager shall pay for each cow in-
sured for 107. 10s., two shillings per quarter; for
each cow insured for 7/. 17s. 6'd., one shilling and
sixpence per quarter ; and for each cow insured
for 52. 5s., one shilling per quarter. The quar-
terly payments to be paid to the treasurer, who
shall be elected by the cottagers.

4. Upon the death of any cow, a meeting shall
immediately be held of the committee, to inquire
into the manner of her death ; and if it appear to
have been caused by the neglect of the owner, he
shall receive no benefit from this society ; hut
otherwise, there shall be paid by the treasurer to
the owner the sum for which she was insured.
The proceeds of the dead animal to be paid to the
treasurer.

5. No owner of a cow above fifteen years old
shall receive any compensation for her loss ; nei-
ther shall any compensation be allowed for the
loss of a cow whose death may have been occa-
sioned by straying out of her pasture and feeding
upon clover or turnips, which may have caused
her to become swelled or choked ; and members
who neglect to provide the best medical advice at
their own cost, shall be deprived of all benefit
from this society.

6. When the funds of this society amount to
the sum of 2l/., the payments to it' shall cease,
until reduced by loss.

7. A register, describing the colour, age, and
any particular mark of each cow, shall be kept by
the secretary ; reference to which shall be deci-
sive, regarding any dispute that may arise respect-
ing the age of a cow.

8. The money shall be lodged in the Savings'
Bank, in the name of the treasurer, on the first
open day after it is received.

9. No person, keeping more than three cows,
shall be admitted a member of this society.

10. Previous to any cow being insured, she
shall be examined by the committee, who shall
take care that she is not insured for more than
her value, and they shall also have power to re-
ject such cows being insured as they may consider
ineligible.

11. All assuring members shall be required to
assent to the rules and regulations of this society,
by signing their names to the same.

12. Any member neglecting to pay his quar-
terly payment to the treasurer on the day it he-
comes due, shall forfeit sixpence ; and if he neg-
lect paying the same within one month after that
time, he shall forfeit half-a-crown, or be excluded
from this society. The secretary will be required
to give notice to each member of the time and
place appointed to receive the quarterly nav-
ments. :

13. Any person becoming a member of this
society at any period after the same has been
established, shall, on admission, pay such sum of
money as shall be previously fixed upon by the
committee.

14. Any member ceasing to keep a cow or
cows, shall receive from the funds of this society
the amount of his share of money at that time in
hand, after deducting the amount paid by hono-
rary members, or by donations.

_ 15. All disputed questions which may arise
either at committee or general meetings, shall be
decided by vote by ballot ; and at every meeting a
chairman shall be appointed, who shall be em-
powered (when necessary) to give the casting
vote.

10

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON SHOEING HORSES.

Sir, — In this month's Magazine you give a quo-
tation from the " Veterinarian" of an improved
mode of shoeing, by E. Gabriel, Esq., which is a
subject of great importance to all using hackneys,
hunters, or carriage horses. It is lamentable to
see the number of the most useful horses which
are now rendered useless from being tender footed,
in the period of life they ought to be only entering
on their service. This is, I believe, brought on by
early and bad shoeing. I had a pony which I had
broken when it was rising three years old, and
being convinced how injurious it was to confine
the unformed foot of a horse of that age within
the limit of an iron frame, and thereby preventing
the expansion of the base of a conical shaped foot,
I had it shod in two distinct half shoes, over-
lapping at the toe by bevelled edges ; by this
means the feet were not contracted, but in the
course of twelve months there was a slight ten-
dency to produce a split in the toe, above the part
where the halves joined. When I have occasion
to shoe so early again, I think varying the point
of contact may prevent -this defect. I believe it
would be quite possible to produce lameness by
shoeing early and successively without working
the horse, as the hoof being made narrower by
that means than it would naturally have been,
the working of the horse when at full age would
soon produce lameness by the want of room with-
in the hard hoof. I wish some professional man
would take this subject up, and many horses may,
I am persuaded, be preserved so as to work three
times as long as they now do, without lameness.

Another subject I would refer to is the article
of under-draining. It is stated, tile drains are to
have a fall of 1 to 2 feet in 300 feet of drain.
There are many situations where no such fall can
be got without having the drains proportionably
shallow, but where the drains are near three foot
deep, has not the pressure of the water through
that depth some effect, similar to the fall in the
drain itself in driving the current in the tile drain.
I wish some scientific drainer to say, with refe-
rence to such a depth of draining, whether there
is a necessity for a fall equal to one foot in 300 in
the drain itself. I fancy depth in the drain is
material for the ensuring a depth of dried subsoil,
and the possibility of afterwards using the subsoil
plough.

There are so many different times in the king-
dom for entry on farms, and different usages as to
tenant rights, that I ihink an opportunity is offered
in discussing their respective merits ; and, if pos-
sible, to bring them to a common standard which
may appear to be the best adapted to combine
convenience to the tenant with safety to the land-
lord, and the promotion of good cultivation. A
letter from tenants or agents from districts where
the practices are varying with the arguments in
favour of each would at oncefairlv open the ques-
tion, and perhaps produce beneficial results.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Holdemm, Dec. 4, 1841. Ploughshare.

FRAMUNGHAM FARMERS' CLUB.-Subjects
for the ensuing' eleven months : —

January 25, 1842.— The best management of fences
and planting of cmiek. — Mr. Scotchmer.

February 22. — Top dressings. — Mr. W. Bloss.

March 29. — Deficient layers.— Mr. S. Goodwyn,
Kail-Soham.

April 26. — Rearing and weaning neat stock.— Mr.
James Read.

May 24— The best mode of making hay and clover.
—Mr. C. Smith.

June 27. — Best management of cows and swine. —
Mr. G. Goodwyn.

July 19. — On agriculture as a science. — Mr. G.
Edwards.

August. — No meeting.

September 20. — The rotation of crops. — Mr. John
Edwards.

October 18. — On the necessity of keeping farming
accounts, and best method of doing so. — Mr. James
Barker, Jun.

November 15. — General meeting; show of sweep-
stakes for roots and corn, and prizes awarded to cot-
tagers for vegetables.

ON THE CULTURE AND USEFUL-
NESS OF THE ITALIAN RYE
GRASS (LOLIUM TRIFOLIUM.)

BY J. RODWELL, ESQ.

The following are the results taken from a field
of six acres of alluvial soil, sandy loam, with a
subsoil of clay : —

The preparation was beet root sown in May,
1838, followed by wheat drilled in November, 1838.

On the 4th of May, 1839, four pecks an acre of
the Italian rye grass were sown (with " Bennett's
seed engine" ) and hoed in with the crop of wheat
then growing. Sept. 20. — Harvested a very heavy
crop of wheat, the rye grass rather weak ; but the
wheat being removed, the rye grass soon became
vigorous and strong, and the autumnal crop fed
by sheep, and carried eight sheep to the acre from
Oct. 20 to Nov. 17, four weeks.

1840, March 26'. — Plants of rye grass now
very strong, and the blades 14 inches long-
heading for seed) as represented in figure No.
1 : this growth fed with sheep from March 26
to May 1, and carried 20 sheep with their
lambs (most of them twins) to the acre five
weeks ; thus affording a healthy and nutritious
food, both sheep and lambs doing well upon it
in the most difficult and trying part of the year.

From the 1st of May, the whole field was saved for
seed, and mown July 7, its growth having been
very rapid and luxuriant in comparison with other
grasses. The figure No. 2 represents the plant in its
then stage, being an average of four feet eight
inches long, the growth of sixty-five days only,
and its produce thirty bushels of seed to the acre,
with a ton and half of straw per acre, which was
eaten by every kind of cattle, (particularly sheep)
with great avidity. The succeeding growth was
again fed with sheep, and carried ten sheep
to the acre fourteen weeks.

The figure No. 3, represents the third growth of
this plant in a field of stiff loam of four acres,
where it was sown with red clover, and hoed in
with the wheat in May, 1839; the first growth
being fed in March and April, when the sheep
gave a preference to the rye grass by selecting it
from the clover. The second growth was mown
with clover for stover, July 8, the rye grass being
five feet long ; and the third growth was mown
August 30, being four feet in length, the growth
ofr>4days; this crop was used in its green state
for soiling horses and cows in the yard.

We have thus shewn not only the rapid growth
and luxuriance of this valuable plant as early

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

11

spring feed for sheep or other cattle, as well as kind of cattle over any other grass with which we
its great productiveness during the summer ; but have had the opportunity of testing it.
in every case, the preference given to it by every Alderton, near Woodbirdge.

u

Fig. 1.

Fig, 2.

Fig. 3.

12

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAR-
MER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — The disinterestedness and impartiality
with which your valuahle and widely-circulated
Journal is conducted, is a convincing proof of
your anxiety to promote the welfare, not only of
the scientific agriculturist, but also the plain,
homely farmer ; and as your columns are open to
ail who treat upon agriculture, I have been in-
duced to send a few papers on the subject for
insertion, should you deem such unscientific pro-
ductions worthy of attention : they are headed and
addressed to the farmer, and numbered progres-
sively. I am, Sir, yours, &c,

Dec, 1841. Delta.

THE FARMER.

No. I.

The innumerable and valuable treatises on
agricultural subjects which abound in this coun-
try, are for the most part written so elaborate and
scientific, and the plans and experiments recom-
mended involving so much expensive outlay, as
to he beyond the reach and comprehension of the
uneducated working husbandman. The following
hints have been drawn up with a view of enabling
the small farmer to improve Mi condition by in-
dustry and economy ; these hints are written in a
plain, familiar style, containing sound practical
advice, which it is hoped may be found acceptable
and useful, and if followed cannot fail of produ-
cing beneficial results.

ON MANURE.— No. I.

There is not any subject connected with farming
that demands greater attention than that of ma-
nure : for no soil, be it ever so good, but may be
rendered more fertile by manure ; and no soil, ever
so bad, but may by proper care and judicious ma-
nuring be brought to a beneficial state of cultiva-
tion.

It is too often the complaint of farmers that they
cannot procure a sufficient quantity of manure to
improve their ground with, particularly if they
are at a distance from towns : but it may be asked
— have they made the best use of what they do pos-
sess ? do they take proper care not to let any ma-
nure lay waste? In how many instances may we
see the farmer's great neglect of that useful ar-
ticle ! As you approach some of the farm-houses
in the country, you will find the road for a consi-
derable distance before you reach the house, nearly
impassable from the accumulation of mud and
vegetable matter in various stages of decomposi-
tion ; and when you do arrive at the farm-yard
(the adoption of' which is, the more to be re-
gretted, extremely slow), you there find the dung-
heaps scattered about in woful confusion, as if
the manure was of no value ; thus allowing the
sun and wind to absorb the most nutritious par-
ticles, and consequently what remains may be
considered little better than the exhausted soil to
which it is consigned in the spring, in the time of
barley sowing. Few of our farmers have yet
deemed it requisite to manure their land for oats,
although they complain of light crops.

The preceding observations are not intended as

a reflection on the character and negligence of

ny individual, but merely stated for the purpose

of calling attention to so momentous a subject, and
for the farmer's general benefit.

We shall now proceed to make a few statements
whereby the foregoing hints may be wrought out
with beneficial effect. We have already noticed
the impropriety of suffering the manure to be
spread abroad in different quantities ; we must
now state that in the first place all the manure, of
whatever kind, in the farmyard, should be col-
lected together into one heap or dunghill, and that
such dunghill (if possible) should be placed in
such a position as to admit of the water of the
yard passing through or by it, to a pond or hollow
ground below it : the water thus accumulated
should be as carefully preserved as the dung, and
such water, in the early part of the summer, be-
fore the grass grows high, should be made use of,
by means of water-carts, in watering the hay-
ground, if the position of the ground does not
admit of natural irrigation ; as it has been proved
by experience that the watering of bay-ground
with water proceeding from dunghills, as above
stated, has produced such an extra quantity of hay,
as in many instances to amount to a double crop.
The dung, by being brought together into a com-
pact mass, retains the nutritious salts and vege-
table matter, as may be seen by the exuberant
vegetable growth upon old dunghills. It must
always be the farmer's primary object to make his
manure as fertilizing as possible ; and if the noble
and valuable science of agricultural chemistry was
more known and practised, we should have fewer
poor farmers.

The mud and decayed vegetable matter alluded
to as obstructing the lanes and roads near the
farm-houses, should be collected into large heaps,
and a due portion of lime mixed therewith ; it
would thus form marl, a most useful substance
for renovating: the soil of hay, or corn ground.
Although the saline particles of lime are well
known to be beneficial to most soils, they are
rendered much more valuable and permanent
when mixed with a due portion of road-scrapings,
or mud out of ditches or ponds.

The fertilizing power of manure does not lie in
the name of it : it acts upon the soil and upon the
seed by chemical properties, and those of the most
subtile description ; it also acts upon itself in its
progress towards that state which renders it fit
for the field ; and the degree of its excellence and
utility must in a great measure depend upon this
action being properly sustained : whereas, in a
manure heap carelessly thrown together, the ac-
tion in one part is violent to destructiveness, and
in another part does not take place at all. It can
no more be said to enjoy a healthy fermentation,
than a man to enjoy a healthy warmth of vitality,
when one part of his body is in a state bordering
upon spontaneous combustion, and another cold
to congelation. Take, for instance, stable manure,
and the too prevalent practice with it : the ordure
and wettest portion of the litter is thrown by bar-
rowsful into one part of the dunghill, and the dry
litter into another, instead of both being carefully
intermixed ; and are thus left in uneven heaps, in-
stead of being regularly spread in layers day after
day. If the farmer would but superintend the
mixing of his dunghill, and get it properly spread
every day — and it occupies quite as much time to
do it wrong as right — he would find his extra care
and attention amply repaid by the increase of his
crops, from the extra fertilizing power of his ma-
nure. Delta.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

13

ON LEASES, GAME LAWS, &c.

TO THE EDITOR OV THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sin, — I Lave been much gratified by the perusal
of the sensible letter of Mr. Wyatt, in your last num-
ber.'The subject upon which be writes is of vast
importance, not only to the owners and occupiers of
the soil merely, but to the whole nation ; as upon the
settlement of it upon a right foundation, depends
whether the quantity of home-grown food is to be
equal to the demand, or inadequate to it — whether
the importation of foreign corn in future be unneces-
sary, or be required at the rate of two or three mil-
lion quarters per annum ; of the effects of the latter
upon us we have lately had a tolerable specimen. I
am one of those, Mr. Editor, who are vain enough to
believe that we are capable of producing food for a
greater population than now exists, if we had a fair
field and no favour, or more properly, no hindrance ;
and really if words could give it to us, we should have
nothing to complain of at present, for there is scarce-
ly an instance to be found of a landlord who is not
professedly anxious that, the produce of the soil he
owns should be increased, or who does not at a pub-
lic meeting heartily encore the sentiment that " he
who causes two blades of grass or stalks of corn to
grow where only one grew before, is a benefactor to
bis country;'' but unfortunately, there are things es-
sential to an improved and increased cultivation
other than after-dinner speeches, let the flights of
eloquence on those occasions be never so lofty. I
know nothing of the Duke of Richmond, or Lords
Spencer or Leicester, except as public characters,
but I do know that there are noblemen who appear
at agricultural meetings to be great friends to the
home cultivator, and yet who are ardently engaged
on their estates in pursuing that which is as detri-
mental to good farming as possible ; who look on an
immense stock of game as the principal object — a pro-
fusion of thorns, furze, briars, fern, and any other
kind of rubbish to furnish cover for them, as next in
importance, and the prosperity of their tenantry and
the good of the country as secondary to both. I am
aware that it is a very delicate subject to touch upon,
and that it is never so much as breathed in the pre-
sence of the great : the occupier who should so far
forget himself as to bring it "betwixt the wind and
their nobility" at an annual gathering of the " sons
of the soil," would never have the opportunity of
doing so again; but with the acknowledged necessity
which exists of raising as much home-grown produce
as we are able, to keep pace with our increasing
population, and the expressed desire of both land-
lord and tenant to do so, echoed from Cornwall to
Caithness, it renders it imperative that a system
which lessens that supply by some hundreds of
thousands of quarters, as the quantity of game kept
on a large portion of the kingdom undoubtedly does,
should not remain in the back ground, but should be
exhibited in its true colours, as one of the greatest
drawbacks upon cultivation which exists, let it give
offence to whom it may ; for it is not a party ques-
tion, as Tory, Whig, and Radical are equally impli-
cated. 1 do not call attention to it on the ground of
its demoralizing effects on the lower orders, though
many an inmate of our hulks and penal settlements
has become so through the temptation to possess a
hare, at a time when he would have recoiled at the
idea of stealing poultry or sheep, till the irregular ha-
bits brought on by poaching have led him to the com-
mission of greater evils ; nor on the plea of its being
on injury done to the tenant, in the partial des-

truction of the crops which it has cost him so much
expence and anxiety to raise, though the occupiers
of a well-stocked estate are effectually prevented
thereby from laying anything up against a rainy day,
even though their farms may be somewhat lower
rented than they would be if no game existed ; but I
look upon it in the light of a system which sends our
cornfactors to Dantzig and Hamburg for that corn
which under a better and more honest state of things
(to say nothing about honour), we could furnish at
home. It has a very adverse influence too upon
those kindly feelingswbich should exist betwixt the
owner and occupier : no tenant who has any spirit
about him and is an improver, will willingly be a
sloven in his fields, and how can he view his land-
lord's approach with pleasure, when he well knows
by previous experience that the subject-matter of
conversation most probably will be a reprimand for
some fence reduced to more reasonable dimensions,
or briars cut up, or mere stubbed, or grass and rushes
in his pastured cares mown for fodder, or furze
cleared off, or fern cut on his sand land for litter,
or stubbles ploughed too early, or wheat mown, or
leveret which his little terrier'dog, kept to destroy
rats on the homestead, is supposed to have killed,
or any of the tbousand-and-one thing which be may
have the occasional hardihood to commit, in carrying
out his ideas of improvement 1 Or how can his feel-
ings of gratitude be other than lessened when he be-
holds him, who ought to be neuter, if be will not
aid him, zealously employed in raising and pre-
serving animals to prey upon the fruits of his indus-
try! The farmer has difficulties enough from other
quarters to contend with, without his landlord in-
creasing tbem ; and when the latter is the case, there
is sufficient cause for his energies and activity be-
ing decreased, without any necessity of calling
in " ignorance and prejudice" to account for his
conduct.

I do not wish to allude to anything political, fur-
ther than bears directly upon practical agriculture,
but I cannot view the game-laws but as a somewhat
modern edition of the old forest laws, introduced
after the battle of Hastings — as a relic of feudal bar-
barism, originally acted upon when the Barons and
their vassals constituted nearly the whole popula-
tion of the realm, but no more in accordance with the
spirit of the present age, than the vessel used by the
piratical Danes compared with a forty-four gun
frigate. The cultivators of the soil must bestir them-
selves in right earnest, if they mean to maintain
their ground, and endeavour to get rid of everything
which prevents them from making the best of the soil
they till, let the hindrance emanate from what quar-
ter it may. The evil of which I complain, is one from
which the tenant with a 21 years' lease and the
tenant at will equally suffer; it takes a seri-
ous per centage from the corn which otherwise
would be produced, and narrows the space to
grow it upon. In return for the protection
afforded us by the corn laws, we are bound in
common justice to bring as great a quantity of
produce into the market as we can. We are well able
to supply that market abundantly if allowed to have
fair play ; and the obstacles which interpose must
give way sooner or later, whether they exist on the
parchment scroll, tying the farmer's hands, or in the
field, destroying bis crops after be is in a fair way of
reaping the fruits of his labour. Nor must he be di-
verted from his purpose by the supposed benefit to
be derived from certain geological researches, for
the only certainty hitherto arrived at from the prob-
ings of sundry reverend and learned pundits into

14

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the earth, appears to be, " that He who made it and
revealed its date to Moses, was mistaken in its age"
— a result not yet likely to add an additional ton to
the produce of an acre of Swedes, or a single bushel
to one of wheat. How far a landowner may do what
he likes with his own, I shall not stop to enquire ;
but as long as a considerable portion of the soil of
England is managed upon present principles, a se-
rious injury and injustice is done to the great mass
of consumers, in the enhancement of price at home,
and the importations from abroad, which the practi-
cal working of the game laws in particular occasions ;
of the which, a tolerable idea may be formed from
the announcement from time to time in the news-
papers of the grand battues here and there, in which
hares and pheasants are slain by the hundred. I
have taken but a disjointed view of the subject, I
fear ; but leave it for the consideration of Mr. Wyatt
and your other intelligent subscribers; and, thank-
ing you, Sir, for allowing both sides of a question to
be discussed,

I remain, yours respectfully,
Dec. 15. A Tenant Farmer.

UPON THE MAKING OF CIDER.

(written for the ROSS farmers' clwb.)

The production of good cider must depend upon
the description of fruit of which it is made, the sea-
son and state of the apples when they are crushed,
and the management of the juice whilst it is fer-
menting. It will therefore be proper to consider
the subject under these three heads separately : —

The kind of apple ichich makes the best cider. — The
acid which gives the peculiar quick and sharp feel-
ing upon the palate in good cider, having been first
noticed in the apple, ul though it exists in many
other fruits, has been termed the malic acid. It may
not be too much to say, that it is the due combina-
tion of this acid with saccharine matter, namely, the
sugar of the apple, properly fermented, which are
the objects to be aimed at in the manufacture of
cider. In the selection of the fruit, will depend the
proportion of malic acid contained in the liquor.
The crab has a much greater quantity of this acid
than the cultivated fruit ; and generally speaking,
in proportion as we obtain sweetness by culture, we
deprive the apple of its malic acid. Hence, it fol-
lows that some delicious table fruits will not make
good cider: this rule, however, is not invariable, as
the golden pippin and some other fine apples appear
to contain the proper admixture of acid and sweet-
ness which is desirable in the liquor. Mr. Knight
recommends that the different sorts of fruit be kept
separate, and considers that only those apples which
are yellow or mixed with red make good cider, and
that the fruit of which the flesh or rind is green are
very inferior ; he recommends that the apples should
be perfectly ripe, even mellow, but never decayed,
before they are crushed. There was a curious ma-
nuscript written by Dr. John Beale, a fellow of the
lloyal Society in 1657, upon the subject, from
which the following are extracts: — "Crabs and
wild pears, such as grow in the wildest and barren
clifts, and on hills, make the richest, strongest, the
most pleasant, and lasting wines that England yet
yields, or is ever likely to yield. I have so well
proved it already by so many hundred experiments
in Herefordshire, that wise men tell me that these

parts of England are some hundred thousand pounds
sterling the better for the knowledge of it." lie
mentions of these kinds of austere fruit the Broms-
bury crab, the Barland pear, and intimates " that
though the discovery of them was then but lately
made, yet they had gotten a great reputation." He
adds, " the soft crab and white or red horse-pear
excel them and all others known or spoken of in
other countries." Of the red horse-pear of Feltoo
or Longland, he says, " that it has a pleasant mas-
culine rigour, especially in dry grounds, and has a
peculiar property to overcome all blasts." Of the
quality of the fruit he observes, "such is the effect
which the austerity has on the mouth on tasting the
liquor, that the rustics declare it is as if the roof
were filed away ; and that neither man nor beast
care to touch one of these pears, though ever so
ripe." Of the pear called imny winter pear, which
grows about Ross, in that county, he observes,
" that it is of no use but for cider; that if a thief
steal it, he would incur a speedy vengeance, it
being a furious purger ; but being joined with well-
chosen crabs, and reserved to a due maturity, be-
comes richer than good French wine; but if drunk
before the time, it stupefies the roof of the mouth,
assaults the brain, and purges more violently than
a Galenist." Of the quality of the liquor he says,
" according as it is managed, it proves strong Rhe-
nish, Barrack, yea, pleasant Canary, sugared of
itself, or as rough as the fiercest Greek wine, open-
ing, or binding, holding one, two, three, or more
years, so that no mortal can yet say at what age it is
past the best. This we can say, that we have kept
it until it burn as quickly as sack, draws the flame
like naphtha, and tires the stomach like aqua vitas."
Thus there appears a great difference between the
opinions of the two men who probably paid more at-
tention to the subject than any other; and the ques-
tion naturally arises, is the cider and perry of the
county as good or better than it used to be, after
greater attention having been paid to the orchards ?
I am decidedly of opinion that it is inferior; and it
was this impression which caused me to venture to
call your attention to the subject. If such be the
case, it is a great object to ascertain what has
caused the deterioration in the liquor. I believe
that it is for want of a due proportion of the pecu-
liar acid which is found in the greatest quantity in
the wild fruit ; and beg to suggest whether it would
not be worth while to try back, and mix a certain
quantity of crabs with the fruit before it is crushed.
VVe have many of us tasted, and all heard of, the
Stire and Hagloe crab cider, both of which were so
celebrated for their rich quality ; and these fruits
differed little from wild apples. It is known that
the juice of crabs, if kept long enough, will make
excellent vinegar ; every housewife knows that,
however sour the liquor may be at first, it will not
answer for pickling, but that if kept a sufficient
time, there is no better for the purpose. It cannot
be supposed that one acid is changed into another
without passing through an intermediate stage, and
this must be the malic acid, having been converted
into sugar, which it appears in the ripening of fruit
it has a natural tendency to do. The object in
making cider of such fruit, is to prevent the sugar
when formed passing on to the acetous fermentation.
A singular circumstance occurred at Baysham : a
hogshead was filled with crab juice, intending to
keep it till it became vinegar ; but the cask was
tapped by mistake, and supposed to be cider until
it was all drunk, which in fact it was. Crab juice
ferments much more slowly than the juice of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

15

apple, probably owing to there not being enough
sugar already formed in the liquor : but i am of
opinion that if some of the heading from a cask of
cider in a state of fermentation were added to the
crab juice, that it would ferment as readily, and
clear itself as soon, as the juice of the apple. Owing
to the slowness of its fermentation, it takes a great
deal of lime to convert the juice of crabs into vino-
gar ; but it is found that if, alter crushing them, the
must be put into a cask for some days, till it heats
considerably, and that if the liquor afterwards be
ground with this must and pressed again, it will
pass into vinegar immediately. 1 therefore strongly
recommend a mixture of the most austere and hard-
est apples which can be procured with the soft and
mellow fruit before it is crushed.

The best time of the year for making cider. — It has
been before observed that Mr. Knight recommends
the fruit to be perfectly ripe, even mellow, before it
is crushed ; and this can only happen late in the
autumn. As it is known to be more difficult to ma-
nage the fermentation of the liquor in warm weather,
it is usual to defer making cider till November and
December; if, however, the liquor can be put into
a cold cellar after the first fermentation is over, I
am of opinion that it might be commenced earlier.
The juice of unripe fruit ferments more quickly than
of that which is ripe, and contains more malic acid.
Where there is the convenience of a good under-
ground cellar, the difference of temperature between
that and the outward air is greater in moderately
warm weather than in November ; so that if the
liquor were fermented under sheds, as Mr. Knight
recommends (and his instructions as to the manage-
ment of the cider whilst fermenting are excellent),
and as soon as fine, removed into the cold cellar, the
change of temperature would be greater at the end
of September than in November ; and this
would probably tend greatly to prevent the liquor
fermenting again. If the new cider cannot be re-
moved from the warmth of the atmosphere, there
can be no question that it is better to defer the
making till the weather becomes cool.

Fermentation of the Juice. — The researches of sci-
entific men, although very elaborate, have done very
little in throwing light upon the nature of fermenta-
tion ; it appears to partake in a measure of the vital
principle; of the phenomena attending which, we
know nothing. Many curious and interesting facts
have been discovered during the investigation, but
none of which appear likely to be of much use in
the making of cider. There are three kinds offer-
mentation, or rather, there are some products which
pass regularly through three stages of fermentation,
viz., the vinous, the acetous, and the putrescent. Other
substances pass at once to one or other of the latter
stages ; gum and water turning to vinegar without
forming any spirit, and meat at once putrifving. It
is not desiiable that the vinous fermentation should
be complete in the manufacture of cider, in which
case all the sugar of the apple would be converted
into spirit ; this never does happen without a por-
tion of vinegar being also formed, the acetous fer-
mentation going on jointly with the vinous, as, when
cider frets a great deal it may be very strong, but is
comparatively of little value, having lost all its
richness and become sour. The vinous fermenta-
tion stops naturally before it has run its course, and
it is the object of the maker to avail himself of this
property in the liquor, and to endeavour to prevent
any secondary fermentation taking place ; the num-

ber of schemes which have been suggested to pre-
vent which, showing that it is the most important
point to be attended to in the manufacture of good
cider. 1 am of opinion that the 100 gallon cask is
much better than larger, and that the liquor is not
only more easily managed, but more likely to be
goad; it maybe that cider in large casks becomes
stronger, but not so frequently rich, as in single
hogsheads. Although it may not be apparent, fer-
mentation commences as soon as the juice is ex-
pressed from the fruit ; and the sooner the cask is
filled and allowed to remain quiet, the more regular
and certain will be the process. What should we
think of a brewer who, whilst his beer was working,
brewed another quantity, and added the raw wort to
the first? Yet this is constantly done in filling a
large cask with cider ; or even worse, for the apple
juice is added cold, whereas the wort might be mixed
with the beer whilst warm. It would be greatly
better to keep the liquor in open tubs till enough be
obtained to fill the cask, and then put it together at
once. If I maybe allowed to suggest an experiment,
there is one use to which I should be very glad to
see a large cask applied ; that is, to fill it partly with
fresh must, and the remainder with boiling water ;
"the probable result would be a very pleasant and
useful liquor. Temperatures has much to do with
fermentation, and it would be of advantage to have
two cellars, one much colder than the other. If the
liquor, upon pitching fine, were racked into a clean
cask, and put into a cold cellar, there would be much
less risk of its fermenting again. I should recom-
mend no other liquor to be added to it; but in order
to prevent ullage, that it should be racked into a
smaller cask ; the less air admitted the better, and if
the cask be sound and iron bound, it may be better
to close it altogether at this time. The application
of cold will check fermentation immediately. I have
seen liquor in a state of froth, boiling out of a large
jar, suddenly reduced to a state of quiescence by
pumping upon the side of the jar. This fact induced
me to cause an experiment to be tried at Gay ton dur-
ing a very bad season for cider making, the weather
being very warm : a cask of juice was rolled from
the mill into a brook of cold water, and sunk by
stones attached to it ; it remained in that position till
nearly Christmas, and was so much better than any
other made there that year, that Mr. Newman ob-
tained double the price for that hogshead he did for
any of the rest. Perfect stillness is very desirable,
as motion is found to excite the acetous fermentation.
A bottle of wine, attached to the sail of a windmill
in motion was, after three days, converted into vine-
gar, although closely corked. When a second fer-
mentation does take place in cider, there is very
little hope of its being rich and good. In such
case I should recommend its being drawn out into
tubs, exposed to the cold as much as possible, and
after being thus flattened put back into the cask, at
the same time well stirring up the whites of fifteen
or twenty eggs previously mixed up with a portion
of the liquor; iftbis succeed in fining it, which pro-
bably it will, it may then be racked into a clean cask,
and closed as much as possible from the air. It is
probable that a great deal of mischief is caused by
some principle of fermentation remaining in the
cask; this might be prevented by well scalding be-
fore the casks are filled ; or what I think would be
better, by washing out the casks with clear lime
water: — one large piece of lime put into a hogshead
of water, and allowed to settle, would answer the
purpose. Some brimstone matches burned in the

16

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

cask would have a great tendency to prevent fermen-
tation. I shall not say much upon the mode of
crushing the apples and pressing out the juice, hav-
ing had so little practical experience, hut I have
always thought that if the fruit were crushed be-
tween wooden rollers, and allowed to drain before
being put under the atone, that the process would be
much expedited, as the apples sometimes roll before
the stone a long time before they are broken. In
Ireland they use a press formed by a lever, which
might be made at less expence than with a screw,
and be more quickly worked : it is impossible the
pressure can be too light at first, and it should be
increased gradually as the liquor runs from the must.
Two sets of bags, allowing one to drain for sometime
without pressure, would be an undoubted advan-
tage- Edward Piuchard.
Ross.

SATIRIST.

WINNER OF THE DONCASTER ST. LEGER,
1841.

(Plate II.)

The winner of the late St. Leger, from some
cause or other with which we are unacquainted,
never figured in the betting until within a very
short period of the race : consequently the intense
interest which generally accompanies a Leger
winner is so far diminished. True it is, that
Satirist cannot boast of the beautiful conformation
which characterizes his stable companion, Van
Amburgh, being lighter in the body, and ap-
parently weak in the loins ; but still it is a matter
of surprise to us and the sporting world generally,
that" nothing should have transpired respecting his
qualifications as a Leger nag until within a few
days before the race, as he is unquestionably
possessed of many good racing points ; and it is
very reasonable to suppose that his late trainer
might have discovered them at a much earlier
period.

Satirist, bred by the Marquis of Westminster,
got by Pantaloon, out of Sarcasm (bred in 1833),
by Tcniers, dam Ranter (dam of Touchstone,
Latincelot, and Lampoon), by Master Henry, out
of Boadicea (sister to Bucephalus), by Alexander,
her dam Brunette, by Amaranthus, out of Mayfly,
by Matchcm. Satirist is a brown horse, and
stands about 15 hands 2 inches high, with round
camel-like quarters; has a small head, high
shoulders, strong arms, and good legs, with a star
in the forehead, and a white near hind foot. It
may not be amiss here to make a few remarks on
the care requisite to bestow at this inclement
season of the year upon the racer, particularly as
great changes have taken place within the last
half century. It was formerly the practice to turn
out such horses to grass in the summer, and to a
sheltered straw-yard in the winter, where ab-
solute rest and natural food were to repair the
damages of over exertion. As long as the mode
of life and the occupation of the horse bore any
analogy to what he might be supposed to meet
with in a state of nature, no fault could be found
with this practice : but when racing became a
trade, and hunting grew to be little more than an
experiment to determine with what rapidity a

horse, a dog, a stag, fox, or hare, could race over
a portion of country, it then became necessary
that we should, to satisfy the fashion of the times,
train our horses to an extraordinary degree, not
only of speed, but also of strength and endurance ;
for, be it observed, the horse carried not only his
own weight but that of the rider likewise. The
accomplishment of such exertion could only be
effected by much artifice and vast expense; conse-
quently it was very desirable, when once acquired,
to retain both those properties in full activity. It
is a very generally received opinion, that race-
horses, after having been turned out, never wholly
recover their former speed ; and that the hunter,
when summered on grass, can seldom if ever be
brought into " high form" again before the
middle of the hunting season, and even then not
in the most blooming condition. Neither Is this
all; for it is an equally prevalent opinion among
observant sportsmen, that horses, which after
having been stabled for several years are then
turned out to grass, do not thrive ; but on the
contrary, lose their flesh, and become altogether
out of condition. Neither are these presumptions
at all irreconcileable with sound philosophy; for a
long course of artificial treatment, combining as it
does an over heated temperature, stimulating food,
and warm clothing, with the effects of exertions
gradually forced on the animal until they far
exceed in intensity and duration the natural
maximum, may and do alter his constitution : for,
by introducing new habits, new wants arc
generated ; and thus altered, the body cannot
without much force, and without some injury, be
again completely naturalised : on the contrary,
that, being once fully subjected to this kind of
domestication, it will not bear at the will of the
owner to be let down and wound up again like a
spring. But as it required much care and much
artifice to mould the constitution and organs into
a capacity for this unnatural condition, and these
unnatural exertions : so it appears it is only by a
uniform continuance of the same means that such
condition, and such exertions, can be with cer-
tainty insured when called for by the owners. We
cannot therefore wonder that some methods should
be tried, by which rest to the body and renovation
to the injured limbs may be gained without a per-
manent loss of former qualities. The opinions
just hinted at, it is true, may be doubted by some,
but they are strongly insisted on by us and many
more, and, as we believe, are reconcileable with
sound philosophy. Lord Jersey's Cobweb, if we
recollect right, was favoured with " a run" at
grass, and was in consequence never afterwards
able to run anywhere besides ; and a similar
result has followed the same experiment on others.

FARMERS' INSURANCE INSTITUTION.—
His Royal Highness Prince Albert evinces a disposition
to become a farmer in real earnest. On the 8th inst.,
he was elected a Governor of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England; on the 11th he was elected a
Member of the Smithfield Club; and he has insured
hit stock on the farms in Windsor Park, which lie has
taken into his occupation, in "The Farmers' Insur-
ance Institution.''

V

\

i

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

17

AN INQUIRY INTO THE EFFECTS
OF DRAINAGE.

BY HENRY R. MADDEN, ESQ., M.D., PENICUIK.

PRIZE ESSAY OF THE HIGHLAND AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY.

[Thirty Sovereisns.]
(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

As drainage may not unaptly be viewed in the
light of a cure for a disease in soil, we must first
examine the healthy functions of soil and plants,
prior to our being able to appreciate the value of
the remedy adopted against the injurious effects
of an excess of water.

First — Of what does soil essentially consist ;
what must it contain in order to be fertile; what
processes must he carried forward in it, in order
that it may be capable of performing its office ;
and what circumstances can render it barren ?

Soil may be defined to be a certain variable
mixture of earthy, saline, and organic matters, in
such a state of combination as to be permeable to
air, heat, moisture, and the roots of plants. It is
not our intention to enter minutely into the de-
scriptive characters either of the various constitu-
ents of soil, or of the varieties of soil itself, but
shall merely consider its general properties.

Soil, mechanically considered, is made up of
particles of very various forms and sizes, the
larger masses constituting stones and pebbles,
whereas the smaller particles arc all included
under the name of earth. This portion, however,
is capable of much more minute subdivision, ac-
cording to the respective size of the individual
particles ; and in this way it naturally divides it-
self into coarse and fine sand, and clay. This
observation refers, of course, only to soil as wo
find it in nature ; for it is by no means to be sup-
posed that the chemical distinctions of sand and
clay depend merely upon the size of their compo-
nent particles, or, in other words, the state of
mechanical subdivision ; all that is meant being,
that, in all ordinary soils, if their particles are
arranged to their size, the larger ones will be
found to consist chiefh' of sand, and the finest
almost entirely of clay, independent, of course, of
the organic matter with which both will be found
mingled. Again, the terms sand and clay must be
considered here as used in their mineralogical
sense, and not be confounded with the chemical
terms silica and alumina ; as these substances, es-
pecially the latter, seldom if ever exist in a state
of purity in any soil. Soil being composed of
these materials, it of necessity derives its distin-
guishing characters from the relative proportions
in which the various matters exist ; because, if
the larger portions are sand, whereas the finest
consist almost altogether of clay, it follows that,
whichever of these shall abound, the soil will
possess the characters peculiar to the substance in
excess, namely, looseness and porosity in the case
of sand existing in greatest quantity, and adhesion
and solidity when clay is the more abundant con-
stituent.

As we above stated that the various materials
entering into the composition of soil must be so
combined as to admit of the circulation through
its interior of air and moisture, it follows that its
capacity for the performance of this function must

depend greatly upon its mechanical condition, the
degree of permeability being, of course, in an in-
verse ratio to the solidity of the mass.

What must soil contain in order to be fertile ?

Here we encounter difficulties which the inge-
nuity of all the writers, both upon agriculture and
botany, has hitherto failed to overcome, and many
of which, I fear, will still continuG monuments of
the inefficiency of all our attempts to lay open the
arcana of nature ; still there are some points upon
which our curiosity may be so far satisfied. We
can, by careful investigation, discover what, in
the aggregate, soil must contain in order to be fer-
tile, although we are totally unable to say what,
in particular, is absolutely essential, and what
might be dispensed with. We can, indeed, with
safety pronounce that no soil can be fertile which
does not contain organic matter in some condition
or other ; but it is out of our power to 6tate the
precise condition in which that organic matter
should exist; and still less are we capable of de-
termining what modifications are requisite to
render it most applicable to each species of vege-
table, although many circumstances tend to prove
that such modifications really exist. This subject
is one of the deepest interest to all who delight in
tracing the operations of nature ; hut at the same
time I must confess that it is one fraught with so
many difficulties, that although I have devoted
great attention to it for a considerable length of
time, I have scarcely yet discovered even a point
to start from. Chemical analysis, as it at present
exists, unfortunately cannot avail us, as we have
much more to do with the origin of various com-
pounds than wc have with their mere existence ;
and further, because there are very many modifi-
cations in organic matter which chemistry, as it
at present exists, completely fails in detecting.
Instead, however, of occupying our time in la-
menting what we cannot as yet prove, let us en-
deavour to apply in the best manner the modicum
of knowledge with which we are already provided.
There is one compound which has been detected
in all fertile soil, and consequently is considered
essential to fertility, namely, ulmic acid, as it is
termed by chemists. Of late, several attempts
have been made to deprive this substance of the
important functions with which it has been in-
vested by writers upon agricultural chemistry. It
comes, therefore, to be of great consequence, that
those who believe in its great value in the eco-
nomy of vegetable nutrition, should state fully
their reasons for such an opinion, and at the same
time bring forward the objections urged against
it, in order that a thorough understanding of all
the facts connected with it should be effected. I
shall therefore proceed at once to state the argu-
ments brought forward by those who doubt its
importance.

1st. When caustic potass is boiled with any
soil, the solution becomes of a deep brown co-
lour, varying in intensity according to the quan-
tity of organic matter contained in the soil. This
brown solution is called ulmate of potass ; and, if
an acid be added to it, we obtain a brown preci-
pitate of impure ulmic acid. This substance, after
having undergone various chemical operations, in
order to purify it from various other substances
with which it is associated, at length assumes the
characters peculiar to ulmic acid, namely, that,
when resolved into its ultimate elements, it is
found invariably to consist of one atom or propor-
tional of oxygen and hydrogen, united with two

C

18

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

atoms or proportionals of carbon : and that it is
an acid, is proved by its combining in definite
proportions with alkalies; but its strength or
power of saturation is so slight, that it requires
M>0 grs. of pure ulmic acid to neutralize 18 grs. of
potass.

2nd. If, however, instead of using soil, caustic
potass be boiled with sawdust, gum, sugar, starch,
or any other vegetable substance, and, indeed,
most animal matters likewise, this same ulmic
acid will be produced. Now, as we know that
ulmic acid does not exist ready formed in any of
the above substances, namely, starch, sugar, gum,
<^c, yet, nevertheless, it may be obtained from
them by the action of caustic potass, showing it in
this case at least to be a product, not an educt .•
wnat proof have we of its existence in soil, merely
because caustic potass can extract it from soil ?
In fact, its most zealous advocates allow that it is
sometimes a product, for otherwise they could not
explain the infertility of peat, because it yields
more of this substance, when treated with potass,
than even the most fertile soil. What, therefore,
have we in reality learned by all the experiments
made with regard to ulmic acid? Why, merely
that, among the proximate principles resulting
from the decomposition of organic matter, which
are soluble in caustic potass, there is a substance
possessing certain fixed characters, and that this
substance has been termed by chemists ulmic acid.
But what proof have we that this said acid per-
forms any peculiar office in the obscure process of
vegetable nutrition ? It is never found alone; it
never exists pure. How, therefore, cau we prove
that the good effects resulting from decomposed
organic matter do not depend as much upon the
substances with which it is associated as upon the
ulmic acid \

Such is a general view of the style of argument
adopted by the disbelievers in the importance of
ulmic acid ; and, although 1 have little fear but
that I shall be able to show the fallacy of their
mode of reasoning, still there is a looseness of ex-
pression in the writings of many upon this sub-
ject, that it cannot be denied but the opponents of
the doctrine have apparently good grounds for
their dissent.

We are told by some writers that ulmic acid
used to be confounded with vegetable extract ; but
it would have been much better to have stated
that ulmic acid has been shown to be a constant
ingredient of vegetable extract, and to be the cause
of many of its peculiar properties. When M.
l'olydore Boullay discovered this substance, he
gave as its characters, that it was of a dark brown
colour, very soluble in potass, and precipitated by
acids, and that it existed in all fertile soil. The
consequence was, that everything of a dark brown
colour, soluble in potass, and precipitated by
acids, has been denominated ulmic acid, although
chemical analysis has once and again proved that
the dark brown solution, obtained by the action
of caustic potass upon soil, differs in almost every
instance in its particular constitution, although in
all cases it contains a certain quantity of pure
ulinic acid. It would be much better, therefore,
still to consider the soluble matter of soil as an
organized extract (which, for the sake of distinc-
tion, we will call humus), and to rest contented
with the fact, that one of its most important in-
gredients is the above-mentioned acid, although
its actual constitution is liable to constant varia-
tion. At the same time, let it always be remem-

bered, that ulmic acid must never be confounded
with humus, although it is constantly an ingre-
dient of it ; for it would not be more incorrect to
call humus by the name of ulmic acid, than it
would be to denominate the juice of carrots, pota-
toes, or turnips, by the name of sugar, merely be-
cause this substance is as constantly found in
them.

Let us now consider the arguments brought
forward against the value of this substance in the
processes of vegetable nutrition. The first state-
ment is, that the experiment upon soil with
caustic potass is not a proof of its existing ready
formed, but merely shows that it can be produced
by the action of this alkali. This I would wil-
lingly allow, were there no other proof of its ex-
istence than the production of ulmate of potass by
boiling with the caustic alkali; but, unfortunately
for those who doubt the fact, we can prove it to be
ready formed, because a certain quantity is always
obtained when soil is treated with a cold solution
of potass, or even with ammonia, which could
not be the case were it a product ; for in that case
it would not only require a strong solution, but it
would be necessary to digest the soil for a conside-
rable time in the liquid. So much for their fust
argument: the remaining one, namely, How we
can prove it to be more valuable than the other
substances with which itis united? — willbe bestan-
swered by the facts to be brought forward pie-
sently, in reference to the preparation of the food
of plants, by which, I think, it will be distinctly
shown that this substance is indeed of very great
importance. Soil acts as the stomach in which
the food of plants undergoes its first preparation ;
one of the most important processes of which is
undoubtedly its being rendered soluble : to effect
this, moisture, heat, and air are requisite. Orga-
nic matter in some shape or other is most evi-
dently the food of plants. We hence perceive
that, in order that soil should be fertile, it must
contain organic matter capable of being rendered
soluble by the joint action of water and air ; and
this being the case, of course the soil and organic
matter must be in such a mechanical condition as
to admit of the free access of air and water. This
is effected chiefly by their being thoroughly
mixed together ; so that, in fact, every particle of
earthy matter may have a certain quantity of or-
ganic matter united to it so intimately, that,
whether chemically combined or not, it is at least
in the closest mechanical relationship. One of
the very valuable effects of the earthy constitu-
ents of soil is evidently to separate and subdivide
the organic matter ; for, however much this sepa-
ration may in the first instance retard the progress
of fermentation, nevertheless it is far more than
compensated for by the regularity which it pro-
duces in the ultimate and most important changes
which have to take place in the preparation of the
food for plants, by effecting a regular distribution
of air and moisture through the mass. Moreover,
nothing tends so forcibly to increase chemical
action as minute subdivision of the substance — a
fact which fully explains the force of the old ex-
pression, '• Corpora non agant, nisi soluta," lor
solution is of course by far the most certain way
of effecting an extreme separation of particles.

What processes must be carried forward in soil,
in order that it may be capable of performing its
office ?

To answer this question, we must enter more
fully into the offices which soil has to perform.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

19

We have already briefly noticed that soil must act
as the stomach in which the food of plants under-
goes its first processes of assimilation : these, we
have seen, are chiefly the chemical changes requi-
site to render the insoluble portions capable of
solution. By one of those wise, adaptations of
means to ends which we so continually encounter
while examining, so far as we are permitted, into
the mysteries of Nature's laboratory, the chemical
changes which invariably take place in organic
matter, when exposed to the vicissitudes of the
weather after its vitality has been destroyed by
death, effect the very thing which is required in
order to fit it for the food of plants, namely, ren-
der it capable of solution in water and air ; thus
converting the elements, which have already com-
pleted their offices in one state of combination,
into other compounds, which in their turn arc
again capable of entering into new vital combina-
tions, if we may be allowed the term ; and in this
manner reconverting into useful materials those
substances which had for the time become of no
immediate value. During the process of putrefac-
tion, various chemical alterations in the arrange-
ments of the elementary matter of necessity take
place, one great means of effecting which is the
combination with an additional quantity of oxygen.
By this means various new compounds are formed,
some of which are soluble in water, while others
escape in the form of gas, and become dissolved
in the surrounding air. In order more fully to
trace out the different steps of this intricate pro-
cess, let us trace the various changes as they occur
in manure. The one which wc will select for this
purpose is farm-yard dung. This is composed of
various excrementitious matters, mingled with
straw and other refuse vegetable substances.
Considered chemically, it consists of the following
vegetable proximate principles, namely, lignin or
woody fibre, sugar, starch, and gum, together
with albumen, gelatine, bile, and mucus derived
from the excremeniitious matters. It will be im-
possible to trace out all the various chemical mo-
difications which such a complicated mass will
undergo during the process of putrefaction, as we
arc not as yet acquainted with the reaction which
the different compounds produce, but which will
materially alter the quality of the resulting combi-
nations ; still it will be interesting and instructive
to trace shortly the changes that would take place
in each were they acted upon separately, and then
mention some of the modifications which we know
occur when the whole putrefy together.

1. Lignin, in its natural state, is insoluble, but
by putrefaction is converted, according to circum-
stances, into gum, sugar, or ulmic acid, all of
which are more or less soluble. The first two of
these compounds may be produced from lignin
without any absorption of oxygen, if merely cer-
tain internal alterations in the arrangement of its
original oxygen and hydrogen take place, and at
the same time it combines chemically with a cer-
tain quantity of water. It is very doubtful, how-
ever, whether this is the process by which the
change takes place during putrefaction, as it can
be as readily effected by a portion of its carbon
uniting with oxygen, in which case carbonic acid,
sugar, and gum, are the results ; and thus this in-
soluble substance becomes dissipated by solution
in water and the surrounding air. When ulmic
acid is the result, a somewhat different change
takes place, because the substance contains more
carbon than woody fibre; in fact, the chief value

of this much talked of substance in the vegetable
economy appears to depend upon the quantity of
carbon "which it contains in a condition capable of
being dissolved in water ; to convert lignin, there-
fore, into ulmic acid it requires to lose some of its
oxygen and hydrogen as well as carbon. This
change is somewhat too complicated to be stated
here. I have, therefore, thought it advisable to
make an appendix to the essay, which will con-
tain the account of this and some other of the
changes to be mentioned hereafter. Suffice it to
say here, that the change is such, that every 108
grains of lignin are resolved into 22 grains of car-
bonic acid, 9 grains of water, and 77 grains of
ulmic acid.

2. Sugar and gum, though soluble from the
first, still cannot long remain unchanged in cou-
tact with putrefying matter; and some recent
facts have been observed which render it probable
that, in their original forms, they are of no value
to plants, but must first undergo some of the
changes incident to putrefaction. In these sub-
stances the changes are very similar to those
which occur in lignin, and the resulting substances
are precisely the same, namely, carbonic acid,
water, and ulmic acid.

3. Starch, likewise, by putrefaction, undergoes
precisely the same changes as woody fibre.

Let us now trace the changes as they occur in
the animal principles. Here, however, we shall
meet with much greater difficulty ; in fact, a great
deal of it will belittle more than conjectures of what
takes place, founded upon the knowledge of the
compounds whichresultfrom the alterations in the
arrangement of their elementary constituents.

4. Albumen, gelatin, &fc— In examining the
changes which occur in these substances, I shall
not attempt to consider them separately; and in
fact this becomes the less necessary as ultimate
analysis has not hitherto been capable of detecting
much difference between the three most abundant
components of animal matter, namely, fibrin, al-
bumen, and gelatin. When these substances pu-
trefy, instead of carbonic acid being the only gas
evolved, as we have seen to be the case with vege-
table substances, two or three others are likewise
met with, namely, carburetted hydrogen, sulphu-
retted hydrogen, and ammoniacal gas, which last
escapes in combination with the carbonic acid and
the sulphuretted hydrogen gases. It is evident,
therefore, that the changes here must be of a still
more complicated nature than any which we have
hitherto had occasion to notice. I must therefore
refer those who wish to understand it more tho-
roughly to the account given in the chemical ap-
pendix, and shall content myself with stating, that
here likewise ulmic acid is a product, which,
whether or not produced constantly during the
putrefaction of large masses of animal matter, is
always found when animal matters putrefy either
in the dung-heap or beneath the surface of the
soil.

Such being the changes which the proximate
principles undergo when putrefied separately, let
us next ascertain what are the chief modifications
produced when putrefaction occurs In the mingled
mass. One of the first which is presented to our
notice, is the difference in the changes which oc-
cur in sugar. These we did not allude to before,
because it would have led us into a field of enquiry
in no way connected with that portion of the pre-
sent essay. Sugar, in whatever manner produced,
when dissolved in water and exposed to the air at

c 2

20

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

a certain temperature, undergoes two distinct fer-
mentations, by means of which the well-known
substances alcohol and vinegar are produced.
Now there are several reasons for believing that
the first of these substances is never produced
■when sugar is in contact with putrefyiug matter.
One of the chief of these is the following, which is
not I believe generally known, but which occurred
to me some time ago when examining the various
changes which arc produced, either naturally or
artificially, upon sugar, starch, and their analogous
vegetable principles. The reason I refer to is the
following : when any substance, whether animal
or vegetable, undergoes the process of putrefaction,
the relative proportion which exists between the
hydrogen and carbon of the oiiginal substance in-
variably changes, by the proportion of hy-
drogen becoming less : whereas when sugar is
converted into alcohol, the very reverse takes
place, and consequently the vinous fermen-
tation, so far from being considered as ana-
logous to putrefaction, is directly opposed to it ;
for the substance produced, namely, alcohol, is
much more stable when isolated or separated
from other matters capable of putrefaction, than
the sugar was from which it is derived ; whereas
we know that in true putrefaction the very reverse
is the fact ; the resulting compounds being always
more and more prone t<^ decay, until the whole
mass has become converted into inorganic combi-
nations. Another important variation which oc-
curs when these substances putrefy together is,
that, after ulmic acid has been produced, as we
have shown it to be by the putrefaction of lignin,
starch, &c, a compound is formed bearing sonic
of the principal characters of this acid, and indeed
capable of yielding a certain quantity of it, when
acted upon by potass; but constituting altogether
a substance much more resembling what has been
denominated extract, especially in possessing the
property of becoming insoluble by the absorption
of oxygen, which oxygen, however, does not unite
with the extract itself, but abstracts hydrogen from
it, and produces water and the insoluble matter
which has been denominated apotheme. This sub-
stance will of course contain proportionally more
carbon than the extract, as it has lost some of its hy-
drogen, and being very soluble in alkalies (hence it
may very possibly be either a modification of
ulmic acid, or some compound containing it), it
will be very useful to plants in the manner to be
explained hereafter.

These, together with certain changes in the sa-
line matter to be noticed presently, constitute
some of the many processes which we have rea-
son to believe are constantly going forward in the
soil ; and it is of great importance, in connection
with the subject of this paper, to remember that
they all absolutely require the presence of air and
moisture.

What circumstances can render soil barren ?

From what we have already stated concerning
the functions of soil, it follows that any circum-
stance which is capable of preventing the neces-
sary changes in the organic matter from taking
place, must of necessity render the soil less fertile,
if not absolutely barren. Thus, for example, if
the texture of the soil be so altered that the most
intimate admixture of the organic and mineral
constituents is prevented from taking place, it
must necessarily result that the chemical reactions
already alluded to could not take place in that re-
gular order in which it is necessary that they

should in oider to the well-being of the plants
growing in the neighbourhood.

Let us suppose, for the purpose of illustration,
that the soil contains too much clay ; the conse-
quence will be, that, from the adhesive nature of
the mixture, the organic matter will, with great
difficulty, and only after a considerable period,
become properly admixed throughout the mass of
mineral matter ; and even when the mixture has
taken place, further change in the organic con-
stituents will he greatly retarded by the difficulty
with which the mass can be permeated by air. In
fact, when very stiff, all the air it can obtain must
be conveyed to it by means of water, which, when
falling in the form of rain, or even when freely
exposed upon the surface cf the earth, always dis-
solves a notable quantity of this valuable substance.
This effect, however, of retarding the process of
putrefaction, is the chief cause of the superiority
of those soils which possess enough of adhesion
to merit the name of clayey soils, but which at
the same time do not contain such an abundance
of clay as to be rendered too stiff, and consequently
unfertile, except at a very great expence in
tillage, &c. On the other hand, if the soil should
contain too much sand, and consequently possess
too loose a texture, the opposite of the above
faults will occur, namely, there will be no diffi-
culty experienced in obtaining a thorough mix-
ture of the organic with the inorganic constitu-
ents ; but the subsequent chemical changes will
occur much too rapidly, and the consequence will
be, that the manure will hecoire soluble in water
and air too quickly for the resulting solutions to
be absorbed by the roots and leaves of the crop,
and in this manner a great loss will of necessity
be sustained. This fact fully accounts for sandy
soils requiring much more manure than those of
an adhesive nature. There is, however, still ano-
ther fault of texture which is more fatal to the
fertility of soil than either of those already
noticed ; I mean the relative size of the particles
composing the soil.

If in any soil the whole, or even nine-tenths of
the whole, is composed of particles so large as to
be visible to the naked eye, that soil is invariably
barren. This fault is confined chiefly, if not en-
tirely, to sandy soils, for the obvious reason that
clay seldom, if ever, occurs in soil in any other
form than that of a hydrate, or a chemical combi-
nation of the mineral with water, in which case it
is invariably in the form of an impalpable powder.
The cause of barrenness in large-grained soils ap-
pears to depend chiefly upon such a form prevent-
ing that extreme division of parts, and perfect
mechanical combination of the organic with the
mineral matter, which we have so frequently
spoken of as absolutely essential to the fertility of
soil, and likewise because the absence, or at least
small proportion, of materials in a state of ex-
treme mechanical division, proves the scantiness
of the supply of clay in the soil, which substance,
we shall hereafter have occasion to show, acts an
important chemical part in the processes immedi-
ately connected with vegetable nutrition. Lastly,
any substance will produce barrenness in soil
which is either itself injurious to vegetation, or
which from its mechanical condition is capable
of effecting such a change in the texture or con-
dition of the soil as to prevent its being permea-
ble by air, and thus interrupting the supply of
oxygen to theorganic matter of the soil ; or wbich,
from its chemical reaction, is capable of interfering

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

21

with any of the processes already described as oc-
curring in the organized constituents of soil, or
those other chemical changes that take place in
the saline matter, and which will be described
hereafter when treating of the bad effects pro-
duced upon soil by the presence of too great a
quantity of water.

Secondly, How does soil influence vegetation ;
and what processes are carried on by plants
which are dependent upon the condition of the
soil ?

The modes in which soil influences vegetation
are obviously divisible into two distinct classes,
viz., first, the influence exerted over vegetation by
the various conditions of its food, and, second, the
effect produced by the state or condition of the
soil upon those portions of the vegetable which
are placed below its surface.

1. That plants are influenced by the various
conditions of the organic matter of the soil is most
obvious. In fact, were this not the case, there
would not of necessity be any difference between
the crops yielded by bad and good land, provided
merely they were placed under similar cir-
cumstances of exposure, &c, than which nothing
can be farther from the truth. When once it has
been satisfactorily proved that plants draw their
nourishment either directly or indirectly from the
organic matter of the soil — and who will in our
day deny that such is the case? — it follows, as a
necessary consequence, that the quantity of vege-
tation upon any given soil must bear a direct ratio,
not to the absolute quantity of organic matter in
the soil, but to the quantity of organized matter
in a state fit to be made use of by vegetables; or
in other words, it will invariably be found that the
state of the soil will so evidently influence the ve-
getation which it bears, that, were we fully con-
versant with all the changes and modifications of
the organic matter requisite for the healthful
growth of any plant, we should be enabled by the
appearance of the crop at once to detect the pre-
cise condition of the soil in which it was produced.
To convince ourselves of the truth of this state-
ment, we have merely to look around us, and we
at once perceive the great influence produced on
the vegetation by the condition of the soil. Let
us, for instance, examine the appearance presented
by a portion of country extending from a scan-
tily-populated neighbourhood to the immediate
vicinity of a large town ; and even should the soil
itself, that is to say, its mineral constituents, be
precisely the same, still what a distinct and pro-
gressive improvement, both in the appearance and
bulk of the crops, we shall perceive as we ap-
proach towards the town. And what is the cause
of this ? Why obviously the superior condition of
the soil, produced by greater care in tillage, and
the application of larger quantities of manure to
the soil in the vicinity of the town than could be
afforded by those farmers who live at a distance
from the means of obtaining good manure at a suf-
ficiently low price. Again, let us observe for an
instant the appearance of the crops upon two
neighbouring farms, consisting of the same kind
of soil, but which are differently cultivated. In
the one, as harvest approaches, we find the whole
field gradually assuming a rich mellow tint;
whereas, in the other, some parts will become
perfectly white and dry, while others retain all the
greenness of newly flowered grain. Surely we
need not observe that this depends upon the state
of the soil, and affords another example of the

great influence that it exerts upon the vegetation
to which it gives birth. It is of no use, however,
to multiply examples of a fact so obvious to all
who choose to look around them. Let us rather
endeavour to answer the much more difficult ques-
tion, namely, In what manner, or by what means,
does soil influence vegetation ? This, as we have
already observed, is evidently in two distinct ways,
namely, 1st, By the variations produced in the
food of the plants. This must indeed be self-evident,
although as yet we have not the slightest possible
experimental clue by which to unravel the mys-
tery. We see constantly that one kind of soil is
best fitted for turnips, another for wheat, another
for potatoes, and so on ; and yet, beyond the me-
chanical conditions of the soil as regards texture,
&c, we are in utter darkness as to what modifi-
cations are produced upon the organic matter of
the soil, and how these modifications, when pro-
duced, affect the plants themselves. Every the-
ory, or rather hypothesis, which has as yet been
proposed to explain the function of vegetable nu-
trition, has this one obvious fault, namely, that
it makes use of one process to explain the prepa-
ration of the food of all plants — a mode of reason-
ing evidently as absurd as if we were to endeavour
to prove that the food of all animals was precisely
the same.

The chemist, indeed, will tell us that all kinds
of meat consist not only of the same ultimate ele-
ments, but of the same proximate principles, and
consequently, if meat were dissolved, the solution
would answer to the same tests, whether it were
veal or mutton, pork or beef ; but what physiolo-
gist will dare to reason from this fact, that all
meats will do equally well, and that for the health
of the individual there is no necessity for making
a choice, but that whichever is easiest procured is
best adapted for continued use; yet, in fact, this
is the kind of reasoning perpetually brought for-
ward, even by the best authorities upon vegetable
physiology. Before quitting this subject I would
just ask one question. Is it not much more feasi-
ble to suppose that different plants thrive best
upon different modifications of organic matter,
which modifications, as far as we know, may be
almost infinite, than to lay down as a law, that
however diverse the nature of theplants, the food
of all is invariably the same? Grant this, and we
have at once an explanation of many of the phe-
nomena of vegetation as exhibited in agriculture,
which are as yet totally inexplicable. Mere, for
example, we have the solution of the necessity
for a rotation of crops, without having to refer to
the excretory theory of Macaire, De Candolle,
&c, which, however well established as a fact,
can easily be shown to be utterly useless as ap-
plied to the explanation of the necessity of rota-
tion. Here we have an explanation of the manner
in which mosses, &c, are produced in all cases of
neglected pasturage where water abounds. In
fact, there is no saying of what importance the
reception of this theory would be; and let it be
remembered, that, so far from checking chemical
investigation, it should be the greatest incitement
to its vigorous application, for all allow that so
many modifications exist in the proximate ar-
rangement of the elements constituting the orga-
nic matter of soil : and the prosecutors of chemis-
try should never rest until they have brought
their analytical powers to bear so minutely upon
the point, that the fact of the existence of these
modifications should no longer rest upon the ar-

22

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

guments of the physiologist, but should be capa-
ble of demonstration by the tests of the chemist.

2. Again, it is obvious that soil influences vege-
tation in a great degree by the effect it produces
upon those portions of the plant which are placed
beneath its surface. Here, again, the mechanical
condition of the soil has great effect upon the
health and vigour of the vegetables which inhabit
it. If, for example, it is mingled with a great
number of stones of considerable size, these, at
least so many of them as are below the surface
of the soil, act injuriously, by turning aside the
tender fibrils of the roots, so that frequently a
fibre may be several times bent upon itself at such
acute angles as to interfere greatly with the cir-
culation of the sap. Again, if the soil be of too
light and porous a nature, a great deal of the
strength of the vegetable is lost in sending out
roots in all directions, both for the purpose of
fixing itself firmly in the soil, and likewise in
search of nourishment, which in these soils is
always carried to a considerable distance from the
surface by rain. Besides these, there are several
other modes in which the condition of the soil
affects those parts of vegetables which are beneath
its surface ; but these will be developed during
our consideration of the next point of inquiry,
namely, What processes are carried on by plants
which are dependent upon the condition of the
soil?

These may be stated to be chiefly absorption
and excretion. That all plants have the power of
absorption by their roots has been long known.
In fact, there is every reason to believe that they
derive the chief of their fluid nourishment at least
from this source, although it is no doubt true,
that, should any thing occur to stop the supply of
food in this manner, many plants are capable of
obtaining all they require through the medium of
their leaves. As we have already entered pretty
fully into preparation of the food of plants, we
shall merely observe here, that the roots absorb
those portions which become soluble in water, and
likewise are supposed by many to absorb matter
in the gaseous form. This, however, I should
rather be inclined to doubt, as it is much more
probable that the gases will be dissolved by water
in the first instance, and thus enter the plant in
the state of solution. Whatever may be the state
in which the gases are absorbed, there is no doubt
that they are of great value to the plant. Indeed
many of the operations of the husbandman admit
of a satisfactory explanation only upon this sup-
position ; and, moreover,?Sir Humphrey Davy has
related an experiment which, although not
performed with sufficient care to preclude the
possibility of error, still goes far to prove that the
gases evolved by putrefaction are useful hi the soil
as well as in the atmosphere; or, in other words,
are absorbed by the roots as well as the leaves.
A question here naturally presents itself, What
becomes of the gases evolved during dry weather ?
Do they in this case escape altogether into the
atmosphere, or is there any means by which they
can be retained in the soil until such time as the
occurrence of rain supplies water sufficient for
their solution ? In order to answer this question,
I perform the following experiments : —

1. I evolved ammonia in the form of gas by
mixing together sal-ammoniac and quick-lime, and
conducted the gas first over a quantity of fused
potassa, in order to dry it completely, and then
uver l'.W.li grains of soil contained in a gla«s tube.

I continued to pass the gas over it for an hour,
after which the soil was found to have increased
in weight to the amount of three grains, or nearly
1J per cent. A portion of the soil in this state
was wetted with water, when it was found that the
ammonia had rendered the organic matter much
more soluble, the water acquiring a distinct brown
colour. The soil was exposed freely to the air for
three hours, during which time it lost almost
entirely its smell of ammonia, but still retained
1.2 grains of this gas, so that one- half per cent,
still remains mixed with the soil. Lest any one
should conclude that this quantity is too small to
be worth speaking of, I may mention that one-half
per cent, existing over the whole soil, supposing
such soil to be six inches deep, would amount to
four tons, or 89601b. per imperial acre, and would
be capable of dissolving no less than 161,2801b. of
humus.

When we consider that from 2a to 30 tons of
farm-yard dung per imperial acre is regarded a
good manuring, and that this amounts to only
three or four per cent, of the soil, considered at
six inches, and, moreover, that such manure will
of a certainty not yield more than two or three
per cent, of ammonia, it follows that the whole
of the ammonia given off by 30 tons of
manure will amount, at the utmost, to 201 bib., or
little more than one-ninth per cent, of the soil.

Since, therefore, we have seen that soil can
retain one-half per cent, of ammonia at one period,
and the sum of the ammonia contained in a good
dressing of manure amounts to one-ninth per cent,
only, and, instead of being evolved at once,
requires four or five years for its separation, it
must be obvious to all that the soil will be capable
of retaining every particle of ammonia that it will
receive after the richest dressing of manure.
When water was added to the soil after its free
exposure for three hours to the air, a considerable
(juantity of organic matter was dissolved, rendering
the solution of a distinct brown colour, thus
shewing that the retained ammonia had entered
into combination with the humus. This fact I con-
sider of great importance, as it gives us a clue,
not only to the way in which the humus of soil
may be iendered soluble, but likewise explains the
origin of the dark brown fluid constantly found in
all dunghills, and which yields ammonia abun-
dantly when treated with caustic potass, thus
shewing it to be a soluble compound of humus and
ammonia.

It may very probably be objected by some, that,
were this the method by which the organic matter
of soil became soluble, we should obtain a coloured
solution by agitating it with water. This is, how-
ever, a fallacious conclusion ; because, supposing
all the ammonia evolved from thirty tons of farm-
yard dung to be completely saturated with humus,
which, however, can never be the case, still, in
this manner, soil would never contain at one period
more than pjigj th part of humus combined with
ammonia, a quantity far too little to give colour to
solutions formed in the manner usually adopted.
I may here observe, that nothing can be more
fallacious than the ordinary plan adopted for
ascertaining the quantity of soluble matter in soil,
in order to calculate the (juantity of carbon which
soil can yield to plants. The method employed is
the following : — A giver, weight of soil is digested
for a given time in a certain quantify of cold
water, and the filtered solution evaporated to
dryness, in which case 100,000 parts of water

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

23

are found to dissolve one part only of organic
matter. It is, however, entirely forgotten that the
production of soluble matter is a gradual process,
and, moreover, requires the joint action of air and
moisture for its production, the former of which is
excluded by the method adopted.

It may be further objected to the above experi-
ments, that I used pure ammonia ; whereas, this
gas, when given off by putrefying matter, is most
frequently combined with carbonic acid. To prove
the validity of this objection, however, I agitated
soil with water containing carbonate of ammonia,
and obtained a yellow solution, which, by di-
gestion, became gradually darker, thus proving
that the carbonate of ammonia does possess the
power of dissolving humus, although not nearly to
the same extent as the pure alkali.

We have seen that 30 tons of farm-yard dung
give out during their putrefaction 2016"lb. of
ammonia, a quantity capable of dissolving
./6,2881b. of humus. Now, if we suppose the
humus to consist entirely of ulmic acid, and do
not take into consideration the apotheme, which,
however, contains a greater quantity of carbon, we
shall find that 36,2881b. will contain 20,6811b. of
carbon. An imperial acre of fertile soil yields
14101b. of carbon annually in the form of various
crops, so that the ammonia of ?>0 tons of farm-
yard dung, if fully saturated with humus, could
yield carbon sufficient to supply the crops for
fifteen years. If carbonate of ammonia were
capable of dissolving only one-third part as much
humus as tbe pure alkali, still the quantity yielded
by 30 tons of farm-yard manure, would dissolve
carbon sufficient for five years' crops, supposing
the whole of this element were derived from the
soil, which is never the case, as the atmosphere
at all times supplies a considerable proportion.

These calculations will place in a forcible light
the great chemical value of ammonia in soil, as
likewise the importance of humus in the processes
of vegetable nutrition.

2. 1 passed a stream of carbonic acid over 207.2
grains of the same soil, as in the last experiment,
for the space of one hour, the gas having been pre-
viously rendered dry by traversing a tube filled
with fragments of chloride of calcium ; the soil
was then reweigbed and found not to have in-
creased in weight sufficiently to be appreciated.
Now, as the balance I employed indicates with
great ease ^th of a grain, it follows that the soil
could not have absorbed -^th per cent, of carbonic
acid, and we must hence conclude that free
carbonic acid must exist in soil chiefly in the form
of solution in water.

Although it must be remembered that this ex-
periment does not prove that there is no carbonic
acid retained by soil, because the quantity per
acre might be very considerable, whereas the per-
centage remained too small to be appreciated by
the most delicate balance. This will be fully un-
derstood when it is considered that 1£ cwt, per
acre (the quantity employed of some saline
manures), amounts to less than Tg^jth part, or
less than TJn per cent, of the soil, considered as
before at six inches.

It may very probably be asked, why I did not
employ ilie gases as they escaped from fermenting
manure, in piace of using them in their pure state ?
— towhich I reply, for tiic obviousieason, that , bad
I done so, there would have been no possibility of
arriving at any conclusion worthy of trust ; and
for the following reason. The gases given off by

putrefaction are always united with moisture, and
consequently it would have been impossible to
ascertain how much of the increase of weight
depended upon the water, and how much was pro-
duced by the absorption of gas; and if I had at-
tempted to dry the gaseous matter, it could not
have been done without altering its constituents ;
because if 1 had used fused potass as I employed
in the case of the ammonia, it would have
absorbed the carbonic acid ; and if, on tbe other
hand, I had employed the chloride of calcium, it
would have retained the whole of the ammoniacal
vapours. Besides, the result with the pure gases
is quite as valuable as it could possibly have
been, even if some method had been devised
so that the emanations from the dunghill could
have been employed.

A work has just appeared upon the application
of Chemistry to Agriculture, in which the author
states, that the carbon of plants is derived en-
tirely from carbonic acid, and that even the
portion obtained by the roots from soil, which,
according to him, is very small, is always reduced
to the state of carbonic acid by the total decom-
position of the organic matter yielding it, prior to
its being received by the roots of plants. And,
moreover, be remarks, that although humus were
absorbed by plants, there is reason to believe that
it would be returned to the soil unchanged, as has
been shewn to be the case with sugar and gum by
the experiments of Meyen and others. In order
to ascertain the truth of this assertion, I took a
healthy plant of groundsel (Senicio vulgaris), and
having, with great care, washed its roots, I divided
them into two bundles, and inserted them into
two glass-vessels, the one of which was filled with
pure water ; whereas the other contained water
holding in solution a small quantity of ulmate of
ammonia, prepared with care, so as to prevent
there being an excess of the alkali.

The plant throve well, and absorbed a con-
siderable quantity of fluid daily, which was com-
pensated for by continually filling up the vessels
with pure water. After a few days, the solution
of ulmate of ammonia was found to have become
lighter coloured, evidently from a certain quantity
of it having been absorbed. After seven days, I
took the fluid contained in the vessel which had
all along been supplied with pure water, and
evaporated it to dryness, when I obtained a highly
crystalline substance of a light brown colour,
which was partially soluble in a small quantity of
water, to which it imparted a brown colour ; which
colour, however, was almost entirely destroyed
without any precipitation, upon the addition of a
few drops of acid. The undissolved portions were
likewise partially soluble in acids, imparting to
them a brown colour. Now, these are characters
which could not belong either to ulmic acid or
ulmate of ammonia; audit follows, therefore, as
an incontestible fact, that ulmate of ammonia was
absorbed by this plant, and that the ulmic acid was
not returned unchanged to the soil.

Moreover, there was, in fact, no absolute
necessity for performing the experiment, because
we have on record experiments by ftl. Macaire,
which must at once set at rest any statement of
this sort. He found that beans excreted from their
roots a substance resembling gum. Now, we have
proved that ulmate of ammonia must always exist
in fertile soil ; and it has been likewise proved tha
plants cannot refuse any thing which is offered to
them in solution : in fact, I have poisoned plants

24

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

by making them grow in solutions which contained
lead. It follows, therefore, that the beans must have
absorbed ulmateof ammonia, and yet their excreted
matter resembled gum ; thus shewing that the
ulmic acid was not, in this case at least, returned
unchanged : and if we can prove, with one or two
plants, that ulmic acid, absorbed by the roots, can
be assimilated, we may conclude that the same will
be the case with all plants supplied with it.

(To be continued.)

ON STORING TURNIPS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Frequently observing inquiries in your
widely-circulated journal, as to the best method of
preserving Swedish turnips through the winter, pos-
sibly a few remarks from one who has been in the
regular habit of so doing, may not be unacceptable
at this season of the year.

Perceiving, however, in your edition of the I5tb
instant, the mode adopted by Sir Francis Mackenzie,
perhaps it would be as well "to make an observation
or two upon that particular system, described as " pre-
ferable to any other :" not having time at present to
notice the cultivation (which is much too expensive
on Sir F.'s plan for a tenant farmer), I will go on to
the taking up and storing of 40 tons per acre.

The last week or ten days in November is consi-
dered the best time for taking up Swedes ; this, how-
ever, partly depends upon the time they are sown,
mine have sown the first or second week in June ;
this, I am fully aware, is much too late in some
districts, but on our soil if sown earlier they are
very liable to mildew, which of course deteriorates
the quality.

In the place of a " knife," the tops are taken
off with a common hoe, in the ridges as they
stand, which are 25 inches apart ; in this way one
man will top from 2 to 2 £ acres per day. A skele-
ton plough is then used, made by Messrs. Ransome,
of Ipswich, with a single winged share 10 or 12
inches broad, which with one horse and a skilful
man will do three acres per day, just taking off the
tap root, and leaving them on the ridges where they
grew.

Small carts with broad wheels are then sent
down, one horse in a cart to prevent the land from
cutting, unless it is very hilly, when two will be
required; one man and two or three boys to fill the
carts with the hand as they readily come up, leaving
the manure behind (which is of no slight import-
ance), and are then taken where they may be re-
quired, and put in graves or clamps; if consumed
on the land, the carting maybe dispensed with.

Here, however, I must make a remark on Sir F.'s
plan, which certainly cannot be " preferable to any
other," as they must inevitably get frozen through
in such a winter as the last; and when once this is the
case, although they may not decay, still they lose
that nutritious quality which is so desirable to keep;
and by pursuing a different course this may be re-
tained until June, at which time I have frequently
had them as good as when first taken up.

The turnips are placed in graves or clamps five
feet over at the bottom, and raised up four or five
feet high ; they are then covered over with earth ten
or twelve inches thick, without straw (being much

better than with), taking care to leave a small space,
say six or eight inches, open at the top, to let the
heat escape ; this part being covered with stubble
drawn as if for thatch, and laid across to prevent wet
and frost getting in, which will not readily be the
case, as there is a little heat ; a little earth here and
there must be put on to keep the stubble from
blowing away.

I have tried several methods, but firmly believe
there is no plan that will preserve the saccharine
matter of the turnips or mangel wurzel so entirely
unimpared as the one herein described.

The entire cost, exclusive of horses, of storing
40 tons per acre will not be more than eight or ten
shillings, according to the distance removed; the men
earning from 2s. to 2s. 6d. per day, and boys 6d.,
which is about one-third of the usual cost.

There are several useful remarks in Sir F.'s plan
of cultivation, which no doubt will be of service
to some of your numerous readers ; — some, however,
that may be improved ; and as this is an age for
writing, I shall expect to see some of your corres-
pondents take it up.

If, Mr. Editor, you think these few plain lines,
hastily written, are wrorth notice, yon are at liberty
to make what use you please of them. C. L.

Nov. 25.

ON THE DESTRUCTION of SLUGS
BY THE USE of COMMON SALT.

Sir, — As a natural consequence of the long-con-
tinued rains of October, the slugs, I am sorry to
observe, are committing very extensive ravages on
the wheat crops of our island. When remedies
are enquired for on every side, it will not perhaps
be unattended with bensfit, if you will allow me to
remind the agriculturist of the powers for this object
possessed by common salt, which are thus well de-
scribed in a letter I received some time since from
Mr. Busk, of Ponsbourn, in Hertfordshire : —

" It is true that I have lately made a pretty free use
of salt, having applied it, in the course of this and
the last season, as atop-dressing to nearly two hundred
acres of wheat ; but my attention has not been parti-
cularly turned to what may be called its fertilizing
qualities, having chiefly, and almost exclusively, had in
view the destruction of worms and slugs, with which
the land was very much infested. This object it very
satisfactorily accomplished. Some small parts of our
land are light and sandy, but the generality of it is
stiff and strong, well adapted to the growth of beans
and wheat. In applying the salt, little attention was
paid to the quality of the land, nor was the season of
the year much regarded ; but those times and those
spots were selected where the number and ravages of
the vermin seemed most apparent, and, in every situa-
tion and at every time, the effect appeared equally bene-
ficial. A little more experience may suggest some
moie accurate rule as to seasou ; but I am inclined to
think that the earliest will, in general.be found the best ;
at any rate I would avoid sowing, if I possibly could,
immediately before a fall of snow, as snow produces on
place* recently sprinkled with sait an unpromising ap-
pearance, which requires some farther investigation.
Perhaps the best mode may be, what we have very
satisfactorily in some instances tried, to sow it on
clover leys, and on bean stubbles intended for wheat, just
before they are ploughed. If, however, there is some

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

25

doubt as to the most eligible quality of the land or
period of the year, there i9 none as to the fittest state of
the weather and time of the day. An opportunity should
be selected when the weather is mild and moist, but
not rainy— when the laud is damp, but not wet ; and
salt should never be sown when the sun is shining, but
either early in the morning before it rises, or late in the
evening after it has set. Late hours we have always
chosen, and, employing our ploughmen or other con-
stant labourers, have got the work performed with a
small additional wages, without interrupting at all auy
other business of the farm. They sow it out of the
ordinary seed shuttle, at the rate of about tour or five
bushels to the acre. Ten or twelve men moving at
once get over a large piece of land in an evening, and
are easily drilled so as to proceed witfc regularity aud de-
spatch, by a little care on the part of thesuperintendafit.
In the morning, each throw may be distinguished by the
quantity of slime and number of dead slugs laying on the
ground. The finer in grain and the drier the salt is the
better. What we have used has been procured from
town, at about lOd. per bushel, which brings the ex-
pense, with carriage and spreading, to about 6s. or 7s.
per acre. The positive advantage I cannot state accu-
rately in figures, but I am confident it has in every
instance been considerable, and in some fields it has
certainly been the means of ■preventing the total destruction
of the crop."

The remedy is so practicable, and so economical,
that it is at least worthy of a general trial. Let me
remind the readers of your widely-circulating paper,
however, to remember that it is comparative experiments
which alone lead to increased and accurate know-
ledge ; so they must not, when they try the salt,
omit to leave a portion of the field undressed with
the salt. Cuthbkrt W. Johnson.

14, Gray's Inn Square, Nov. 25.

THE SLUG.

In the Mark Lane Express of the 22nd of Novem-
ber there is a letter from a Hampshire farmer, re-
questing information as to the best means of de-
stroying the slug.

I have been for some years in the habit of using
on all my ley grounds, after the presser, the quantity
of four bushels of salt before I sow the wheat. Some-
times I sow the wheat immediately after the presser,
and sometimes 1 wait a few days, according to the
state of the weather, or as may be most convenient
to my other farm occupations.

The salt I purchase at Chichester, at 4.5s* per ton ;
it must be in that state in which it can readily be
sown from tbe seedlip.

My object in using the salt was for the purpose
and in expectation of destroying or weakening any
kind of ground vermin that would be likely to in-
jure the wheat before it had got good hold of the
ground ; and I have every reason to suppose that it
has answered the purpose it was intended to do.

It is of the utmost importance to tbe future pro-
gress of the wheat plant, that the top root should be
preserved, and have firm hold of the ground before
winter; which not only will preserve it against the
frosts, but enable it in its future growth to resist the
many casualties it is subject to— as blight, mildew,
smut, earcarkle, &c. ; for I do believe that none of
these unfortunate circumstances would have so
much effect on the productiveness of the wheat, if
the wheat plant was well and firmly rooted during
the progress of its growth to the seed time at
harvest. A Sussex Farmer.

Chichester, Nov. 24.

RESULTS FROM GUANO
MANURE.

FROM MR.. SMITH, GUNTON PARK, NORFOLK.

Applied 2001hs. to an acre, and on the same field, on
an equal space ot laud, fifteeo bushels of bone dust.
Both were drilled into the ground with seed wheat.
The bone dust gave tour and a half quarters of wheat,
the guano six quarters two bushels one and a half
pecks.

FROM MR. WESTCA11, BURWOOD, SURREY.

Had but a few pounds' weight, which he applied to
five rods or earth ; dunged the remainder of the field
with the best farm- yard manure, at the rate of eighteen
load to the acre ; d idled in barley. Five rods of the
dunged part of the field, gave at the rate of thirty-five
bushels ot barley — the rive rods manured with guano,
gave at the rate ot thirty-nine bushels per acre.

FROM MR. GEO. HARRIOTT, NORTH WALTHAM,
BASINGSTOKE.

The small quantity I received I sowed witli some bar-
ley on the 1st of May last, without ashes or charcoal.
The weather was very dry when the guano was used ;
the barley came up three days sooner than elsewhere,
it was much more luxuriant during all the season, and,
as well as I could ascertain from so small a quantity,
compared with an equal portion ot land not sown with
guano, the produce was rather more than halt as much
more corn, and double the quantity of straw. If it
had been sown eail er, I am convinced it would have
done more good. In the early part of June I dressed
about ten perches tor Swedes: 1 mixed the guano with
ashes, and drdled in with the seed ; on either side. I
used bone dust ; the season was very dry, and conti-
nued so for three weeks ; the ashes mixed with the
bone dust were moist— those with the guano fresh
burned and dry, consequently the Swedes dressed with
the moist ashes came up a fortnight sooner than those
dressed with guano and dry bones ; but since the rain,
vegetation has been very rapid, and guano has quite
given bone dust the go-by. From what 1 have seen, I
havG every reason to think it will form a most valuable
manure.

It was applied to some barley in Norfolk, in 1840,
and this year the clover on which it was sown has pro-
duced half a ton more than auy other part of the field.
This is important, as most artificial manures do good
for one season only.

FROM MR. LOVE, SHOREHAM, SEVEN OAKS.

I beg to inform you I have made trial of the guano,
and am happy to add that it has answered my most
sanguine expectations. I mixed 14lbs. in the first
instance with two bushels of allies, and although the
weather was very dry, 1 could perceive a marked differ-
ence in the growth of the plants a few days after they
made their appearance. Encouraged by my success, I
then mixed '28lbs. with fifteen bushels of ashes, and ap-
plied it for turnips by sowing broadcast on the land, and
liarrowing it in lightly. As we had frequent showers
at the time, the seed soon vegetated, and the plants
grew away from tho«e manured with dung and mould.
In each case I applied it at the rate of two cwt. to the
aere.

FROM MESSRS. CORMACK, SON, AND OLIVER,
FLORISTS, NEW CROSS, DEPTFORD.

We have to express our regret that, through the im-
proper conduct ot the foreman who was lately in our
employ, the guano you have been kind enough to send
us lias not received a fair trial on our land ; but we
can bear testimony to its excellence when applied to
grass and turnip crops, because we have known it to be
applied in Lancashire with very marked success, pro-
ducing a healthy vigour to the appearance of vegeta-
tion, peculiar to itself. With Italian rye-grass it has
proved itself very efficacious, and on the whole, we be»
Hevc it to be a very valuable manure.

26

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FROM MR. JOHN CRANE NOTT, HALLOW, WOR-
CESTERSHIRE.

Trial on Hops.— I have much pleasure in hearing
testimony to the beneficial effects ol the guano manure
you were good enough to send me. I applied it to my
hop grounds, and in order to give it a lair trial, I put
about a pint to every alternate hill in every row. The
effect was most extraordinary ; those hills on which the
guano was applied were most luxuriant, while the ad-
joining oues, not so manured, were sickly and weak.

My neighbour, Mr. John Winnell, of Unices Leigh,
speaks most favourably of the trial he made upon arti-
ficial grasses and hops, on boih of which it had a most
beneficial effect, f feel confident if the guano cun he
bought at a moderate price.it will be the most valuable
manure we ever had.

FROM MR. SIM, DRUMMOND, SCOTLAND.

It give* me much pleasure to add my testimony to
that of other farmers, of the value of the manure you
inform me is called guano.

As far as this season has gone, it has the superiority
over nitrate and bone dust. 1 applied ten bushels of
bone dust, one cwt. of nitrate of soda, and 70lbs. of
guano (being at the rate of two cwt. to the acre).
Sown in ridges, it has produced more luxuriance than
either.

From the experiments more lately made, it appears
that the best mode of applying Guano is to mix 2 cwt.
wiili four or five bushels of bone dust, as the supply for
one acre of Wheat, Barley, or Oats.

Mr. Smith, whose experiment is mentioned among
the foregoing, and whose reputation as a farmer adds
weight to any opinion he may express, states that he
considers the effect of this mixture as far surpassing any
other he has seen ; but I would not dispense with the
charcoal, from which the same benefit will be always
derived.

There is an advun'age in guano, that, use it in al-
most any wny, its component parts are so essentially
manures that they must be absorbed by the growing
plants, and assist by adding vigour 1 1 their life ; and if
a farmer should prefer other means of applying it to his
land than that which I have mentioned, he can scarcely
go wrong in making trial of his plan.

1 may add turnips to the crops benefitted by bone
dust and guano together ; but for green crops in gene-
ral, charcoal alone will be necessary to mix with it.
The great assistance that can be given to manures of
this description, is to diffuse them among the roots of
the plants, and consequently as much as possible
through the land they are applied to.

A. Macdonai.d.

3, St. Mldred's Court, London, Oct. 26.

WAGES IN DERBYSHIRE IN THE 14TII
CENTURY.— By an act, called the Statute of
Labourers. 25th Edw. 111., passed in 1351, it is pro-
vided, " That no carter, ploughman, day or other
servants, shall take in the time of sarcling, or hay-
making, but a penny the day ; and mowers of meadows
for the acre fivepence, or by the day fivepence; and
reapers of corn in the first week ol August, twopence,
and the second threepence, and so till the end of
August; and less in the country where less was wont to
be given, without meat or drink or othei courtesy ; and
that all workmen biing openly in their hands to the
market towns their instruments, and these shall be hired
in a common place, and not a privy. And that no
servant go out of the town where he dwelleth in
the winter to serve in the summer, it he can get service
in the same town, taking as before is said ; saving- that
the people of the counties of Stafford, Lancaster, and
Derby, and people of Craven, and of the marches of
Wales and Scotland, and other places, may come in
time of August, and labour in other counties, and
safely return, as they were wont to do before this time.

ON THE VALUE OF THE DIFFER-
ENT BREEDS OF CATTLE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sin, — Allow me to thank you for giving my com-
munication a place in your valuable paper of last
Monday, also for the notice with which you favoured
it, more particularly because any remarks from you
are more likely to draw public attention to the sub-
ject than would a dozen letters from me.

The importance of the subject, as to which is the
most profitable breed of cattle, induces me again to
address you, and the question as to whether any-
thing can he inferred respectiug the relative value
of either breed, from the extraordinary prices which
some particular animals have brought, requires from
me a lew words in explanation.

In the first place 1 must beg to correct an error
either of mine or of the pre^s, by which I am made
to say, " The high price shows only the scarcity of
animals of that particular breed." It should be
(and is in the copy now before me), " the high price
shows only the scarcity of animals, so good of that
particular breed." This small omission makes a
great difference to my proposition. I should quite
agree with you that were there a greater scarcity of
the ordinary animals of one breed than of any other, it
would be fair to presume that that breed stood
highest in the estimation of the agricultural class ;
but those animals which sold tor the extraordinary
prices recorded in your paper, I must consider were
extraordinary animals ; and I still think the high
prices they brought were indicative of the scarcity
of such good animals of that particular breed, but not
of the scarcity of the breed generally.

You ask, " Whence does the demand arise? Is it
not based on the favourable opinion of the particular
breed entertained by the agricultural class?" 1 think
it arises rather from the favourable opinion of the
parti :ular animals entertained by the spirited patrons
of the breed to which they belong.

You say, " It is fair to presume that the superiority
of same animals of the Devon and Sussex breeds is
as great over other animals of the same breeds, as id
the short-horns and Herefords; if, therefore, Mr.
Stace's proposition were true, the best animals of the
former breeds ought to fetch as high prices as the
best animals of the latter breeds, which all know
not to be the fact." The fact that there is not so
great a difference in the prices of the different ani-
mals of the Devon and Sussex breeds, as there is
in the prices of the different animals of the short-
horn and Hereford breeds, I think renders it un-
fair to presume there is so great a difference in the
animals of the former as of the latter breeds.
I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant,

Berwhk, Noo.'IG, 1841. Wm. Stack.

ON THE MERITS OF THE DIF-
FERENT BREEDS OF CATTLE.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir — I consider the question propounded by Mr.
Stace, in his letter, which appeared in your paper
of the 22nd tilt., relative to " the raw material in
beef,'' and your remarks thereon, of considerable
national importance ; and 1 hope it will claim the
attention of some of your correspondents, better

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

27

fitted than myself to enter as fully into detail on the
subject as may satisfy Mr. Stace and your readers
generally. #

I should T?e induced to make the attempt, did I not
feel satisfied that I should be considered by many
more in tbe light of an advocate of a particular breed
of cattle, than as a person anxious to elucidate facts,
Though the latter Las been my great object
through a tolerable long life, relating to the breed
of all domestic animals, with a mind prejudiced in
favour of no one particular breed, further than close
observation and experience would warrant. I have
repeatedly offered, through tbe press and otherwise,
to test the opinion I bad formed on the subject, by
keeping animals together and feeding them, in what
I consider a legitimate way, but could never meet
with a customer.

It rarely happens that ox-calves, or even yearling
steers, are otfered for sale in this part of the country ;
they are generally kept by the breeders until they
are 2§ years old, when they are sold to the graziers
and dealers that attend our fairs every autumn from
most parts of the kingdom, anxious to buy " the raw
material" for making Hereford beef; and if Mr.
S^ace is at all desirous to seo a sample of that sort
of " tbe raw material," I can inform him where he
may do so, in bis own county of Sussex, anil learn
at the same time the cost of the article about the
20th day of October last ; he will then be better
able to judge what that article has paid to the breeder
and what profit it is likely to yield to the feeder,
than he can be in any other way that 1 know of;
unless Mr. Stace will take the trouble of attending
Hereford fair on the 19th and 20th days of October,
in any year, and compare the age and the price of " the
raw material for beef" he will see there, with that of
other breeds of cattle to be met with in their different
localities : this, probably, would be a more satisfac-
tory test to him. With regard to some animals sell-
ing for so much more than others that are called the
same breed, whether Herefords, Short-horns, Sussex,
or else, the reason, I think, is obvious, namely, that
a discerning public are of opinion that those animals
for which they are induced to give such high prices,
will either prove the purity of their blood, their cor-
rect forms, and quality of flesh, as all these com-
bined tend to improve these different kinds of cattle.
The field here is so wide for discussion that I shall
not further attempt to enter it. 1 had a great desire
to have said a little relating to the late cattle show
at Gloucester, and the liberal prizes offered by two
noble Lords for bulls to be shown there next year,
but [ must defer doing so for the present.
I remain, Sir, very truly yours,
Poole House, Dec.3, 1841. John Piuce.

MODE OF INCREASING THE GROWTH OF
POTATOES. — The flowers being cut off as they ap-
peared on the plants, the number of potatoes produced
was much greater than where the blossoms remained
untouched. Earl; in October, the stem and leaves of
the plant* which had not borne flowers were strong and
green ; the other yellow and in a state of decay. The
plants which had been stripped of flowers produced (on
the same space of ground) about four times the weight
of large potatoes: very few small one* being found.
Those on which flowers and fruit had been left, pro-
duced but a small number of middling sized potatoes,
with a great number of small ones, from the size of a
common filbert to that of a walnut.

CROWN LANDS, IRELAND, KING
WILLIAMS TOWN, COUNTY
CORK.

(from the hush farmer's and gardener's
magazine.)

Copy of a further Report of Richard Griffith, Esq., to tin'
Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods, fee, on the pro-
gress of the Roads and Land Improvements of tbe Crown
Estate of King William's Town, in the county of Cork ;
dated 13th August, 1841.

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, Cth Sep-
tember, 1841.

The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Woods,
&c, beg to submit herewith a further report from
Mr. Griffith, dated 13th instant, of the experimental
operations that have been carried on at the Crown
Lands in the counties of Cork and Kerry, con,
nected with the village of King William's Town,
and the reclamation and general improvement of
the lands, in continuation of the system originally
undertaken in the year 1831, the progress of
which has been brought under your lordship's
notice in the various detailed reports already made
by him on this subject, and submitted to parlia-
ment ; the last of which, dated loth July, 1839,
specifies the progress of the buildings, general
works and improvements, and the arrangements
for a new division of the lands into distinct farms,
to the 30th June in that year. In the course of
the year 1840, at the suggestion of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, communicated to
the Chief Commissioner of this board by the Duke
of Richmond, we directed the purchase of six
Scotch heifers of the Galloway breed, in order to
an experiment being instituted in regard to their
produce in milk and butter, as compared with a
like number of Ayrshire and Kerry tows. The
result of this experiment, as far as circumstances
could permit of itsbeii g tried, is fully detailed in
Mr. Griffith's report.

(Signed)

Duncannon, "^Commissioners of her Majesty's
A. Milne, J- Woods, Forests, Land Reve-
C. Gore, j nucs, Works, and Buildings.
Office of Woods, fyc, 28t/» August, 1841.

Further Report of Richard Griffith, Esq., to the
Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods, &c,
on the progress of the Roads and Land Improve-
ments on the Crown Estate of King William's
Town, in the county of Cork ; dated 13th Au-
gust, 1841.

King William's Town, 13tli August, 1841.
My Lord and Gentlemen, — Two years have
now elapsed since I made my last report on the
progress of the roads and improvements oh the
Crown Estate of King William's Town, and though
at this moment I have nothing new to offer, still it
is desirable that your board should be made acquain-
ted with the present state of each department of the
undertaking. My last report was drawn up soon
after an important change had taken place in the
arrangement of the estate ; namely, from each
principal division being held in common by eight
or ten families, to one in which each farmer had a
distinct portion of land or farm allotted to him at
a certain fixed rent. I then fully described the
system that had been adopted in dividing and al-

28

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

locating the farms ; and I am happy to say that
that system has been carried out with great success,
and that the tenants generally are happy and con-
tented in their respective allotments, and have all
of them fenced, drained, and taken into cultiva-
tion certain portions of the mountain, boggy, and
heathy land, hitherto of very little value, even for
grazing young cattle during the summer months.
Unfortunately, the autumnal months of the years
1838, 1839, and 1840, were extremely wet, and
unpropitious for mountain farms near the south-
west coast of Ireland, and in consequence the crops
sown on the newly reclaimed lands did not come
to maturity, and for the greater part were alto-
gether lost ; this unpropitious circumstance has
greatly retarded the progress of improvement in
the estate generally, and has reduced several of
the smaller tenants nearly to a state of destitution ;
and had it not been for the system adopted of em-
ploying each tenant in fencing and dividing his
own farm into suitable fields, in quarrying and
drawing stones required for the erection of his
own house and farm buildings, many of them
would have been unable to have purchased pro-
visions for the support of their families during the
spring months of the years 1840 and 1841 ; and,
fortunately, my power to effect this object was
much increased by the grant of 200/. made for the
purpose of giving additional employment at the
time it was most required. The present season ,
as far as it has gone, has been rather favourable
than otherwise ; and should there be a good hal-
ves';, the tenants will be enabled to improve with
double vigour during the next winter and spring.
In regard to the works actually completed up to
the month of June last, 1 have the pleasure to
state, that the whole of the external boundary
fences of the estate have been completed, with the
exception of a small part on the north-east border,
where it passes through a deep unprofitable
bog ; and this portion would long since have been
completed, had it not appeared to be more desi-
rable to employ the respective tenants on the sub-
divisions, the general drainage, and improvement
of their own farms, rather than on the general
boundary fence.

M. F. P.

The actual extent of boundary fences
completed between the 1st July,
1839, and the 21st March, 1841,
amount to 28 6 9

And the extent of fences made by the
tenants within their own farms
amounted to 4 1 1?

Or nearly

32 7 26

According to the arrangement as proposed in
my last report, the expense of making the boun-
dary fences is to be defrayed by your Board, but
one-half only of those required for divisions. within
the farm.

£. s. d.
The entire cost of the above mentioned

length of boundary fences amounted

to 43? 6 11$

And for the internal divisions of farms,

being half the cost, to 31 11 6

Total 518 18 5*

The extent of land fenced, drained, limed, and
reclaimed within the several townlands of the es-
tate, during the last two years, is as follows —

A. R. P.

Tooreenclassagh 2fi 2 0

Tooreenglanay 31 0 0

Glencollins 3.5 2 0

Carragawns 20 2 0

Minganine 6 2 0

Model farm, or Lower Glencollins. ... 19 0 0

Total reclaimed 139 0 0

So that it appears, during the last two
years, 139 acres of nearly unprofitable mountain
land have been reclaimed, manured, and cultiva-
ted, and thereby raised in value from about 4s. to
from 8s. to 9s. per acre, thus increasing the actual
value of the estate upwards of .55/. per annum. It
is true, that according to the system adopted, the
rent payable will not be increased to that amount,
as the tenants will be only charged for the first
seven years 4 per cent, on the amount actually
advanced by the commissioners for each parti-
cular improvement ; but still there is a bond fide
increase in the annual value of the estate amount-
ing to 55/., which will proportionably tend to im-
prove the condition of the people. According to
the old system of occupancy — namely, of tenants
in common, no new fields would be enclosed or
reclaimed, consequently a new era has commenced;
and if succeeding seasons prove to be of an ordi-
nary character, the progress of improvement, and
consequent increase in the wealth and comfort of
the inhabitants, will be rapid and considerable.
During the last two years 26 new farm-houses and
cottages have been erected, which being added to
15 previously built, makes a total of 41 new houses,
exclusive of those in the village. In estimating
the number of farm houses which required to be
built subsequently to the month of July, 1839, the
date of my last report, I omitted to take into con-
sideration the houses required for the accommoda-
tion of the mere labourers residing on the estate, to
whom no farms were allotted ; these persons at
present occupy some of the old houses, which are
in such a state of dilapidation that it is nearly im-
possible to keep them up. Upon a careful examina-
tion, it appears that there are 24 families of this de-
scription on the estate, for whom suitable small
thatched cottages should be provided, at an average
expense of 25/. each; this would amount to the sum of
600/., which, together with all other improvements,
can he gradually provided out of the income of the
estate, as recommended by me in my last report.
In addition to the erection of suitable farm-
houses, great exertion has been made to forward
the building of limekilns for the purpose of burn-
ing lime for manure ; and I have the pleasure to
state that 17 kilns have been completed and in
operation during the last year, whose fertilising
produce has been the proximate cause of the im-
provement in the soil effected. According to the
arrangement made with the tenants, the limestone
is raised from the quarry at Carrindulkeen, held
on lease by the commissioners from the Earl of
Kenmare, and sold to farmers at cost price, who
draw it home and burn it themselves at our own
kilns. The drawing home of the limestone has
now become a matter of no difficulty, and com-
paratively of trifling expense, the new roads from
the quarry, by Mount Infant to King William's
Town, and the estate in general, having been com-
pleted and handed over to the Board of Works.
Previously to their completion, the farmers could
not draw home from the quarry more than one
small load of from ten to twelve hundred weight

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

29

in the day ; at present they can deliver with ease
two loads each of twenty hundred weight : this is
a matter of great importance, and will tend much
to the rapid improvement of the estate. Besides,
to the 17 limekilns above mentioned, it is in con-
templation to erect M in addition, making alto-
gether 79. These, when completed, will afford every
facility for the reclamation of the mountain lands :
so that in a few years we may reasonably expect
that the value of the estate will he more than
doubled. The quantity of limestone drawn to the
estate from the quarry at Carrindulkeen during
the last two years amounts to 949 tons, which pro-
duced 4,743 barrels of lime, to which should be
added 365 barrels purchased at Castle Island for
the use of the tenants in the spring of 1840, mak-
ing altogether 5,100 barrels ; of which 3,540 were
used as manure,* 1,300 barrels for building farm-
houses, and 260 for building lime-kilns. In regard
to the roads generally, I have to say that all the
great lines of communication have been completed
upwards of three years, and are now in good
order. The whole of the farm mads through the
estate, recommended by me, have also been com-
pleted, and at this moment every farm is accessi-
ble to wheel carriages ; while previously to the
commencement of the works no part of the estate
was accessible to wheel carriages, and few even to
horsemen, excepting in very dry weather. Re-
specting the village of King William's Town, 1
have little to say, further than that it is in good
order, and that the houses are all occupied, with
the exception of one that has been prepared for a
police barrack, and which will be soon occupied
by a party of four police ; not that at present we
have any need of protection from such a force, but
that as the traffic on the great, road from Tralee
by Castle Island to Cork, which passes through
the village, is rapidly increasing, and as the num-
ber of carters who stop at night at the inn in the
village is considerable, it became desirable to
have a small force which may prevent broils and
produce order and decency in the place. I am
happy to say the innkeeper conducts his establish-
ment in a very respectable manner ; he has made
and is making considerable improvements on the
inn farm, and is endeavouring to rival our model
farm in his crops of meadow and potatoes. I
should here observe that during the last two years
a great change has taken place in the character
and conduct of the carters who chiefly frequent
this inn. Formerly, owing to the pure quality of
the spirits sold there, the house became a favoured
night resting place ; but latterly the use of spirits
of any kind has been altogether abandoned, and
the same individuals who formerly partook largely
of spirits, now confine their libations to milk or
coffee, with bread and butter. At present the milk
of eight cows is found insufficient to supply the
demand of the carters, and the innkeeper is fre-
quently obliged to apply to the dairy of the model
farm for assistance to supply his customers. This
is a great and most beneficial change in the habits
of the people, and particularly of the carter class,
who formerly were rather inclined to excess. In
addition to the mercantile traffic on the roads,
there is considerable passenger traffic through the
village, resulting from stage cars or caravans
which have been established from Tralee to Cork,
and which go up to Cork one day, and return the

* From thirty to forty barrels of lime is sufficient
to manure one statute acre.

next. Many strangers take advantage of this pub-
lic conveyance for the purpose of visiting the im-
provements, the fame of which has created consi-
derable sensation in the country. In respect to
the village, I have nothing further to state, except
that the school for boys and girls is well attended
by the children, not only of the inhabitants of the
estate, but from the surrounding country : our
present master is a steady and attentive man, and
much respected by both parents and children.

Model Farm, &c.

The same course of reclamation and cultivation
hitherto practised, has been pursued in the model
farm during the last two years ; but partly owing
to the inclemency of the seasons, and partly from
the want of labourers at the proper seasons of the
year, particularly at seed time and harvest, it has
been found necessary to diminish as much as
possible the extent of tillage, by laying down the
land with artificial grass seeds alter the first crop
of corn : this has led to a considerable increase to
the stock of dairy and young cattle ; hut in mak-
ing this increase much attention has been paid to
the introduction of a superior bleed of cattle,
which in the end will benefit the entire district.
The difficulty of procuring labourers for the model
farm at the present, as compared to former pe-
riods, has arisen from the farmers of the estate
having been engaged on the reclamation and cul-
tivation of their own farms ; and this to a certain
degree is the case in the neighbouring estates,
where the occupants are now rapidly following
this example, and are already much improved in
their system of drainage and tillage; so that in
consequence no labourers can be procured, except-
ing perhaps during the months of July, August,
and part of September in the autumn ; and in
January and February in the beginning of the
year, previously to the usual time for commencing
the preparation for tillage. In my opinion it is
not desirable to increase the number of families
on the estate for the sole purpose of enlarging the
extent of tillage on the model farm; yet without
doing so the proportion of tillage land must be
lessened from what it has been for years past ; but
this is not to be regretted, as, from experience, I
am of opinion that the climate is much better
suited to the production of grass and hay than of
any tillage crop ; and particularly of barley and
oats, the frequent failure in which latter crop
arises from the straw being lodged and broken by
the heavy rains which usually fall in the months
of August and September; and the straw of the
crops grown on newly reclaimed peaty soils is not
sufficiently strong or elastic to bear the shaking
of thewindsand the beating of the rain when the
grain is approaching to maturity. Rye is more
certain; and in ordinary seasons, land well tilled
and manured will produce an average crop of
good potatoes and turnips. There can be no doubt
of the necessity of draining, tilling, and manuring
the land well previously to its being laid down
with artificial grass seeds ; if these conditions be
not fully carried into effect, the artificial grasses
will fail at the end of the first year, and will be
succeeded by the sour aquatic grasses natural to
the soil and climate. I am happy to say that in all
the fields hitherto laid down here with artificial
grasses they have succeeded extremely well, and
in some cases the hay and grazing fields have pro^
duced good crops in the fourth year. Great care

:30

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

lias been taken to save the seed from the meadows,
which has been distributed among the tenants,
some of whom in consequence have had good crops
of artificial grasses. Furze seed for sowing on the
fences, and a considerable number of young trees
from the nursery, have also been distributed among
them. The several breeds of cattle at present on
the model farm consists of Kerry or native breed
of the country, of Ayrshire and Galloway cattle
imported from Scotland. The present number of
cows giving milk amounts to 28, viz. : —

Kerry, or native breed 16

Ayrshire cows 9

Galloway 3

28

In the month of October last, six Galloway heifers,
each 2l years of age (supposed to be in calf) and
a yearling bull of the same breed, were purchased
in Scotland by order of your board, for the pur-
pose of making an experiment in regard to their
produce in milk and butter, as compared with a
like number of Ayrshire and Kerry covv-\ Unfor-
tunately only four of the Galloway heifers proved
to be in calf, and one of these, though in healthy
condition, became dry soon after calving. The
comparison, therefore, respecting the qualities for
the dairy, was necessarily confined to three Gal-
loway cows, each three years old at the time of
producing the first calf; four Kerry cows of the
small sized breed, each four years old, but the first
calf; and nine Ayrshire cows, each six years old,
having been three years and a-half feeding on the
farm, and having each produced the fourth calf.
The milk of each of the cows was measured sepa-
rately, and noted for two months — viz. between
the 18th of April and 17th of June inclusive of the
present year. It appears from the return that the
Galloway cattle give on an average 6j imperial
quarts of milk per day, and that 9£ quarts of milk
produced one pound of butter when salted for
market. The Kerry cows gave, on an average 1\
quarts of milk per day, and 8$ quarts produced
one pound of butter when salted. The Ayrshire
cows gave, on an average, 9 quarts of milk per
day, and 10| quarts of milk produced one pound
of salted butter. It is to be observed, that the
Ayrshire cows cannot be fairly placed in competi-
tion with the Galloway and Kerry breeds, inas-
much- as the latter were heifers having each pro-
duce* the first calf, while the Ayrshire were old
cows, each having had four calves. The milk of
the same Ayrshire cows was measured in July,

1838, when they were also heifers after their first
calf; then they gave on an average but 7£ quarts
of milk per day, as stated in my report dated June,

1839. It appeared, from the inspection of the
principal butter merchants of Cork, that the quality
of the butter produced by the different breeds of
cattle was the same as to taste, though the colour
of each was different. That produced by the (Jal-
Ioway cattle was of a deep yellow colour ; that by
the Ayrshire a bright yellow colour ; and by the
Kerry breed, a still lighter shade of yellow. The
Galloway cattle here alluded to, are a fine looking
black breed, well shaped, and without horns ; they
are comparatively of a large size, say about (i cwt.
when fat. The Ayrshire cows are smaller ; they
would not exceed 5 cwt. or 5^ cwt. when fat ; while
the Kerry cows are still smaller, and would not
exceed four cwt. when fat. The cattle of each of
the breeds are now in equal condition, in the same

pasture ; but to ascertain the comparative cost of
keep, some experiments were made during the last
winter and spring, when itappeared that the quan-
tities of hay consumed by one of the cows of each
breed per day was as follows : —

One Galloway cow consumed p. day 21 2-31bs. of bay.

Ayrshire 24 8-91bs. do.

Kerry 16 8-9lbs. do.

It would follow, from the above results, that the
Irish breeds are best suited to the mountain lands,
and to the cold and wet climate of King William's
Town ; they are less expensive to feed, and when
under the same circumstances, in respect of age,
ecc. they produce morebutter per week than either
of the breeds imported from Scotland. I have no
doubt, however, that the Galloway cattle are su-
perior for stall-feeding. I herewith send a return
of the produce and expenditure on the King Wil-
liam's Town and model farms for the years ending
the 31st of March, 1840 and 1841, by which it
appears that the value of the produce of these farms
for the two years mentioned, amounted to 1,197/.
19s. lid-, while the expenditure, including the
full rent fixed upon them, amounted to 330/.; and in-
cluding likewise the sum of 123/.lls.8d. expended
on draining and reclaiming land, which produced
no return whatever, amounted to 1,188/. 13s. Si^d.,
leaving a balance of sales on hand amounting to
9/. 5s. lid. When it is considered that the rent
named for these farms is fully as high as could be
procured from any farmer of the country, that
123/. lis. 8d. has been expended in reclaiming land,
and that a small balance remains in hand during
two years, in which the farmers of the surround-
ing country were nearly ruined from the failure
of their crops, 1 think the result must be deemed
as highly favourable ; and I have no doubt it is
solely attributable to the lands under crop having
been drained in a perfect manner, according to
the frequent drain system recommended by Mr.
Smith, of Dearfston, near Stirling, in Scotland. I
also send a return of the crops growing on the
town and model farms, on the 15th June, 1811,
and the extent of each, amounting altogether to
nearly 116 acres ; likewise, a return of the stock
on the town and model farms during the last and
preceding years, together with a statement of the
expenditure on the roads, and general improve-
ments connected with the estate up to the 31st
March, 1841, and a general account of the cash
received and expended from the commencement
of the improvements up to the present time, all of
which I hope will prove satisfactory to your board.

I have, &e.
(Signed) Richard Griffiths.

The Commissioners of her Majesty's
Woods, Forests, &c, &c.

DRAIN PLOUGH MATCH. — The premiums
offered by the Gargunnock Farmers' Club, some months
nyo, for the best drains executed by the plough, either
for tiles or wedges, were competed for on Tuesday, the
16th in*t., upon a field belonging to Mr. Chrystal,
Dnsherhead, when six ploughs started, each drawn by
from ten to sixteen horses; and, notwithstanding the
ground being covered with snow, and the surface crusty
with frost, the ploughmen and horses did their work in
admirable style, ploughs working well, horses drawing
fair, and men straining skill and nerve, determined not
to bet— all this, with the anxiety of the immense crowd
of spectators, produced such a novel, interesting, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

31

delightful scene, as it may safely be affirmed has never
been seen in Scotland. The judses, Colonel Graham,
of Meiklewood, John M'Queen, Esq., of liurnhead, Mr.
Forrester, Stewarthall, Mr, Cassells, Kepp, Mr. Pater-
son, Carse of Cambus, after a careful and impartial in-
spection, awarded the first prize to the Mewrs. Alex-
ander, farmers in Little Carse and Taylortown, and the
second to Mr. Armstrong Smith, Arnprior. The judges
and many others present, admired the plough belonging
to Mr. Bryce, veterinary surgeon, Doune, which did its
work remarkably well. Alter the field work of the day
was over, the judges, members of the club, and many
other gentlemen, dined in the Meiklewood Suspension
Bridge Inn. Mr. Forrester, Stewarthall, did the duties
of the chair in such a way as gave universal satisfaction
to the company ; Mr. M'Nie, Woodyet, Secretary to
the club, croupier, when the evening was spent in the
most happy manner, all looking forward with confi-
dence to the great benefits to be derived from plough
draining1. The country is greatly indebted to that
spirited and most enterprising improver of the soil, Mr.
J'etcr MacEwen, farmer, Blackdub, who, a good many
years ago, introduced plough draining. He then in-
vented a plough with which he has now drained the
most of his extensive farm. The difference between his
system and that lately adopted by the Messrs. Alexander
is this — Mr. MacEwen takes one laige furrow and
finishes with the spade; the Messrs. Alexander takes
out two furrows, the last plough leaving the drain in
nearly a finished slate for the tiles. These gentlemen
have much merit in the inventing and bringing this im-
portant implement to such perfection. This is one
among the many impulses which the Gargunnock Club
hiis given to improvements, many of which have been
of great importance and utility to the country, and as
long as it is carried on under the auspices of so many
muster spirits of invention and improvement, it cannot
but continue to be, as it has been for nearly the last fifty
years, the means of doing much good to the country,
and especially to the district where it is established. —
Stirling Journal.

" Sir C. Morgan's 4 years old ox weighed 147
stones.

"A steer bred by Colonel Cook, fed on potatoes and
straw, 2 years and 22 days old, weighed 72 stones."

Innumerable instances of the extraordinary
weight of particular animals might be brought
forward ; but as it is principally to prove the su-
periority of the breed in general that 1 have un-
dertaken their defence, I shall here insert the
prices of Mr. Arrowsniith's cattle, of Feiryhill,
who always fed them at two years old : —

In 1801 sold 4 for i?25 0 each.

DURHAM AND DEVON CATTLE.

TO THE EDITOR 01- THE ROYAL CORNWALL
GAZETTE.

Siu,— I observe in your paper of the 5th inst.
a letter from a " Devonian," respecting the merits
of the Durham and Devon cattle. He commences
by stating that on your Cornish soils, five acres of
land will fatten three Durham s of I) cwt. each, or
four Devons of 6£ cwt. each. How he has arrived
at this conclusion I am unable to find out. At
present it is mere assertion, and must be treated as
such. As to the early maturity and fattening
propensity of the Durhams — (I mean the im-
proved short-horn, not the old Yorkshire cattle) —
I think I cannot do better than give a few instances
from the Rev. H. Berry's work on them : —

" The Durham, ox at five years old was calculated
to weigh 1(38 stones, and this extraordinary weight
did not arise from his superior size, but from the
excessive ripeness of his points.

" A cow belonging to Mr. Mason, of Chilton, not
less remarkable in point of fat than the ox. The.
depth of fat from .'.he rumps to the hip in a perpen-
dicular position wis 12 inches thick.

"Mr. R. Collings' heifer at four years old
weighed 130 stones.

" Mr. Wetherell, of Field-house, in 1810, sold two
steers. 3 years old, for 471. 10s. each. The price of
fat cattle being 10s. per stone.

1802 .

. 6 .

. 17 10

1803 .

. 4 .

. 17 0

1804 .

. 6 .

. 18 10

1805 .

. 6 .

. 17 10

180fJ .

. 4 .

. 16 0

1807 .

. 8 .

. 18 0

1808 .

. 8 .

. 19 0

The time of selling was from the beginning to
the end of May. They were managed as follows :
— In the first winter they got straw in a fold-yard
with nearly as many turnips as they could eat.
In May they were turned to grass ; in November
put to turnips through the winter, and turned out
the first week in May. In April, 1808, Mr. Bai-
ley saw Mr. Arrowsniith's eight yearlings intended
for feeding. He says, they were very lean and
not more than 15 stones each, and no one unac-
quainted with the breed would have given more
than 4/. 10s. or .">/. per head for them. This testi-
mony of Mr. Bailey's is highly important, as it at
once refutes the opinion, that no stock can attain
such valuable early maturity without extravagant
rearing.

The following animals of this breed were bred
and fed by Mr. Robertson, of Ladykirk, near Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed.

n 1794

yrs. i

an ox .. ..4

A steer . .4

do. . . .3

do 3

A heifer. .3
A steer . .3
An ox ..4
A steer . . 3
A steer . . 3
A steer . . 3

nonths.

10....

0

•I
11.. . .

8

stones.

..145

. .106
..101
..112

. . 89

lbs.

3* .
0...

Tallow.

sf. lbs.
...24 7
. ..1!) 7

1814
181J

6, . ,

0

0,. ,
0. . .

...15 0

, , 26 0
. .00 O

1817

o

. . 95

. .17 10

1822

6....
6....

10,
8....

..135
..133
. . 124
..112

...21 O

0

0, ,
0.. .

...21 0
...}7 0
. . .00 0

Robt. Brown, Esq., of Welham, has bred and
slaughtered the seven under-mentioned animals —

yrs. months. stones, lbs. Tallow.

st. lbs.

1816 A steer . . 3

...12

7

Do. under 2

0...

...56 1...

... 7

3

Do 1

!>...

...61 7...

... 7

8

1817 A steer ..3

2

1811) Do 3

0...

...12

1

0.. .

...107 13...

('

Do 2

0...

...82 0...

...12

11

Here I may conclude the statement of superior
weights of animals of this breed. What has been
adduced is sufficient to establish the pretensions
of the improved short-horns to the valuable pro-
perties of obtaining early maturity and great
weights.

■ The weights are all calculate.! at 1-llbs. to the stone.

32

THE FARMERS MAGAZINE.

" Devonian" asserts that " The Durhams have
remarkably thin hides, short hair, and are of a
tender constitution, calculated with extraordinary
keep in sheltered situations to arrive at great
weights. The Devons, on the contrary, are pro-
tected by thick hides, and long hair, with a hardy
constitution, agreeing with the bleakness of our
unprotected hills, combined with an aptitude to
fatten equal if not superior to any of the cattle
kind." In coming to this conclusion your corres-
pondent appears to have ov crlooked the important
fact that the Durhams have attained their highest
degree of excellence in our most northern counties,
which must be allowed to be much colder than
Devon or Cornwall. It would be possible to ad-
vance arguments to show that the question is not,
which breed will best endure starvation, to which
few, if any cattle, need be exposed, but which
breed will thrive better under the means of ma-
nagement which the country generally will be
found to afford. " Devonian" appears to have
forgotten that what may be a characteristic of
hardihood in one breed of animals, may not be so
in another ; if he imagines that unless a Durham
has a thick hide it must be delicate, I assert that
he is much mistaken. The Durham, it is admitted,
has a thinner skin than the Devon ; but, far from
having short hair, it is covered with a profusion
of long hair, of itself almost as well calculated to
keep out as much cold as a Devon hide can do.
" Devonian'' then says, to illustrate the ravenous
propensities of the Durham breed, "look at them
as general stock ; do they then maintain a credi-
table condition with a limited quantity of food ?
I refer to those kept in this county, which will be
found on inspection mere walking shadows — car-
cases of bones •. contrast them with the cattle of
the Rev. Dr. Rodd, of Trebartha, in this county.
There is scarcely a bullock in the rev. gentleman's
possession but is lit for the market, nay, much
fatter than some of the Durhams alluded to can
be made." All this appears very plausible, and
may delude some people who are unacquainted
with the breed ; but do the people who are breeding
them in Cornwall (who I presume were breeders
of Devons before they became breeders of Dur-
hams) find them so very ravenous? If so, I pre-
sume they are all tiring of them ; and are returning
to the Devons. The comparison which " Devo-
nian" draws between the Rev. Dr. Rodds's Devons
and the Durhams in Cornwall, is not a fair one.
The rev. gentleman's herd of Devons ranked
higher among Devons than any herd of Durhams
in that county do among Durhams. Let them be
compared with Mr. T. Hates', of kirkleavington,
Mr. Booth's, of Killerby, or with Mr. T. Crofton's
of Holywell ; and that will be a fair comparison of
the two breeds. The superiority of the Durhams
over every other breed of cattle for the dairy is so
well attested, that I need not dwell upon it. Com-
bining then as they do, early maturity, aptitude to
fatten, atid usefulness for the dairy, I have no
doubt that ere long they will be the prevailing-
breed of the kingdom.

I cannot conclude better than by quoting your
correspondent's own words ; — I would take the
liberty of advising the true agricultural patriot to
argue no more on hypothesis ; and those who are
already wavering on this important subject, will, I
hope, regard the unprejudiced opinion and statis-
tical facts of Your obedient servant,
Plymouth, Nov. 15, 1841. D.

AVERAGE PRICE OF WHEAT.

Mr. Editor, —Having employed a few leisure hours
in copying from the London Gazette, for seven years,
the returns of the average price of British corn, from
which the duties are calculated, I have condensed the
information thus obtained for my own reference, and
formed a table of the highest and lowest prices in each
month, from 1834 to 1840 ; also another table, showing
the highest and lowest prices in each year during that
period.

Should you think they may prove serviceable to your
readers in the very interesting enquiry on the corn
laws, which U expected to take place upon the meeting
of Parliament, they are at your disposal.

I am, sir, your's obediently,

London, Nov. 17. S. S.

1334.

1835.

1830.

1*37.|

1838.

1839.

1840.

s.

d.

s.

d.

s.

.1.

s. d.

s. d.

s. d.

s. d.

January ....

49

in

41

6

36

8

60 0

52 10

76 1

66 10

49

2

40

7

315

5

59 4

53 0

79 8

66 1

February . .

49

0

40

9

37

1

59 0

53 3

79 9

65 10

48

in

41

0

39

ii

57 11

54 7

77 5

65 5

48

s

41

0

39

11

57 S

54 11

75 10

65 9

48

1

40

2

42

■j

56 3

55 8

72 6

67 0

47

11

40

0

43

7

56 4

56 4

72 1

67 7

47

4

39

7

46

!l

56 1

57 10

70 4

68 11

May

47

5

39

5

47

5

55 11

58 3

70 1

69 0

48

0

38

11

48

ii

55 1

59 11

71 2

68 6

47

10

39

3

49

1

51 11

60 6

71 ]

68 3

47

(i

39

It

SO

2

55 7

63 9

69 10

67 9

47

0

40

0

50

(!

56 2

64 7

69 4

67 7

48

7

41

4

50

3

56 7

67 0

68 6

68 8

August ....

48

8

41

11

50

O

57 0

67 8

68 8

69 5

48

5

42

10

4!)

8

58 6

71 11

70 11

71 9

September . .

48

4

42

5 49

3

58 11

73 2

71 8

72 3

45

11

40

0

48

0

57 6

70 7

71 3

69 3

October . . .

41

11

39

2

47

1 1

57 0

68 7

70 10

67 11

42

2

3'

3

47

8

55 3

(il 3

6S 11

63 9

November . .

41

11

37

0

48

0

54 2

64 7

68 2

63 4

41

K

36

9

:,1

11

52 8

70 3

66 11

62 2

December . .

41

10

88

9

51

5

52 6

71 6

67 5

61 8

42

1

36

8

|60

3

53 3

75 5

67 2l60 3

Jan. Aug. Dec. Jan. Jan. Feb. Sept.

Highest

49

10 | 42

10 | 60

3 | 60 0 | 52 10 | 79 8 | 72 3

Nov. Dec. J;

n. Dec. Dec. Nov. Dec.

Lowest

41

8 | 36

8 | 30

5 1 52 6 | 75 5

| 66 11

| 66 3

NITRATE OF AMMONIA PROPOSED ASA
MANURE. — If nitrogen be the one essential ingredient,
in manures, and thuy be valuable in proportion to the
quantity contained, vvliy should the nitrate of ammonia
not be tried? as of all known salts this contains the
largest proportion of nitrogen, amounting to 35 parts in
the hundred. By heat it is entirely resolved into water
and nitrous oxide — the laughing gas. 1 tried it upon a
Fuchsia rtflexa, but eil her from an overdoie or intoxi-
cation, the plant died. Formerly, the principal source
of sal-ammoniac was the camel's dung, from the Libyan
deserts ; this fact will probably elucidate the reason why
dung acts as a manure, and also why one kind of manuru
should b" used for one tribe of plants, another for an-
other ; thus nitrate of soda improves grass and ruins
onions — the cruccfera? require a large proportion of
nitrogen, and contain even sulphur. So the wormwood
if one of the most pernicious weeds, as it takes up so
large a proportion of potash from the soil. We shall
best arrive at a knowledge of the '/>roper manure for
each plant by analysing- it in its wildr'shate, and again in
its most highly cultivated ; the common hedge pansy,
for instance, nnd the beautiful blooms that adorn our
shows. Any salt of ammonia required may be readily
formed from the gas liquor, which contains the car-
bonate.— Henry Barham Harris, M,D.,in the Gar-Jen-
er's Chronicle.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

33

MANURES— NEW THEORY.

ESSAY TRANSLATED BY JOHN CRAU1 URD, ESO., OF
AUCHENAMES, FROM THE ITALIAN OF PROFESSOR
GAZZIN.

The first and chief error which leads uninformed
and merely practical agriculturists astray, and
keeps them closely wedded to their mistaken
systems in the preparation, treatment, and use of
manure, is the belief they entertain that the quan-
tity is greatly increased by adding to the ex-
crements of animals, the different substances,
chiefly of a fibrous, and more or less tenacious
nature, which are used for their litter : a
pardonable error in persons who, unable to form
a right conception of the specific weight of different
bodies, estimate quantity by bulk ; the bulk, or ap-
parent quantity of the excremental matter of
animals, being, of course, increased in a large
proportion by the addition of the litter.

Habit induces agriculturists to regard as not
being manure, or matter fit for the nourishment
of plants, those vegetable materials that still
retain their natural appearance, neither bruised or
turned brown by exposure to the decomposing
contact of animal excrement. Yet such materials
are most undoubtedly fit to give nourishment to
plants, and to be absorbed into their substance,
though more slowly than dung, when reduced by
fermentation to that state which is considered the
only fitting one, and to which it is thought indis-
pensable to reduce whatever matter is to be used
as manure.

To persuade men of the contrary, it must be
shewn to them — and it can be shewn by very easy
experiments — that manure which has reached the
highest degree of fermentation and decomposition,
always contains, undecomposed, a portion of those
very same vegetable materials which are believed
to be inactive and incapable of serving as manure.
If a handful of fermented manure be carefully
dissolved in water, and then passed through a
coarse seive, we shall find that what remains in
the sieve consists almost entirely of straw and
other vegetable matter, chiefly of a fibrous nature,
more or less broken, but still undecomposed. And
if we again pass through a finer sieve what fell
through the first, we shall still find at the bottom
of this one also, a certain portion of the same
matter, more minute as to particles, hut equally
undecomposed ; this matter, when examined with
a microscope, will be found more or less similar
to the larger pieces of the first sieve, just as these
again when examined in the same manner, are
found nearly similar to the straw separated from
the dung when it is first taken out of the stable;
differing from it solely in the not containing,
except rarely, any fragments that keep then-
cylindrical shape without having been split up
length-wise,

If we subject to a similar process, a handful of
earth taken from either a field or a garden which
has been used to be manured with common dung, we
shall find in this earth similar particles of
vegetable matter undecomposed. Now, are we to
suppose that these substances, or any portion of
them, proceed from the manure given to such
field or garden, an hundred, fifty, or twenty years
previously ? — certainly not. There is not, and
there cannot be even a vestige of those manures,
since we find that even the hard tough roots of
large forest trees dissolve by degrees and disappear

in the ground, though, by a somewhat slow
process, and the same effect takes place in a pro-
portionably shorter time with the roots of lesser
plants.

What then can we, or ought we to conceive,
becomes of the products of the slow decomposition
of such substances in the ground? Solely that
they are turned into nourishment for other plants
that grow in the same ground in which those
matters are contained, being absorbed by such
plants, and converted into their substance.

This process takes place in two ways — either
directly or indirectly. Direct absorption takes
place with that portion which, in consequence of
a slow decomposition, is gradually reduced, either
to a stateof actual solubility in water, or to a state
not clearly definable, butin which it appears certain
that it can be absorbed by the plants through the
action of their roots. What I call indirect ab-
sorption applies to that portion of the materials
which having, by the same slow decomposition,
become soluble still, from either an excess of
quantity, or the not coming within reach of the
roots of the plants, is not taken up by them, but
is taken up by the alumen, or clay, through the
valuable property it possesses of uniting greedily
with vegetable matter capable of extraction or
soluble in water, from which it separates such
matter, and appropriating it to itself, does not
allow of its being drawn back by the water, but
yields it up only to the plants, either when those
plants need increased nourishment, or when the
greater extension of their roots enables them to
reach and to absorb it.

Although I have shewn in a former memoir,
and many other writers and highly esteemed ex-
perimentalists have confirmed the fact, that fer-
mentation prolonged, as is generally the custom,
through many months, for a year or even more,
destroys in the materials which are intended to
serve as manure or nourishment to plants, almost
one-half of their substance, and that half especially
the most useful one ; yet neither myself or any else,
so far as I am aware, has laid sufficient stress on
the very important consideration of the decom-
position of the masses of excrement when mixed
up with vegetable fibres, or other nearly similar
materials.

Meanwhile it has been brought to proof, and
even recognised by many, that animal excrements
may, with very simple precautions, be employed
for manure in its natural state without previous
fermentation or decomposition ; and this, not only
without any evil consequence, but with immense
gain, since we thereby avoid the destruction and the
loss of a great portion of its substance that
occurs when it is exposed to fermentation. The
same, however, cannot be said of those substances
of which we have spoken above as forming the
litter of animals ; and which, although in their
nature and chemical composition fitted for nourish-
ment to plants and for conversion, however slowly,
into their substance, yet ill adapt themselves, by
their form, to complete mixture with the soil, and
to the ready reach of the roots : and since, by
their prolonged contact with excremental matter
they become better framed for these purposes, this
practice has misled us for centuries, and still seeks
to maintain itself, despite the arguments and the
facts that shew it to be not only erroneous but
highly injurious.

These arguments ought, I think, to receive very
great additional force from the consideration to

34

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINK.

which I have referred above, as being not suf-
ficiently noticed or attended to. It is this : —

If straw, fodder, or other analogous matter,
when left to itself, could, without any sacrifice but
that of a considerable destruction of its substance,
and a loss of time in its application, be reduced to
the required state of subdivision, this improvement
in quality might reconcile us to the diminution in
quantity. But in the system generally followed,
we encounter, in addition to this loss, the far more
important one of the destruction of nearly one-
half of the excremental matter so infinitely more
valuable; and which, not needing any preparation,
and being in itself fitted for the important use for
which it is destined, is, when used as a means for
decomposing the straw or litter, really sacrificed
in the pursuit of an illusory and ephemeral ad-
vantage out of all proportion with the losses it
occasions.

The mixing, therefore, the litter of animals
with their excrements is no gain, as agriculturists
suppose, but, on the contrary, a most serious dis-
advantage.

Any mass of excremental matter that has been
immediately separated from the litter with which
it was mixed up, obtains, from that moment, as
manure, a much higher value than it would have
bad when reduced to a dung heap, rotted and
wasted by mixture and by long contact with the
materials of the litter — at the expense, too, of
many months, or a year of time, besides other
cares and labours of no slight consideration, before
it is brought into application.

Hence, in the view to substitute a useful and
rational system for the present most erroneous and
hurtful one, there results a leading rule or precept,
viz.: — in cleaning out our stables, to separate, by
means of pitchforks, rakes, or other like and fitted
implements, the excrements of animals from the
materials used for their litter. In stables, in
towns, or wherever it is the practice to remove
diiily the beds of animals and their excrement, it.
will be advisable always to make this separation
immediately at every cleaning. By this means the
litter, or at least a portion of it, may be made to
serve as such for a longer time, and we shall
economise even in this respect also.

Urine and the moisture of excrements, with
which the materials used for litter are always more
or less imbued, besides producing in them a com-
mencement of decomposition, which, by the re-
peated alterations of drying and again using, may
be carried considerably forward, render those
materials when dried, more or less crisp, and at
the same time friable ; so that by the continual
stirring and movement to which they are subjected,
a portion of them is reduced to minute fragments,
and these unite with similar small particles of ex-
crement that having adhered here and there to the
litter, are rubbed from it.

After separation of the two different kinds of
materials, we must guard them against that heating
or fermentation to which they are liable, and
reduce them to such a state of subdivision as will
allow of their being conveniently and usefully ap-
plied in the various exigences of agriculture.

For this purpose we must have means adequate
to the required effects, and such as shall, at the
same time, be of easy execution, and not ex-
pensive.

In order to stay or prevent fermentation, it is
enough to avoid or exclude some one of those con-
ditions, without which it cannot take place. Such

is the presence of water or a certain degree of
moisture. Hence, if we dry the materials we are
speaking of, that alone will suffice to secure them
from fermentation.

To reduce them to the required state of subdi-
vision, or minuteness of parts, we must subject
them to mechanical means of certain and proper
effect, at once cheap and easy of use.

Perhaps some uninformed farmer, on hearing
these suggestions, may exclaim — " What? witb
the great mass of manure which is taken out of
our stables, would you have us first separate the
two different ingredients of which it is composed,
and then dry, bruise, and pulverise them ? Im-
possible !'' "No," I answer, "it is not impos-
sible ; nor do I propose any thing but what 1 have
myself first found to be practicable, and have
actually practised, with every proof of its useful-
ness, and without any real or insuperable difficulty.

When men perceived the excellent qualities of
the seed of wheat or corn, as an object of food,
after preparing it at first by rude and simple
methods, they discovered subsequently that itcould
be rendered a much more palatable and wholesome
nourishment, if it were reduced toafinedustorflour,
and then subjected to the various processes by
which we obtain good bread. But, had they re-
nounced this great improvement from dismay at
the difficulty of obtaining the flour — an operation
performed at first with great labour and small
profit, by crushing the grain between two stones
worked by the hands, and afterwards by rude and
clumsy corn-mills, to turn which a Samson's
strength was required — we should not now be
possessed of bread, the staff of life, the precious
aliment of a vast portion of the human race.

The great friability of dry stercoraceous matter
makes needless mv saying much of its pulverisation,
which is either in a great measure a superfluous
trouble, or an end of easiest accomplishment by the
rudest and most simple means : and with respect to
the fibrous matter of which litter is composed, since
it is not very hard though somewhat tough, it is
clear that, in order to subdivide it minutely, we re-
quire instruments, not for pounding; or beating, but
for cutting or tearing, which may very easily be
invented.

Some distinguished authors suggest a more rough
subdivision of fibrous matter intended for litter,
into pieces of about a foot in length, by means of the
sickle, before putting it under the cattle. This sug-
gestion I do not approve, since a moderate quantity
of rather long fibrous materials, well mixed and
tangled together, and bent and broken without be-
ing divided, so as to prevent, as much as possible,
all parallel layers, forms a much better bed than an
equal quantity of the same materials cut up into
small pieces.

Having- thus spoken first of the pulverisation and
subdivision as being the part of the process most
likely to appear alarming, I shall now say but
a few words on the drying, which can be effected by
the simplest and most obvious means, both natural
and artificial ; and if the latter may occasionally
give rise to some slight expense, the former require
only a small degree of labour and care. The fol-
lowing is the method I have made use of in my small
experiments, and I think it well calculated for ope-
rations on a much larger scale.

After having dried a portion of the materials
used for litter, and which had been separated as
speedily as possible from the excrement, and having
made a bed of it, moderately thick, and laid loosely

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

35

iu onler to allow free passage for the air, a certain
quantity of pure dung or excrement should be
spread upon it; and this will dry more or less readily
according to the state of the atmosphere, espe-
cially if it consist of the droppings of horses,
mules, or asses, generally in small masses of regular
form, which may be considered as secured from fer-
mentation so soon as the drying of the external sur-
face of the layer has formed a sort of crust. The
same effect takes place, though somewhat more
slowly, with the dung of oxen, cows, and the like.
So soon as the cakes, or flat masses of these mate-
rials have formed a crust, they may betaken off the
bed of straw or litter, and heaped together so loosely,
that, with the uneven form of the cakes, the air
mav pass between tbera, and complete the process
of drying. Meanwhile fresh supplies of dung can
be spread on the bed of straw as fast as that which
has been already partially dried is removed.

I shall now briefly draw from the preceding re-
marks the most important of the conclusions to
which they lead, premising a few words of reasoning
and of simple calculation, based upon it, which will
shew the necessity for adopting, at least in its essen-
tial points, the system I advocate.

Some authors have estimated the quantity in
weight of the materials ordinarily used for the lit-
ter of cattle at one-sixth of the whole mass of litter
and dung together. But as the dung retains some-
what more inoisiure than the litter, and as I wish to
consider both ia their dry state, or without taking
into account the moisture they contain, I shall reckon
the proportion of litter as one-fifth.

Thus in lOOlbs. of the general mass, there are
80lbs. of dung, supposing it drv, and 201bs. of
litter. It is a fact now demonstrated that this
mass, when allowed to undergo a process of com-
plete fermentation and decomposition, would be re-
duced to one-half of the weight, that is to .M)lbs. ;
and thus should lose a quantity of matter equivalent
to the whole of the litter, plus 301bs. And, more-
over, since the straw and other materials forming
the litter are much more difficult of decomposition
than the pure excremental matter, it cannot but be
certain that the greatest part of the loss arises from
destruction in the excremental or stecoraceous mat-
ter, more especially in the animal portion of it,
which is the most efficacious and most nourishing
for vegetables ; while the remaining and much
smaller part of the loss, proceeds from distinction in
the tough fibrous materials of the litter.

Hence it is clear that the farmer who quickly
separates the dung from the straw every time that
his stable is cleaned out, and neglecting or even
casting away the straw, takes due care of the dung,
and guards that against decomposition, makes at
once a clear gain of 30 per cent, of this valuable
material over the farmer who allows it to ferment
and decompose.

He will of course gain infinitely more if he take
care of the straw also, and bruising and breaking it
up by means which in practice will be found much
easier and more economical than may be thought,
he reduce it to a state in which it may be readily
combined with any other kind of manure, and to-
gether with this adjunct mixed intimately with the
earth, in which such mixture will not only produce
chemical fertility, but, in many cases, improve the
mechanical qualities.

Farmers who are diligent aod anxious to promote
their own interests, equally with those of their
landlord, will be careful to clean out their stables
frequently, and after separating immediately the

litter from the dung, use the best means, and such
as have been partially indicated above, to dry speed-
ily both the one and the other, with a view to their
subsequent reduction to minute parts and pulverisa-
tion.

Should there be any who, less diligent and care-
ful, are unwilling, after securing the dung, to give
much care to the litter, they may steep it iu urine,
or any other liquid so as to produce in it by itself a
more or less advanced stage of decomposition, and
although a great portion of its substance will be
lost, still something will be obtained.

Whosoever will not give himself even this trouble,
may, after drying without any great care, the straw
or other materials forming the litter, submit them to
a mouldering combustion that shall not reduce them
to ashes ; by which means he will obtain 7-24ths
of their weight, or about 30 per cent, of a sort of
charcoal dust, that may be used as an excellent ma-
nure, especially when combined with other mate-
rials.

He, again, who will not take even these pains,
may throw away his litter altogether, after having
separated it from the dung ; some neighbour, wiser
than himself, may probably turn it to account, while
even he himself will still derive a benefit by saving
from decomposition the whole of the excrem n al
matter, of which a great portion was formerly
wasted.

Finally, if there be any one who will in no way
quit the old and erroneous system, and who chooses
not only to continue in the path of loss and sacrifice,
but to submit to all the losses and all the sacrifices,
I can only lament his ignorance aad his obstinacy,
for which not himself alone, but his too easy landlord
also, will justly pay the penalty ; and I must exclaim,
witli Cicero, against the perverseness of such perti-
nacity— Quae est autem in hominibus tanta perver-
sitas, ut, inventio frugibus glaude viscantur!"

ON

LIEBIG'S ORGANIC
CHEMISTRY.

(from the quarterly journalof agriculture.)

(Continued from page 419, Vol. IV.)

2. The Inter changing or Rotation of Crops. —
After giving a general account of the facts so well
known regarding the falling off of crops when
cultivated in close succession upon the same soil —
facts that led to the practice of alternating the
species of plant cultivated, by which it was found
that the deterioration might, in a great degree, be
prevented, M. Liebig observes, that the theory
proposed by " Decandolle alone deserves to be
mentioned as resting on a firm basis." This ex-
cellent physiologist holds the opinion which we
firmly believe to be the true one, namely, that
plants absorb by their roots all the soluble sub-
stances which chance to be applied to them ; and
as a number of these substances cannot be made
use of in the nutrition of the plant, he supposes
that the useless portions are returned to the soil
in the form of excrement, and argues, that, as
this excrement increases, the soil becomes more
and more unfitted for supporting the same species
of crop, but if another be substituted in its place,
it will probably thrive well, as that which is
useless and injurious to the one may constitute

c 2

36

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the proper food of the other. M. Liebig then
observes, that a great number of facts tend to
corroborate this opinion, as for example, the one
so well known to gardeners, namely, that fruit
trees cannot be reared where others of the same
kind have grown, until after the lapse of a number
of years ; and also the interesting fact that several
plants thrive best when growing beside one
another, while others mutually prevent each other's
development ; *' whence it was concluded that the
beneficial influence in the former case depended
on a mutual interchange of nutriment between
he plants, and the injurious one in the latter
on a poisonous action of the excrements of
each on the other respectively." Our author
then relates the well known, and often re-
ferred to, experiments of M.Macaire, which, as a
jull account of them has already appeared in one
of the earlier volumes of this Journal, * we shall not
here particularly describe, but merely mention the
results upon which Decandolle seem3 to lay most
stress. The water in which Macaire made legu mi-
nous plants to vegetate became brown, and this solu-
tion was found to increase the vigour of corn plants
when their roots were submerged in it, and the solu-
tion itself sensibly lost its colour. " so that it ap-
peared as if a certain quantity of the excrements of
the leguminosce had really been absorbed by the corn
plants." M. Liebig very judiciously observes,
that these experiments, while they no doubt prove
that plants do reject certain substances by then-
roots, by no means necessarily corroborate Decan-
dolle's theory, " for they leave it quite undecided
whether the substances were extracted from the
soil, or formed by the plant itself from food re-
ceived from another source." Taking for granted
that plants do really excrete, "we may now in-
quire whether these excrements, in the state in
which they are expelled, are capable of being em-
ployed as food by other plants." It is necessary,
in order to obtain a correct view of the case, to
bear in mind that what is usually called excrement
consists of two distinct classes of substances,
namely, useless matters which have passed through
the organism without undergoing any change,
and consequently may be fit to be appropriated by
others, and also the true excretions, viz., sub-
stances produced by the various processes which
occur in the plant, but which are of themselves
useless to the plant. Now, as these substances
are in reality the residuum of the food, after the
plant has formed its woody fibre, starch, gum,
and all other principles necessary for its develop-
ment, it follows that these true excretions cannot
afford nourishment to any plant, at all events un-
til they have undergone some further change. We
shall now see clearly why M. Macaire's experi-
ments do not corroborate Decandolle's theory.
Decandolle evidently refers to the useless matters
originally contained in the soil, and which, al-
though absorbed by the plant, had been returned
unchanged, whereas the very nature of Macaire's
experiments proves that he refers to the true ex-
cretions already mentioned ; and it follows, there-
fore, that, in the case where the corn plants ap-
peared to thrive better in the water in which legu-
minous plants had vegetated, there must either
have been other matters in the water, or the ex-
creted matter had undergone some change pre-
vious to its absorption by the roots. We cannot,
however, refrain from observing, that although

* Vol. iv. p. 882.

we quite agree with M. Liebig, that Macaire's
experiments do not actually prove Decandolle's
theory, as they arc evidently referring to different
substances, still we decidedly are of opinion that,
practically, it tends greatly to increase the value
of Decandolle's observations, because we see, by
Macaire's experiments, that plants injure soil in
two ways instead of one, namely, 1st, by returning
useless matters to it, whereby they deteriorate it
for plants of their own species ; and, 2nd, by
pouring out excretions which will be found inju-
rious to all plants equally, until they have under-
gone snnic chemical change, either in the soil, or,
as we think possible, in some cases at least, in the
plants themselves. The time which must elapse
between two crops of the same kind being culti-
vated on the same soil, depends greatly upon the
nature of the soil, as in some soils organic
matters undergo decomposition much more rea-
dily than in others ; and hence it follows, that
while crops may be raised in one locality every
second year, in others an interval of three or four
years is requisite to ensure the complete decompo-
sition of their excrementitious matter. We would
suggest here that the reason why some crops may
follow others of the same kind so much more fre-
quently on the same soil than others can, very
probably depends upon the greater or less facility
with which different vegetable excretions may un-
dergo decomposition, independent altogether upon
the nature of the soil ; at least this is the only
way in which we can account for oats being fre-
quently raised with ease every second year,
whereas in some situations" clover will not thrive
until the sixth year, in others not until the
twelfth." Krorn these observations wc may draw
the following important practical fact, namely,
that if wc can discover any method of accelera-
ting the decomposition of vegetable excrements,
we shall both increase the fertility of the soil, and
enable it to bear the same kind of crop at shorter
intervals. This is effected in various ways, Alka-
lies are well known to have the power of increas-
ing greatly the rapidity of the putrefactive process,
and hence it follows that the decomposition of
vegetable excrement constitutes one of the bene-
fits to be derived from lime, wood ashes, &c.
Again, irrigation has a powerful effect of the same
kind, owing to the quantity of oxygen which is
always contained dissolved in running water,
which substance is found in much less abundance
in that which is stagnant. This appears to be
one of the chief distinctions between marshes and
irrigated meadows ; in the former the stagnant
water excludes the oxygen, and thus retards de-
composition and greatly diminishes fertility ;
whereas in the latter, the flowing stream conti-
nually brings fresh supplies of this valuable ingre-
dient, and thus increases greatly the production
of the soil to which it is applied. M. Liebig con-
siders " that the advantage of the alternation of
crops is owing to two causes," namely, the en-
suring a good supply of the various inorganic
substances required by each plant, and which
have become diminished by the growth of the
same plant upon the field ; and also by increasing
the necessary supply of humus, by growing plants
of which a considerable portion is left in the
soil, and which, by its putrefaction, gives rise to
the formation of humus. We are willing to allow
that the first of these reasons, namely, the pre-
paring of a sufficient quantity of the requisite mi-
neral constituents may, in a great measure, be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

37

true ; but we cannot agree with the latter part of
the argument, because, were the benefit of a rota-
tion of crops at all owing to the supply of humus
obtained from the green crops, these might so far
be superseded by the application of manure ; but
practice has long proved the impossibility of
effecting this, and hence it follows that the in-
crease of humus cannot be considered as one of
the causes necessitating a rotation of crops, al-
though it is, when economically considered, one
of the benefits derived from such a practice. We
may therefore conclude that, as far as is at present
ascertained, the chief advantage of a rotation of
crops is, that each crop " shall extract only certain
components of the soil, whilst it leaves behind or
restores those which a second or third species of
plant may require tor its growth and perfect deve-
lopment."

3. Manure. — Chemical analysis is the only true
method of ascertaining what constitutes the really
valuable portion of manure, and how it acts in
promoting the growth of plants. As every ele-
ment contained in plants must be derived from
their food, so every substance capable of yielding
these elements may be regarded in the light of
manure. What does a soil gain when manured
with horse or cow-dung (farm-yard dung) ?
Chemical analysis proves that the solid excrements
of these animals contain but little nitrogen, it
averaging about one-half per cent, in each ; our
author is therefore of opinion that we cannot look
upon the nitrogen as the most active part of this
manure, because, were this the case, rotted hay
would be twice as powerful, for hay contains one
per cent, of nitrogen ; " but this is quite opposed
to all experience." He appears to think that the
inorganic constituents are the chief ingredients
upon which the value of these manures depend,
" for they are the same which formed the compo-
nent parts of the hay, straw, and oats, with which
the animal was fed." If, however, we consider
the matter carefully, wc shall perceive that the
same kind of objection can be brought against the
saline constituents as against the nitrogen, be-
cause, if it were to these alone that this manure
owed its value, then, in the case of pasture for
instance, it would be quite the same whether the
grass was allowed to wither from year to year, or
was fed off by cattle, and the droppings carefully
spread over the surface ; but experience proves
this not to be the fact. We are compelled, there-
fore, to look elsewhere for the cause of the value
of this manure, and we think it would be quite
easy to satisfy those who are not prejudiced by
preconceived opinions, that it is not to any parti-
cular element or elements that excrements owe
their fertilizing power, but to the state in which
these are combined. It is no doubt true that, were
the elements of manure other than they are, their
value would be proportionally diminished ; still
careful inquiry must satisfy us that it is to the
state of combination, and not to the elements
themselves, considered separately, that excrement
possesses fertilizing powers superior to the vege-
tables upon which the animals yielding them were
nourished. In a subsequent part of his work, and
which does not refer directly to agriculture, our
author, in speaking of " chemical transforma-
tions," produces some most valuable facts regard-
ing the effects of the contact of substances in a
peculiar state of chemical action, in giving rise to
the same action in other substances, provided
these are capable of undergoing similar changes ;

and we feel satisfied that it is to this principle
that we are to look for an explanation of the ferti-
lizing powers of excrementitious matter. It is
well known that animal matters in general are
much more prone to decomposition than those
which have a vegetable origin ; and, moreover,
that this tendency is greatly increased by their
admixture with any substance capable of retaining
moisture, as this is essential to putrefaction. Now
this is just the state of matters in excrements ; for
the animal substances contained in them are
mingled with a spongy mass of woody fibre, and
the consequence is, that, in soil, decomposition
goes on more or less rapidly according to the
proportion of soluble animal matter which they
contain, and also the facilities offered by the soil
for the ready transmission of air and water. While
this fermentation is taking place, the manure is in
contact with various other organic matters ca-
pable of undergoing a similar change, provided it
be once excited in them. Thus it follows that ex-
crements act beneficially, not only by yielding to
plants the elementary matters which they contain
in a state capable of assimilation, but likewise by
inducing decomposition of the organic matter of
the soil, and thus enabling it likewise to yield
a larger supply of available food than it other-
wise could. The following sentence, occurring
at page 180, cannot be passed by unnoticed : —

" It is quite certain that the vegetable con-
stituents of the excrements with which we manure
our fields cannot be entirely without influence upon
the growth of the crops on tbein, for they will decay,
and thus furnish carbonic acid to the young plants.
But it cannot be imagined that their influence is very
great, when it is considered that a good soil is
manured only once everv six or seven years, or
once every eleven or twelve years, when esparsette
or lucerne have been raised on it ; that the quantity
of carbon thus given to the land corresponds to only
5.8 per cent, of what is removed in the form of herbs,
straw, and grain ; and further, that the rain water
received by a soil contains much more carbon, in
the form of carbonic acid, than these vegetable con •
stituents of the manure."

Of course, we dare not attempt to gainsay the
accuracy of this statement as regards German
agriculture ; but how different is the farming in
Scotland, and how unlikely is it that a theory,
founded upon the observation of German hus-
bandry, should not require some modification
when brought to bear upon a practice so extremely
different. In this neighbourhood manure is ap-
plied every four years, unless the soil has been
allowed to remain in grass for more than one
year, in which case, still four crops only are re-
moved after each application of manure; and as
during the rest of the time the land is depastured
by stock, it is enriched in place of exhausted. In
reference to the proportion which the carbon of
the manure bears to that removed by the crops,
we have already seen that, in land well dunged, the
carbon contained in the manure amounts in each
rotation to 5737.68 lb. tnore than is contained in
all the crops removed from the soil, whereas in
Germany, according to M. Liebig, it amounts to
only 5 8 per cent.! How utterly unaccountable is
this extraordinary difference ! With regard to
the third statement, respecting the quantity of
carbon contained in rain-water, we need be at no
trouble to inquire, since its effects upon soil cannot
be very great when we remember that as much is

38

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

given to barren soil as to the most fruitful, and
consequently the increased productiveness of tbe
latter can in no wise depend upon this supply.

The importance of tbe saline constituents of
manure is most distinctly perceived in the case of
bone-dust ; for there can he little doubt that the
extraordinary effects of this valuable manure are
owing, in a great measure, to the phosphates with
which it abounds. Taking this fact into con-
sideration, our author proposes the employment
of che solutions of bone earth in muriatic acid, of
which " hundreds of tons are annually thrown
out as useless from the glue manufactories." He
states, that the free acid is neutralized by the
alkalies of the soil so soon as it is applied, and
that experiment has proved it to be useful. If it
were to be employed, we would suggest its being
used in the form of compost with lime, and
perhaps road-scrapings or subsoil.

" There are some plants which requirehumus, and
do not restore it to the soil by their excrements ;
whilst others can do without it altogether, and
add humus to a soil which contains it in small
quantities." Surely this sentence proves that,
whatever our author may have said in the former
part of his work regarding the inutility of humus,
lie has thought proper to change his mind before
he closed the volume. We can give our most
cordial assent to the first portion of the above
sentence, but are inclined to doubt if there are
any plants which can do " altogether" without
humus, although certainly some require very little.

As the object of the farmer is especially directed
to the production of substances containing
nitrogen, some especial notice is required con-
cerning the best method of increasing this supply.
"We may furnish a plant," says M. Liebig,
" with carbonic acid, and all the materials which
it may require ; we may supply it with humus in
the most abundant quantity, but it will not attain
complete development unless nitrogen is also
afforded to it ; an herb will be formed, but no
grain — even sugar and starch may be produced,
but no gluten."

The remainder of this portion of the work is oc-
cupied by a statement of the great importance of
liquid manures as depending upon their abounding
in nitrogen. This is a fact well known to agri-
culturists, and merits particular attention. Our
author likewise explains that the superior value of
human ordure over the excrements of animals,
depends also upon its containing a greater quantity
of this valuable ingredient. He then observes,
that many of the usual methods adopted for de-
stroying the smell of this substance are most in-
jurious, insomuch as they diminish greatly the
value of the manure by setting free the ammonia.
This is especially the case when quicklime is used;
and he recommends as a much more valuable
means the use of gypsum or sulphate of lime,
which has the property of fixing the ammonia
without rendering it unavailable to vegetation.
We should strongly recommend this practice to
be more extensively tried, as it well merits a careful
investigation ; for there can be no doubt that, in
the present way of preparing manure, much that
is valuable is allowed to escape into the atmosphere.
We have thus brought to a conclusion our ex-
amination of this most important volume— we say
most important on two accounts :— 1st, because,
from the time of its appearance, and the well-
known name of its author, it must, of necessity,
be received by all with a predisposition tj trust

implicitly to the accuracy of its contents ; and,
2nd, because, mingled with its many obvious
errors, are to be met with continually the most
valuable facts which perhaps were ever yet
published in connection with agricultural science.
We consider, therefore, that to all who have
already studied the science sufficiently to be able
to judge for themselves, this work is most valuable ;
but we cannot avoid counselling the new adven-
turers into the field of scientific agriculture, o f
which there are a numerous body nuw-adays, to
consult this work with the utmost caution, and to
examine very carefully every statement which ap-
pears to contradict practical results. As an en-
deavour to prove the non-existence of soluble
organic matter in soil, and thus demonstrate that
plants must receive all their carbon in the form of
carbonic acid, is by far the most important feature
of this work, and likewise is the one fraught with
most danger to the practical agriculturist, we feel
assured that our readers will excuse our detaining
them a little longer, while we endeavour to prove,
by what we believe to be strict logical reasoning,
that soil, as it is at present constituted, could neve-'
have been produced had not soluble organic matter
existed in it, and consequently, since soil is con-
stantly oh the increase, so soluble organic matter
must likewise continually be present beneath its
surface.

When we submit a portion of soil to examina-
tion, we shall find that it is composed of numerous
particles of various shapes and sizes, all of which,
if we except stones and pebbles, are of a uniform
lour in each particular specimen.

If we examine the same soil chemically, we
shall find that it is composed of silica, alumina,
carbonate of lime, the oxides of iron and
manganese, various saline substances, and organic
matter.

Silica, alumina, carbonate of lime, and the saline
substances present in soil, are all, when pure,
perfectly ivhite; but soil is invariably coloured.
It follows, therefore, that soil must owe its colour
to the oxides of iron, manganese, and organic
matter which it contains. When oxide of iron
exists in abundance the soil is of a reddish or
ochre colour ; when it abounds in manganese it is
black and glistening ; and organic matter produces
all the various shades of brown and grey which
belong more or less to every soil.

If we carefully rub together in a mortar any two
substances of different colours, and which have no
chemical action upon each other, we invariably
obtain a uniformly coloured mixture, whose tint
is a compound of the two primary colours em-
ployed. If, however, these substances are of dif-
ferent specific gravities, and both of them insoluble
in water, a separation of the two will take place
by agitating the mixture in that fluid, and after
subsidence we shall have two distinct layers ex-
hibiting respectively the colour of the substance
composing it. Thus, for example, if we rub to-
gether any quantity of red sand and pipe-clay, we
shall obtain a uniformly reddish-coloured mixture ;
but if a portion of this mixture be agitated in
water ami allowed to subside, we shall at once
effect their separation, and two distinct layers
will be produced, the lowest consisting of the
sand, and consequently red, and the upper com-
posed of pure white clay.

If we perform the above experiment with soil,
namely, if we agitate a portion of it in water, we
shall find that, after subsidence, the soil lias at-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

:J9

ranged itself in layers according to the relative
size of its particles, but that no difference, in colour
exists between the different layers deposited. It
follows, therefore, either that the colour of soil
does not depend upon a substance merely mixed
with it, or that the colouring matter is of pre-
cisely the same specific gravity as all the consti-
tuents of soil taken together, so that in subsiding
it remains equally mingled throughout.

Let us take a portion of dark hazel loam, and
heat it in the fire— it assumes a red colour, the
greyish-brown organic matter being in this
manner destroyed, while the iron is left in the
soil ; if, again, we act upon the same soil with
dilute muriatic acid, it loses in part its reddish
tint, and becomes more uniformly brown,
because, in this case, we have partially removed
the iron without acting in any great degree upon
the organic matter, The hazel colour of this soil,
therefore, is produced by the organic matter and
the iron conjointly. Now, we know that the iron
is chemically combined with both the silica,
alumina, and carbonate of lime, so that we have
only to ascertain the state in which the organic
matter exists, namely, whether it is mechanically
mixed, or chemically combined. We have already
remarked that no separation of the colouring
matter takes place when soil is allowed to subside
after agitation with water, and have, moreover,
shewn that this want of separation can be ac-
counted for only by there existing no difference
between the specific gravity of the colouring
matter and the soil, or from the one being not
merely mechanically combined with the other.

According to some recent experiments, it has
been shewn that the specific gravity of the organic
matter of soil, when nearly pure, is from 1.2 to
1.5 ; that of fine clay 2 ; carbonate of lime 2.3 ;
and sand 2.5 to 2.7. From this, therefore, it ap-
pears that the organic matter of soil has a less
specific gravity than any portion of its mineral
constituents ; and, morever, it will be observed,
that there is as great a difference between the
specific gravity of the organic matter and clay, as
between clay and sand ; but we have already seen
that clay and sand, when subsiding in water,
separate from each other; the same separation,
therefore, ought to take place between the organic
matter of soil and the clay, unless the two are com-
bined in some manner not merely mechanical.
I5ut the experiment with the dark hazel loam
proves that this it not the case, because, if it
were so, the lower portions of the soil would
be red, and the upper greyish brown; whereas
the colour is the same throughout, and, more-
over, chemical analysis can prove the existence
of organic matter in the lowest layers of the
deposit. We are forced, therefore, to the con-
clusion, that in soil the organic and mineral
matter are not merely mixed together, but arc
in a state closely resembling what we understand
by the term chemical combination.

We may here observe, that it would he in-
correct, in the present state of our knowledge
concerning soil, to have affirmed positively that
the organic and mineral matter of soil were in
a state of actual chemical combination, on account
of it being impossible, at present, at least, for
us to prove the point absolutely. This incapacity
of obtaining decisive proof depends upon the
following fact, — that however minutely subdivided
the mineral particles of soil may be, still we
must consider each indhidual particle as com-

pound, and as possessing a porous structure ;
and consequently, if we could prove experi-
mentally that each individual particle was
actually compounded both of mineral and
organic matter, still this would not prove
whether the two were chemically combined in
the true sense of the term, or whether the
organic matter were not merely deposited within
the pores of the mineral mass.

This ambiguity will not, however, affect the
strength of our argument, as it admits of demon-
stration that something more than a mere mecha-
nical force is requisite to produce this extremely
intimate mixture, even supposing that the sub-
stances themselves exerted no direct chemical in-
fluence upon each other.

Let us now endeavour to trace the method in
which this very perfect union between the various
constituents of soil have been, in the first place,
effected.

If pure quartz, pipe-clay, and chalk, are mixed
together in the proportions in which they exist in
a good soil, we should obtain a compound repre-
senting barren soil in every respect excepting co-
lour, which, in this instance, would be pure white;
if we were to place this mixture in a flower-pot,
having previously put a thin layer of manure at
the bottom, and were to sow grass seeds therein,
there is not the least doubt but that in the course
of time, even supposing the mixture never to
have been disturbed, the whole of this mass would
be converted into dark greyish -brown soil, and
would be found to contain a considerable quantity
of organic matter. Now in this experiment (the
truth of which may he demonstrated at anytime
by digging up a tin f from pasture which has never
been broken by the plough), the whole organic
matter contained in the produced soil must have
been derived from the roots of the grass, with the
exception of a small quantity at the bottom, which
may have been obtained from the layer of ma-
nure. Let us therefore inquire what would be
the appearance represented by such a mixture if
it had been produced solely by mechanical means.
When a plant grows in any soil, it sends out in all
directions a number of root-fibres, all of which
can be traced through the soil during the lifetime
of the plant; if, however, the vitality of the
plant be destroyed, these fibres gradually disap-
pear, so that after a certain period not a trace of
them can be discovered. The question therefore
for consideration is, how has this dissipation been
effected ? or by what means have these organic
fibres lost their continuity, and become so dis-
persed through the mineral mass which sur-
rounded them that they can no longer be de-
tected ?

In the experiment above related, there are two
methods only by which mechanical mixture could
be produced; namely, 1st, by the exerted force by
water percolating through the mass ; "and, 2d, by
the pressure of new root-fibres during their descent
through the sod. Now it is evident that mecha-
nical mixture, as produced in either of the above
methods, depends upon the capability of the
smaller particles of matter passing along the in-
terstices produced by the imperfect contact of the
larger masses. In the mixture before mentioned,
two of the substances, namely, clay and chalk,
are in the form of an impalpable powder, so that
by the above means no substance could become
intimately mingled with them, unless it existed in
a still more minute state of subdivision, which

40

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

however is inconceivable, except in the condition
of solution in some fluid.

From these observations, it follows that a fibrous
substance, such as root, can disappear from soil
in two methods only, namely, 1st, by becoming
entirely converted into gas, and hence carried off
by the air and water ; and 2d, by becoming partly
ga9eous, and partly soluble in water. That the
former of these is not the case in soil, is proved
by organic matter being left behind, which could
not occur if it were totally converted into gas.
It follows, therefore, that the second method is the
true one; and thus we are irresistibly led to the
following most important conclusion, namely, that
soil could never have existed as it is at present found,
unless soluble organic matter had been ■produced beneath
its surface.

Every year the same process is going forward ;
new root-fibres are formed, and old ones are gra-
dually decaying and disappearing; and, conse-
quently, it follows, as a corollary upon the above
demonstrated fact, that soluble organic matter must,
at all times, be produced in soil.

AWARD OF THE SMITHFIELD
CLUB'S PRIZES AND MEDALS,
FOR 1841.

Horse Bazaar, King-street, Portman square*

President— The Right Honourable Earl Spencer.

Vice-Presidents— His Grace the Duke of Richmond",
the Right Honourable Earl of Scarborough, die Bight
Honourable Lord Western, the Honourable Lord
Aboyne, Sir John Saunders Sebright, Ban., John M.
Cripps, Esq.

Judges — Eor cattle and long-woolled Sheep : Mr. S.
Bennett, of Ridgemont, near VVoburn, Bedfordshire ;
Mr. S. Druee, of Ensham, wear Oxford ; Mr. C. Stokes,
of Kington, near Kegworth, Nottinghamshire.

Judges— For short-wooiied Sheep and Pigs : Mr. T.
Monis, of Ranscomb, near Lewes, Sussex; Mr. B.
Emery, of Hunston-place, Stomngtoi; ; Mr. T. Fain-
combe, of Patriot-place, Brighton.

OXEN.
Class I. — Oxen or Steers, of any breed, under five years

ot age, without restrictions as to feeding, yet the kind

or kinds of food must be certified.

No. 11. Mr. Barnett,of Stratton Park, Biggleswade,
a four years and four months old Durham Ox, bred by
himself, and fed on grass, hay, cake, bean and wheat
meal, and turnips. Travelled to the show by vun 45
miles. The second prize, 15/.

No. 14. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford, near Leicester,
a four years and eight months old Hereford Ox, bred
by himself, and fed on grass, hay, green vegetables,
cake and bean-meal. Travelled to the show on foot 10
miles, by railway 102. Commended.

No. 15. The Most Honourable the Marquess of
Exeter, of Burghley Park, Stamford, a four year and
seven months old short-horned Ox, bred by his lordship,
and fed on cake, barley-flour, vegetables, and hay.
Travelled to the show by van 90 miles. Highly com-
mended.

No. 17. Mr. Hillyard.of Thorpelands, near North-
ampton, a four years and four months old Durham Ox,
bred by the Right Honourable Earl Spencer, at Wise-
ton, Northampton, and fed on mangel wurzel, hay,
bean-meal, and cake. Travelled to the show on foot 10
miles, by railway about 60. Commended.

No. 18. Mr. Hanbury, of Holfield Grange, Cogges-
hall, a three years and seven months old Durham and
Highland Cross Ox, bred by Sir F. Mackenzie, Bart.,

of Gairlock, Rothshire, and fed on cake, Swedes, and
hay. Travelled to the show by van 49 miles. Com-
mended.

No. 19. Mr. Lovell, of Edgecott Lodge, Banbury, a
four years and nine months old Durham Ox, bred by
himself, and fed on barley and bean-meal, linseed, man-
gel wutzel.and potatoes. Travelled to the show by
railway 86 miles. The third prize, 51.

No. 20. Mr. Rowland, of Creslow, Bucks, a four
years and ten months old Hereford Ox, bred by Mr.
John Jones, of Lower Brainlon, near Hereford, and led
on grass, hay, and cake. Travelled to the show on foot
8 miles, by railway 40 miles. Highly commended.

No. 21. Mr. Senior, of Broughton-house, Aylesbury,
a four years and eleven months old Hereford Ox, bred
by Mr. Mason, of Tarrington, near Hereford, and fed
on grass, hay, and cake. Travelled to the show on foot
3 miles, by boat 50 miles. The first prize 20/. ; silver
medal to Mr. Mason as breeder.

No. 22. Mr. Strickland, of A pperley-ceurt, Tewkes-
bury, a four year and eleven months old short horned
Ox, bred by Mrs. J. Strickland, of Apperluy-court,
Tewkesbury, and fed on hay, cake, and bean -flour.
Travelled to the show by van and railway 110 miles.
Commended.

No. 23. The Right Honourable Earl Spencer, of
Althorp, Northampton, a four years and one month old
Durham Ox, bred by his lordship, and fed on cake,
bean-flour, mangel wurzel, turnips, carrots, vetches and
hay. Travelled to the show by van 11 miles, by rail-
way 60 miles. Commended.

No. 26. Sir R. Thro^morton, Bart., of Buckland,
Farringdon, a four years and nine months old North
Devon Ox, bred by Mr. Quartly, of Molland, near
South Molton, Devon, and fed on grass, hay, turnips,
cake, and bariey-meal. Travelled to the show on foot
5 miles, by railway 63 miles. Commended.

Class II.— Oxen or Steers of any breed, under six years
of age, weight 90 stone and upward*, that shall not
have had cake, corn, meal, seeds, grains, or distillers'
wash, during 12 months previous to the 1st of August,
1841.

No. 32. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford , Leicestershire,
a four years and eight months old Hereford Ox, bred by
himself, and fed on 7251bs. of cake, llOlbs. of bean-
meal, grass, hny, and green vegetables. Travelled to
the show on foot 10 miles, by railroad 102 miles.
Prize 20/.

No. 33. Mr. Lovell, of Edgcott Lodge, Banbury, a
four years and nine months old Durham Ox, bred by
himself, and fed on 70 lbs. of linseed, 6 bushels of barley,
and 4 bushels of bean meal. Travelled to the show by
railway 86 miles.

No. 37. His Grace the Duke of Bedford, of Oakley,
Beds, a four years and eight months old Hereford Ox,
bred by Mr. Perry, of Monkland, near Leominster, and
fed on 1,344 lbs. of cake, 5 bushels of tare flour, grass,
hay, turnips, and mangel wurzel. Travelled to the show
by van 56 miles. Prize 30/. ; silver medal to Mr. Perry
as breeder.

Class III. — Oxen or Steers, of any breed, under five
years of age, under 100 stone, and above 70 stone
weight, that shall not have had cake, corn, meal,
seeds,. grains, or distillers' wash, during 12 months
previous to the 1st of August, 1841.
No. 39. His Grace the Duke of Bedford, of Woburn
Abbey, a three years and eight months old Hereford
Ox (from Mr, Hewer's stock), bred by his Grace, and
fedon3501bs. of cake, 260 lbs. of barley-meal, 500 lbs.
of linseed-meal, turnips, and mangel wurzel. Travel-
led to the show by van 42 miles. The first prize of 15/ ,
and silver medal as breeder.

No. 42. The Right Hon. Earl Spencer, of Allhorp, a
four years and four months old Durham Ox, bred by
his lordship, and fed on 645 lbs. of cake, 2 bushels bean-
flour, turnips, vetches, and mangel wurzel. Travelled
to the show by van 11 miles, by railway 60. The second
prize, 10/.
No, 45. Mr. Trinder, of Wantage, Berks, a four years

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

41

and four months old North Devon Ox, bred by Mr.
James Quartly, of Molland, near South Molton, Devon,
and ted on 740 lbs. of cake, 20 bushels of barley-meal,
grass, hay, turnips, carrots, &c. Travelled to the show
on footl mile, by van 4 miles, and by railway 63 miles.
Commended.

No. 48. Mr. Bailey, of Shenley House, a lour years
old Hereford Ox, bred by Mr. Morris, of Lea-Sans,
Salop, and fed ou 1,200 lbs. of cake, grass, and hay.
Travelled to the show on foot 2 miles, by railway 50
miles. Cemmended.

Class IV. — Oxen or Steers of any breed, not exceeding
four and a quarter year* of age, under 85 stone weight,
that shall not have had cake, corn, meal, seeds, grains,
or distillers' wash, during twelve months previous to
August 1, 1841.

No. 49. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford, Leicestershire,
a three years and seven months old Hereford Ox, bred
by himself, and fed on 725 lb*, of cake, 110 lbs. of bean-
meal, grass, hay, and green vegetables. Travelled to
the show on foot ten miles, by railway 102 miles. Com-
mended.

No. 52. Mr. Senior, of Broughlon House, a three
years and nine months oid Hereford Ox, bred by Air.
Thomas Downs, of Aston Hall, Salop, and fed on
650 lbs. of cake, grass, and hay. Travelled to the show
on foot 3 miles, by railway 50 miles. The second
prize, 5/.

No. 53. Mr. Wratislaw, of Rugby, a three years and
eleven months old Hereford Ox, bred by Air. YV. Veld,
of Broome, near Leominster, and fed on 526 lbs. of
cake, 160 lbs. of corn, grass, hay, turnips, and cabbages.
Travelled to the show on foot 3 miles, by railway 84
miles. Commended.

No. 54. Mr. W. J. Bailey, of Shenley House, Stony
Stratford, a three years and ten months old Hereford
Ox, bred by Mr. Williams, of Rilgwin, and fed on
956 lbs. of cake, grass, and hay. Travelled to the show
on foot 2 miles, by railway 50 miles. The first prize of
10/. ; the silver medal to Mr. Williams.

Class V.— Oxen or Steers, of any breed, under four
and a half years of age, and under 80 stone weight,
without reMrictions as to feeding, yet the kind or kinds
of food must be specified.

No. 55. Mr. Crisp, of Gedgrave, near Woodbridge,
Suffolk, a two year* and seven and a half months old
short-horned Ox, bred by himself, and fed on hay, cake,
corn, roots, and boiled barley. Travelled to the show
by van 94 miles. The prize of 10/.; the silver medal as
breeder.

No. 59. Mr. J. Williams, of Buckland, Fawingdon, a
three years and eight months old North Devonshire Ox,
bred by Mr. Quartley, of Molland, Devonshire, and
fed on grass, hay, turnips, cake, and barley-meal.
Travelled to the show on foot five miles, by railway 63
miles.

No. 61. Mr. W. J. Bailey, of Shenley House, near
Stoney Stratford, a lour years old Scotch Ox, fed on
gra**, hay, and cake. Travelled to the show on foot 2
miles, by railway 50 miles.

Class VI. — Oxen or Steers, of the Scotch or Welsh
breed, of any age, above 70 stone weight, that shall
not have had cake, corn, meal, seeds, grains, or dis-
tillers' wash, during 12 months previous to the 1st of
August, 1841.

No. 63. Mr. Gisborne, of Harwich House, Buxton,
an upwards of five years old West Highland Ox, bred
by Mr. Campbell, M. P., of Monzie, nenr Crieff, Perth,
and fed on 1,127 lbs. of cake, 708 lbs. of bean-meal, 12
bushels of crushed barley, grass, hay, cabbage, Swedes,
mangel wurzel and clover. Travelled to the show
on toot 8 miles, and by railway 178 miles. The first
prize, 10/.

No. 64. Mr. J. Miller, of Ballumbie, Forfar, a four
years and nine months old Polled Angus Ox, bred by
Mr. James Mustard, of Leuchlands, Brechin, and fed
on 400 lbs. of cake, 450 lbs of bean-meal, grass, turnips.

and potatoes. Travelled to the show on foot 15 miles,
and by steamer 400 miles. The second prize,5L

Class VIL — Oxen or Steers of the Scotch or Welsh
breed, of any age, under 70 stone weight, that shall
not have had cake, corn, meal, seeds, grains, or dis-
tillers' wash, during twelve months previous to the 1st
of August, 1841.

No. 66. Mr. J. Millar, of Ballumbie, Forfar, a four
years and ten months old Polled Angus Ox, bred by
Mr. Jurats Mustard, of Leuchlands, Forfar, and fed on
400 lbs. of cake, 450 lbs. of bean-meal, grass, turnip*,
and potaioes. Travelled to the show on foot 15 miles,
and by steamer 400 miles. The first prize of 10/.

No. 67. Mr. Mann, of Wymondham.a four years old
Scotch Ox, ted on 760 lbs. of cake. Travelled to the
show on foot 22 miles, and by railway 100 miles. 'The
second prize, 5/.

COWS.
Class VIII.— Fattened Cows or Heifers, under 5 years
of age. Freemartins and spayed Heifers are not Qua-
lified.

No. 68. Mr. Charles Burnett, of Stralton Park,
Biggleswade, a three years and five months old Durham
heifer, bred by himself, and fed on grass, hay, cake,
bean and wheat meal, and turnips. Travelled to the
show by van 45 miles. Highly commended.

No. 69. Mr. G. Carrington, jun., of v.e Abbey,
Great Missenden, a three years and ?ix months old im-
proved short-horned heher, bred by himself, and fed on
hay, white and Swede turnips, cake, barley and bean
meal, and malt. Travelled to the show by waggon 31
miles. Highly commended.

No. 70. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford, Leicester-
shire, a four years and seven months old Hereford heifer,
bred by himself, and fed on grass, hay, green vegeta-
bles, cake, and bean meal. Travelled to the show on
foot ten miles, and by railway 102 miles. Commended.

No. 71. The Bev. C. James, of Eveulude, near
Morton-in- Marsh, a four years and four months old
Durham heifer, bred by himself, and fed on cake, bean
flour, and Swedes. Travelled to the show by railway
80 miles. Commended.

No. 73. Mr. Owen, of Condover Park, Salop, a four
years and eleven months old Durham heifer, bred by
himself, from the stock of Sir George Crewe, Bart., and
fed on grass, hay, turnips, cake, and barley meal.
'Travelled to the .show by van 32 miles, and by railway
124 miles. The first prize 20/., and silver medal as
breeder.

No. 75. Mr. Wratislaw, of Rugby, a four years and
eight months old Hereford heiler, bred by Sir F. Law-
ley, Bart., of Middleton Hall, Warwick, and fed on
clover, gras*, hay, cabbage*, turnips, corn, and cake.
Travelled to the show on foot three miles, and by railway
84 miles. Commended.

No. 76. Mr. Yorkc, of Thrapston, Northampton-
shire, a three years and nine months old Durham heifer,
bred by himself, and fed on turnips, cuke, and barley
Hour. Travelled to the show by van and railway 80
miles. The second prize, 5/.

Class IX.— Fattened Cows, of five years old and up-
wards. Freemartins and spayed Heifers are noi qua-
lified.

No. 77. Mr. G. Cook, of Stanway, Gloucestershire,
a six years and eight months old long horned cow (had
three calves), bred by himself, and fed on hay.gras*,
bean and barley meal, and csike. 'Travelled to the show
by van 26 miles, and by railway from Cirencester.
Highly commended.

No. 78. Mr. Carruthers, of Arthinglon Hall, Otley,
a seven years and ten months oid short-horned cow
(calves prematurely), bred by Mr. R. Jobson, of Tur-
vilaws, near VVooler, Northumberland, and fed on hay,
cake, beans, and oatmeal. Travelled to the <how by
van and railway 214 miles 'The second prize 5/.

No.80. Mr. Ellis, of Hatfield Peveril, near Witham,
a five years and ten months old Hereford cow (had two
calves ), bred by Mr. Jeffries, of the Grove, Pembridge,

42

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Hants, and fed on mangel wurzel, Swede?, hay, tare
meal, and cake. Travelled to the show by van 40 miles.
Highly commended.

No/81. The Most Hon. the Marquis of Exeter, of
Burgh ley Park, Stamford, a five years and ten months
old short horned cow ( had two calves, and slipped one),
bred by himself, and Fed on cake, barley flour, vegeta-
bles and hay. Travelled to the show by van 90 miles.
Highly commended.

No. 82. Mr. Kingston, of Chesterton Lodge, Stil-
ton, a six years and ten months old Durham maiden
heifer, bred by the late Mr. John Bailey, of Thorney
Fen, Cambridgeshire, and led on cake, bean meal, car-
rots, and turnip*. Travelled to the show by van 95
miles. Highly commended.

No. 83. • Mr. Pratt, of Newfield, Warwick, a five
years old Hereford cow, has h-.nl one calf (not at full),
bred by himself from the slock of Mr. J. Price, and fed
on hay, turnips, cabbage, barley meal, and split beans.
Travelled to the show on foot 10 miles, at.d by railway
83 miles. Commended.

No. 84. Mr. Rawson, of Hope Home, Halifax, a
seven years and seven mouths old short-horned cow
(had four calves), bred by Mr. Legat, of SchoalesPark,
near Leeds, and fed on turnips, hay, cake, and meal.
Travelled to the show by van 2 miles, and by railway
221 miles. Highly commended.

No. 85. Mr. W. Smith, ot West Rasen, Lincolnshire,
a six years and eight months old short-horned cow,
bred by himself, and fed ou eake, bean meal, turnips,
and hay since .April, and before that time on straw.
Travelled to the show on foot 5 miles, and by boat and
railway 250 miles. Highly commended.

No. 86. Sir It. C. Tempest, of Broughton Hall,
Skip ton, a five years and eight months old improved
short-horned cow, bred by himself, and fed on grass,
hay, cake, and turnips. 'Travelled to the show by van
224 miles. Highly commended.

No. 87. Mr. Rich. id Wright, of Habertolf, near
Spilsby, a five years and two months old short-horned
cow, bred by himself, and led on grass (up to the 18th
September), hay, carrots, cake, and bean meal. Tra-
velled to the show by van 144 mile?.. 'The fir^t prize
20/., a silver medal as breeder, and gold medal as
breeder of the best beast in the yard.

SHEEP.

Class. X.— Long-wool led Fat Wether Sheep, one year

old, that have never had cake, corn, meal, seed*, or

pulse.

No. 96. Mr. Burgess, of Holme Pierrepont, a pen
of long-woolled Wethers, bred by himself, 20 months
old. 'The second prize 5/.

No. 97. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford, a pen of new
Leicester wethers, bred by himself, from a ram of i\Jr.
Buckley's, of Normanton-hill, Notts.; 20 months old.
The first prize 20/., and silver medal as breeder.

Class XL— Long woolled F.it Wether Sheep, one year
old, under eight stone weight, that have never had
cake, corn, meal, se'-ds, or pulse.
No. 104. Mr. Chamberlain, of Desford, near Leices-
ter, a pen of new Leicester wethers, bred by himself, 20
months old. 'The prize of 10/.

Class XII. — Long-woolled Fat Wether Sheep, one year
old, without restrictions as to feeding.

No. 112. The Most Hon. the Marquis of Exeter, of
Buighley Park, a pen of Leicester Wethers, bred by
himself, 20 months oi<i. Commended.

No. 116. Mr. Painter, of Burley-on-the Hill, a pen
of new Leicester wethers, bred bv himself, from rams

of Mr. K. Burgess, of , near Nottingham, 20 months

old. Highly commended.

No. 117. Mr. Sandy, of Holme Pierrepont, g pen
of Leicester wethers, bred by himself, Irom rams of Mr.
Wright and Mr. Burgess, 20 months old. The second
prize, 51.

No. 118. Mr. Twitchell, of Wellington, Beds., a
pen of new Leicester wethers, bred by himself, from
rams of Mr. S. Bennett, of Bickering Bark, Bed*., 20

months old. 'The first prize of 15/.; a silver medal as
the breeder, and gold medal as the best pen of long-
woolled sheep.

No. 120. His Grace the Duke of Bedford, of Oakley,
a pen of Leicester wethers, bred by himself, 20 months
old. Commended.

Class X I IL— Short- woolled Fat Wether Sheep, one
year old, without restrictions as to feeding.

No. 126. Mr. Grantham, of Stoneham, near Lewes,
a pen of South Down wethers, bred by himself, 20
months old. I he second prize 5/.

No. 134. i\lv. Samuel Webb, of Babrahnm, near
Cambridge, a pen of South Down Wethers, bred by
himself, 20 months old. The first prize 10/. ; the silver
medal as breeder.

No. 135. Mr. Jonas Webb, of Babraham, near
Cambridge, a pen of South Down wethers, bred by him-
self, 20 months old. Highly commended tor general
good quality.

Class XIV.— Short-woolled Fat Wether Sheep, one
year old, under eight stone weight, without restric-
tions as to feeding.

No. 141. Mr. Jonas Webb, of Babraham, near
Cambridge, a pen of South Down wethers, bred by him-
self, 20 months old. The prize of 10/. ; the silver medal
as breeder, and gold medal as the best pen of short-
woolled Sheep.

Class XV.— Short-woolled Fat Wether Sheep, two
years old, without restrictions as to feeding.

No. 146. Mr. Grantham, of Stoneham, near Lewes,
a pen of South Down Wethers, bred by himself, 32
months old. Highly commended.

No. 149. Mr. Stephens, of Atherstone, near Ilmins-
ter, Somerset, a pen of wethers, from a Down ram and
white-faced ewes, bred by himself, 33 months old. The
judges consider these most extraordinary sheep for size
and shape.

No. 150. Mr. Samuel Webb, of Babraham, near
Cambridge, a pen of South Down wethers, bred by him-
self, 32 months old. 'The second prize, 5/.

No. 151. Mr. Jonas We'o'o, of Babraham, near
Cambridge, a pen of South Down wethers, bred by
himself, 32 months old. The first prize, 20/. ; and silver
medal as breeder.

PIGS.

Class XVI. —Pigs, of any breed.

No. 165. Mr. Temple, of Heston, near Hounslow, a
pen of Buckinghamshire Pigs, bred by himself, and fed
on toppings, middlings, barley meal, and dairy slops,
27 weeks old. The second prize of 5/.

No. 166. Colonel Wood, of Littleton, near Staines,
a pen of Middlesex Pigs bred by himself, and led on
barley meal, pollard, skimmed milk, and house wash,
27 weeks old. The first prize of 10/.

EXTRA STOCK.

BEASTS.

No. 91. The Right Honourable Earl Spencer, of
Althorp, a four years old Durham ox, bred by his lord-
ship, and fed on cake, mange! wurzel, turnips, carrots,
vetche*, and hay. Travelled in van 11 miles, by rail-
way 60 miles. 'The silver medal.

LONG WOOLLED SHEEP.

No. 122. Mr. Large, of Broad well, a new Oxfor I-
shire long-woolled ewe, bred by himself, 68 months old.
Commended.

No. 124. Mr. Twitchell. of Willington, a new
Leicester wether, bred by himself, from a rum of Mr.
S. Bennett, of Bickerings Paik, near Woburn, Beds.,
20 month.-; old. Silver medal.

SHORT-WOOLLED SHEEP.

No. 153. Mr. Grantham, of Stoneham, near Lewes,
a South Down wether, bred by himself, 44 month* old.
Silver medal.

No. 159. Mr. Samuel Webb, of Babraham, near

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

43

Cambridge, a South Down wether, bred by himself, 20
months old. Highly commended.

PIGS.

No. 173. Colonel Wood, of Littleton, near Staines,
a Middlesex pig, bred by himself, and fed on barley
meal, pollard, skimmed milk, and house wash, 27 weeks
old. Silver medal.

London, 1841. Humphrey Gibus-, Hon. Sec.

The judges of the cattle exhibited at the Show
of the Smithtield Club having performed their
duties on Tuesday, the Yard was opened to the
public on Wednesday, and was densely crowded
with visitors. The character and quality of the
animals exhibited, as a whole, was nearly equal to
any preceding Show. The class for cows was
unprecedented, and such as will scarcely be seen
a'^ain ; and the Southdown sheep were extraor-
dinarily good. Of seeds and implements there
were a great variety.

Amongst the implements which seemed to attract
most attention was a newly-invented Drain-Tile Ma-
chine, by which 1(5 tiles are made at once, and an
ordinary labourer may make 5000 per day. This ma-
chine is worked every Monday from 12 to 3 o'clock, at
Mr. Ford's, Richmond Wharf, Mine Elms, Loudon.
A new Dibbling Machine, by Waller and Co., was
also very much noticed. Variety of machinery, and
quality of workmanship, were perhaps never better
displayed by Messrs. Garrett and Son, Leiston Works,
Suffolk, than upon this occasion. The implementsef their
make, which came more immediately uuder our notice,
were a newly constructed and much improved Thrash-
ing Machine, well adapted for those localities where
straw is required for sale, as it thrashes the corn quite
clean without injuring the straw in the smallest degree.
Three varieties of Drilling Machines, suitable to every
description of drill-husbandry for corn, seeds, and
manure, and so accurate as to work corn ctly on nil
lands, whether tenacious or hilly ; also varieties of
Chalf-cutting Machines, Cake- crushers, Turnip-cutters,
Winnowing Machines, &c. eke, with additions and im-
provements too numerous to particularize. This highly
creditable display excited much attention, and doubt-
less produced a proportionate benefit to the exhibitors.
Earl Diicie's Patent Chaff-cutting Machine, which
gained the fir.st prize of the Royal Agricultural Soci-ty
at Liverpool, attracted much notice. Messrs. Perry,
Barratt,and Exall, of Reading, exhibited their Double
Furrow, their Single Horse Plough, and many other
implements. Mr. Howard, of Bedloid, exhibited his
Patent Iron Plough, which obtained a prize from the
Royal Agricultural Society at Liverpool ; also Arm-
strong's Patent Iron Harrows, &c. &c. &c. Mr.
Smyth, of Peasenhall, Suffolk, Drill Machines, of
which he manufactures about 250 yearly. Mr. Cart-
nell, of Liverpool, Chaff cutting Machines, and Mills
for grinding corn — the latter of which were much no-
ticed ac the Liverpool Meeting. Messrs. Warner and
Sudbury a Double Action Turnip-hoe. Mr. Gardner his
celebrated Banbury Turnip-cutter. Messrs. Cottatn
and Hallen a Machine for cutting grave?, a Hand
Thrashing Machine, Dynamometers, \c. Thete was
also exhibited at the stand a newly invented Patent
Conical Wheel Plough, with Tension-share and Coul-
ter. Mr. Balls Garret a great variety of imple-
ments. Mr. Read his Improved Hollow Probaug
for relieving hoven cattle, his Stomach-pump and
Glyster Apparatus, a Medicated Vapour Inhaler, and a
new Steam Vapour Bath, with other veterinary instru-
ments ; also an improved Patent Hydiaulie Machine,
or Local Fire Engine. Mr. Grant his Patent Lever
Horse-rake, the most effective and useful of our modern
agricultural implements. Mr. Norrington his newly-
invented Economical Weighing Machine. Mr. Wed-
lake— Ploughs, Subsoil Ploughs, Scarifiers, Winnowing

Machines, Oilcake Machines, Turnip-cutters, Chaff
Machines, &c. &c. &c. Mr. Bather his Patent Sack
Truck, for weighing or removing sacks, &c. Mr. Col-
lius an assortment of Sadlery, Harness, &c. Mr.
Taylor his Patent Inflated Air-saddle and newly in-
vented Registered Bit. Mr. Vaux his Patent Horse-
shoe, with moveable tips.

Mr. Crosskill's Implements were exhibited in the
adjoining yard to the Show, as follows: — Four-horse
power Portable Thrashing Machine, to which a prize
was awarded at the Yorkshire Meeting at Hull ; Two-
horse Straw-cutter, which also obtained a prize ; Dress-
ing Machine, which obtained a prize at the Meeting ot
the Highland Society at Berwick; PatentClodcrusher
Roller, &.c. &c. &c.

Roots, Seeds, &c. — Among the various attractions
of this truly national Exhibition, there is one to which
the attention of the agriculturist ought to be directed,
being of the utmost importance to their interests in
every respect — we allude to the exhibition of Roots,
Seeds, &c. ; and we consider it only just that we should
mention in particular the display of Messrs. Thomas
Gibbs, the Seedsmen to the Honourable Boards of
Agriculture of England and Sweden, of the Corner of
Half-moon Stieet, Piccadilly, whose reputation
amongst agriculturists must naturally lead every
one to expect that their Stand would possess interest of
no ordinary nature; and we can confidently express
our belief that these expectations were not disappointed,
but, on the contrary, most fully realized. To those who
had the opportunity of viewing their very superior dis-
play we would not say a word, but as there were some
who may have been deprived of this advantage, perhaps
some particulars will not be uninteresting. Messrs.
Thomas Gibbs and Co. exhibited some exceedingly
large specimens of the long red Mangold Wurtzel and
Kohl Rabi, or Hungarian Turnips; the latter, though
not so generally cultivated as we might expect, is of
great value to the agriculturist. Our attention was
particularly attracted by some extraordinary roots of
the new White Belgian Can ot, some of which weighed
upwards of 8f lbs., and one grown by the Eari of
Dueie, from seed supplied by these gentlemen, weight d
11^ lbs. There was also a complete " Hartus Siccus"
of the grasses which they recommend in laying down
land to pasture ; also a large collection of seeds of the
above ; samples of Wheat in the ear and seed ; beau-
tiful specimens of Swedish Turnips, some grown, as
we saw by the labels upon them, by His Grace the
Duke of Bedford, and others by themselves, which
weighed upwards of 2 libs. Some specimens of the
Green-top Yellow and Red-top Yellow Turnip, the
former of which is, in particular, a most valuable va-
riety. We were informed by the persons attending the
Stall that the exhibition alluded to would be removed
to the Coiner of Half- moon Street, Piccadilly, for the
inspection of those who take an interest in agricultural
pursuits. Messrs. Cormack and Oliver, agricultural
seedsmen, by appointment, to H.R.H. Prince Albert,
exhibited a fine collection of the essential natural
grasses in «t growing state, including a specimen of the
new Lammermuir evergreen Rye Grass, said to be the
earliest sort known; also excellent bulbs of elifferent
varieties of Turnips— in particular we noticed a re-
markably handsome sort of purple-top Swede, called
" Cormack's ue plus ultra." Mr. Chatwn exhibited
a variety of Seedling and o'her Potatoes. Messrs.
George Gibbs and Co., the Agricultural Seedsmen, of 26*,
Down-street, Ficcadilly, had a superior exhibition of
the various Turnips, Mangel- Wurzel, and other agri-
cultutal roots ; their collection of Wheats in ear (thirty
varieties) attracted great attention. Their Grass Seeds,
in mixture, continue to support the excellence they
have attained ; we understand they furnished theseeris
for laying down the Green Park, which is very much
admired ; also some of Colonel LeCouteur's Belli: Vte
Talavera Wheat. Mr. Skirving, Liverpool, showed some
fine specimens of his celebrated Swedes. Mr. Matsou
his improved Swede, aud Turnips. Mr. Lance his speci-
mens of soils, with manures adapted to each. We can-

44

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

not but. in justice notice the very superior manner
in which the covering of the area for the Smithfield
Club Cattle Show was executed this season. It was
more lofty, much better in th ■ arrangement, anrl nl to-
gether of a more substantial character than on former
occasions; and it. was fortunate it was so, as ihe weather
has been unusually unpropitious, and the rain very
heavy. However, the company and cattle were kept
quite dry. It was erected by Mr. Benjamin Edginffton,
of 2 Duke Street, Soulhwark, anil its execution does
him great credit. Mr. liigg exhibited his invaluable
Sheep-dipping Apparatus, which is now med by Mr.
Jonas Webb and most of the leading sheep-breeders
and large flockmasters.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

It will be seen by the report of the proceedings
of the Royal Agricultural Society, that the Com-
mittee appointed by the Council to consider the
propriety of dividing the country into districts for
the future meetings of the Society, have agreed
upon a leport, in which they lecominend the
division of the country into certain districts therein
named, and further strongly recommend " that
not only prizes should be o fie red in them for the
best managed farms, but that premiums should be
held out to reward the skill and good conduct of
agricultural labourers." Of the importance of
promoting good cultivation it is unnecessary to
say one word, as under the improved system of
management, so far as the larger proportion of the
arable lands of the kingdom are concerned, it
embraces both cattle and corn. Good cultivation
upon all lands sufficiently dry to admit of it,
comprehends the growth of a considerable breadth
of green crops, which makes the cultivator a stock
feeder, and necessarily attracts his attention to the
character of the stock he uses. In good cultiva-
tion the " the skill and good conduct of the agri-
cultural labourer"' are main ingredients. The
head of the master may direct the necessary opera-
tions, but it is by the hand of the labourer that they
must be effected. Upon the skill and efficiency
with which the operations preparatory to con-
signing the seed to the earth, and during the
growth of the crop, are performed, in a great
degree depends the amount of the produce; and
upon the ability and adroitness with which the
various operations of gathering in and securing
the crop, are conducted, in no inconsiderable de-
gree depend the quality and quantity when fit for
market. The practical part of the business of
farming consists almost entirely of operations per-
formed by the labourer; to improve his skill and
knowledge, therefore, is to place in the hands of
the farmer better and more efficient means for
carrying on his business. Such an object cannot
be a secondary one with the Royal Agricultuial
Society of England. Encouragement has, from
its first formation, been given by this Society to
improvement of the breed of stock by the offer of
numerous prizes. To promote improved cultiva-
tion little has been done beyond the collection
and distribution of good practical information
amongst the members, through the Journal of

the Society, and the bringing together an ex-
tensive exhibition of the best and most improved
agricultural implements at the country meetings,
whereby not only have the farmers themselves had
the opportunity of seeing and examining imple-
ments which they had never met with before, but
implement makers from all parts of the country
have been enabled to profit by an examination of
implements of all descriptions made by manufac-
turers of the fiist eminence in their line, and to
return home stored with useful knowledge in their
own trades. In addition to these points, " to
better the condition of the labourer" was one of
the " objects" contemplated at the formation of
the Society; but for the labourer, as yet, nothing
has been done. It may perhaps be said that prizes
given to improve the skill of the labourer might
result rather as a benefit to his employer than to
himself, and that some more direct means of
" bettering his condition" should be adopted ; this
view, however, we hold not to be correct. Skill
and ability possess a relative value in every pur-
suit and occupation in life, and to aid and assist a
man in attaining excellence in his calling, be it
what it may, is unquestionably " bettering his
condition." To improve the skill of the labourer
is at once to benefit himself and his employer,
and is therefore an object to promote which there
is a double inducement. The establishment of
experimental farms is zealously advocated by some
persons, but which we have hitherto been of
opinion would not be carried out. The division
of the country into districts for the meetings of the
Royal Agricultural Society will afford the means
of obtaining a record of the experience of some of
the best practical farmers on every species of soil.
By offering prizes for the best cultivated farm in
the several districts in succession a sufficient
number of years in advance to enable the farmer
to go through the rotation adapted to his soil,
and by requiring a correct detailed report of the
mode of management as regards system of cul-
tivation, manure applied, whether artificial or
otherwise, character and quality of stock kept,
amount of produce, &c, &c, most valuable
practical information for ihe guidance of other
persons farming land of a similar character
might be obtained. Thus, by offering prizes
for the best managed farms on the different
varieties of soil, information upon the peculiar
management best adapted for each would be
obtained in a few years. To render this plan
effective, the prizes should be of considerable
value, such as to render it worth while for the
man of talent and experience to devote his time to
recording the whole course of his proceedings
with accuracy. These, however, are not the only
benefits which may be made to result from a di-
vision of the country into districts, ft is well
known that the dish ids in which the Highland
Society holds its meetings contribute largely to
the funds of that society, and there is no reason why
the same course should not be adopted in England.
At present the cattle prizes of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society are open to all competitors, the effect
of which is, that whenever certain breeders of es-
tablished character and reputation, possessing stock

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

45

of the first quality, come into the field, those of
secondary character, though possessing merit, stand
no chance, and are frequently intimidated from
exhibiting. But if by means of the district divisions
a subscription was made in each district, and with
some aid from the Royal Agricultural Society but
without interfering with the general prizes, a distinct
classof prizes were offered for annuals belonging to
persons resident in the district, a spirit of competi-
tion would be excited amongst the owners of stock
in the distiict itself, and although the honour
would not be so great as that of obtaining a prize
for the best animal exhibited, still a great
stimulus to exertion would be given by the
exhibitors obtaining a prize for the best animal in
the several counties embraced in the distiict. We
are sanguine enough to hope that this plan will afford
additional means of promoting the utility of the
society.

Annual Country Meetings.

A Meeting of the District Committee was held in
Cavendish-square on Wednesday last, the 24th of
November, present, His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
K. G., in the Chair, French Burke, Fsq., Humphrey
Gibbs, Esq., and William Shaw, Esq.

Fetters having- been received from Richard Weslbrook
Baker, Esq., and James Dean, Esq., Mr. Shaw sub-
mitted to the Committee his proposed plan of grouping
together the contiguous Countie- of England and Wales
into districts, and thus dividing the whole country inlo
localities, in which the Annual Meetings of the Society
should successively be held ; and in which, while the
special districts determined for any series ol years in
advance should be selected, the particular towns in
these districts where the Meetings should lake place,
should only be decided upon, year by year, as each
district in its turn came under the consideration of the
Council as the one from which such town should be
selected for the meeting of the year.

The Committee having discussed the various merits of
the subject thus propound for their consideration by the
Council, and the best mode in which the intentions of
the Council could be carried into effect, resolved to
make the following points ihe subject of their final
Report to the Monthly Meeting on the 1st of De-
cember : —

I. That the number of the Districts into which the
country shall be recommended to be divided tor the
purpose of deciding successively on a town in each
for the holding of the Annual Country Meeting, shall
be nine ; namely —

1. Tiif. Middlesex District: comprising the counties

of Middlesex, Suney, Kent, Sussex, and Hamp-
shire, and including the Isle of Wight and the
Channe' Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, &.c.

2. The Midland District: Oxfordshire, Berkshire,

Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire (South),
Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and Bucking-
hamshire.

3. The Western District: Cornwall, Devonshire,

Somersetshire, and Dorsetshire.

4. The South Wales District : Pembrokeshire, Car-

diganshire, Carmarthenshire, Brecknockshire, Gla-
morganshire, Monmouthshire, Radnorshire, Here-
fordshire, and Worcestershire.

5. The North-Wales District: Anglesey, Car-

narvonshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire,
Denbighshire, Flintshire, Cheshire, Shropshire,
and Staffordshire.

6. The North-Eastern District : Derbyshire,

Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
Rutland, and (North) Northamptonshire.

7. The Yorkshire District: Yorkshire and Lan-

cashire; including the Isle of Man.

8. The Northern District: Westmorland, Cum-

berland, Duihain, and Noithumberland ; including
Berwick- upon-Twetd.

9. The Eastern District: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cam-

bridgeshire, Essex, Huntingdonshire, and Hert-
fordshire.

II. The Committee resolved to recommend to the
Council to decide upon the districts in which the Annual
Country [Meetings shall be held in the years 1813, 1844,
1845, and 1846; and in every succeeding year after the
piesent to proceed to the nomination of a new district,
in order to keep up the same number of selected dis-
tricts in advance.

III. The Committee then decided to recommend
strongly to the Council that no time should be lost in
the determination of these districts; and lhat not only
prizes should be offered in them for the best managed
farms, hut that premiums should be held out to reward
the skill and good conduct of Agricultural Labourers.

'Ihe Noble Duke was then requested by the Com-
mittee to sign this Report as their Chairman, and pre-
sent it at the next Council.

At a Monthly Council, held on Wednesday, the
1st of December, present, Henry Handley, Esq., Pre-
sident, in the Chair, Duke ol Richmond, Earl Spencer,
Colonel Austen, David Barclay, E«q., M.P,, Thoma>
Raymond Barker. Esq., Henry Blanshnrd, Esq., French
Burke, E*q., Colonel Challoner, ^;> '<s Dean, Esq.,
Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., William GoodenOugh Hayter,
Esq., M.P., William Fisher Hobbs, Esq., John Kinder,
Esq., (ieorge Kimberley, Esq., William Woods Page,
Esq., Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P., and John Vdliers
Shelley, Esq.

FiNANces.
Colonel Challoner, Chairman of the Finance Com-
mittee, having laid before the Council the Committee's
Report on the receipts and expenditure of ihe Society
during the month of November, recommending cheques
to he drawn lor the payment of current expenses, and
expressing a decided opinion on the propriety and ne-
cessity ot a material alteration being made in the date
at which the subscriptions of members are declared to be
in arrear; the Council unanimously confirmed the
whole ol this report, with the exception of that portion
of it affecting the Bye- law on the date of arrears of
subscription, which it was resolved should be taken into
consideration at a future Council, of which due notice
would be given.

BRISTOL MEETING.
The Duke of Richmond, Chairman of the general
Bristol Committee, presented to the Council the First
Report of the proceedings of the Committee and the
progress of their business, from the date of their appoint-
ment to the present time.

Report.

" The general Bristol Committee appointed by the
Council in August last, have to report to the Monthly
Meeting in December, that, the President, having in-
formed the Committee at their first Meeting in October,
of the favourable reply transmitted to him by the Mayor
ot Bristol, in answer to the announcement he had made
to that gentleman, of the Society's intention to hold their
Annual Country Meeting in that City in the month of
July, 1842, His Grace the Duke of Richmond, their
Chairman, appointed an early day for the Deputation
of the Society to proceed to Bristol, in pursuance of the
Resolution of the Council, for the purpose of ascertain-
ing eligible sites for the Pavilion and Council Dinners,
and for the Cattle and Implement Yard ; as well as for
making such other arrangements as might seem desira-
ble.

" The Duke of Richmond having consulted the
convenience of the members of the Committee, appointed
Thursday the 14th of October, as the date at which the
Deputation should leave town by the Great Western

4(>

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Railway for Bristol ; and having directed the Secretary
to issue a circular, requesting the attendance of such
of the members as could conveniently accompany him,
his (J race proceeded with the Deputation to Bristol on
that day.

" The Committee have the pleasure of reporting to
the Council, that the Deputation was received by
Robert Phippen, Esq., the Mayor of Bristol, with every
mark of kind attention, and expressions of lively interest
in the objects of their mission, and having been
conducted by that gentleman to inspect the sites con-
sidered at that time as being most eligible, and
afterwards entertained by his worship in the most
hospitable manner at the Council House, the Deputa-
tion returned to Town on the following day.

" The Committee have the further satisfaction of in-
forming the Council that the good understanding thus
established with the chief magistrate, and through him
with the Corporation and Citizens of Bristol, has been
ratified and confirmed by Mr. Phippen's successor in
that imporiant office, and that The Duke of Richmond,
as their Chairman, has received from George VVood-
rofTe Franklyn, Esq., whose election to the Mayoralty
for the enduing year has recently taken place, the most
gratifying assurances of the devotion of his interest, both
in public and private, in aiding to the utmost of his
power the objecis of the Society and the success of the
Bristol Meeting.

" The Committee have at present decided on the
following points in the progress of their business —

1. The publication of the Bristol Prize Sheet in the
whole of the Bristol and in the Six London Agricul-
tural Papers; and the expressed wish of the Com-
mittee, conveyed to the conductors of these public
Journals, that, every information on the special sub-
ject of the Meeting, and the general objects of the
Society shall be freely furnished to them, on their
application from time to time to the Secretary ; with
u recommendation to the Council that two months
before the date of the Meeting, the prize sheet
should be advertised in till the Papers published in
the Counties immediately surrounding Bristol.

2. The arrangements concluded with the Directors of
the Great Western Railway, that a schedule of the
particulars regarding the different trains from London
and each intermediate station on their line to Bristol,
with a statement of their times respectively of arri-
val and departure, the fares in each class of convey-
ance, and every other required information, shall be
prepared by thera and lurnished to the Society, for
the purpose of being extensively circulated, along
with a programme of the Meeting among the Mem-
bers of the Society.

3. That tke principal day of the Show shall be Thurs-
day, the 14th of July, 1842; and that the Show of
Cattle shall be open for one day only.

4. That the auction for the sale of Stock do take place
on Friday, the 15th of July, and that an auctioneer
be engaged on the usual terms, and paid by the
Society.

5. That the Committee be authorized by the Council
to make agreements for the proper supply of fodder
for the cattle in the Show Yard, at the market price.

t>. That it shall be regarded as a most essential point,
that immediately adjoining to the Show-yard there
shall be a space provided for the receipt of subscrip-
tions, and the distribuiion of tickets, under the ma-
nagement of the Finance Committee ; and two ad-
joining rooms selected, one for the continued sitting
of a quorum of the Council as a tribunal for the con-
sideration and final decision on all disputed questions
affecting the arrangements of the Show, and the other
for the transaction of the general business of the
Secretary's department.

7. That the number to dine in the Pavilion shall be
limited to 2,400.

8. That it is highly desirable that the Council should
immediately authorize the Committee to give the
proper orders for the various ti' kets requited for the
purposes of the Meeting.

9. That a standing Committee should be appointed by
the Council, consisting of the present and former Pre-
sidents of the Society, and the President-elect of the
ensuing year, for the purpose of inviting distinguished
Foreigners and others to dine at the Council and Pa-
vilion dinners.

10. That suitable accommodation be provided at both
dinners for the Reporters of the Public Press, and
that the Duke of Richmond be empowered to make
every final arrangement on this head.

11. That the Chairman be requested to report to the
Council, at a future meeting, the result of His
Grace's arrangements on the subject of a suitable
locality for the Council Dinner.

The Committee have further to report to the Council,
that their Chairman has obtained, through the kind and
active intervention of William Miles, Esq., M.P., and
James Marmont, Esq., the Secretary of the Bristol
Agricultural Society, not only every general informa-
tion respecting the nature of the several localities pro-
posed as sites for the Show Yard, and the great Dinner
Pavilion, but the communication of such distinct par-
ticulars, in reply to the Duke of Richmond's enquiries,
as were regarded by His Grace and the Committee as
essential points for enabling them to form just com-
parative estimates of the elegibility of the sites in ques-
tion for the purposes intended. The sites submitted for
their consideration are situated — 1st. In the immediate
neighbourhood of the Victoria Rooms, on the road to
Clifton, on the north side and within the jurisdiction of
the City of Bristol ; and 2nd. On the south side of
Bristol, a mile from the Railway Terminus, near
Arno's Vale, in the County of Somerset, beyond the
City boundaries : — and the Committee be<rto conclude
this their first Report, by leaving to their Chairman the
exposition to the Council of the comparative advan-
tages possessed by each of these classes of sites, and
the final decision of the question whether the sites
shall be selected from the former or the latter of these
localities.

The Duke of Richmond then proceeded to state at
length the respective advantage possessed by the lo-
calities submitted to them by the Committee, calling the
attention of the Council to the general fact, that which-
ever of the sites in question they might select, the con-
sent of the owners and of the tenants were alike most
cheerfully granted ; and the only objection offered to
the site immediately contiguous to the Victoria Rooms,
was the distant probability that the land might be sold
on building leases before the time of the meeting, in
which case, another site in that neighbourhood offered
almost equal advantages ; while if, on the contrary, the
Council decided to hold their meeting in Arno's Vale,
on the south, they would not comply with the original
intention ot the Society, which was, that the meeting
of 1842 should be held within the jurisdiction of the
City of Bristol.

The Council then unanimously decided to hold their
meeting within the boundaries of the City of Bristol.

Districts for the Annual Country Meetings.

The Duke of Richmond, as Chairman of the District
Committee, then laid before the Council the final Re-
port of that Committee; when the Council having
unanimously resolved, that the proposed districts from
which the places for holding the Annual Country Meet-
ings should in future be selected, skould be adopted,
and the suggestion of the Committee respecting the
number of districts to be nominnled in advance carried
out — decided that the Council should on a future occa-
sion take into their consideration the expediency of
giving prizes for the best managed farms, and offer-
ing premiums for the skill and good conduct of agricul-
tural labourers.

The Council then proceeded to consider the nomination
of the districts from which should be selected in future
the places of the Annual Meetings of the four years
succeeding the Bristol Meeting ; and having inspected
the districts in which the Oxford, Cambridge, and Liver-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

«

pool Meetings had already been held, they decided the
tour districts required by vote. (See page 49)

The Council ttien ordered that tlieir thanks should
be transmitted to the Lichfield Agricultural Society for
their Memorial, requesting the Meeting of 1843 to be
bald at Lichfield, and to the United Committee of the
Borough of Neweastle-upon-Tyne and the Agricultural
Associations of the Counties of Northumberland, Dur-
ham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, requesting the
Meeting ot that year to be held at Newcastle-upon-
Tyne ; with the explanation that their respective towns
do sot fall within the district selected for the year 1843.

Duration of Committees.
David Barclav, Esq., M.P., then brought forward
his motion of enactment for a new Bye-law regulating
the duration of Committees; when, the old bye law
being' rescinded, it was decided, thai the present Com-
mittees be continued until the end of the year 1842; and
that, in future, all Committees shall l-.e appointed every
year at the Monthly Council in December, but shall
not enter on their respective duties until the ensuing
New Year's Day.

Distribution of Journal.

Colonel Challoner brought forward his motion onthe
establishment of a new Bye-law defining the claims of
Members for the Journal, when, the former clauses
having: been rescinded, the following' new Bye-law was
enacted: — "Each Member is entitled gratuitously to
those Parts of the Journal which have been published
in the course of any year, for which his subscription has
been paid : but no Journals shall continue to be for-
warded or given to any Member whose Subscription is
in arrear."

Eood for Labourers.

On the motion of Mr. Burks, it was resolved," That
the Essays on the preparation of Labourer's Food be
compressed and published (with the consent of the
writers), in a cheap and compendious form for general
distribution."

Lectures to the Members.

The President informed the Council, that he had re-
ceived favourable replies from the Rev. Professor
Henslovv, of Cambridge, and from Dr. Daubeny, Pro-
fessor of Rural Economy, at Oxford, and that each of
those gentlemen had kindly consented to deliver a Lec-
ture before the Society in the ensuing week, on subjects
of agricultural interest to the Members ; Professor
Henslow on Wednesday, the 8th, and Dr. Daubeny
on Thursday, the 9th of December, at half past eight
o'clock each evening respectively.

The Duke of Richmond then moved, and Earl Spen-
cer seconded, a vote of thanks to each of those gentle-
men for their kind acquiescence in this arrangement
for promoting the objects of the Society by their valu-
able services.

Code of Bye laws.
The Duke of Richmond then moved for a Committee
of revision and suggestion on the Eye-laws of the
Society, for the purpose of prepariug the draught of a
code of Laws, in which the provisions of the Charter,
the enactments of Bye-laws, and the General Regula-
tions made from time to time by the Council, should
be distinctly represented. The following gentlemen
were then named to form the Bye-law Committee: —
The Duke of Richmond; Henry Handley, Esq. (Pre-
sident); Marquis of Downshire ; Earl Spencer ; Colo-
nel Challoner ; Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq. ; Wil-
liam Shaw, Esq. ; Humphrey Gibbs, Esq. ; and Wil-
liam Fisher Hobbs, Esq.

Prizes for Leicester Sheep.
William Shaw, Esq., gave notice of his intention to
move at a future Council, when the prizes were next
taken into consideration, for the year 1843, that two
elasses of prizes be given for Leicester sheep ; one
class for the larger, aud another for the smaller size
sheep of that breed.

Potato planting.
The Rt. Hon. Sir James Graham presented to the
Society a communication he had received from Major
Perceval, of Barntown House, in the County of Wex-
ford, Ireland, on the subject of potato-planting; and in
reference to that part of Sir James Graham's paper on
the same subject, printed in the 3rd part of the Society's
Journal, in the year 1840, referring to the failure of
the crop arising from the circumstance of using cut-
sets, Major Perceval gives a statement of a similar
failure to a considerable extent, experienced
ten or twelve years ago in the potato crop in
the district where he resides, from seed made of cut-
sets ; the failure being attended, however, with great
peculiarities. The cutsets planted in the forenoon
were found to do well and produce a good crop ; whilst
those planted in the afternoon were nearly a total
failure ; or, on the contrary, those planted the next
day in the forenoon a failure, while the afternoon plant-
ing would be found to do well. This capricious result
would be tound to happen in the same field, all of a
UKiform quality ; the same manure being used through-
out, the same sets being cut at the same time as the
others, and in every way treated similarly to obviate
this serious evil. Major Perceval then proceeds to give
an interesting account of the management of his po-
tato crop, and states that be found the failure from
cut-sets to be entirely prevented by selecting the largest
potatoes, which lie put into pits for seed ( a plan which
prevented all chance of their heating), and in spring,
two or three days before planting, he cut the potatoes
into sets, as often as possible, with one eye, or ger-
minating principle to each, and immediately limed
them (drying up the cutting with air-slaked lime),
keeping them spread thin on a floor.

Cambridge Prize-Wheats.

Earl Spencer, R. S. Graburn, Esq., and Samuel
Druce, Esq., the three Juoges selected to cultivate and
report upou the Seed-Wheats selected at the Cam-
bridge Meeting for trial, in reference to the Society's
Prizes for White and Red Wheat, presented their re-
ports respectively on the result of their cultivation to
the Council, who referred them to the consideration of
the Journal Committee.

The Duke of Richmond reported to the Council
the state of the Agricultural Societies in Nova-Scotia ;
Mr. Kimberly presented specimens of a mineral
Phosphate of Lime, which was referred by the Council
to the Geological Committee for their report; aud
Mr. Sheriff communicated a paper on grain.

The Council then adjourned.

PERSONS PRESENT AT THE GENERAL

MEETING, on Saturday, Dec. 11.
Henry Handley, Esq., President, in the Chair.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, his
Grace the Duke of Richmond, Earl Spencer, Earl
of Powis, Earl Ducie, lion. John Simpson, Rt.
Hon. Sir Charles Grey, Sir Richard Paul Jodrell,
Bart., Sir Charles Tempest, Bart., Colonel Chal-
loner, Dr. Daubeny, Colonel Thomas Austen,
Major Butler, Lieute'ut-Coloiiel Hall, Rev. W. L.
Rham, Rev. C. Erie, Thomas Raymond Barker,
George Webb Hall, William Shaw, Cuthbert W.
Johnson, W. Tanner, H. Boys, R. W. Baker, John
Bromley, R. Bromley, E. Full, T. W. Bury. R.
Peake, C. Burness, Jonas Webb, J. S. Turner,' John
Wells, R. Green, W. Whitfield, Samuel Druce, W.
Fisher Hobbs, Richard Hodgkinson, James Wood,
John Warsop, F. Wratislaw, R. Starling, Thomas
Barton, H. Smith, T. Gotelee, M. II. Shuttleworth,
Seymour Tremenbeere, W. Dadds, sen., James
Dadds, J. P. Holmes, D. Deane, W. T. Nonas,
John Fuller Baines, John Curtis, W. Richardson,
John S. Howeiden, A. W. Crouch, W. Trinder, R.

48

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Cobb, T. Bright, John T. Mayne, Benjamin
Leese, Charles Tonge, H. Cleeve, W. Law,
Samuel Solly, Edward Umbers, George Chapman,
J. A. Ransome, J. \V. Granger, David Martin,
Henry J, Hannam, Edw. Heighington, W. R. Law-
ford, Montague Bere, G90. A. Musbet, C. Bowman,
Edw. E. Dawson, J. T. VVasey, Thos. Mount, R.
Brice, John Rolfe, J. E. Clarkj .las. Cobon, J. C.
Parkinson, Thos. Wyles, S. R. Soil}', James Mar-
mont, Thos. Sanctuary, Geo. C. Du Pre, John Mor-
ton, VV. B. Wingnte, Geo. Kilby, Chas. Alderman,
Charles VVbitlaw, Edw. Matson, jun., VV. S. Scholey,
VV. Beale, Charles Barnett, Richard Vines, Rev.
James Linton, C. Hillyard, William Maiden, jun.,
VV. Hasrield, T. Hogan Smith, Jas. VV. Lyon, R.
Beman, VV. Lyne, S. Somes, W. Adcock, Thos.
Crisp, R. Beart, James Dean, Samuel Jonas, R.
Rigg, John Oakley, Henry Blanshard, Henry
Crosse, Thos. Flight, E. Mathews, Isaac Sharp,
Edw. Lawford, Jas. Clark, VV. Williams, VV. Ben-
nett, H. Fowle, VV. S. Hitchman, M. Parsons,
Thos. Umbers, William Umbers, jun., Richard Tom-
linson, Barugh Almack, and William Torr, jun.

The general meeting of this important National
Society was held at the Society's house, in
Cavendish-square, on Saturday, Dee. 1 1 . The meeting-
was convened according to the rules of the Society
for the purpose of receiving a report from the
Council, and upon other matters connected with
the Society.

The President of the Society, Henry
Handley, Esq., took the chair at 12 o'clock.
Shortly after the business of the day had com-
menced, his Royal Highness the Duke of Cain-
bridge entered the meeting, and was received with
great acclamation. His Royal Highness took his
seat on the right hand of the President.

Mr. Handley said, that, according to the usual
mode of proceeding at the annual meeting, it would
be his first duty to call upon the Secretary to read
the Report of the Council.

Mr. Hudson then read the following

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

The Councd, in reporting to the Society, at its pre-
sent half-yearly meeting, the progress of its labours,
and the successful prosecution of tho»e objects (or the
attainment of which it has been founded, hare now, in
the middle of the fourth year of its existence, the satis-
faction of congratulating the Members not only on its
own permanent establishment, but on the vigorous
activity and increase of every kindred association
throughout the empire ; and, in recording the continued
addition to a list of Members already exceeding 5,000,
they have the pleasure of reporting to the Society, on
this occasion, the gratifying fact that the Illustrious
Consort of their Ro\al Patroness the Queen has iden-
tified h.mself with the national character of their So-
ciety ; and, in allowing his mime to he proposed for
enrolment in the list of your Governors, His Royal
Highness The Priuce Albert has evinced towards the
Royal Agricultural Society of England his cordial ap-
probation of theSociety and its objects.

The Council regard with peculiar interest the estab-
lishment and successful operation of the various
Farmers' Clubs throughout the kingdom ; aud continue
to experience the greatest interest in perfecting the
communication they wish to see existing between those
associations and the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, feeling, as they do, so lully assured that they
can only advance the sound practice of farming by the
right application of correct scientific principles to in-
controvertible and well-observed facts ; and that such
facts as are elicited in the discussions of farmers them-
selves are those most immediately connected with the

requirements of scientific application, and most valu-
able from the genuine character ol their observation by
practical men. The Council are fully sensible that the
value ef the Society will mainly, if not altogether, de-
pend on the practical bearings of its labour*, "in
bringing home to men's business and bosoms'' the
principles of science which are intended to advance
them in their knowledge of improved modes of cultiva-
lion and husbandry; and that their Journal, as the
great vehicle of dissemination among their Members
of recommendations and suggestions on agricultural
subjects, can only be maintained in its career of useful-
ness, and preserved from becoming the mere organ of
a discussion of opinions and statement of theories, by
being supplied with the rich store of absolute facts,
well observed, carefully noted in all their circum-
stances, and important in their bearing and practical
application.

The Council have to report the cordial co-operation
not only of many of the Farmers' Clubs and Local
Agricultural Associations established in various parts
of the kingdom, but of a direct communication having
been established with the Central Board of Agriculture
of Nova Scotia, the Western Australian Agricultural
Society, and other similar colouial establishments in
other parts of the empire ; all of which are becoming
daily more sensible of the mutual importance resulting
from a more intimate and diiect alliance with the
farmers of the United Kingdom. In foreign countries
the value of this interchange of opinion on the science
and practice of agriculture is becoming more fully
estimated; and your President is preparing to lay
before the Society, in the pages of the Journal, his
personal report of the great meeting of Gel man agri-
culturists held last autumn at Doberan, and which he
attended as your representative : and the Hon. Andrew
Stevenson, the firi-t elected of your Honorary Members,
has returned, from his diplomatic engagements in this
country, to Am* rica, with the ardent desire of devoting
his attention to the pursuit of agriculture and the
establishment of the most friendly relations aud com-
munication between the Royal Agricultural Society of
England and the numerous native Agricultural
Societies al'cady established in the United .States.

The Council have had the pleasure of adding to the
list of your Honorary Members the distinguished
names of Dr. Sprengel, residing in the kingdom of
Prussia, not only one ot the most active cultivators of
agricultural science in that part of the Continent ; but
the editor of a monthly Journal of Agriculture, and
author of numerous important works on Agricultural
Chemistry, the Doctrine of Soils, and a Treatise on
Manures — from the latter of which a chapter on Ani-
mal Manures has already been translated by your
Secretary, and printed in the Fourth Part of the
J our mil ; of Dr. Daubeny, the Sibthorpian Professor
of Rural Economy in the University of Oxford, who
ha* liberally placed his Lectures at the disposal of the
Journal Committee; and of Professor Johnson, of the
University of Durham.

The Finance Committee have been applying their
best attention to two most important points; first, the
reduction of the amount of arrears of subscription
standing on the register of the Society on the 1st of
January last ; and, second, the recommendation of
measure* to obviate a similar accumulation for the
future. In their attention to the first of these subjects,
they have issued to each member in arrear a printed
circular, informing him of the circumstance and amount
of his unpaid subscription, suggesting a direct post-
office order, payable to the Secretary, as the simplest
means of discharging the liability, and reminding him
of the by-law which prohibits the transmission of the
Journal to all members in arrear ; at the same time
stating the fact of many members having paid their
subscriptions through country bankers under names
which at present could not be deciphered in the manu-
script of the banker's book, or consequently carried to
their credit in the Society's Register. In reply to this
circular, the Committee have reported a favourable

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

49

result, both in the payment of arrears and the explana-
tions given in reference to their occurrence. With
scarcely a single exception these explanations have
proved satisfactory, both to the Committee and the
parties themselves, who have evinced the greatest
willingness to comply with the rules of the Society, the
chief cause of these arrears having had its origin from
the misconception of many members as to the fact of
the subscriptions being due in advance, and taking
date from the 1st of January in the year of their
election ; and, having paid up their subscriptions to the
present time, a great number of members who had been
thus in arrear, being anxious to obviate a similar
omission for the future, have either compounded for
life, or given permanent orders on their bankers for due
and regular payment year by year. The result of the
consideration of the Finance Committee on the second
point, of preventing the occurrence or accumulation of
similar arrears in future has been communicated to the
Council by Colonel Challoner, their chairman, who has
stated at length the decided views of the Committee on
this subject, which is bow under the serious and
deliberate consideration of the Council. The Committee
have also reported, that since the anniversary meeting
in May last, the amount of 407/. has been paid and
accounted for in the discharge of the arrears then
announcedjas existing ; and they have, at the same time,
laid before the Council their numerical summary of the
Society, which now consists of a total of 5,382 members,
namely, 90 Life Governors, 216 Annual Governors:
290 Life Members, 4,779 Annual Members, and 7
Honorary Members.

Your President has reported to the Council, that,
agreeably with their resolutions, he took an immediate
opportunity, after the Liverpool Meeting, to address
letters containing the Society's votes of thanks to the
Mayor and Corporation, the Directors of the Me-
chanics'Institution, Messrs. Falknerand Lace, Messrs.
Luca9, and every other institution or individual in
Liverpool or its neighbourhood who had been instru-
mental in promoting the objects of the Meeting. The
value attached to the excellent display of Agricul-
tural Implements at that Meeting has been greatly
enhanced by the admirable Report which the Judges of
the Implements on that occasion have since drawn
carefully up and presented to the Council, who have
directed it to be read to you at the present General
Meeting, as a document of much inquiry and interest.

The Duke of Richmond, as Chairman of the General
Bristol Committee, has presented to the Council two
Reports of the proceedings of the Committee to the
present time, including an account of the favourable
manner in which the Chairman and Committee, as a
deputation of the Society, were received at Bristol ; and
the Council are much gratified to learn that the an-
nouncement made to Robert Phippen, Esq., the late,
and to George Woodroff? Franklyn, Esq., the present,
Mayor of Bristol, has been received by those gentle-
men in so cordial and courteous a manner ; and that
the facilities offered by these chief Magistrates of the
city, and the kind and active intervention of Mr. Wm.
Miles, M.P., and Mr. Marmont, Secretary of the
Bristol Agricultural Society, have enabled the Commit-
tee to institute those inquiries respecting suitable loca-
lities and sites for the Couneil and Pavilion Dinners,
and for the Implement and Cattle-yard, which have led
to so favourable a result in the amount of preparation
already made in advance for the Bristol Meeting. The
Council have directed the Bristol Prize Sheet to be
made known as widely as possible by advertisements in
the London Agricultural and the Bristol papers, and in
its transmission by post to every Member of the Society.
They have also adopted the recommendation of the Ge-
neral Bristol Committee ; that in due time before the
Meeting, a programme of every requisite information
respecting the Meeting should be sent to each Mem-
ber : that this year the show of cattle should be open for
one day only, the sale of stock taking place the next
morning; that the number to dine in the great Pavilion
be limited to 2400 ; and that Thursday, the 14th of July,

should be the principal day of the Show. The Com-
mittee have ako decided that the plan of the Pavilion
erected at the Cambridge Meeting is the one best
adapted for the purposes of the Society ; and that ad-
vertisements should be issued for builders and others to
send in tenders for its erection at Bristol. They have
further recommended that a Ladies' gallery, to contain
300 persons, should be included in the plan of the
Pavilion, as at Cambridge ; that each Member of the
Council and each Governor should have the privilege
of a ticket for the Council Dinner ; and that a local
Committee should be appointed by the Council to carry
out the various details connected with the business of
the Meeting, consisting of Mr. William Miles, M. P.,
Mr. G.Webb Hall, and three other Members of the
Society residing in the neighbourhood of Bristol, whom
they shall select, Mr. Miles being requested by the
Council to act as the Chairman, and Mr. Marmont as
the Secretary, of such Local Committee.

The Journal Committee have reported that the new
part of the Journal will make its appearance on Mon-
day, the 20th of December ; and that the second and
third parts of the first volume, so long out of print,
having been now reprinted, the deficient parts required
by Members, and applied for in reference to a circular
issued by the Committee several months ago, can now
be supplied to those parties who have the privilege of
claiming them to complete their sets.

One of the great objects of the Council in reference
to the convenience and accommodation of the Mem-
bers of the Society, has long consisted in their posses-
sion of such an establishment in London as would
possess within itself the combined advantages of a Mu-
seum, Model Room, Library, and Reading Room ; and
your President has already transmitted to her Majesty's
Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests a memorial
on behalf of the Society applying for a suitable space
of crown-land to form a site for the Society's House, to
be erected with a view to these special objects.

The District Committee have presented to the
Council their final Report recommending the division of
England and Wales into nine districts, from each of
which in a certain succession, asfrom time to time agreed
upon, a place shall be selected for holding the annual
Country Meeting of every year, and the Council have
unanimously adopted the districts proposed to their
consideration for this purpose. The following tabular
statement gives a connected view of the districts them-
selves, as well as the succession in which they follow
each other for supplying, in the rotation decided by
the votes of the Council, the particular place of meeting
in each year: —

1839

Town,
Oiford.

B. — Midland District: Oxford-
shire,Berkshire, Wiltshire, Glou-
cestershire, Warwickshire, South
Division of Northamptonshire,
Bedfordshire, and Buckingham-
shire.

1840

Town,

Cambridge.

I. — Eastern District: Norfolk,
Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex,
Huntingdonshire, and Hertford-
shire.

1841

Town,

Liverpool.

G. — Yorkshire District : York*
shire, and Lancashire ; includ-
ing the Isle of Man.

1842

Town,
Bristol.

C. — Western District: Corn-
wall, Devonshire, Somersetshire,
and Dorsetshire.

18-13

Town,

(undecided)

F. — North -Eastern District :
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire,
Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Rut-
landshire, and North Division of
Northamptonshire.

1844

Town,

(undecided)

A. — Middlesex District : Mid-
dlesex, Surrey, Kent, Sussex,
and Hampshire ; including the
Isle of Wight, and the Channel
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, &c.

E

50

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

1845

Town,

(undecided)

E. — North • Wales District
Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, Meri-
onethshire, Mongomeryshire,
Denbighshire, Flintshire, Che-
shire, Shropshire, and Stafford-
shire.

1846

Town,

(undecided)

H. — Northern District : West-
morland, Cumberland, Durham,
and Northumberland : including
Berwick-upon-Tweed.

1847

Town,

(undecided)

D. — South- Wales District:
Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire,
Carmarthenshire, Brecknock-
shire, Glamorganshire, Mon-
mouthshire, Radnorshire, Here-
fordshire, and Worcestershire.

The Council entertain a well-grounded hope that this
arrangement, in concentrating the attention of the So-
ciety to the consideration of each particular district of
the series as it eomes under their notice for the purpose
of selecting from it a place of meeting fur the year, and
in preparing the friends of agriculture who are resident
within its boundaries to receive the Society and com-
pete fer its premiums, will lead to important practical
results in the well working of the Society and the pro-
secution of its objects. The deep interest especially
which the Society feels on the subject of improving the
condition of the agricultural labourer, as one of the
chartered objects of their incorporation, is one which
daily increases with the difficulty of knowing how to
decide on the steps to be taken as tending most securely
to attain their great object ; and they eagerly embrace
the adoption of any plan having this object in view, on
the desirableness of which no doubt can be entertained.
An instance of this desire on the part of the Council has
just occurred in their unanimous adoption of Mr.
Burke's proposal, that a very cheap publication, giving
plain directions for the preparation of economical and
nutritious food for labourers, should be compiled, with
the consent of the writers, from the numerous essays
sent in to compete for the prize offered by the Society
on that subject, and that Mr. Burke should also be re-
quested to append to it such a digest of Mr. Main's
article on Cottage Gardening, in the Journal, as may
best adapt it for the use intended.

Earl Spencer, Mr. Graburn, and Mr. Druee having
reported to the Society the results of their cultivation
of the samples of wheat selected for trial at the Cam-
bridge Meeting, the Council have unanimously resolved ,
that it is not expedient to adjudge the prize to either of
the samples in question, as it appears from these reports
that other wheats usually grown in the respective neigh-
bourhoods in which the trials took place have proved
more productive.

The Council have decided on proposing the following
subjects for the Prize Essays of 1843, the conditions of
which will be appended on their publication in the
prize sheet of the Society : —

1. On Artificial Food for Cattle.

2. On Natural Food for Cattle.

3. On the Comparative Advantages of Horse and Ox
Teams.

4. On the Construction of Cottages.

5. On the Drainage of Land.

6. On Liquid Manure.

7. On the Management of Farm-yard Manure.

8. On the Detection of Adulteration in Artificial
Manures.

9. On the Physiological Causes Affecting the Pro*
duclion of Animal Fat or Muscle.

10. On Relative Value of Meadow and Upland Hay.
The Council have the pleasure of recording their
ense of the kindness of Professor Henslow and Dr.
Daubeny, in having each consented, at a very short
notice, to deliver a lecture before the members of the
Society during the present week of their December
meeting. By order of the Council,

James Hudson, Secretary.

Col. Ciialloner presented the half-yearly ba-
lance-sheet of the Society, which was read by the
Secretary. The total receipts were given at 4,794L
Os. lOd. After paying all expences it appeared
that there had been 1,000 Three-and-a-Half per
Cents, purchased, leaving a good balance in hand
on June 30, 1841.

The Rev. Wsr. L. Riiam moved that the
report be adopted, which was seconded and carried
unanimously.

At the request of the President, the Secretary
then read the following report of the judges of im-
plements exhibited at Liverpool, at the Annual
Country Meeting, in July last.

REPORT ON THE EXHIBITION OF IM-
PLEMENTS.

The Judges of Implements, in presenting to the
Council their award of prizes, cannot refrain from
expressing the gratification they felt at the splendid
exhibition of implements and machines submitted to
their inspection ; nor can they omit offering their
congratulations to the Society on the good effects
which have already resulted from the public exhibi-
tions of implements at the Society's Meetings, in
stimulating the talent of the mechanic and the zeal
of the husbandman. At Oxford the show-yard may
be said to have presented an epitome of the state of
agricultural mechanism existing in 1839, the era of
the formation of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England. No spectator of that show can have failed
to bo struck with surprise and admiration at the
Liverpool exhibition. At Oxford there were some
examples of good machinery and workmanship, but
many more of rude, cumbrous, and ill-executed im-
plements. At Liverpool many machines were ex-
hibited not only of surpassing skill in contrivance
and execution, but also having for their object the
effecting of processes in tillage-husbandry of the
most refined nature and acknowledged importance,
but hitherto considered of very difficult practical
attainment. Some of these may already be considered
as forming part of the necessary apparatus of every
well-managed farm, and to be essential to its eco-
nomy and profit. This vast stride in the mechanics
of agriculture, made within so short a period, hns
doubtless arisen from the congregating together of
agriculturists and mechanicians from all parts of the
empire: and a still higher perfection in machinery
may be confidently anticipated from the opportunity
offered, under tbe auspices of the Society, of pe-
riodically contrasting and estimating the merits of
varied implements used for similar purposes in dif-
ferent localities and soils. It is apparent that tbe
manufacture of even the commoner instruments has
already, to a great extent, passed out of the hands of
the village-ploughwrigbt and hedge-carpenter, and
been transferred to makers possessed of greater in-
telligence, skill, and capital. The improved style of
finish, the greater lightness and elegance of con-
struction, and the generally superior adaptation of
the means to the end, in every class of implements,
were sufficient manifestations of the beneficial results
arising from the encouragement given bv the Society
to these objects. Neither were examples wanting
in the higher classes of machines to show that the
fourth important object for which the Society was
incorporated is, to some extent, fulfilled — viz., " to
encourage men of science in their attention to tbe
improvement of agricultural implements."

Agriculture, as an art and a practical science, is
still in its infancy ; and it is to be ardently desired

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

51

that the mechanical constructor should he seconded
in bis efforts to produce new ot more perfect imple-
ments, by receiving the co-operation and instructions
of those whose leisure, affluence, or greater know-
ledge of the wants and capabilities of agriculture,
enable them to supply the ideas on which the me-
chanic would work.

The exhibition at Liverpool contained productions,
by several humble mechanics, not inferior in point
of genius to the more finished performances of old
established firms: and with the pleasing fact before
them of the advance already made in the improve-
ment of old and in the invention of new implements,
the members of the Society would perceive how
profitable a mine still remains to be worked by the
aid of its fostering care. It was also a gratifying
feature of this large assemblage of rival mechani-
cians, that but little jealousy of success was mani-
fested by unsuccessful candidates : and it was
agreeable to the Judges to learn that several of the
more important or best executed implements, to
which prizes were awarded, were afterwards pur-
chased by competing makers.

In the distribution of the sums left to the discre-
tion of the Judges, they have endeavoured to reward
merit in most of the varied forms in which it
attracted their notice, hoping to encourage the agri-
cultural machine maker in the application of sound
scientific principles and good workmanship to every
species of implement, whether for improving the pre-
paration of the soil, for lessening animal and human
labour either in field or farm-yard, or for alleviating
the toil of the domestic in the dairy.

Having carefully examined the implements and
machines exhibited in the show-yard, Liverpool,
July 20th, and upon trial, on the race-course at
Aintree, the following day, the Judges present the
award of prizes as follows : viz. —

1. Ploughs.
To James Wii.kie, of Uddington, near Glasgow, for

the best Subsoil-Plough, 10 sovs.
To Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich, for their Tivo-

wheeled Plough, marked N.L,, 5 sovs.
To James Wilkie, of Uddington, near Glasgow, for his

Swing-Plough, 5 sovs.
To the Hon. Edward M. L. Mostyn, of Mostyn,
Flintshire, North Wales, for the Swing-Plough ex-
hibited by him, 5 sovs.
To John Howard, of Bedford, for bis Patent Scotch

Two-wheeled Plough, 5 sovs.
To Edward Deane Falkner, of Fairfield, near Liver-
pool, for his Swing-Plough, made by E. Brayton, of
Dykesfield, near Carlisle, 5 sovs.
To Messrs. Sandaks, Williams, and Taylor, of

Bedford, for their Two-wheeled Plough, 5 sovs.
To Messrs. Perry, Barrett, and Ex all, of Read-
ing, for their One-horse Plough, 5 sovs.
To C. Hart, of Wantage, Berkshire, for the Double-
furrow Plough made by him, 10 sovs.
To Thomas Gloa*er, of Thrussingtou, Leicestershire,
for the Turf and Stubble Paring Plough invented by
him, and exhibited by the Hon. H. W. Wilson, 4
sovs.
To James Smith, of Deanston, near Stirling, for his
Turn-wrest Plough, with Drill attached, 3 sovs.
2. Cultivating Implements.
To the Earl of Ducie, Woodchester Park, near Stroud,
Gloucestershire, for the Uley Cultivator, invented
by Mr. John Morton, of Chester Hill, near Stroud,
15 sovs.
To Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich, for Biddell's Ex-
tirpating Harrow, made and exhibited by them, 10
sovs.

3. Drills.
To Richard Hornsby', of Spittlegate, near Grant-
ham, for his Drill for general purposes, 25 sovs.

To Richard Hornsby, of Spittlegate, near Grant-
ham, tor his Turnip and Manure Ridgi-Diill, 10
sovs.

To Messrs. Garrett and Son, of Leiston Works,
Saxmundham, for their Drill, for general purposes,
10 sovs.

To James Smyth, of Peasenhall, near Yoxford, Suf-
folk, for his Drill, for general purposes, 10 sovs.

To Messrs. Drummond and Sons, of Stirling, for
their Turnip and Manure Single-rowed Drop-Drill,

3 sovs.

4. Horse-Hoes.
To Messrs. Garrett and Son, of Leiston Works,

Saxmundham, for their Improved Horse-Hoe, 5 sovs.
To John Hamilton, of Torthorwald, near Dumfries,

for his Improved Horse Hoe, 2 snvs.
To Thomas Huckvaie, of Over-Norton, near Chip-

ping-Norton, Oxfordshire, for his Horse-Hoe with

revolving blades for thinning turnips, 3 sovs.
To the Earl of Ducie, of Woodchester Park, near

Stroud, Gloucestershire, for a Parallel Expanding

Horse-Hoe, invented by Mr. John Morton, of

Chester Hill, near Stroud, 3 sovs.
5. Chaff-Cutter.
To the Earl of Ducie, of Woodchester Park, near

Stroud, Gloucestershire, for the Uley Chaff-Cutter,

10 sovs.

6. Corn and Cake Crushers.
To T. Cartmel, of Liverpool, for his Corn-Crusher,

3 sovs
To Messrs. Garrett and Son, of Leiston Works,

Saxmundham, for their Cake -Breaker, 2 sovs.
7. Corn-Dressing Machine.
To Joshua CoocH.of Harlestone,near Northampton,

for his Winnowing Machine, invented by the late

John Cooch, 10 sovs.

8. Gorse-Crusher.

To Messrs. White and Leith, of Worksop, Notting-
hamshire, for their Gorse-Crusher, invented by
Joseph White, 20 sovs.

9. Roots, Seeds, &c.

To Mr. William Skirving, of Liverpool, for his

exhibition of Roots and Seeds, 5 sovs.
To Messrs. Gibbs and Co., Half-Moon Street,

Piccadilly, London, for their exhibition of Roots and

Seeds, 5 sovs.

10. Miscellaneous.

To Joseph Cooke Grant, of Stamford, Lincolnshire,
for his Lever Horse Drag- Rake, 5 sovs.

To William Blurton, Field Hall, Uttoxeter, Staf-
fordshire, for his Revolving Cheese-Dcying Fiame>
3 sovs

To Robert Parkinson, of Knowsley, near Prescot,
Lancashire, for his Pendulum Churn, 2 sovs.

To Michael Lea, of Liverpool, for his Double-acting
Vertical Churn, 2 sovs.

To Thomas Wedlake, of Hornchurch, near Romford,
Essex, for his Dibbling Machine, 10 sovs.

To Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, of Winsley Street,
Oxford Street, London, for their Portable Weighing
Machine for Figs and Sheep, 3 sovs.

To Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, of London, for
their Machine for cutting and breaking Chandleis'
Graves for Manure, 3 sovs.

To George Townsend, of Sapcote Fields, near
Hinckley, Leicestershire, for his Turnip-cutting Cart,
for expeditiously and effectively cutting Turnips,
and spreading them when cut over the turf for Cattle
or Sheep, 5 sovs.

To Joseph Brewster, of Brewnod, near Wolver-
hampton, Staffordshire, for his Turnip-slicer for
Beasts, 2 sovs.

To Messrs. Summers and Sworder, of Bishop s
Stortford, Hertfordshire, for their Barley Hummel-
ler and Blower connected, 3 sovs.

To Thomas Wedlake, of Hornchurch, near Romford,
Essex, for his improved Haymaking Machine, 2 sovs.

To James Smith, of D.ans'on, near Stirling, lor his
Chain Brush, or Web Harrow, 2 sovs.

E 2

52

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SrEciAi- Commendations.
The Rev. W. L.Rham's Dibbling Machine.
The Earl of'DuciE'sHand Thrashing Machine.
Messrs. Ransome's Double-Lever Hand Thrashing

Machine.
Messrs. Ransome's Portable Disc Steam Engine, for

Agrieultural purposes.

Before proceeding to comment upon several of
the implements which, on account either of their
originality, perfection, or general utility, appeared
to deserve special mention, the Judges beg expressly
to state that there were others of well-known and
acknowledged practical worth, not the less entitled
to notice, the mere enumeration of which would
exceed the limits of a Report.

To Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich, the Society is
indebted for what may be termed the great novelty
of the meeting, viz., the exhibition of a portable
Steam-engine for the purposes of thrashing corn,
as applied by this enterprising and well-known
firm, to whom agriculturists are already greatly
indebted for their improvements in ploughs, and
particularly for the introduction of the cast-iron
case-hardened shares, &c. The advantages of
steam-power for working fixed thrashing-mills have
long been acknowledged in the northern parts of
England and in Scotland; but we believe this is
the first attempt to render it portable, so that it
may be transported from one farm to another, or
from one part of a farm to another, as easily and
as expeditiously as the present machines with
horse-works. The patent disc engine invented by
Mr. Davies, of Birmingham, is the class of engine
selected by Messrs. Ransome for this purpose. This
engine has but one moving part, and that of such
simple construction and uniform action as to be
liable to little depreciation from wear and tear. It
has no beam, fly-wheel, parallel motion, guide rods,
condenser, air-pump, or other* intricate mechanism
subject to derangement in work, or to accident
from travelling over uneven country roads or fields :
nor is its weight an impediment ; the engine and
boiler of five-horse power, with its carriage on a
pair of wheels, not exceeding 85 cwt. By the
peculiar construction of the boiler, and method of
disposing of the waste steam, danger of ignition
from sparks seems to be avoided, and the Judges
confidently express their opinion that, with pru-
dence, as great safety may be experienced in the
use of this portable steam threshing machine in the
stack-yard as is found to be the case with the fixed
engine in the barn. As the show-yard offered no
convenience for determining the performance of the
engine, the Judges refer for more details to a trial
made of it by one of their number at the instance
of the Council, as also of three thrashing-machines
at Mr. Falkner's farm at Fairfield, near Liverpool,
on the 24th of July.

A prize of 101. was awarded to Mr. Wedlake, of
Hornchurch, Essex, for his ingenious and well-
executed dibbling machine. This machine consists
of one or more wheels three feet in diameter, hav-
ing twenty hollow tubes radiating from the centre,
and extending through the rim of the wheel to form
holes of sufficient size and depth for the seed, and
at definite distances from each other. The tube or
dibble is composed of two halves, the one being
fixed upon the periphery of the wheel, the other
sliding downwards and upwards as the wheel
revolves. The shape of the tube when closed is
similar to that of an Italian iron. It enters the
ground closed, forming a taper cylindrical hole,

when the sliding half is pressed downwards, and
deposits the seed in the hole before the tube quits
the earth. The tubes are supplied with seed from
the centre or axis of the machine. Each wheel is
furnished with a scraper to free it from any adher-
ing soil. The objects proposed by the inventor are
— First, to economise seed by administering only a
sufficiency of grains, and the determining a pre-
cise and proper distance between the plants;
secondly, to insure a greater certainty of growth
and produce by depositing the seed at an uniform
depth, and by pressing the soil firmly about it.
The number of seeds to be placed in each hole is
accommodated to its kind, and to the wishes of the
cultivator. The mechanical arrangements for ac-
complishing these important ends appeared on close
inspection, and on trial in the field, to be efficient
and satisfactory. The additional improvements con-
templated by the inventor bid fair to render the im-
plement of great practical value to the agriculturist.

The Rev. \V. L. Rham, of Winkfield, Berkshire,
exhibited an implement, the principal object of
which is to extend and improve the system of drill-
ing and dibbling wheat and beans. It is chiefly in
its latter capacity, as a dibbler of seed and manure,
that we shall attempt to give a slight description of
it. The operative part of the machine is suspended
upon an iron carriage having four wheels, the two
hinder ones being fast upon their axle and turning
with it ; on this axle is a spur-wheel, giving mo-
tion to a pinion ,on an intermediate axle, which
carries a wheel geared into a second pinion fixed on
an axis, having six cranks arranged spirally. The
velocity given to this axis is such that the cranks
make one revolution for every six inches of the
circumference of the hind wheels, or whatever is
the distance desired between the dibble-holes.
The radius of each crank is such that this distance
shall be equal to the circumference described by it
in one revolution. Thus the space described by
every crank coincides with that passed over in the
same time by the hind-wheels. And, as the cranks
turn during the half of a revolution in an opposite
direction to that of the wheels, the result of this
compound motion is a pause or rest of short dura-
tion, at the point where the crank in its rotation
commences to retrograde from the line of progress
of the machine — i. e. at the lowest point, and when
the dibbles are in the ground. The cranks raise the
dibbles up and down by means of connecting rods
and levers, which double the verticle, without in-
creasing the horizontal motion ; and in order that
the point when in the ground may be perfectly
stationary, it is made the centre of motion while
the machine progresses ; and to enable it to retain
that position for a sufficient length of time for the
purpose of leaving a hole truly vertical, the dibble
moves between cheeks in the rod which connects it
with the crank, and has a spring to restore it quickly
to its proper place in rising out of the ground.
During, therefore, the entire time occupied in its
piercing the hole, and being withdrawn from the
soil, the dibble retains its perpendicularity.

By an ingenious and simple contrivance a slow
rotatory motion about its own axis is given to the
dibble, by which means its point may be said to
bore into the ground, thus assisting in the formation
of the hole; and by the same action the dibble is
cleared of any adhering soil, and the hole left firm
and clear.

The seed-valve consists of a cylinder, with a cavity
cut in it of dimensions sufficient to hold one or more
seeds. This cylinder is tumbled over, and the seed

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

53

discharged into a recipient of the shape of a quad-
rant, from which it is pushed out ; when the cylinder
returns to its first, position and takes in a fresh sup-
ply. As this motion is sudden, the seed is surely
delivered, even when rather damp. When the
cylinder is delivering, the quadrant is receiving,
and vice versa. The delivery of the manure is effected
by similar apparatus, only of a larger size, the valves
being furnished with brushes or other means to re-
move the superfluity.

The valves are connected with the dibbles in such
a manner as to deposit the manure and seed in the
hole last formed, whilst the dibbles are stationary in
the advancing one. The dibbles bore their holes in
shallow drills made by the pressure and sliding ac-
tion of an iron shoe, shaped like a boat and forming
a smooth furrow.

The whole of the machinery is supported by an
iron frame, one end of which rests on trunnions at-
tached to a projecting part of the back of the car-
riage. It is suspended at the other end by a cross
shaft carrying two pinions, working into arcs of
circles fixed on the carriage, so that it can be raised
or depressed as !desired, or elevated clear of the
ground by one turn of the winch. At the same time
the pinion connecting the machinery with the hind
wheels is put out of gear, and the whole can then be
moved about on the carriage. The implement is
steered in a manner somewhat analogous to Lord
Western's drill.

The object of the Rev. Gentleman in contriving
this original and singularly ingenious implement,
has been to imitate the more minute and certain
manipulations of the gardener; and so to adapt his
machinery to the drilling and dibbling of seed upon
land previously laid flat and well prepared, that
every field, however extensive, should present the
neatness and the regularitvof a highly-finished garden.

The distinguishing peculiarities of this remarkable
piece of mechanism, are the arrangements for the
dibbles to bore the holes, causing them to be perpen-
dicular, and truly cylindric ; and the apparatus for
giving certainty to the valves in receiving and deli-
vering the seed and manure. The Judges, not
having had an opportunity of inspecting the prac-
tical working of this machine, are limited to the ex-
pression of their high commendation of its ingenuity
and principles, and their hope that the author's san-
guine expectations may be crowned with the success
his perseverance and inventive genius so richly de-
serve.

The Uley Cultivator, invented by Mr. Morton of
Chester Hill, is an implement of great strength and
utility : its peculiar merits consist in an improved
form and disposition of the tines or teeth, which
enter the ground in a manner effectually to move the
couch, or weeds, before they arise from the ground,
and to leave them unbroken on the surface. The
teeth, five in number, are so arranged, that although
drawing lines only 8 inches apart, they are 2 feet
asunder, which, with their curved shape and length
and their being suspended on wheels 3 feet 4 inches
in diameter, renders it impossible for the implement
to choke, however foul and encumbered the soil may-
be. The depth to which the teeth are let into the
soil is readily determined by a winch acting on a
worm and wheel ; and by the same means they are
raised clear of the ground. For the preparation of
light soils for barley, the teeth are provided with
cast-iron shares, which effectually shallow-plough
the surface without reversing it. Points of different
widths, and also steel blades for paring, are furnish-
ed to fit on the tines without pins or other fastenings.

BiddelPs Extirpating Harrow, exhibited by
Messrs. Ransome, is well adapted for preparing pea
and bean stubbles for the efficacious working of the
common harrow. As the teeth or tines of this im-
plement are only 4 inches asunder, it is eminently
calculated for the raising of short couch to the sur-
face, as well as lor the general purposes of pulveri-
zation.

The horse-hoes were very numerous, and several
were constructed upon original or greatly improved
principles ; the Judges selected four of great and
deserving merit for reward.

Messrs. Garrett and Son's hoe deserves the notice
of the agriculturist as an implement that will greatly
tend to give an horticultural finish to field opera-
tions. It is adapted to all the prevailing methods
of drill culture, either for the cleansing of corn crops,
drilled at narrow intervals, or for turnip crops drilled
upon the level surface or on ridges, the axle of the
wheels being moveable at both ends to suit the varied
intervals between the rows of plants ; and as each
hoe works by a separate lever, the weeds are effec-
tually destroyed however uneven the surface of the
ground, each hoe being kept at an uniform depth by
means of regulating keys. The swing steerage,
adapted to this implement, is a valuable addition to
horse-hoes, as they may thereby be guided with the
greatest precision, perfectly scarifying the intervals
without the possibility of injuring the corn or plants.
Mr. Hamilton, of Torthorwald, near Dumfries, N.
B., has added an improvement to his expanding
turnip-hoe, by placing skim coulters to the hoes,
working the nearest to the rows of plants, turning
the weeds and loose soil from the young plants, the
covering of which at an early stage of their growth
is injurious to them.

A hoe, invented by Mr. Huckvale, of Over-Nor-
ton, Oxon, attracted the attention of the Judges as a
novel implement displaying considerable ingenuity,
and promising to be a valuable acquisition to the
cultivator of turnips upon light soils. The origin-
ality of the invention consists in working; a hoe on
each side of a row of turnips, instead of between two
rows as is usual, enabling the weeds to be cut nearer
to the plants without injury than can be effected by
hoes on the common principle. Also in the addi-
tion of revolving knives for thinning the turnips in
the rows, motion for which is derived from the axle
of the wheels by means of bevilled gear. These
knives can be so regulated as to leave the turnips 8,
10, or 12 inches apart. A pair of sloping blades
follow to clean the sides ; children alone then suffice
to separate the double plants and complete the ope-
ration.

The peculiarity of the parallel expanding horse-
hoe exhibited by Lord Ducie consists in an im-
provement of the expanding principle, the sug-
gestion of Mr. John Morton, of Chester Hill. The
wings or supports of the tines in this ingenious
implement, instead of opening and closing upon a
common centre — such as the vertex of an angle, as
is usually the case, which has the effect of causing
the teeth or cutting edges to cross the line of
draught— move parallel with the beam and with
each other, on the principle of the parallel ruler :
by these means the teeth or cutting edges retain
their primitive and true position. The width be-
tween the tines is capable of being regulated from
12 to 27 inches. The regulation of the depth into
the ground, and the steerage, is also simply and
conveniently accomplished.

An excellent show of drills was produced by
Messrs. Hornsby, Garrett and Son, Smyth, and

54

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

others. The drill exhibited by Mr. Hornsby, of
Spittlegate, Grantham, to whom the prize of 25
so vs. was awarded, is admirably calculated for de-
positing, either on hilly or level ground, any de-
scription of pulverized manure, even in a damp
state, and in any quantity from 8 to 200 bushels
per acre. The corn or seed and manure may, at the
will of the cultivator, be deposited at an uniform
depth ; or, if required, the manure may be buried
deeply, and the corn or seed placed by a separate
coulter above the manure. Hitherto great diffi-
culty has been encountered in effecting a regular
delivery of damp manures, from their liability to
form an arch in the box over the stirrer. To ob-
viate this imperfection Mr. Hornsby has ingeniously
contrived, by means of an endless screw, to give to
his stirrer in the box a traversing motion length-
wise, as well as a rotary motion ; so that as the
points revolve they change their position, the whole
line of the box being traversed, and a continuous
train of manure deposited. The Judges highly
commend the workmanship and superior finish of
Mr. Hornsby's drills.

The Suffolk drills, exhibited by Messrs. Garrett
and Son, and Smyth, to whom prizes were also
awarded, displayed great ingenuity and complete-
ness in their construction ; but neither were they so
durable nor so well adapted for the depositing of
manures as the drills manufactured by Mr. Hornsby.

Numerous chaff-engines were exhibited of supe-
rior construction and highly-finished workmanship.
The Judges, however, did not discover any im-
provement in the principle of working the well-
known varieties.

The Earl of Ducie and Messrs. Clyburn and Bud-
ding introduced a patented chaff-cutter of their
own invention, the principle of which appeared to
the Judges quite novel: upon trial this implement
performed its work admirably. The cutters con-
sist of two series of thin blades or knives, with ser-
rated edges, coiled spirally round a horizontal
rotating cylinder, and presenting their edges at an
angle to it. The one series is coiled from left to
right, and the other from right to left, meeting in
the middle of the cylinder; an unbroken continuity
of cutting action is thus attained. A pair of feed-
rollers is driven from the spindle of the cutting
cylinder, which again gives motion to an endless
cloth, upon which the material to be cut is placed,
and by which the supply is maintained. The speed
of the feeding-rollers is regulated by a highly inge-
nious and simple application of the worm and
wheel. The wheel fixed on the roller is so con-
structed as to admit of being driven by worms, with
threads varying from one to four : thus, by changing
the worm on the axis of the cylinder (winch is also
accomplished in a dexterously mechanical manner)
the hay or straw is cut into lengths of from \ of an
inch to 1 inch. This machine may be worked by
manual, animal, or steam power with equal con-
venience.

To Messrs. White and Leith, of Worksop, Notts,
the Judges awarded the Society's prize of 20 sovs.
for the most effective instrument exhibited for the
preparation of gorse as a tbod for cattle, &c. The
gorse is first cut into small lengths by knives ; it is
then drawn forwards by rollers, similar to the straw-
cutting machines, which press or squeeze it, and
finally passes through a pair of fluted cylinders, by
the action of which it is sufficiently bruised anil
rendered pulpy for the mastication of ruminating
animals. Though awarding this prize for an efficient
and well-executed machine, the Judges cannot avoid
expressing their opinion that it is still a desideratum

to diminish the amount of power required, and to
increase the quantity of work executed, in order to
render gorse-crushers of general use.

The ploughs far exceeded in variety and con-
structive skill those shown at any previous exhibi-
tion, and the Judges deemed it requisite to divide
the sums appropriated by the Council to reward
this class of implements amongst many well-de-
serving competitors.

Of the turn-wrest plough there were several
specimens of great merit. Messrs. Ransome's large
collection contained an improved plough, of the
old Kentish kind, made under the direction of Mr.
Wm. Smart, of Rainham, by which the holder is
enabled, without leaving his place at the handles, to
shift the wrest and coulter, and change the " dip"
of the plough : also another variety termed the
" Belton turn-wrest, " in which the body is so
formed as to represent two ploughs attached heel
to point, the handles and beam being connected by
a pivot to the centre, so as to admit of reversing at
each turn without difficulty.

Mr. Smith, of Deanston, exhibited an exceedingly
simple and ingenious implement of this kind, with
a grain-drill attached when required. In this
plough the wrest or mould-board alone is moved,
turning upon a rod extending longitudinally in the
centre of the instrument, so that the position neither
of the handles, share, nor coulter require to be
changed. It was furnished also with an improved
bridle for regulating the point of traction.

Mr. Wilkie, of Uddington, near Glasgow, also
exhibited a turn-wrest plough on the plan of Mr.
Smith's, chiefly varying from it in the convenience
provided for reversing the wrest, and retaining it in
a vertical position whilst the plough is being
turned round at the end of a bout. This instru-
ment, like Mr. Smith's, is entirely composed of iron ;
but Mr. Wilkie's wrest is of wrought-iron, and very
light. It was furnished with a self-regulating
bridle. The exquisite workmanship of this plough,
and of several other implements exhibited by Mr.
Wilkie, excited universal admiration.

'Mr. Huckvale, of Over-Norton, Oxen, showed a
plough of this description, the chief novelty of
which consisted in its having a double share, or
a share formed like the letter L, each face of which
acted alternately as share and coulter. The spindle
by which it was reversed adjusted the mould-boards.

The subsoil-plough has become for certain soils
an indispensable instrument ; and it was gratifying
to observe that many of the principal machine-
makers had turned their attention to its adaptation
for the various uses to which it is applicable, A
great variety was exhibited both with and without
a wheel, including the one originally made by Mr.
Smith, of Deanston. The prize of 10Z. was
awarded to Mr. Wilkie for one furnished with a
leading-wheel, uniting great strength with light-
ness, and which proved on trial to be easily ma-
naged, and to maintain a very uniform depth below
the surface. To diminish the force of draught by
increasing the steadiness of action of this impor-
tant implement, is yet a desideratum to which it
is hoped the continued efforts of mechanics will be
directed.

The turf and stubble-paring plough, invented by
Mr. Thomas Glover, of Thrnssington, Leicester-
shire, is a new implement of great value. The
Judges highly commended the construction and
working of this plough. The surface is pared with
great precision and despatch, leaving the turf in
a curl or roll, the grass side inwards ; a position in
which it is sooner dried, and rendered fit for burn-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

55

ing without the necessity of turning it over, as is
generally required when cut by the breast-spade.

In conformity with the arrangements made by
the Council, the Judges submitted to trial the qua-
lities of many of the ploughs designed for the
general purposes of the farm, with the view of
guiding their judgment in the award of prizes.
These trials were made ou the race-course at
Aintree, the surface consisting of old sward upon
a light loam and sandy subsoil. After the imple-
ments had been at work for some time, so that each
competitor might have the opportunity of getting
his plough into working trim, the Judges proceeded
to test each with the dynamometer, in order to fulfil,
as nearly as they could, the condition annexed to
the prizes, viz., that "lightness of draught will be
considered, as well as quality of work performed."
For this purpose, and in order to insure as nearly
as possible an equality of circumstances, each
plough was set to cut the furrow-slice, as nearly as
it was practicable, 5 inches deep, 11 inches in
breadth, and leaving an open furrow of about 11
inches. The dynamometer (constructed by Messrs.
Cottam and Hallen, of London) was then applied,
and the resistance noted at the time when the
plough in every case appeared to be working in
similar soil, and doing its best. The results of these
experiments arc arranged in the following table : —

araB5#2B a

B»J-OE»SCB5

i?£2sg&£

s : 2 2.
P-. -

3.3 1

- • z - —

~ c
3 5 s 3' = &

re £'
a. Ci

a -

Ft

3 o ■"••

3 s a e 3 «£* e ^ w

£ §> d O 0 3> 3. 5T 3. §■

a-

o

g. 3.

11 10 to to to to h. to

to to to to to to to 10 "-• w

to to to to to to to — ►- i-

Ot Oi Ci Ot C« in ot V* *-*

S)

Number

of
Horses.

Number

of
AVheels.

3 O

B.-S

15

■ : z

to w ca oa w to to to to to to
** 4* to to to oo oo oo oo c: to

•^

en
o

H

►d

f p a

O O

Draught
in

Stones.

A few observations are requisite lest these expe-
riments should be considered as determinate, in the
opinion of the Judges, not only of the intrinsic me-
rits of any particular plough, but of the debateable
question of the relative advantages of swing and
wheel ploughs. The peculiar circumstances under
which these experiments were tried do not permit
such final conclusions to be safely drawn. First,
the greater number of the ploughs were new, and
many of the mould-boards were freshly painted, or
had never been in the ground, which must have
necessarily augmented their friction ; secondly,
some of the ploughmen were inexperienced in the
management of the plough which they directed ;
thirdly, where so many teams of horses were re-
quired, some of them were unaccustomed to the
work, and did not draw well together. Still, with
these reservations, the trials greatly tended to as-
sist the Judges in their awards ; and the dynamo-
meter disclosed facts, as to the relative resistance
opposed by the different kinds of ploughs, which
cannot fail to be of interest and utility to the agri-
culturist, and also to the constructor.

It appears that, in almost every case, the draught
of the wheel-ploughs was less than that of the
swing kind ; and it must not be concealed that the
wheel-ploughs, in every case, actually turned over
more soil than the swing; for the share and sole
of the former maintained a flat, horizontal position ;
whereas all the swing-ploughs leaned more or less
to the landside, cutting to a less depth on the right
than on the left hand side : consequently, the fur-
row bottoms left by the wheel-ploughs were more
even than those excavated by the swing-ploughs.
This difference in the action of the two kinds of
ploughs was less observable in the swing-plough
made by Mr. Hughes, of Halkin (exhibited by the
Hon. E. Mostyn), which cut a much more even sole
than the others, and offered the least resistance of
any plough of that description. It is Avorthy of
remark that this swing-plough had a particularly
fine and easy entrance — a share somewhat broader
than the slice cut — and a longer mould-board than
usual.

The Judges regret that the delays incident to the
presence of so large an assemblage of spectators,
and to the numerous implements requiring their at-
tention did not permit them to pursue these experi-
ments so as to evolve more important results, and
particularly as regarded tho draught of several ex-
cellent double-furrow ploughs which were on the
ground, but not brought into working trim early
enough for satisfactory trial.

Amongst the miscellaneous implements a turnip-
cutter, attached to a cart, was exhibited by Mr. G.
Townsend of Hincbley, Leicestershire, for cuttino-
and spreading turnips for sheep, and cattle upon
grass leys. It consists of a cutting apparatus upon
the disc principle, worked horizontally underneath
the hind part of a cart. Motion is obtained from a
toothed wheel clamped to the spokes of the cart
wheel. On trial, the turnips were expeditiously
cut, and evenly spread on the surface of the grass.
From the simplicity ©f the apparatus, and its being
readily fixed to any cart, the Judges considered tha^
it might prove of valuable assistance to the con-
sumers of turnips upon grass lands.

The lever horse drag-rake, contrived by Mr. Grant
of Stamford, appeared to attract great attention on
the day of trial. Its advantages over the common
borse rake arise from the application of a lever to
raise all the teeth at once when filled, without the
necessity of stopping the horse, and from each tooth

56

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

depending separately from the comraen axis, like the
mechanical road-scraper, so that the inequalities of
the land cannot escape its action.

The patent wrought-iron harrows made and ex-
hibited by Mr. Howard of Bedford, are a valuable
addition to this class of implements. The improve-
ment consists in the tines or teeth being- so arranged
that each cuts a separate furrow, and is kept in the
line or furrow by a central draught from the swingle-
tree, so that if the horses draw ever so irregularly
the tines cannot be thrown out of their direct line.

The chain-brush or web-harrow, the invention of
Mr. Smith of Deanston, is ingeniously calculated
to answer all the purposes for which the hurdle
drawn with thorns is now applied. Upon light
sandy soils, where the wheat crops are infested by
the " red poppy," a free application of this imple-
ment may possibly prove of great service in eradi-
cating this destructive weed during its early growth.

The dairy department of husbandry is indebted
to Mr. Blurton of Field Hall, near Uttoxeter, for
the introduction of a very simple contrivance, by
•which fifty cheeses are turned over at once. The
cheeses are arranged on shelves in a frame, sus-
pended on centres to two side-posts, forming part
of the machine, so that a half revolution reverses the
■whole at once, thus economising the labour of the
domestic, and the space of the cheese-room. To
this frame, and to two churns of merit, by Mr. Lea
of Liverpool, and Mr. Parkinson of Knowsley,
prizes were considered to be due.

To Messrs. Drummond and Son of Stirling, a
prize was awarded for a single-rowed dropping-drill
for depositing turnip-seed and manure, much used
and approved in Scotland. These gentlemen greatly
contributed to the interest of the show-yard by the
exhibition of a variety of implements, chiefly of
iron, many of them distinguished as articles of inge-
nuity, and usefulness, and superior workmanship.
Amongst them were Mr. Smith's (of Deanston)
ploughs and implements for draining ; also models
of drains excavated and refilled ; also Mr. Smith's
reaping machine.

The Judges regret that the season of the year pre-
vented the opportunity of witnessing the perform-
ance of this powerful implement in practical ope-
ration.

The Society is indebted to Mr. Crosskill for the
exhibition of his well-known and highly-approved
implement, the clod-crusher, and also for his liquid-
manure cart ; to Messrs. Edmunds and Huckvale,
of Banbury, for their drill and lever furrow-presser ;
to Mr. Beart, of Godmanchester, for his draining -
tile and sole-making machine, lately much improved;
to Mr. Bigg for his sheep-dipping apparatus ; to
Mr. Edgington, of London, for his marquees and
stack-covers ; to Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, Lon-
don, for the various instruments constructed by
them ; and generally to all the exhibitors who, at
great cost, responded to the Society's invitation, and
sent their implements from all quarters of the coun-
try, enabling the Society to present for the inspec-
tion of agriculturists assembled from the three king-
doms, a more extensive, varied, and better manufac-
tured collection of implements than was ever
displayed in one show-yard.

Josiaii Parkes,
Geohge Lecakd,
R. S. Graburn.

REPORT

Of a Trial of Messrs. Ransome's Portable
Steam Thrashing Engine, and of two Hand
Thrashing Machines, at Mr. Falkner's
Farm, Fairfield, near Liverpool. July 21.

The Portable Disc-Engine was coupled to one of
Messrs. Ransome's Thrashing Machines by means
of a shaft having universal joints, as exhibited in
the show-yard. The carriage remained steady
during the working of the engine — its wheels being
let a little into the ground and the shafts supported.
The engine performed its work easily and satisfac-
torily ; no sparks issued from the chimney. To
prove this important desideratum an elbow pipe was
attached to the summit of the funnel, and joined to
other pipes descending to the ground 4 or 5 yards
distant from the engine. Straw was laid about the
extremity of the pipe to ascertain if ignition were
possible close to the orifice. It was evident, from
the wet state of the straw quickly produced by the
steam, and condensed water issuing from the cbiin-
ney, that no danger of fire is to be apprehended in a
barn-yard from this source. The furnace was fed
with both coal and coke, with equal freedom from
sparks ; the temperature at the orifice of the funnel
was below that necessary to inflame straw.

The short duration of the experiment precluded
the possibility of determining the consumption of
fuel, but it may be safely estimated at the rate of
about ^ cwt. of good coke per hour, when the engine
is doing the work of about five horses; and that
about 36 gallons of water would be required per
hour to supply the boiler.

In the present experiment, judging from the
number of sheaves thrashed by the respective ma-
chines in a given time, the engine did the work of
twenty-four or twenty-five men; but it was evi-
dent that the men could not long have worked the
hand-machines without repose or relay, so that no
exact comparison can be instituted of the power
exerted ; and the engine could have performed
more work at a moderate and safe pressure of
steam.

The weight of the engine, boiler, and carriage is
about 35 cwt., moved by two horses, with a supply
of water in the boiler.

Were the carriage mounted on four wheels, and
the thrashing-machine fixed and worked upon it,
as is contemplated by the inventors, the whole
would be still more complete in many points of
view.

The Hand Thrashing Machines submitted to trial
were those commended by the judges of imple-
ments ; the one constructed by the Earl of Ducie,
the other by Messrs. Ransome. These two imple-
ments involved the nse of distinct principles in the
method of separating the grain from the ear, as
also in the manner of applying the power.

In Lord Ducie's machine the straw is fed in at
a tangent to the drum, and has consequently only
to pass round its circumference, the corn being
scutched or stripped off by the revolving action of
eight narrow blades or scutchers. At the back of
the drum, and forming the end of the machine, is
an open work concave screen of cast-iron, rendered
adjustable so as to be set nearer to or farther from
the drum, as required by the sort of grain to be
thrashed. A large portion of the corn, on being
stripped from the ear, falls immediately through
the interstices of this screen ; the remainder passes
with the straw down a wood grating. The object
of this arrangement is to effect a greater separation

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

57

of the straw and grain, for the more easy collection
of the latter.

The framing is constructed entirely of cast-iron.
At one end of the machine is an axis having a fly-
wheel, with a handle for a man at each end of it.
The end of the drum-spindle carries a pulley, to
which motion is given by a strap passing round the
fly-wheel. By fixing a pulley in place of one of
the handles on the fly-wheel shaft, the machine
may be driven by animal or other power, equally
as well as by men ; or even altogether without the
fly-wheel, by passing a strap from the moter round
the drum-pulley, as was done, experimentally, with
the disc-engine.

The mechanical construction and execution of
this machine merit the highest praise. All the re-
quisites of portability are self-contained; it will
stand on any spot ; it is not disturbed by the ac-
tion of the power : and extraneous means of fasten-
ing it are unnecessary.

The thrashing principle of Messrs. Ransome's
machine is similar to that of their others, and to
the more general practice, viz., the shaking out the
grain from the ear by sharp blows inflicted by the
beaters ; a description, therefore, of the mechanism
for effecting this process is unnecessary.

The peculiarity of the machine consisted chiefly
in the application of the power by means of side
levers or bars, standing out at right angles to the
machine. One of these levers is applied on each
side, having connecting-rods for communicating
the power to the acting parts. Two men work each
lever by alternately pushing and pulling, the reci-
procating being converted into rotative motion by
the connecting-rods and cranks. This arrange-
ment is ingenious, and it would seem to be an eco-
nomical application of human force, as it is exerted
in a manner convenient to the physical structure of
the human frame. Practically, however, to a cer-
tain extent, and for the purpose of a portable ma-
chine, this advantage is counteracted by the dis-
turbing effect produced on the machine by the
alternate action of the levers on its opposite sides ;
an effect which requires that the machine be firmly
fixed to the spot on which it is to be worked.

As regards the relative perfection of the work ac-
complished by these two machines, there was no
very distinguishable difference, judging from the
state of the straw and the cleanness of the ears.
The performance of both was considered to be very
good. The following table contains the numerical
results, being data from which useful comparisons
may be drawn of the cost and relative economy of
effecting the process of thrashing by the flail, by
the hand-machines, and by animal or steam power.

Sheaves
of Wheat
Thrashed.

Time.

Produce.

Men

Employed.

Machines.

Number.
20
20

245

Min. Sec.

22 40
11 20

23 30

Lbs.
106
103

1260

Number.
2

4
= 24

Lord Ducie's.
Messrs. Ran-

sone's.
Steam-engine.

The produce of each machine was kept separate,
and subsequently weighed by Mr. Falkner, after
passing the corn once through the winnowing ma-
chine. He observes that the yield of such ma-
chine, proportionally to the number of sheaves,
may be fairly considered as identical. He remarks
that the sheaves supplied to the steam-machine
were taken at random, and that a part of them had
grown alongside a plantation, and would not yield

so well as the others ; whereas, the forty sheaves
supplied to the hand-machines were picked.

A repetition of experiments of this nature, con-
ducted for a greater length of time, with the atten-
tion directed to the difference in the power and effect
produced by varying the velocity of the beaters,
their number, &c, might be expected to elicit in-
formation of much value to the constructor. It
was very apparent, during these trials, that skill in
feeding exercises no slight influence both over the
consumption of power, and the completeness of the
operation. Josiah Pauk.es.

Mr. Pusey then rose and said : — " Mr. Hand-
ley, my Lords, and Gentlemen, — Although it is ex-
tremely difficult to follow the details given in the
report just read, yet we must all feel that it
is a very elaborate report. If the objects the
Society had in view — the giving prizes for imple-
ments— has succeeded in part, it might be con-
sidered a gratifying circumstance. If it had done
so much in three or four years, what might be ex-
pected of it for the future? If even one fifth of
the implements exhibited showed an improvement
in the working tools of the farmers of England, a
great deal, it must be admitted, had been done.
There were one or two points in the report, to which
he was anxious to direct the attention of the
meeting'. The first was the construction of a steam
thrashing-machine, by the Messrs. Ransome. He
knew that it was owing to a statement in the Jour-
nal, that such a machine was used in France, that
induced the cntcrprizing firm of Messrs.
Ransome to send one of their construction
to Liverpool. It would be for all to form their
opinion of its success. In the report which hud
been read, the name of the Noble Lord wiio sat be-
side him, Lord Ducie, had been mentioned more
than once. We have had noble lords as competitors
for prizes for stock ; but it was the first time that we
had had a noble Lord as a competitor in mechanics
{cheers). He (Mr. Pusey) wished to say a few
words with respect to the prize awarded two years
ago to Mr. Handley, for his essay. It was then
thought that the wheel-ploughs were lighter than
swing-ploughs. The lion, gentleman then directed
attention to the report of the Judges at Liverpool,
and said, the result spoke volumes as to the ne-
cessity of attending to the draught of ploughs. It
had been stated by a Noble Lord in Scotland, the
Marquess of Tweeddale, that Hart's plough had not
succeeded ou his farm. But, were the Noble Lord
here, he would argue the question with him as to
its character: In his neighbourhood it was used.
With respect to the contents of the report, he
might say that, though the Society had done much,
still they had a great deal more to do. He con-
cluded by moving that the report be adopted.

The Duke of Richmond seconded the motion.
As they had had a great deal of reading, he should
not trouble the meeting with much speaking. As
to the steam thrashing-machine, he was not at
Liverpool when it was exhibited. He would not
be disposed to take it into his farm-yard until some
further experiments had been made with it. There
were no doubt many friends of Messrs. Ransome's,
who would put it into a field and try it, but as far-
mers, those present knew that great care should be
taken to guard against fire {Hear, hear).

Earl Spencek. said, that with respect to what
the Duke of Richmond had said, he wished to observe,
that he saw the engine at Liverpool ; and although
all farmers ought to be cautious, still it was utterly

58

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

impossible for fire to take place from it. There
were no sparks from the funnel, and the steam was
conducted in such a way as to render fire out of
the question.

Col. Challoner agreed in some measure with
what Lord Spencer had said, but the question was,
where there were insurances, would the offices pay
if stacks were fired by it and destroyed ? Was
there not danger from the ashes? After such an
engine had been a little while in use, those who
managed it would get careless, and thus fire might
be occasioned.

The Chairman said that as he was at Liverpool,
he could confirm what had been said by Lord
Spencer, and he thought he could allay the fears of
Col. Challoner as to the ashes, which fell into
water. A person in his district had constructed^
steam machine, which had been in constant use in
various places. Since the report had been pre-
pared the engine made by the Messrs. Ransome had
been placed upon four wheels. The Chairman
asked Mr. Ransome if that was not the case.
Mr. Ransome replied in the affirmative.
Mr. S. Solly said he wished to address the
meeting upon the advantages which were derived
from the use of the subsoil plough. The effect of
atmospheric influence upon plants every one knew.
By the decomposition of carbonic acid, plants were
greatly benefited. He had had a long experience of
the benefits of the subsoil plough; and having
been a friend and traveller for hundreds of miles
with the late Sir Humphrey Davy, he had turned
his attention to the subject of improving the land
by the aid of science. It was the object of the
Royal Agricultural Society to apply science to
agriculture. If the meeting thought fit he would
draw up a statement of the results of his experience
with the subsoil plough, and forward it to the So-
ciety. (Hear, hear.)

Earl Spencer referred to that part of the report
which stated that no prize had been given for wheat,
and said that he thought it due to the owners of
the wheat to state that the experiment had
been made under unfavourable circumstances, his
wheat having been put in in October, and Mr.
Druce's in February. As, however, these wheats
did not produce so well as the ordinary wheats
o-rown in the neighbourhood, and sown
under the same circumstances, the judges
did not think it right to give the prize; still
the prize was a very valuable one, for if there
could be found varieties of wheat to produce
more on different soils than that now obtained, a
very great object indeed Avould be attained. They
might not be able to do this for three or four years,
but still they ought to persevere. {Hear, hear.)

Mr. R. W. Baker said he had had some expe-
rience in the draught of ploughs, and he thought
that the experiments at Liverpool were made under
disadvantages. Some of the ploughs were neither
adapted to the land nor to the width of the furrow
slice fixed.

The Duke of Richmond said that the Chairman
had put into his hands the next motion which stood
in the agenda of the day. It was to give the best
thanks of the meeting to the judges at Liverpool.
As he had been an unsuccessful candidate at Liver-
pool, he was, perhaps, best qualified to propose the
resolution. It was well known that judges could
not please all, but he was satisfied that they had
done their best.

The motion was seconded, aud carried unani-
mously.

Earl Spencer said, the next motion was a vote
of thanks to Professor Henslow and Dr. Daubeny.
It gave him (Earl Spencer) the greatest possible
pleasure to move this resolution. They had been
called on at a very short notice to give lectures
to the members, which they had done, and those of
the members who had heard the lectures would agree
with him (Earl Spencer) that they were not only very
agreeable, but they also conveyed much profitable
and useful information. He thought it a good plan,
when so many agriculturists were in town, to set
apart one or two evenings to hear lectures, as when
the farmers went back into the country they might
be able to apply statements they had heard to
their practical benefit. (Hear, hear.)

The motion was seconded and carried with accla-
mation.

Dr. Daubeny observed, I can only say that I
am extremely gratified by this vote of thanks.

Mr. G. Webb Hall said that he cordially
agreed with the spirit of all that had been stated
in the Report, and deeply impressed with the vast
field opened for inquiry through the establishment
of this Society, and the dissemination of intelli-
gence through its Journal, he wished to draw the
attention of the meeting to results of experiments
which had been going on for a period co-eval with
the first formation of the Society. The facts
he had to lay before the meeting were of a startling
nature. They were the results of the labour of an
individual who, by the use of a new substance, as
manure, had produced a vast improvement in the
cultivation and produce of the soil. He was a per-
fectly disinterested witness with respect to the facts
he was about to bring forward. The individual
who had made those experiments was, by permis-
sion, in the room, and would give any explanation
that was required. The manure he had alluded to
could be obtained at less cost than any now known,
and it was lighter than bone dust. The party had
drawn up a plain unvarnished tale respecting the
produce of his experiments, which he would read.
Mr. Hall then read the following statement: —
" In 1837 the piece of land (from which I have
since taken four successive crops of wheat) was
sown to barley after being manured with ashes ob-
tained by burning the weeds from the same ground.
It came up regular, and promised to be a good
crop, but the land was so poor that the produce
did not amount to four sacks of barley per acre.
In 1838, 1839, and 1840, I sowed it to spring wheat,
after having manured it each year only with my
new manure, lime and some little ashes procured
as above. The crop in the first year was five and a
half sacks, in the next six, the next also six ;
averaging 641bs. per bushel ; aud in the last (1841),
now in straw, calculated at seven sacks per acre.
The crop of straw in each year was exceedingly
heavy, quite equal alone in value to any one entire
crop of grain or other produce grown on the land
during the time I possessed it (nine years). The
last time this piece of land, prior to 1838, was sown
to wheat, was about eight years ago, after a sum-
mer fallow, and then it did not produce four
bushels per acre; the crop was so bad that the
farmer (Mr. Tanner) who rented it of me, with
other lauds, did not think it worth reaping, and
had it cut with a scythe — this was his going off
crop. There has been no stable, or farm-yard
manure, put on this piece of land since that time ;
there has been no manure on it of any descrip-
tion that could have] produced this improvement,
excepting that which I propose offering to the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

59

public, and that only in small quantities, and very
imperfectly got up; and notwithstanding these
successive crops, the land on which they grew is so
increased in productive value as to be worth double
at least of the land immediately adjoining. The
arable land on Winsley Hill, which is from 500 to
(JiK) feet above the level of the sea, is estimated at
about 20s. per acre ; but it must be remembered
that Winsley is situate within five miles of Bath, a
circumstance which evidently increases the value
of agricultural produce. By a valuation of land,
taken in 1836 by Mr. Armstrong, of Bristol, an
eminent land surveyor, employed by the parish to
value it, this piece of land was estimated by him
at 15s. (id. per acre. The quantity of seed sown in
each year was only three pecks and one pint to the
acre, put in by drill."

Mr. Hall, in continuation observed that, having
1 iid before the meeting the paper, he wished to say
that the individual came before them seeking
no favour or reward from the Society. He
had brought before the meeting the results of his
experiments, in order that they might be dissemi-
nated through the means of the Journal of the
Society for the benefit of the agriculturalists and
the world at large. He (Mr. Hall) had seen the
crops raised by the individual, and he had samples
of the wheat before him ; he bad recommended the
individual to take out a patent for this new manure,
which bad been done for England and Scotland, but
that for Ireland and foreign countries would not be
ready for a few weeks. He was not therefore at liberty
to state the particular manner in which this manure
was prepared. (Here samples of the wheat were ex-
hibited). He might state that carbon and ammonia
were used in the preparation, both of which sub-
stances were conducive to the growth of plants,
and in this compound they were presented in such
a form as to be most easily taken up as vegetable
nutriment. The experiments had been going on
for four years, and the manure, he thought, would
meet the wants of the agriculturist, as it was
cheap and highly efficient. Mr. Hall said that
by the use of this manure, four crops of wheat
might be obtained successively, and that wheat
had been grown upon land after it had been pre-
pared one year, where it had never grown before.
In four or live weeks a maui'actory would be formed,
and then it could be had very cheap. The manure
had been applied to mangel-wurzel with similar
success.

The Duke of Richmond thought, that as the
Council had declined placing in the Journal the
theories of any one, he could not agree with his
friend, Mr. Webb Hall, in thinking that in the case
of a new application like the present, a single in-
stance of its success could be inserted in the
Journal. It had not been the practice to place in
the Journal any project that had not first been put
to the test. His Lordship said he was ready to
purchase enough of the manure for five acres of
.mangel-wurzel and five of wheat. As the motto of
the Society was science with practice, the experi-
ment must be tried before the results were stated
in the Journal. He would try it on any land the
party liked ; he had some very poor and some very
good land, and he would make a fair report of the
result. His Lordship had no doubt that his noble
friends Earl Spencer and Earl Ducie would try it
also, and then all could make a report. The
Journal of the Society would not be so useful as it
was if the Council were to place in it any facts that
had not been tested by experience.

Lord Ducie concurred with what had just fallen
from the noble Duke. As a member of the So-
ciety he thought that the meeting at large would be
grateful to the individual for having communicated
his experiments to it. As far as his experimental
farm at Whitfield was concerned, the party might
come to it, and try any experiments that pleased
him, to shew the nature of the manure.

Mr. Hall said, that the experiments had been
going on for four years, consequently it could not
be called theoretical, and might, he thought, be ad-
mitted into the Journal. He would only further say
that Mr. Daniel was the patentee.

Sir RlCHAKD Jodduell then presented to the
meeting an extract, cut out from a newspaper, ex-
planatory of the feelings of the gentlemen of the
press in Liverpool, in not having accorded to them
the extent of accommodation they deemed it requisite
to report the proceedings of the Society at the
meeting held in that town ; and having hnnded it to
the chair, the President read it 10 the meeting.

Mr. Pusey, Mr. Parker, Earl Spencer, and Colonel
Challoner vindicated the conduct of the Society on
this point, and adduced the most satisfactory evi-
dence that the reporters of the Liverpool press had
no just grounds for the complaint stated.

The Dulceof CaiUishiuge then rose to propose a vote
of thanks to the President, and in doing so said, that
although not a great fanner himself, he professed a
strong opinion in favour of extending the interests of
the agriculturists, and he believed that nothing was
more calculated to promote the happiness of the
country than to see that interest flourish, and that
there should be a good feeling between landlord and
tenant. 1 am not, observed His Royal Highness, a
large landed proprietor myself, but I am happy to
say that all my tenants are satisfied with their land-
lord. CCheeis). The Royal Duke concluded by
proposing the thanks of the meeting to the Pre-
sident.

The Duke of Richmond seconded the motion.

Mr. Handley briefly returned thanks, expressing
his obligations to the Council for the aid which they
had rendered him in performing the duties of his
office.

At a Council held on Wednesday, Dee. 8, present,
Henry Handley, Esq., President, in the chair, Duke of
Puehmund, Earl Spencer, Thomas Raymond Barker,
Esq., John R, Barker, Esq., George R. Barker, Esq.,
Preach Burke, Esq., Cornel Challoner, Edward Da-
vies Davenport, Esq., James Dean, Esq., William
Goodenoiigh Hayter, Esq., M.P., William Fisher
Hobbs, Esq., Samuel Jonas, E>-q., George Kimberley,
E*q., John Kinder, Ksq., William Woods Page, Esq.,
and William Shaw, Esq.

The Council unanimously agreed to their Report, to
be made on the following Saturday to the General
Meeting of the Society.

Election of Council.
Earl Spencer grave notice of his intention to move at
the Monthly Council in February, the adoption of the
following regulations to establish the mode and facilitate
the freedom of election of the Council by the Members
of the Society at the Anniversary Meeting in May: —

I. The election of the President, Vice-President, and
Trustees, shall take place by a show of hands.

II. The election of twenty-five members of the Coun-
cil, who are to replace the twenty-five members who
reiire by rotation, shall take place in the following
manner: —

1. A list of the members of the Council who retire by ro-
tation, but who may be re-elected, shall be prepared
on or before the 1st of May, for the inspection of
members at the rooms of the society.

60

THE FARxMER'S MAGAZINE.

2. The Council shall prepare a list of the twenty -five
members whom they propose for election or re-
election, which shall be printed «n paper large enough
to admit of additions being made to it ; and a copy
of this printed list shall be given to any member who
applies for it at the rooms of the society, either on
the 2lst of May, or at the anniversary meeting ou
the 22nd of May.

3. The voting shall take place by each member who
wishes to vote giving in one of these lists, signed by
himself, with such names struck oat or added as he
thinks fit, to the President at the general meeting,
before the commencement of any other business.
When the lists have been given in, three scrutineers
shall be appointed, who will retire into the secretary's
room and inspect the lists -which have been given in,
and report forthwith to the meeting the names of the
twenty-five members who shall have the majority of
votes. If tiny of the lists should contain the names
of more than twenty-five members, it will not be
connted asa valid vote. Nomember willbe allowed to
vote who does not personally deliver his list to the
President.

Annual Country Meetings.

On the motion of the Duke of Richmond, it was
unanimously resolved, that the following information
should be laid before the Council, properly vouched,
prior to any town being selected for the country meet-
ings:—
I. A tracing of the land on which it is proposed to erect

the Show-Yard and Pavilion ; and answers to queries

on the following points : —

1 . Statement of the number of acres of such land.

2. Its distance from the terminus of the railway.

3. Its distance from the centre of the town.

4. Whether there is a supply of water on the land ;
if not, to state the price of conveying it.

5. To state the amount of remuneration which the
owner and occupier require for the use of the land
for the six weeks it will be required.

fi. The correctness of the information transmitted
a? answers to queries on these points, to be certi-
fied by the signatures of the parties sending it.

II. The distance of the field where it is proposed the
trial of implements should take place, from the land in-
tended for the Show-Yard and Pavilion, and the terms
on which the use of it can be obtained.

III. The distance of the town from the surrounding
market towns.

IV. To state whether there is any room in the town
capable of containing 500 persons at dinner, and the
expense of hiring it.

Veterinary College.
The President informed the Council that he had
received a satisfactory account of the progress made by
the college in carrying out the designs of the society in
reference to their measures for promoting the study of
the diseases of cattle, sheep, and pigs, by veterinary
punils ; and that he would lay the reports on this subject
before the Council at the monthly meeting in February
next.

Seed-Wheat.

The reports of Earl Spencer, Mr. Graburn, and Mr.
Druce, on the subject of the cultivation of the Cam-
bridge Prize Wheats, were then taken into consideration,
when it was decided that the pi ize should not be award-
ed to either of the Wheats selected for the trial, inas-
much as they had proved in these instances of cultivation
to be less productive than the wheats usually grown in
the respective neighbourhoods where the trials were
made.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 15th
of December.

At a meeting of the Council, on Wednesday, the
15th uf December, present, His Grace The Duke of
Richmond in the chair, Thomas Raymond .Barker,

Esq., James Dean, Esq., William Goodenough Hay-
ton, Esq., M. P., and William Shaw, Esq.

Scotch and Irish Cows.

The Duke of Richmond laid before the Council a
communication transmitted to him by Her Majesty's
Commissioners of Woods and Forests, containing the
results of a trial suggested by the Society to be made
in the course of the Experimental Improvements now
in progress on the Crown Estate at King William's
Town, in the Counties of Cork and Kerry, in Ireland,
on the comparative value of Scotch and Irish cows, in
respect to their relative produce in milk and butter.
The Commissioners, in pursuance of that suggestion,
directed the purchase of six Scotch heifers of the
Galloway breed, in order to such an experiment being
instituted at King William's Town, in regard to their
produce as compared with a like number of Ayrshire
and Kerry cows then on the estate ; and having placed
the trial under the superintendence of Mr. Griffith,
that gentleman had reported the details of the compa-
rison, which the Commissioners then transmitted to the
Society.

The milk of each of the cows having been measured
separately, and noted for two months, it appeared from
the returns, that

1. The Galloway cattle gave, on an average. 6J impe-
rial quarts ot milk per day, and that 9£ quarts of
milk produced one pound of butter when salted for
market.

2. The Kerry cows gave, on an average, 7y quarts of
milk per day, and 8| quarts of milk produced one
poundof butter when salted.

3. The Ayrshire cows gave, on an average, 9 quarts of
milk per day, and 10| quarts of milk produced one
pound of salted butter.

Mr. Griffith observed, however, that the Ayrshire
cows could not be fairly placed in competition with the
Galloway and Kerry breeds, inasmuch as the latter were
heifers having each produced the first calf, while the
Ayrshire were old cows, each having had four calves :
the milk of the same Ayrshire cows, two years previ-
ously, having measured only 7§ quarts per day. It ap-
peared from the inspection of the principal butter-mer-
chants of Cork, that the quality of butter produced by
the different breeds of eattle, was the same as to taste,
though the colour of each was different ; that produced
by the Galloway cattle was of a deep yellow colour,
that by the Ayrshire a bright yellow, and that by the
Kerry a still lighter shade of yellow.

1 he cattle of each breed were in equal condition, in
the same pasture ; but in the previous winter and spring,
it resulted from tome experiments made on the compa-
rative cost of keep, that

per day.

1. One Galloway cow, consumed, 21? lbs. of hay.

2. One Kerry . .* 16|

3. One Ayrshire 24J

Mr. Gkiffith draws the following general conclu-
sion from the whole experiment: " That the Irish breed
is best suited to the mountain lands, and to the cold and
wet climate of King William's Town; that they are
less expensive to feed, and when under the same cir-
cumstances, in respect of age, &c, they produce more
butter per week than either of the breeds imported from
Scotland, but thatthe Galloway cattle are superior for
stall-feeding.''

The Council unanimously resolved that their thanks
should be transmitted to the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests for having instituted this experiment at the
desire of the Society, and communicated the details ot
its result; and also presented to Mr. Griffith, to whose
care its superintendence had been confided.

Mr. Barker gave notice of his intention to move at
the Monthly Council in February, " That it be au in-
struction to the Bye-Law Committee to prepare a Bye-
Law restraining the payment of any sum from the
funds of the Society to any Member of the Council,
for services of any description rendered by him in
furtherance of the objects of the Society."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

61

Bristol Meeting.
The Duke of Richmond laid before the Council the
third report of the Bristol Committee, agreed te at a
meeting- held on the 11th of December, when there
were present — The Duke of Richmond, Chairman, Earl
Spencer, Henry Handley, Esq., President, Thomas
Raymond Barker, Esq., Colonel Challoner, James
Dean, Esq., W. Goodenough Hayter, Esq., M.P., Wil-
liam Shaw, Esq., and (by special invitation) George
Webb Hall, Esq., and James Marmont, Esq.

The report embraced the following topics : —

I. That Mr. Marmont should report to the Secretary
the names of the three gentlemen elected by Mr. Miles,
and Mr. Webb Hall, to complete the number of the
Local Committee at Bristol.

II. That the Local Committee be requested to under-
take the following duties, and to report to the General
Committee their recommendations: —

1. To select afield as the site for the trial of implements,
to make the requisite arrangements for the trial, and
to procure horses and men for this purpose ; reporting
the expenses undereach particular head, and prepar-
ing a programme, detailing the order of proceedings,
situation of the field, distance from Bristol, &c.

2. To take into their consideration the best mode of
effecting such a registration of lodgings in Bristol, as
may tend most securely to provide for the convenience
and comfort of the members of the society attending
the meeting.

3. To distribute 200 of the tickets for the ladies' gallery
in the Pavilion.

4. To make arrangements (with the sanction of the
Mayor,) for placing placards in the streets to enable
strangers to find their way to the Show-Yard.

5. To make arrangements with the tenant to undertake
a proper supply of food for the cattle, &c, at the
market price.

6. To make arraugements with the tenant of the trial
of Implement-Field for the proper supply of corn, &c.
for the machines.

7. To procure in writing the consent of the land-owner
of the space of ground adjoining the Victoria Rooms,
on which it is proposed to erect the Pavilion and
enclose the Show-Yard, for the occupation of his land
for this purpose.

8. To procure in writing the consent of the tenant of the
same, and a stipulation respecting the terms on which
it can be engaged by the society.

9. To procure in writing the consent of the land-owner
and tenant of the space of ground deemed next in
eligibility, in the contingency of the foregoing
being sold by the time of the meeting for the purpose
of building.

III. That it be recommended to the Council to adver-
tise for separate tenders for the erection of the Show-
Yard and the Dining Pavilion ; leaving it open for any
contractor to tender for both, with a reservation for the
society to accept or not the lowest tender offered :
and that similar conditions be annexed to the adver-
tisements for tenders to contract for the supply of the
Council and Pavilion dinners.

IV. That the Chairman of the General Bristol Com-
mittee be requested to write to the Master of the So-
ciety of Merchant Venturers of the City of Bristol, to
know if, in the contingency of the space of ground ad-
joining the Victoria Rooms being built upon, they
would permit the erection of the Pavilion, and the en-
closure of the Show-yard on their property, with the
permission of making entrances to Durdham Downs.

V. That the Chairman be also requested to write at
the same time to the Committee of the Victoria Rooms,
for the use of their Buildings for the Council Dinner and
the Meetings of the Council, and for the purposes of
the Finance Committee, Ticket Committee, and Se-
cretary.

VI. That the price of the Ladies' Gallery Ticket shall
be ten shillings; that sum including the supply of
suitable refreshments.

VII. That the men appointed to nttendon the Cattle-
yard shall receive 5s. per day, and be selected
from among such Farm Labourers in the neighbour-
ing parishes as can be recommended by their em-
ployers for their general good conduct ; and that a
superintendent of the animals (acting under and ap-
proved by the Honorary Director ot the Show) shall
be engaged at a guinea per day, and be selected from
the class of Farmers' Bailiffs.

The Council unanimously adopted this Report.

Miss Smedley, of Nyn-Northor, Hertfordshire, pre-
sented, for the Museum, various samples of Burwell
Wheat, grown from the same seed on soils resting on
different geological formations, which the Council ac-
cepted with thanks, and referred to the arrangements of
Professor Henslow. The Duke of Richmond presented
"The Farmers' Guide, compiled for the use of the
Small Farmei sand Cotter-Tenantry of Ireland." Mrs.
General Dorrien, of Lavant House, near Chichester,
fleeces of Wool from her Merino Flock. Mr. Jonas
(on the part of Mr. Pailley, of The Grange, West
Wratting) the 4 Volumes of Arthur Young's Agricul-
tural Tour through the North of England ; Mr.
Richard Vines, V.C., his works entitled, " Critical en-
quiry on the Blood-Vessels and Absorbents,"" Practical
Treatise on the most Important Diseases of the Horse,"
" Veterinary and Physiological Essays ; the Agricul-
tural and Horticultural Society of India, the 3 last parts
of their printed proceedings; and Mr. Bartlett, ol Ex-
eter, an impression (coloured and varnished, on rollers)
of his interesting Index Geologicus, or synoptic chart of
geological data.

The Council then adjourned, over Christmas, to
Wednesday, the 5th of January.

NEW MEMBERS.

On the motion of Earl Spencer, His Royal Highness
The Prince Albert, K.G., was unanimously elected a
Governor of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land.

Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Bart., F. R. S., of St.
John's Lodge, Regent's Park; and James William
Freshfield, Esq., of Moor Place, Dorking, Surrey ;
were elected Governors.

The following gentlemen have been elected
members of the Society during the month.

Abbott, Charles Hardcastle, Bower-Ashton, Bristol.

Allen, Charles, The Moor, Kington, Herefordshire.

Addington, Haviland John, Langford Court, Burring-
ton, Bristol.

Bennett, William, Fdton, Bristol.

Bell, John, Hardwick, Burcote, Bridgenorth Salop.

Blake, T. Wood, Venne, Wiveliscombe, Somerset.

Bond, The Rev. Nathaniel, Holme, Wareham, Dor-
setshire.

Bowers, John, Westdean House, Chichester, Sussex.

Brockman, Francis Head, Beachborough, Hythe, Kent.

Brown, Thomas, Colebrooke Park, Tonbridge, Kent.

Purges, Daniel, jun., Bristol.

Charlton, Rev. John, Elberton, near Bristol.

Clarina, Lord, Elm Park, Limerick, Ireland.

Clayton, David S., Endon House, Macclesfield, Che-
shire.

Crane, Henry, Oakhampton, Stourport, Worcestershire

Crisp, Fortunatus, New Farmers' Journal Office 7*
Wellington Street North, Strand.

Currey, Benjamin, Old Palace Yard, Westminster.

Danbury.J. B., Offington House, Worthing, Sussex.

Dew, James, Craddock, Ross, Herefordshire.

Dilke, C. W., 9, Lower Gcosvenor-place, London.

Dilke, C. Wcntworth, 118, Sloane-street, Chelsea.

Edward, Samuel, Foxhall, Ross, Herefordshire.

Ellis, George, Hatfield, Chelmsford, Essex.

62

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Emery, George, The Grange, Ban well, Somerset.

Franklyn, George Woodroffe, Mayor of Bristol.

Fry, John Gurney, Warley Lodge, Brentwood, Essex.

Gardiner, Captain, (10th Dragoons), the Pavilion, Bat-
tersea Fields, Surrey, and New Farmers' Journal
Office, Wellington Street North, Strand.

Garrett, John, Ickleton, Saffron- Walden, Essex.

Granger, Henry, Canford, Westbury-upon-Trym,
Bristol.

Godwin, William, Bossington, Stockbridge, Hamp-
shire.

Godwin, Thomas Sims, Broughton, Stockbridge, Hamp-
shire.

Ilalket, George, Wainskeel, Bridgend, Glamorganshire.

Harding, John, Kingston Villa, Clifton, Bristol.

Harman, Charles, High Wycombe, Bucks.

Heacock, Philip, Buxton, Derbyshire.

Herbert, Robert, Elizabeth Place, Kensington, Surrey,
and New Farmers' Journal Office, Wellington
Street North, Strand.

Hewitt, William, Coalpit Heath, Bristol.

Hewitt, Henry, Coalpit Heath, Bristol.

Hickson, Charles, Apsley Place, Anlwick, Manchester.

Hipkins, John, Singleton, Chichester, Sussex.

Hussey, Thomas, Hambleden (Bucks.), near Henley-
on-Thames.

Knight, F. W., M.P., Simon's- Bath, South Molton,
Devonshire.

Ladds, James, Stanford Bury, Biggleswade, Beds.

Lloyd, Edmund, Thornbury, Gloucestershire.

Marriott, Hayes, Saddington, Market Harborough.

Maugham, Mark, Wadsley Park, Sheffield, Yorkshire.

Morgan. Thomas, Maesgivida, St. Clare, Carmarthen,
S. W.

Moore, Robert C, Harmston, near Lincoln.

Moyers, Francis, Galhampton House, Castle Cary,
Somerset.

Noble, William, 152, Fleet-street, London.

Penrose, Richard. Clyn-y-bout, Glamorganshire.

Pensam, Thomas Joseph, The Leigh, Gloucestershire.

Philipps, John Walter, Aberglesney, Carmarthen.

Phillips, George, Northstead House. Bromley, Kent.

Pratt, Henry, Paston, Peterborough.jNorthamptonshire.

Prest, George, Sutton-Medge, Wisbeach, Lincolnshire.

Price, William, Ross, Herefordshire.

Price, William, Glan-Turch, Brecknockshire.

Pugh, David, Llanerchydol, Welshpool, N. W.

Purkis, John, Sturmer, Haverhill, Suffolk.

Purton, Thomas, Pardoe, Faintree, Bridgenorth, Sa-
lop.

Purvis, Peter, Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire.

Ray, Henry, Iron-Acton, Gloucestershire.

Reade, Rev. Joseph Bancroft, M.A., F.R.S., Vicar of
Stone, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Revis, T. C, Honorary Secretary to the Leominster

Reynolds, Peter, Kemberton, Shitfnal, Shropshire.
Farmers' Club.

Robson, Richard, Howick, near Alnwick, Northum-
berland.

Scarlett, Richard, Thornbury, Gloucestershire.

Smith, William, Roughton, Wolverhampton.

Stanley, Richard Hayne, New Brunswick. Captain
Half-pay, Royal Staff Corps, and Commissioner of
New Brunswick Land Company,

Stevens, John, Canton Bank, Bridgenorth, Salop.

Stokes, Michael Smith, Roughton, Wolverhampton.

Symonds, Rev. Thomas Powell, Pengethley, Ross,
Herefordshire.

Synge, Franeis Hutchinson, Weston-super-Mare, So-
mersetshire.

Turnor, Michael, Longdon, Rugeley, Staffordshire.

Tnrton, Rev. Henry, Betley, Newcastle, Staffordshire.

Vaughan, Hugh, High-Sheriff of Bristol.

Watson, James, Anlaby, near Hull, Yorkshire.

Williams, Rev. Thomas, Guislis, MerthyrTydvil, S.W.

Williams, Rees, Maesgayn, Glamorganshire.

Wilkinson, Charles, M.D., Lowther Cottages, Hollo-
way, Middlesex.

Worthington, William, Newton Park, Burton-oil-Trent.

SMITHFIELD CATTLE CLUB.

In offering a few remarks upon the late Smith-
field Show, we cannot refrain from stating that,
notwithstanding the opinions expressed by some
experienced judges, we have not been able to re-
move the impression made upon a first view, that
we have seen a better exhibition of stock, taken
altogether. Mr. Senior'.* Hereford ox in Class 1
was a fine beast, thickly covered over the loins and
back, but not so good on the shoulders. Mr.
Harnett's Durham ox was a fine evenly fed
animal. Mr. Lovell's ox was good for a first
attempt, Mr. L. never having exhibited before ;
but, judging from this specimen, he has much to
mend before he can expect to stand first. The
Marquis of Exeter's ox shewn in this class was
an extraordinary animal — a great weight in a small
compass,, and in the opinion of many persons de-
serving of a prize. This ox obtained a first prize
at the Oakham Show, but it was there thought,
as well as at Smithfield, that he was not of the
pure breed, exhibiting perhaps a slight resem-
blance to the Scot. Assuming, however, that such
were the case, we are not aware that it comes
within the province of the judges to regard the
breed of an animal. If there were separate classes
for the different breeds, an examination into the
purity of blood would necessarily form a part of
their duty. In this case, therefore, we conclude
the opinion of the judges to have been, that the
Marquis's ox was inferior to the others. The
Duke of Bedford's Hereford ox, which obtained
the first prize in Class 2, was certainly a very fine
evenly fed beast. Mr. Chamberlain's Hereford ox
was also a fine animal. Mr. Lovell's Durham ox
was good. The Duke of Bedford's Hereford ox in
Class 3 was a beautiful well-fed beast on a
small scale. Earl Spencer's Durham ox in this
class was very good in the fore-quarters, but not
so good in the hind. Classes 4, 5, 6 and 7,
as classes, were by no means conspicuous. In class
8, Mr. Carrington's Durham heifer, and Mr.
York's Durham heifer, were good animals. Class
9 was the wonder and admiration of all. If it
were possible that one class could redeem the
defects apparent in the others, it may be truly said
that there never was an assortment of animals so
well calculated to do it as the cows exhibited in
this class. Mr. Wright's Durham cow, which
obtained the gold medal as "the best beast in the
yard," was universally admired, and could scarcely
be equalled for the quantity of beef she was likely
to produce. It will be long before such a num-
ber of superior animals will be seen in any one
class as were ten out of the eleven shown in this
class. In Southdown sheep Mr. Jonas Webb
was eminently successful, and added to the cele-
brity which he had previously attained. His
brother, Mr. Samuel Webb, seems to be follow-
ing his example. Mr. Jonas Webb stated at the
dinner of the Smithfield Club that he had yet one
prize to gain, and he was determined to persevere
until he should succeed. This is a truly com-
mendable spirit, and when he shall have succeeded,
we trust he will still continue to exhibit his sheep

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

63

for the benefit of others, even though lie should not
be always victorious. No man can expect to be al-
ways successful, however high his talents, or supe-
rior his stock. Past experience confirms the cor-
rectness of this observation. We embrace this
opportunity of correcting a misiake of our re-
porter in reference to the remarks made by Mr.
Grantham in returning thanks, when his health
was drank at the dinner. Mr. Grantham said —
" He would be brief, being unaccustomed to do
so for a second prize at the Smithfield Show, but
having had the epidemic very severely amongst his
fat sheep, he had shown the best he had to support
the shosv." We believe that he was obliged to
kill one of his sheep brought for exhibition shortly
after its arrival in the yard. Mr. Grantham need
feel no annoyance at being second in the race.
A sheep of his exhibited as extra slock, was
as fine an animal as could well be seen.
He has attained too high a reputation as a breeder
of Southdovvns to be affected by the fortune of
war. He displays a right spirit ; he exhibits to
support the show, and he can afford to be some-
times unsuccessful. We wish all breeders would
do the same.

Amongst the short-woolled sheep, were a pen
of wethers from a Down ram and white-faced ewe,
exhibited by Mr. Stephens of Atherstone, near
Ilminster, Somerset. The Judges stated " that
they considered them to be most extraordinary
sheep ;" as indeed was the opinion of all who
saw them. Mr. Stephens is well known as a
tup-breeder in the Wrest of England, and has a
great demand for his sheep. These sheep must
have weighed upwards of 60 lbs. per quarter.

In the long-woolled sheep, Mr. Chamberlain of
Desford, and Mr. Twitchell of Wellington, Beds.,
were the most successful exhibitors. Mr. Cham-
berlain's sheep werebred from Mr. Buckley's stock :
he is well known at Smithfield as a successful
exhibitor. Mr. Twitchell's sheep were bred from
the flock of Mr. S. Bennett, of Bickerings Park,
Woburn. Mr. Twitchell — quite a young man, an
exhibitor for the first time, succeeded in obtaining
the gold medal, as the exhibitor of the best long-
woolled sheep in the yard ; he has set a noble
example to the rising farmers of the day, and which
will, we trust, stimulate others to a like course.

A little skirmishing has recently taken place in
our columns on the comparative merits of the dif-
ferent breeds of cattle, and our readers will find
elsewhere a communication on the subject from Mr.
Ilillyard. It seems to us that if an experienced
practical hand would takethe matter up,and analyze
the respective success of the different breeds at the
shows of the Smithfield Club for some years past —
and which has been principally confined to compe-
tition between the Short-horns and Herefords — and
would also make due inquiry into the results of the
sales of both breeds in Smithfield Market, that
some information of a most valuable character to
the breeder and grazier might be obtained. So far
as regards profit the exhibition of the fat animals at
the Smithfield Show cannot be considered satisfac-
tory. The real value of the exhibition consists in
shewing the best frame of animal for general apti-
tude to fatten. On this point there seems to be a

sort of see-saw between the Short-horns and Here-
fords ; and without minute examination we believe
it would be impossible to say which has had the
advantage. If the gross quantity of beef produced
were to decide the matter, we should think Smith-
field Market would give it in favour of the Here-
fords. To possess that breed which will realize
the largest profit must be an object of the greatest
importance to the farmer. At present there does
not appear any recorded information on this point.
Some assert that the Short-horns are the most pro-
fitable, others are equally positive that the Here-
fords are superiorto the Short-horns ; some contend
that the Devons will realize a larger return than either
of the former, whilst some very sanguine persons do
not hesitate to affirm that the Sussex will beat all
upon a fair trial. Now the great question is, how
and by whom can a comparative trial be made?
We hope these few remarks will rouse attention to
the subject, and that we shall be favoured with the
views of some really practical farmers upon it ; but
should such not be the case, we shall take an
opportunity of again reverting to the subject. —
Mark Lane Express.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BREEDS OF THE
DOMESTIC ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH
ISLANDS.

BY DAVID LOW, ESQ., PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN
EDINBURGH COLLEGE.

Part XL

London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans,
1841.

This number contains portraits of the Ayrshire
breed of cattle, the Alderney breed, the Fifeshire
breed, and the sheeted breed of Somersetshire. The
first mentioned is much celebrated for the dairy, but
like most animals, they do best in their own country.
No pre-eminent quality is found to attach to them
when brought in competition with other breeds.
The Alderney is esteemed for the quality of the milk
only. Tbe pure Fifeshire breed is nearly extinct,
and though some fine specimens are found in the
possession of a few individuals, they are not
recognized as deserving a place at cattle shows.
The sheeted breed is mostly found in parks from the
picturesque appearance.

" The peculiar marking which distinguishes these
cattle," the author observes, "is not confined to any
one breed. It appears amongst the cattle of Wales,
when they are crossed by the White Forest breed ; and
is frequent amongst those of Ireland, and used to be
so amongst the older Galloways of Scotland. It is very
common in Holland, where the colours are black and
white. It may be ascribed to the intermixture of two
races, having each a tendency to produce the pristine
colour of the stock from which it is derived. Thus a
mixture of the White Forest breed and a Suffolk Dun
might produce an animal resembling the sheeted
Somerset, with the black Falkland one resembling the
sheeted varieties of the Dutch, and soon. The pecu-
liarity, when communicated, is very constant; and
when two animals possessing it are mixed together in
blood, the progeny never fails to preserve the marking
of the parent."

We find appended to this number, a valuable
article on the Dairy, with a description of milk, and
the making and qualities of butter and cheese. The
number fully supports the general character of the
work.

04

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE COMPARATIVE VALUE
OF THE DURHAM AND HERE-
FORD BREEDS OF CATTLE.

THE FOLLOWING COMMUNICATION IS FROM C. HILL-
YARD, ESQ., THE AUTHOR OF " PRACTICAL FARM-
ING AND GRAZING."

In consequence of there baring lately been seve-
ral auction sales of high-bred Durham and Hereford
cattle, it has led to much discussion as to which is
the best breed.

Having for many years fed well-bred oxen of
both breeds, and confidently feeling that I have no
bias in favour of one breed over the other, I am in-
duced to state some opinions and facts relative to
the subject, repeating here what I have said on for-
mer occasions, that for grazing I prefer Herefords,
but for stall-feeding Durhams. The real value of
different breeds of cattle is not to be estimated by
the prices which the bulls may have made.

As breeding of cattle is a purveyance of food, it
may fairly be said to be somewhat analogous to ma-
nutacturing goods, and that the bulls are a part of
the cattle-breeding machinery ; therefore the prices
which celebrated breeders of Durhams or Herefords
may have made, or are now making, of their bulls,
is no proof of the comparative value of the breed.

In everything the demand governs the price.
Young store cattle having of late years been higher
in price than formerly, many arable farmers have
become breeders on a small scale ; thus obtaining
the breeder's profit, and saving that of a jobber, and
baving an increased means of turning their straw
into manure. But as they look for a supply of
milk and butter, or cheese, as well as beef, veal, and
pork, to send to market, nearly all have, in our mid-
land counties, began breeding with Durhams ; the
demand, therefore, for Durham bulls being greater
than for Hereford : consequently the prices have, as
I conceive, been higher, not perhaps in particular
instances, but on the whole. But this only proves
that the Durham breeding machinery is more costly
than the Hereford : the consideration should be the
comparative value of the produce.

Durham heifers, in any market or fair in England
(Hereford and the adjoining counties excepted;, are
more readily sold, are worth more, than Herefords ;
but this is not the case with store steers, for, ex-
cepting in Lincolnshire and in the north, Herefords
are most in demand, and consequently fetch the
best prices ; and in that great emporium for meat,
Smithrield market, it is certain that fat Hereford
oxen will make more per stone than fat Durhams.
It may truly be said that Durhams will produce the
greatest weight of meat for the age, but as truly that
they consume a larger quantity of food ; still I con-
ceive that on the fine strong pastures of Lincolnshire
and other counties in the north of England, that,
according to the well-known system of grazing, not
to have too great a numher of feet in the same pas-
ture, Durhams will produce, in those strong pas-
tures, a greater weight of beef per acre than Here-
fords. Under all these considerations it is difficult
to come to a just conclusion which of these (the
two best breeds of cattle in the world), turns to the
best account for the breeders and for the community
of England.

Thorptlands,

ON PREPARING THE LAND FOR
TURNIPS.

[Mr. Moire, to whom the prize for the best
crop of turnips was awarded at the meeting of
the Shropshire Agricultural Society, has obligingly
favoured us with the following account of his ex-
periment in preparing the land. — Ed. F. M.]

" As soon as harvest was over, the land was
ploughed and cleaned from scutch and weeds; it
then remained until the middle of November, when
it was ridged up twenty-six inches wide, the ma-
nure put in, and the ridges slit to cover it in the
usual manner; in which state it remained until
spring, when some small weeds came up, which
were eradicated by the horse and hand hoes. On
the 27th May I had sufficient soil thrown up by the .
double mould-board plough to cover the seed,
which was sown on the same day ; and although
the weather was at that time very dry and hot,
the plants came up and grew very well, not being
at all affected by the fly.

" I am glad to say that the experiment has suc-
ceeded very well ; for my land is clean, and I have
an excellent crop of turnips (the weight per acre
of which I have not yet ascertained), without
going to a great expence either in labour or ma-
nure ; the latter was made from cattle fed on tur-
nips and straw the previous winter.

"The turnips are of a green-topped sort, which
have been grown in this neighbourhood for some
years."

Norton, near Condover, Nov. 22.

ON STORING SWEDE TURNIPS.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — In answer to the enquiry of "A Dorset-
shire Farmer," respecting the storing of Swedes, I
beg to tell him that in this neighbourhood we are.
in the habit of paying from 8s. to 10s. per acre
for cleaning, trimming, storing, and bedding up
with mould into small heaps ; and the sooner they
are so stored after the middle of November the
better. Great care must be taken not to trim the
Swedes too much, and the heaps ought to be co-
vered over with mould immediately for fear of a
frost. Swedes stored in this way will keep till
the middle of May, and come out of the heaps
with as much nourishment in them as if they arc
used in December. There are some people who
fancy you lose the greens in the spring, which they
consider so beneficial to lambs at that time of the
year ; but I am certain that the goodness derived
from the Swedes stored to the ewes is much
greater, as it forces and enriches the milk. Every-
body must be aware that the moment the greens
begin to shoot after Christmas the goodness of the
Swede is going, and towards April there is very
little nourishment left in the Swede ; and during
this time the Swedes impoverish the land beyond
calculation. For many years I have adopted this
plan, and the longer I practice the more sensible I
am of the great advantage ; and I can show by
my books that I now grow a considerably greater
weight of spring corn to the acre after the Swedes
than I formerly did, which goes to show how much
the land is impoverished by Swedes after a certain

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

65

time. There are some people in this neighbour-
hood who do not grind the Swedes for feed in
troughs, and they only bed up the Swedes in very
small heaps, without trimming them, and T believe
the Swedes keep well, and, from what I can learn,
pay 5s. per acre. This plan answers the purpose,
and prevents the Swedes from drawing the land,
and preserves them from game. The weekly
wages in this neighbourhood are from 10s. to 12s.
per week. I should recommend the heaps to be
put straight, so that you may give the land a stir
with Biddle's harrow before the Swedes are con-
sumed upon the land, which I think is very
beneficial to the land, and is a greater assistance
in keeping the land clean.

I am, yours obedient!}',
H h, Wilts, Dec. 2. A. B.

TO THE EDITOR.

In your last number "A Dorsetshire Farmer"
has requested information as to the best way of
" pitting" his Swedes, to preserve them from frost
and destruction of game. Having been a cultiva-
tor of Swede turnips near ,'50 years, and having
tried various methods for their preservation, I re-
commend the following in preference to " pitting"
or " housing," and advise him to draw and cart
his crop to a sheltered piece of grass-land (an or-
chard is preferable), near the " homestead," or
where they may be wanted for consumption, and
place them " untopped" and " untailed" in the
same position as growing, and as close together as
possible; one acre will contain from six to ten
acres, according to crop, thus placed ; and can be
secured from the depredation of game, 8cc, by an
enclosure of wattled hurdles, furze, faggots, &c. —
no covering is wanted to protect them against
frost. Swede turnips are fermentable, and conse-
quently liable to rot when " pitted" or put into a
close house. When placed as above recommended,
the quality will improve, and an available store
ready, in all weather, for use; and may be kept,
by merely moving or shifting, when throwing out
additional shoots in the spring, as long as is re-
quired for feeding purposes, and particularly so if
stored under apple or other trees — shade is essen-
tial for keeping when the sun is powerful. As to
the expense, much will depend upon the thickness
of the crop, and the overlooker's eye. Carts should
be used for conveyance, and shot out ; three or
four active children will set up and place a large
quantity in a day. Should this brief detail of my
practical experience be of service to your corres-
pondent "A Dorsetshire Farmer," and Swede tur-
nip cultivators generally, it will be gratification to
one desirous of promoting agricultural improve-
ments. I am, Sir, your humble servant,

C. A.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

ON COWS COMING REPEATEDLY INTO SEA-
SON.

Sir, — I have suffered a great deal of inconveni-
ence and also disappointment this year from the
above annoyance, and so have many of my country-
men. I have changed the bull, tied up the cows on
shorter allowance, and bled, and all without effect.

It' you, or any of vour readers can suggest a
remedy, i\ will be conferring a great favour on a

Galway Man.

" A constant reader" says — " I have a portion of old
sheep common awarded to me under an inclosure :
soil, red adhesive loam, on a shallow limestone rock
— in some parts very rocky, in others wet, rushy,
and peaty. Having been much interested in many
articles in your valuable Journal, I take the liberty
of asking which you consider the best way to bring
this land into cultivation — to breast-plough and
burn for oats, turnips, &c, or plough the turf in
without burning-? As this is a point on which there
is a diversity of opinion, and an ample scope for ex-
periment, perhaps some of your readers will favour
me with their views of the subject."

"An Essex farmer" writes — Can you inform mo
where may be purchased the best land-draining
plough for tiles ; the plough to perform at the rate
of a yard in depth, and sufficient in width to get the
tiles laid down at bottom not less than four inches
in width, so that a person may get his shoe along
with it ? If such an implement could be procured, it
would confer one of the greatest facilities to im-
provement in this county. It would be desirable to
know the price of the plough."

A correspondent requests such information re-
specting the construction of a steamer for steam-
ing grain and potatoes for stock, as would enable
him to benefit by the erection of such an apparatus.

ANSWER TO AGRICULTURAL
QUERY.

SHELLY MARL.

Sir, — Seeing a few queries in your last from
"A Constant Scotch Reader," respecting the use
and means whereby he could render the shelly
marl found on his estate useful, I beg to offer a
few remarks, if worthy of his consideration. In
the first place, it would be necessary that he should
have a slight chemical knowledge of the nature of
his land, to ascertain, previous to his applying any,
what proportion marl or otherwise, chalk, or cal-
careous matter bear in it; without which it would
be impossible to speak with any certainty as to
the quantity required : for on the Norfolk sands
they apply 10 or 12 tons every four years ; on
other ground, such a dressing would be serviceable
for a much longer period; and on other grounds,
where perhaps calcareous matter is |a component
part, though not visible to the eye, such a quantity
would do no good at all, and perhaps prove an in-
jury : so that without having a knowledge of the
nature of his land, he would be some years before
he could be sure that his ground was benefited;
but he would be very soon apprised of its injurious
qualities if carelessly or indifferently applied. I
merely make these remarks to endeavour to act
cautiously ; for perhaps some of your more able
correspondents than myself — farming on light, gra-
velly soils, where marl is most useful — may speak
positively as to the crop it is good for, and the
quantity necessary ; which recommendation, if fol-
lowed by our friend, if his land has a sufficient
quantity of calcareous matter already in its com-
position, may possibly lead him into error, and
put him to great expense for no purpose.

Now, to gain the knowledge of ascertaining what
proportion calcareous matter bears in the soil, if
our " Constant Scotch Reader" is not a chemist,

F

66

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

or is not capable of analyzing his soil, I shall not
recommend him to make a complete analysis,
though that would be his surest plan ; but merely
in the first place to ascertain what quantity of cal-
careous matter the marl contains, which is easily
done by taking two ounces by weight of the marl
to be analysed or proved, having been previously
dried at a high temperature to drive off the water
of absorption (which perhaps it would be as well
to note, in order to ascertain what are its qualities
of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, as on
light lands that is a matter of the highest impor-
tance; the quality also may be known by the
quantity of water it absorbs) ; to ascertain which
it would only be necessary to get the marl in such
a state that it might feel dry with the hand ; then
heat it atahigh temperature, and when cooled, (not
at a loss), if it exceeds 100 grs. it maybe reckoned
highly absorbent ; then take as much muriatic acid
diluted with water as will drive off all the carbonic
acid (at least, till all effervescence ceases) ; then
filter it through blotting paper, previously dried
and weighed ; dry it, note the loss ; if it does not
exceed 20 grs. you may suppose it is of no use;
but if more, you may still be convinced that it is a
useful article. Having now ascertained that you
have got an excellent marl in your possession, we
must ascertain next what quantity is contained in
the soil to which you wish to apply it, which may
be done in the same manner ; but if, after the am-
plication of muriatic acid, very little loss is de-
noted, you may then rest assured that the marl
will be a great benefit, but otherwise not.

Having pointed out, in as plain a manner as i
am master of, the manner in which the nature of
the marl and soil can be known, if "A Constant
Scotch Reader" would take a little trouble on the
subject, and state the results of his examinations,
I think very possibly he may gain a little informa-
tion on the subject, which may prove to him of
great importance ; and if his efforts are crowned
with success, he will never regret having spent a
little time about it. Wishing him success, t beg
respectfully to subscribe myself,

A Hami'siiire Farmer.

POTATOES FROM SEED.

Squeeze the mucilaginous pulp with the seed out
of the " apples" into a basin containing a weak solu-
tion of soda or common potash (lukewarm,) when
on stirring the mixture, the mucilage will disolves
and idlow the seeds to fall to the bottom ; they may
then be drained or strained out, and washed inclean
tepid water — strained again, left to dry on a cloth,
and hung up in paper bags to the kitchen ceiling
till March, when they may be sowed in beds of light
rich earth, prepared in the usual way for small seeds.
The writer found it the best way to sow ihem in
drills at one foot asunder, for the convenience of
weeding, &c. They should not be sown thick; they
will grow very freely. When the leaves and stalks
are all withered, (the early kinds will be months be-
fore others) they must be taken up and preserved in
boxes of sand, or very light, dry earth till the fol-
lowing spring, when they may be planted (whole)
in tmall drills in the usual way, about lj or 2 in-
ches apart in the drills. With proper attention they
will attain a good size ; and when gathering, can be
sorted and named according to fancy, as there will
be a numerous variety. The earliest kinds will be
first withered, the later ones generally attain a larger
size. W. C\

Sir, — Your correspondent A. B. appears very
desirous to be informed how to manage the seed of
the potato apple, no doubt for the purpose of rais-
ing a new stock. With a view to give encourage-
ment to such a pursuit, having had a few years' ex-
perience as a potato grower, I therefore offer the
following instructions: — Let the apples be hung up
singly, not in too dry a situation, until April. A
few days before planting cut them open, take out
the seeds on the point of a knife and lay them on
paper to dry. Prepare abed of fine mould, sow them
as you would flower seeds. Place the seeds
a little distance from each other, in order to
put a little mould to them ; they will be
small the first year, and no doubt will pro-
duce several sorts, which he will have an opportu-
nity of selecting the second year ; and should they
blossom, that will be the best criterion to distinguish
the various sorts.

I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

Dec. 3. M. R. S.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In answer to your query in last Monday's
paper, (Potatoes from Seeds) in this neighbourhood
we collect the potato apples when full grown and. ripe,
keep them dry till the next spring, then sow the seeds
in rows, and about June transplant the young plants a
foot apart, in rows — to be earthed up and kept clean,
and taken up when ripe. They will grow the first year to
about the size of a hen egg, the next year we put them
in the ground at the proper time in rows about a foot
apart— rows two foot: if kept clean and earthed up,
they will grow the second year a large crop, but not
large.

Sittingbourne, Nov. 26, 1841.

CHELMSFORD FARMERS' CLUB.

On Friday, Dec. 17, a meeting of agriculturists
in this district was held at the Saracen's Head Inn,
convened by circular issued by Mr. Robert Baker,
of Writtle, for the purpose of taking measures to
establish a Farmers' Club. It was respectably at-
tended by many of the principal farmers of the dis-
trict.

Mr. Baker, having been called to the chair, said
— I come rather unprepared to m)' post, for I have
been rather pressed in this matter, and there has
been little time to reflect on it or concoct those mea-
sures that may be necessarv for carrying the object
into effect. But it is highly gratifying to me to
meet brother farmers on this occasion, because I
feel the results of this meeting will be such, that at
some future day we shall be satisfied we have done
something to advance the interests of the rising
generation and to benefit ourselves. It is most
gratifying to me to find, that at the short notice
which has been given this call has been responded
to with the warmth it has, for there are others who
would have been present if their convenience had
suited ; and when presently I shall have the honour
of proposing their names as members, you will feel
satisfied that the thing is taken up as warmly as in
its present stage we could expect (hear). It is,
perhaps, unnecessary to point out the importance of
these institutions to those who know that a combina-
tion of science with practical experience effects ob-
jects that could not otherwise be effected. They
will see that one is to the other what the helm is to
the ship : the ship would be lost if it were not for

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

67

the helm to direct it ; and you may imagine one is
science and tbe other practice ; and by combining
tbe two, objects of great use and importance to us
are effected when tbey could not otherwise be at-
tained. There are persons of great talent and infor-
mation, who take pleasure in following science,
while others, who have not that taste, attend more
to the practical details, which makes them equally
eminent in their situations ; and if we can combine
botli in this society — if we can induce the scientific
man to give to it that knowledge which he has ob-
tained from reading and speculation ; and if we in-
duce the practical man to apply that science in bis
agricultural operations, great results will follow. In
fact, the whole system of knowledge is founded
upon that principle. That knowledge which is re-
ceived by testing, by^ reading, and by comparison, is
derived from others. From time to time experi-
enced men have given to the public their ideas in
writing; those ideas have been imbibed by others by
degrees, and thus men gather their knowledge.
Now, it is very evident that if there are one hun-
dred men only in a society, and each has some pe-
culiar branch that he follows better than his neigh-
bours, and applies science in greater perfection than
his neighbours, and everv one has some peculiar
talent, which if kept separate, each one is benefitted
only in proportion to his individual talent; but if
the}' all come together, and each brings one fact to
bear on some particular branch of agriculture, and
that is communicated to the whole, you increase your
knowledge and talent in a hundredfold degree
(hear). I know there are many who object; to these
meetings ; but I pity them, for they are narrow
minds, that cannot exist in the intellectual tempera-
ture which now exists here. They think that,
Laving a little knowledge, if they can retain it, they
can benefit themselves instead of benefitting others.
I take a different view of it. Depend on it, the man
who has genius will always staud pre-eminent above
those who have none, because with him one fact
will prove a stepping-stone to another, and he will
go on improving greater than them. Therefore, I
think that objection is met, and that the more infor-
mation we can give to each other — the more we can
communicate of scientific knowledge and practical
experience, the more benefit, as far as we are related
to each other, will take place. If we had acquired
this information by our own endeavours — if it was
part of our stock in trade — and if by parting with it
we were parting with that which was valuable to us
in every point of view, then this objection would
apply. But when we know that what we have has
been derived from others, it is quite certain that we
should give to others in return, and thus benefit so-
ciety and the country at large (hear). If that spirit
had existed for tbe last three hundred years, we
should have been deprived of most of the knowledge
which is useful to us, and many improvements
would have been lost. I hold in my hand a book
published in 1580, written by Tusser, who was born
at Rivenball, in this county, in 1515, and this work
was first published in 1557. In this book all the
principles of farming are laid down — the four-course
shift, the fallow system, and the regular modes of
cultivation ; and this shows how very little advance
has been made in the practice until lately. At the
time Tusser wrote Latimer existed ; and here is an
extract from a sermon — for it appears sermens were
not exactly then what they are now — preached by
Latimer before Edward the Sixth, which gives
us a description of what the yeoman was at that
time ; —

*' My father was a yeoman, and had landes of his
owDe, onlye he had a farme of 3 or 4 pound a yere at
the uttermost, and hereupon he tilled so much as kepte
half a dozen men. He had walk for 100 sheps, and my
mother mylked 30 kyne ; he was able and did find the
King a harnesse with himself aod hys horse, whyle he
came to the place that he should receyve the Kynge's
wages. I cau remember that I buckled hys harness
when he went into Black Heath felde. He kepte me to
school, or elles I had not been able to have preached be-
fore the Kyng-t's Mnjeslie uow.

" He married my sisters with 5/. or 20 nobles apiece,
so that he brought them up in godlinesse and fear of
God. J Ie kept hospitalitie for his pore neighbours, and
sum almes he gave to the pore, and all this he did of
the sains farme."

Now this throws a little light on what they did at
that period ; for here is a farm of not less than 400
or 500 acres, and we find he gave his daughters 51.
as a marriage portion — he gave thus a year's rent.
This is a curious book, and when this club is esta-
blished, I will produce it here for your inspection.
These ate the points I wished to draw your attention
to, and I hope you will not think I am trespassing too
long. There are in the present day many objects to
which the farmer's attention can be directed, for
science has come to his aid, and it may be applied
by him in a thousand ways {hear). Everybody
knows what chemistry has done for agriculture. The
application of one soil to another to obtain some-
thing that was not attainable without, has long been
the practice ; for instance, the application of marl,
chalk, or lime, to the soil was a matter of which the
practice was long known, but not the principle; but
it is so well known now that the farmers need not
make any mistakes, though I think there are more
mistakes made in Essex in this respect than any-
where else, for lime is applied to the soil generally
and universally when one half of it is no benefit
whatever, and cannot be a benefit, because the
properties which it contains were existing in the
land before it was applied (hear, hear). It is the
same by bone-dust. Mr. Sbillito stated at the Col-
chester meeting-, on Wednesday, that he found bone-
dust would benefit some soils and not others — that
to a chalky subsoil it was no benefit, but when ap-
plied to a peaty or cold clay soil, then it was of very
great benefit : "now if Mr. Sbillito had had that prac-
tical scientific knowledge of the matter which was
now attainable, he would not have gone to tbe ex-
pense of applying them to soils, on which they were
of no use (hear). So far that is an outline of what
chemistry will do for us. As to geology, a know-
ledge of the surface of the globe, and of the different
matter and soils of which it is composed, and of
the different localities in which they are found, is
another point. The soils of some parts of the eas-
tern division of Essex are different from the west-
ern ; but when onco a proper attention is directed
to them, we shall then be better able to apply one
soil to the other, and know to a certainty what the
results will be (hear). Therefore, it is important
to every one who makes agriculture a pursuit to un-
derstand something of" geology. That we may easily
do ; for books on this subject are now so numerous,
and written in such plain language, that a vast deal
of information may be obtaiued from them. From
going through many parishes in this county, I find
that in some cases a particular stratum runs from
north to south, and in others from east to west ; and
a correct knowledge of these things will be of ad-
vantage to us. Mechanics is another important
branch of science connected with agriculture. When
we look to the rude implements which were in use

F 2

63

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

fifty years ago, and then look at the science and the
combination of talent exhibited in our agricultural
machinery and implements, we should be surprised
if we could by a sudden transition be carried back
to that period ; but as the improvement takes place
gradually, it is not so much noticed. The ploughs
and other implements are far different to what they
were when I was a boy, and it is said that steam is
becoming so general that it will be introduced (and
I think it will) to supersede the labour of horses.
Some think that would be an injury; 1 think
not. Horses consume a vast proportion of the pro-
duce of the kingdom, and if we could manage
without them, so many more persons could be
supported by that which is now obliged to be
grown for their maintenance. There are other sci-
ences connected with agriculture— hydrostatics, for
instance, teaching the nature and the power of
water, which applies much to agriculture in draining
quaggy land ; and if this is not well understood he
cannot succeed. Then as to pneumatics, or the
property of air, little is known on that head : a few
years ago it was not supposed that air was composed
of three different parts — oxygen, hydrogen, and ni-
trogen ; and if these be not equally "balanced the
plant will not exist. It is now found that the plant
imbibes so much oxygen in the day, and gives out
hydrogen in the night, so that it exists in great pro-
portions in them, and thus the life of the plant de-
rives a vast part of its support from the air. There-
fore, if a person growing mangel wurzel were to
strip off the leaves, it would be like ripping up the
belly of the goose to get the golden eggs ; if you
deprive the plant of leaf you partially deprive it of
life. If a plant be put into a room, it will become
sickly if deprived of air and light; and if it long
continue so, you will find it look pale, but if brought
to the air again it will revive. These are some" of
the objects to which your attention will be directed
in a farmer's club ; and seeing how science bears on
agriculture— seeing the great mass of information
that may be obtained by thus meeting together, and
how much useful information may be derived from
practical experience, I think we ought to endeavour
to place the institution first and foremost amongst
those clubs by which a vast deal of good has been
done, and a great deal more might be done (hear).
These meetings will be different from the agricul-
tural meetings, for there we endeavour to show the
effect — here we want to ascertain the cause (hear).
If we have very fiue roots, or fine animals as re-
gards their breed and fatting, it is necessary we
should study how to produce these roots and these
animals, and it is by such clubs as these that know-
ledge can be attained. The great draw-hack of
fanning has been, that after a man has examined a
particular method and tested its effects, they are
lost : it was known only to two or three, they died,
and it was lost. We propose to retain what is good.
What is thought important might be preserved by
our secretary ; the committee could then examine and
see what should be done with it, and if there is
matter sufficient to fill a journal, and we can find
funds, it may be published, not only for the beuelit
of those belonging to the club, but for those who
like to purchase it. I should be sorry to undertake
anything, if I could not in earnest put my shoulder
to the wheel ; I am determined to* do so here, and if
every one comes with the same determination, I
have no doubt that we shall hereafter have to con-
gratulate ourselves that this club was established,
and we shall go on improving from year to year
(hear), I shall now proceed to the business ; and

as the Booking Farmers' Club has bestowed so
much trouble on the rules, which I have to thank
Mr. Smootby for sending to me, I think the best
plan would be to take them as the basis, and refer
them to the committee to be appointed, who will
ascertain what alterations are required. Mr. B. then
moved that a Farmers' Club be established, to com-
prise gentlemen within ten miles of Chelmsford.

About forty members were then elected, including
Sir John Tyrrell, Mr. T. W. liramston, Mr. Disney,
Mr. A Johnson, and Mr. Ward ; a provisional com-
mittee of nine was elected ; Mr. Biddell was ap-
pointed secretary; and it was resolved that T.
Greenwood, Esq., should be requested to act as
treasurer.

Mr. Baker announced that he should propose
the subject of drainage as the first matter for dis-
cussion.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman was then pro-
posed and carried, which Mr. Baker briefly acknow-
ledged, and the meeting broke up. — Essex Herald.

ON NITRATE OF SODA AS
MANURE.

Sir, — As I think every experiment made with
the view to increase the produce of corn or roots,
ought to he looked upon as so much benefit con-
ferred upon the agricultural community, as well as
upon the consumer of such produce, I herewith
send you the result of one or two trials made in
this neighbourhood with nitrate of soda; and as
I am convinced this species of manure may be ad-
vantageously used upon almost any soil, more
particularly in a season like the present, when so
much yard manure, from the extreme wet wea-
ther, have not been carted for the wheat crop.
The following is the result of an experiment made
by Mr. Watling, agent for T. Baine, Esq., of Sother-
by Hall, Suffolk, upon a piece of light land, with
some parts of a substrata of iron pan, others of
a sandy loam, and some a sand bottom. Alter-
nate ridges were dressed with half a cwt. of nitrate
in the month of April, and tested by Mr. W. ; the
produce of which was as follows : —

£ s. d.
Produce per acre with nitrate, 4 coombs

1 bush. 2 pecks, at 7s. 6d. per bush. .. 6 11 3
Do. straw, 12 cwt. 3 qrs. at 2s. per cwt. 15 9

Cost of manure and sowing.

7 17
0 12

0

9

7 4 3

£ s. d.
Produce per acre (no manure)

3 coombs, 3 bush., at 7s. 6d. 5 12 0
Do. of straw, 11 cwt. 1 qr. at

2s 12 6

6 14 6

Leaving a balance in favour of the ni-
trate of 0 9 9

This was, as I have before observed, upon a piece
of poor light land, and the result every way satis-
factory.

I have likewise used the same manure upon
both wheat and oats : for the former crop at the
harvest of 1840, I had more than five bushels per
acre more where I used it than where none was put

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

69

on ; and my oat crop of the last harvest has, no
doubt, benefited by the same manure at least
three coombs per acre. The quantity I have used
has been one cwt. per acre.

Believe me, yours truly,
Willingham Hall, Nov. 24, 1841. C. Gibson.

SCIENCE WITH PRACTICE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHELMSFORD
CHRONICLE.

Sir, — You, being" well aware that the influence
which Essex possesses in the legislature arises chiefly or
entirely from agriculture, will, I hope, have no objec-
tion to insert in your journal, from time to time, one of
a series of letters on the Chemistry of Agriculture. It
is for men of theory, whose theories are founded on
physiological knowledge, to make known their opinions
to those who are in situations affording opportunities of
testing their truth and falsity. With this intention and
your permission, I intend to address a series of letters on
agricultural subjects to J. Hutley, E^q., of Hungary
Hall, as a man well qualified by experience to judge of
the feasibility of those plans which theory propose?.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, T. G. T.

ON THE PRESERVATION OF MANURE.

Sir, — You will be aware that the objects of manure
are to restore to the soil those substances necessary to
the growth of plants, which are removed in the crops.
Though this perhaps is not the only point to be consi-
dered when treating on manures, it is evidently one of
the utmost importance. The mechanical influence of
the soils is no doubt great, but its consideration pecu-
liarly belongs to the cultivator. In the present letter,
1 shall endeavour to draw yourattention to those manures
which are calculated to increase the nutritious proper-
ties of the cereal grains and those grasses which are the
indirect means of giving food to man.

The substances removed by crops from the soil must
be restored ; some plants remove one class of salts,
some another ; but all those which are fitted to the sup-
port of animal life take from the soil the nitrog en con-
tained in it. For all plants cultivated for the use of
man contain iiitrogen, and in proportion to the quantity
of this element so are the nutritious qualities of the food.
The nutritious parts of wheat and all grain are in fact
exactly of the same composition as flesh and blood. The
following is a statement of the numbers:

In blood.
Carbon, 54,603 (Gluten, the nutritious part of

wheat) 54.56

Hydiogen, 7.302 6.90

Nitrogen, 15.59 15.72

Oxygen, Sulphur, Phosphorus, 22.286 22.82*

This shows that nitrogen is a very important consti-
tuent in the food of man.

To ill preservation in manure I shall now take the li-
berty of calling your attention.

Nitrogen is supplied to plants in a wild state from the
atmosphere f — in a cultivated state from the soil and
atmosphere. In manuring lands then we return to them
the nitrsgen which has been taken from them in the
crops, and we always return it to them in the form of
some compound of ammonia. The goodness of manure,
or its fitness to restore the nitrogen to the soil, consiits
in the quantity of ammonia, which is composed of ni-
trogen and hydrogen, including those substances con-
taining1 nitrogen which sooner or later will be con-
verted into ammonia or hartshorn by the putrefactive
process.

Let us now consider the state of a heap of manure,
consisting of animal excrements, liquid and solid, which

* Annalen der Chemie unu 1'harmacie, xxxix. 149.
t Liebig, Agr. Chem.

contain large quantities of nitrogen in the form of am-
monia; let us consider, I say, this heap of manure
lying exposed to the influence of the weather during a
hot summer. The nitrogenized parts are gradually con-
verted into ammonia, and the greater part of this am-
monia is volatilized and carried into the atmosphere.
We cannot have failed to remark the smell of this body
when passing by a heap of manure in a hot day, even
though we be at a considerable distance from the spot
where the manure is deposited ; to taint so large u quan-
tity of air with its smell, would require a large quantity
of ammonia; and what passes into the atmosphere is
comparatively lost to the agriculturist, or it does him
no more good than his neighbours, for it is carried
down by the rain and spread equally over the
country.

Ammonia or hartshorn possesses the properties in
common with all alkalies of uniting with acids, and
forming with them in most cases compounds of sparing
volatility. All aluminous minerals and those containing
per oxide of iron possess also the power of condensing
the volatile alkali in such a manner that it is not car.
lied away and lost by every gust of wind that passes
over the dunghill. Aluminia and peroxide of iron are
in fact very nearly allied, and possess the property of
combining with ammonia in common, one being
isomeric with the other. Ammonia, the active part of
manures, may be rendered fixed, it has been said, by
acids, and you will allow me to point out the practi-
cability of this plan in the first instance. In urine that
has undergone putrefaction, ammonia exists as car-
bonate, phosphate, lactate, &c. ; the first of these salts
is continually evaporating, and ammonia is set free
from all the other salts by adding lime, which is a
practice too common. Let us now suppose a manure
consisting of these salts mixed with organic matter, to
be watered with a weak solution of sulphuric acid (oil of
vitriol) ; the salts of ammonia are decomposed and a
sulphate formed— this sulphate is quite fixed. The
composition of this sulphate of ammonia is per cent.
ammonia 39.48, sulphuric acid 60.52. For every 60
pounds of sulphuric acid employed (and it costs but a
penny a pound), 39.48 pounds of ammonia are fixed in
the manure, and may be kept for any period of lime
without loss.

We shall see the advantage of this method of pro-
ceeding by following the annexed calculation : — 100
pounds of hay contain one pound of nitrogen, and every
hundred parts of ammonia contain 82.54 pa- cent, of
the same element. For every hundred pounds, then,
of ammonia, conveyed to the soil in this manner, there
will be produced, supposing all the nitrogen to be
assimilated iu the proportion to form hay, 82,000 pounds
of hay.

Calculating the advantages at a much less rate than
the above, the profit in nitrogenized parts that will be
produced will amply repay the agriculturist for the
trifling outlay in sulphuric acid. Indeed, no oppor-
tunity of preserving the ammonia produced by animals
should be neglected ; a few pounds of sulphuiic acid
being mixed in a diluted state with the manure would
be of immense advantage. By throwing down sulphuric
acid in all place* where excrementitious matter collects,
would be a never failing source of nitrogen, containing
manure laid up in a safe form ready for use. The
absurd practice of using lime for removing those smells
caused by ammonia cannot be too much deprecated, as
lime immediately sets free all the ammonia which the
manure contains, and it is lost.

The manure preserved by sulphuric acid should be
thrown in the soil with gypsum, and would be a never
failing source of nitrogen. The same good results will
arise, though in a less degree, from the use of burnt
clay and other aluminous minerals; but from their pro-
perty of forming insoluble compounds with ammonia,
and uuiting with no other bases, they are more adapted
to the immediate application to the soil, than for being
mixed with manure. Another advantage which sul-
phuric acid possesses is, that it converts all the lime

70

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that may happen to be in the soil into gypsum, which
is a sulphate of lime.

In conclusion, Sir, I must apologize for so long in-
truding, but your own good wishes for the benefit of the
agricultural interest, by whose means the evils attend
ing increased population are to be surmounted, will
find excuses for me.

I have the honour to be, your's faithfully,
T. G. T. Ph. D.
To J. Hutley, Esq.,
of Hungary Hall, Essex.

BRADFORD (SOMERSET) FAR-
MERS' CLUB.

The principal topics of discussion during the
year 1841, have turned on manures, under-drain-
age, best qualities of wheat, the cheapest and best
mode of keeping farm-horses, &c, Mr. Adairs
addressed the club on the advantage to the farmer,
as well as to the community at large, in the labour
of the farmer being performed by oxen instead of
horses. That gentleman's bailiff or farmer has
been in the habit of working oxen single in har-
ness for some years past, as well on the road as in
the field, and has experienced the advantage ; and
Mr. Adairs. who is chairman of the club, highly
recommended, at the meeting on the 7th Decem-
ber, the general adoption of oxen instead of horses
as far as may be practicable, and was warmly
cheered.

The results of under-draining have been so evi-
dent and convincing for the last half century, that
nothing is wanting but to stimulate the sluggish
land-holder and tenant to its adoption, and which
these societies are the main-spring to effect. The
test of the wheat will be on the White Lammas,
White Essex, Tory, and White Hoary, so called in
this neighbourhood, and also the IJastow. The
yield per acre, and the quality of flour, to be ad-
duced as proof.

The advantage of subsoil ploughing has been
discussed frequently, and much disinclination of
putting it in practice has been displayed, but
that also is to be proved in the year 18 32.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE
FOR JANUARY.

At the period we commence this article, we
must, injustice, advert to the extraordinary wea-
ther of the autumn, which, though now past and
retrospective to the reader, cannot but prove of
deep interest, because of its inevitable conse-
quences. We have been led into a serious train of
thought, by observing the lugubrious prognostics
of a writer in Norfolk, who refers to the chrono-
logy of 1348, which states that it then rained from
Midsummer to Christmas so constantly, that there
was scarcely one day and night dry together ; that
the rains caused great floods, a pestilence which
laged for a whole year, a barren state of the earth,
and so forth, adding — " Every one must be struck
with the extraordinary coincidence between what
is recorded of 1348 and the present year."

Without going back nearly five hundred years,
we need only remind the reader, horticultural as

well as agricultural, of 1799, which raised bread
to 2s. or more per loaf — of 181(1, when half the
wheat of Dorset, Hants, and Middlesex, was afield
in mid-November — of 1821, when floods so tre-
mendous prevailed at Christmas, (not from snow,
of which there was none, but from profuse rain,)
as to deluge all the rivers, vales, &c. ; and recently
— of 1839, when, after a worse harvest than the
last, the rain continued to the 16th of Febnrary,
1840, producing a flood of six consecutive weeks.
Yet, where was the famine or the pestilence ? As
to 1821, such was the warmth and beauty of the
following January, that nature assumed the garb
of spring, and we registered the names of seven-
teen or more beautiful flowers ; among these,
China roses, and polyanthus of several sorts. The
ground worked freely under spade, hoe, and rake;
the crops succeeded to perfection ; and spring,
summer, and harvest-home, were all such as the
most sanguine could desire. Why then anticipate
evil ? What the remaining days of 1841 will bring
forth ere our article meet the eye of our readers,
we are not qualified to ascertain, being very infidel
upon " astro-meteorological" tenets; yet we require
no prophet to assure us that, if 1 840 were free from
calamity, although the rain poured in torrents
during six of its early weeks, 1842 may prove a
season of prolificily and rejoicing.

Our desire to prevent useless misgivings, must
plead our excuse for this irregularity.

KITCHEN GARDEN.

In this department, if the weather be frosty, the
operatious must be protective — if we except the
application of fermenting materials to sea-kale
for a successional supply ; also to frames for aspa-
ragus, and around pots for blanching rhubarb.

Cauliflowers. — Examine the frames and glasses,
to remove every decaying leaf ; do the same with
broccoli and cabbage-plants in the open ground ;
and if the weather prove very fine, open, and the
soil free, manure a patch, and plant York, East
Ham, or Barrack cabbage for hearting in May.
Protect by mulch the stems of tall growing broc-
coli against severe frosts.

Celery. — Earth up such plants as require it, but
to do this the ground ought to be light ; if frost
threaten to destroy the plants, (and three days
below 15° Fab. may do it) cover the rows with
bean-haulm, or long straw : a ridge of boards
alone is ineffectual. Some plants ought always to
be digged and reserved in sand or light loam under
cover, for family use.

Kidney beans. — The runners do not perish an-
nually, if the roots be preserved from frost ; we
therefore suggest, if the weather remain open,
and any rows are still entire, that the crown be
covered by six inches of earth at the least ; this
can be removed in May, and will offer a better
chance of early plants than by takingup the roots ;
at all events, we found ours perfectly safe after the
keen frost of Nov. 17. Like the dahlia, this fleshy
root is very liable to mouldiness after a wet sea-
son.

Blanch endive plants for salads, tying them as
lettuce, and drawing light earth pretty high about
the base.

Sow beans — the Sandwich, or long-pod, twice in
the month.

Peas— the earliest bearers ; covering the peas in
the drill with littery fern, as a guard against mice.
At the end of the month, sow the Prussian-blue,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

71

Knight's dwarf imperial, and Woodford's marrow.
We hear the Victoria much praised.

Earth-up peas and beans of former sowing, three
inches high. As the autumn has been utterly un-
propitious to early sowing, the gardener who has
a vinery or other warn) erection at command,
should expedite his crops by sowing peas in strips
of inverted turf laid along the floor ; when the
seeds have germinated, and the roots have matted
in the turf, the whole can be transferred to the
borders without disturbance. Beans transplant
well, therefore a sowing might be made in shallow
pans or boxes of pure loam ; in that simple mate-
rial the plants will not become too luxuriant, and
therefore be better prepared to endure the transi-
tion to which they will be subjected.

Mushroom-beds will require fresh, deep cover-
ings of straw ; for the almost constant rains must
have penetrated those first applied.

FRl'IT DEPARTMENT.

Look over the strawberries in pots. If lying on
their sides properly covered with straw, the plants
will be torpid, but safe. Let some be introduced
to gentle heat, and proceed from time to time to
excite successions.

Some gardeners prune the peach, nectarine,
apricot, and plum trees ; but, if they yet remain
unregulated, \vc prefer to leave them untouched
till February. Vet, if a gardener have a great
number and a great extent of walls, he must seize
opportunities, and then, if biting winds prevail,
we recommend that the workmen put on two
shirts — the exterior over a flannel waistcoat ; this
double defence is said to be greatly more effectual
than two heavy coats, and certainly it is much
more convenient.

Apple and pear trees, that is, dwarfs and espa-
liers, may be safely pruned ; the former freely, by
cutting back to the best fruit-buds all the snaggs
of the August primings : the latter ought to be
more tenderly dealt with. Fruit-buds form natu-
rally on the branches, and are not induced so freely
by the knife as on apple trees ; therefore we re-
commend the primer to cut clear away to their
origin all superfluous shoots, and never to fore-
shorten or " spur-prune" the laterals till the fruit-
buds form at the bases ; and at the winter regula-
tion, to cut back the laterals close to such buds.
Thus a superfluity of wood-shoots will be avoided.

In the forcing -houses steady heat and some mois-
ture must be maintained without ventilation ; and
herein we differ from the practice of most gar-
deners, who maintain a system of disturbing alter-
nations by keeping up strong fires and abundant
steam, and yet admit cold, drying currents.
The late Mr. Knight wrote experimentally when
he exposed the fallacy of acting upon principles so
discordant.

FLOWER GARDEN.

The days have turned, and solar light increased,
but nature is quite torpid ; therefore we ought not
to counteract her indications, however mild the
weather may become. February will be quite early
enough to dig or hoe — operations which stimulate
vegetable action. It will be more prudent to add
fresh portions of mulch, half- decayed leaves, &c.
over the spaces between and around plants. Ob-
serve everything that can tend to keep the lawns,
edgings, and walks clean and neat, but permit the
leaves which may be on the soil to remain.

Many persons complain of the bad condition of
their dahlia roots ; they say they are covered with

mouldiness, and others talk of heavy losses by
damp and frost. We have long disliked the prac-
tice of digging and drying such roots with earth
on them, and have suggested the propriety of
cleaning the tubers, drying them in the air only,
and immediately planting them in boxes or troughs
of pit sand in the slightest degree moist. These
should be kept in a situation where no frost can
reach them, but the roots require no more protec-
tion than a potato. Mouldiness proves that each
tuber so infected, is become the matrix of some
parasite fungus, and that is a disease which a pro-
tective medium could prevent.

The greenhouse will require much air in dry
days ; the hard-wooded plants should be kept
apart from geraniums and the succulent tribes, and
then much hardier treatment may be given. The
best growers of the latter retain them in separate
houses, wherein a temperature of 40° as a minu-
mum is kept up.

Cold frames and pits should be thrown open in
dry, mild, and airy days, to remove damp, which
fosters mouldiness.

The stove will now require increase of heat,
with a damp atmosphere. If a temperature of 55''
have been supported through November and De-
cember, gloxincas and the gesnera will be verdant,
and some of them, particularly strong seedlings
of the last year, coming into bloom. These tribes
in this condition, furnish an excellent criterion of
hot-house temperature ; for with it a great variety
of superb plants will flourish. Fires can be kept
alight for weeks together by filling the furnaces
with the smallest screenings of coals — merely ob-
serving to rake out the clinkers, and occasionally
to quicken the draught by the ash-pot, and the
regulation of the chimney damper.

ON THE EFFECT UPON TREES FROM
REMOVING FALLEN LEAVES.— We all know
that it is a universal practice among gardeners to sweep
up and carry away the dead leaves of autumn, which at
this season are strewing the ground in all directions.
The neatness which must be maintained in a garden
seems to render this labour necessary, and the practice
of ages sanations it. In the eyes of nine-tenths of the
world, the man who permitted the dead leaves to accu-
mulate among his shrubs would be set down as a sloven.
And yet that man would be a better gardener than he
who is eternally exercising the broom and the rake, and
treating his garden as a housemaid treats her chambers.
When nature causes the tree to shed its leaves, it is not
merely because they are dead and useless to the tree,
but because they are required for a further purpose —
that of restoring to the soil the principal portion of what
had been abstracted from it during the season of growth,
and thui of rendering the soil able to maintain the ve-
getation of a succeeding year. Every particle that is
found in a dead leaf is eapable, when decayed, of enter-
ing into new combinations, and of again rising into a
tree for the purpose of contributing to the production
of more leaves, and flowers and fruit. If the dead
leaves, which nature employs, are removed, the soil
will doubtless, upon the return of spring, furni.di more
organizable matter without their assistance ; because
its fertility is difficult to exhaust, and many years must
elapse before it is reduced to sterility. But the less we
rob the soil of the perishing members of vegetation
vyhich furnish the means of annually renewing' its fer-
tility, the more will our trees and bushes thrive ; for the
dead leaves of autumn are the organic elements out. of
which the leaves of summer are to be restored in the
mysterious laboratory of vegetation. They contain the
carbon or humus, and the alkaline substances essential
to the support of growing plants; and although such

72

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

substances can be obtained from the soil, even if leaves
are abstracted, yet they can never be so well obtained as
through the decay of those organs. The dead leaves of
autumn then should not be removed frcm the soil on
which they fall. Neatness, no doubt, must be observed ;
and this, we think, will be sufficiently consulted if leaves
are swept from walks and lawns, where they do no
good, and cast upon the borders in heaps, where they
will lie and decay till the time for digging has arrived,

when they can be spread upon the earth like so much
manure. Or, when planting is going forward, a quan-
tity of them cast into the hole in which the young trees
are to be stationed, and mixed with the soil, will be
found to have a beneficial effect. We have formerly
insisted upon the importance of these considerations,
and we now repeat the adrice thus seasonably, in the
persuasion that the practice ought to be, and may be
universally adopted. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
DECEMBER.

The great vicissitudes, in the shape of atmospheric
humidity, which so much baffled the skill and enter-
prise of the British farmer during the months of
October and November, induced us to hope that a
repetition of them would not be experienced during
that forming the subject of this report ; and that the
amount of damage done by the heavy rains which
fell in those periods would be wholly, or at least in
part, made good by the cultivation of the soil
being-, under the influence of fine dry weather, car-
ried on with redoubled vigour, so that farming ope-
rations would become sufficiently forward to suit
the purposes of the agricultural body. In these an-
ticipations, however, we have been deceived — would
that it had been otherwise! In fact, from the 1st
up to the 18th, we had almost daily rains, which
produced in many parts of our provinces extensive
floods, from which considerable damage was sus-
tained. In some of the lowlands in Lincoln-
shire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Northampton-
shire, and Norfolk, as well as in several other coun-
ties, most of the wheat lands were completely
covered with water, which, on subsiding, carried
with it large breadths of the young plant, and did
other considerable damage. These circumstances,
as a matter of course, tended much to throw out-
door farm labours much more backward than we
could wish to see at such a period, besides much in-
creasing the outlay of the agriculturist. The sub-
sequent seven or eight days were much sharper, a
keen wind having set in from the north and north-
west, which produced ice of great thickness; while
in many quarters the snow covered the ground to the
depth of several inches— this was particularly the
case in Yorkshire and the eastern coast of England :
hut this fall was none other than a seasonable vicis-
situde, it being much required not only to protect the
young wheat plants, which were becoming spindly and
winter proud — from the piercing winds, but also to
put a stop to the ravages of the slug and wire-
worm, which were much complained of. As a
■whole, they have not been to so great an extent as
has been the case at some former corresponding pe-
riods ; hut where they have attacked the plants in
real earnest, reploughing and sowing will he found,
we fear, indispensable. On the 23rd another
change took place in the weather, and since that time
we have only had slight frosts at night, misty days,
and a chilly atmosphere ; while the slug has not
failed again to make its appearance, and further se-
rious depredations have been committed ; from all
which it will be clearly perceived the tillers of our
soil have contended against fearful odds ; yet we
look forward with confidence to a favourable issue.
Admitting, as we do, that farming is extremely

backward, yet we are not unmindful of the vast pro-
gress which will be made, in a limited period, when-
ever the season will again permit the ploughman to
get upon the land : but there is one point connected
with this somewhat untoward state of affairs, viz.,
the deferring the sowing of the heavy wheats
until February or March — tending inevitably to
produce a late harvest : and in this opinion
we conceive all are pretty well agreed. Had
it not been for thrashing, many of the farm
labourers would have remained out of employment,
during the greater portion of this month ; hence this
operation has been carried to an unusual extent, and
we are glad to be enabled to state that its general
produce has exceeded the expectations of the grow-
ers. In some cases, wheat grown on light soils
has been deficient, both as to quality and quantity;
but the aggregate return has certainly proved more
extensive than was the case during September,
October, and November. Barley continues to prove
a heavy crop ; but, owing to the stained condition
of it, the future supplies of good malting parcels
will doubtless prove very deficient. As to oats,
the yield continues great ; and as they were secured in
prime order, low prices will, we feel assured.be realized
for that article during nearly or quite the whole of
the winter. Both beans and peas turned out good,
and their value has still a downward tendency.

The epidemic amongst stock, though its utmost
violence has much abated, has continued; yet but few
losses of moment — except as regards the transmission
of beasts and sheep to the various markets — have
been sustained by the graziers. The growing of
turnips, and other pabulum, having been great, a
great plenty of food has been provided ; and, not-
withstanding the great changes observed in the
weather, the homestead has afforded no very great
grounds of complaint.

One of the principal features of this month has
been the assembling together of agriculturists at the
numerous meetings promoted for the advancement
of good ploughing, good stock, and that of the wel-
fare of our labouring population ; and it is highly
gratifying to observe the great amount of benefit
which must of necessity accrue to the community at
large from associations of this description. The an-
nual meeting of the Smithfield Club, and of the
Royal Agricultural Society of Englnnd, has been the
means of bringing together parties from all quarters
of the United Kingdom, who have had a ready op-
portunity of communing together as to their future
prospects, and of imparting knowledge to each other
which would possibly otherwise be lost. We trust
that these societies will be carried to the fullest ex-
tent of benefit which can be derived from them, and
it behoves every true friend to his country to come
forward to their support.

The various country corn, cattle, and provision

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

73

markets have been tolerably well supplied with
produce, and the value of it has been well supported.
In corn, a fair business has been doing-, while, in
stock — as is usually the case at all corresponding-
periods of the year — a brisk sale has been observed.
In many parts, some prodigiously fine beasts have
been offered, and elicited the approbation of the be-
holders.

Our advices from Scotland state that no wheat
has been sown for some time past, from the ob-
structing- causes of bad weather, and out-door
labours are very backward. Good wheat and barley
have fully maintained their value ; but in other
kinds of grain exceedingly little has been doing.

In Ireland, the raising of potatoes — which are re-
ported to be exceedingly fine — has gone on briskly;
but, otherwise, field labourshave scarcely progressed
at all ; thus it will be seen, we have little or no
scope for observation on this head. Wheat has im-
proved a little in value, but otherwise the trade has
ruled heavy.

The following is our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock, exhibited and
sold in Smithfield Cattle Market. The former have
consisted of 11,841 beasts; 84,233 sheep; 794
calves ; and 3104 pigs ; the latter being as follow : —
Beef, from 3s. 6d. to 5s.; mutton, 3s. Id. to 5s.;
veal, 4s. lOd. to 6s.; and pork, 4s. to 5s. per 81bs.
to sink the offals.

The trade, on each market day, has been in a very
sluggish state, and the prices obtained have ruled
from 2d. to 6d. per 81bs. lower than in December
1840. This is partly attributed to the supplies
being on the increase, and to the changeable atmos-

phere ; which latter circumstance has prevented
the dealers from purchasing so freely as otherwise
would have been the case.

A STATEMENT and COMPARISON of the SUP-
PLIES and PRICES of FAT STOCK, exhibited
and sold iu Smithfield Cattle Market, on
Monday, December 28, 1840, and Monday, Decem-
ber 27, 1841.

At per Slbs.to sink the offals.

Dec. 28, 1840. Dec. 27, 1841.
s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.
Coarse &inferiorBeasts 3 2to3 4 .. 3 4to3 6

Second quality do 3 6 3 10.. 3 8 310

Prime large Oxen 40 48. .40 42

Prime Scots, &c 4 10 50. .44 46

Coarse & inferior Sheep 38 40. .36 38

Second quality do 4 2 4 4.310 4 0

Prime coarse woolled do. 4 6 4 10. .44 4 8
Prime Southdown do. . 4 10 5 0 . 4 10 5 0
Large coarse Calves ..54 56.. 5 0 56

Prime small ditto 5 8 6 0..5 8 6 0

Large Hogs 42 46. .46 50

Neat small Porkers .,4 8 5 0.. 5 2 54

SUPPLIES.

Dec. 28, 1840. Dec. 27, 1841.

Beasts 2,513 1,809

Sheep 21,510 16,910

Calves 59 49

Pigs 497 219

The arrivals of slaughtered meat up to Newgate
and Leadenball markets have been but moderate ;
but, with meat killed in the Metropolis, those marts
have been heavily supplied. The best beef for
Christinas consumption has sold freely ; other kinds,
slowly, at no material alteration in the quotations.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF DECEMBER.

Since the beginning of the nineteenth century,
a more unpropitious year to agricultural pursuits
than the one which has just now been brought to
its conclusion, has not been experienced in the
United Kingdom. It has been, from its com-
mencement to its close, one of great anxiety to
the cultivators of the soil, and it has required all
the science of the farmer to avert from the people
many calamities which, under different circum-
stances, would from necessity have attended the
generally unfavourable state of the weather. The
circumstances to which we now allude, have their
origin in the ^ery vapid progress which has been
made in agricultural improvements during the
last forty years, and more particularly since the
year 1815, when the labour of the fields was first
in part protected by legislative enactments. The
improved manner in which the soil is cultivated
since that period has been, and must continue to
be hereafter, attended by the most important ad-
vantages to the best interests of the community at
large. The year which has now passed away
furnishes most conclusive evidence of the truth of
this assertion, for, at the present moment, wheat
is not 5s. per qr. dearer than it was in December
1840. To the scientific manner in which the
fields are now cultivated alone, are the people in-
debted for the moderate value of all the ne-
cessaries of life at the present moment ; and im-
proved tillage itself is solely to be attributed to
that admirable degree of protection which the

corn laws held out to property, science, and in-
dustry, when embarked in agricultural pursuits,
and the natural consequence has been a much
larger amount of acreable produce than the same
land produced at the close of the last century.
The present state of the wheat markets throughout
the United Kingdom, and the very moderate rate,
when compared with wages, at which bread can
now be obtained, fully establish the immense pro-
gress which agricultural knowledge is now yearly
making amongst those gentlemen who apply their
time, their money, and their talents to the cul-
tivation of the soil. The season of 1799 most
certainly was not more unpropitious to field
labour than was that of 1841, yet in the autumn,
and in the winter months of the former year, with
all the assistance which foreign importations could
give us, wheat, of the best quality, was worth from
six to eight guineas per quarter, and the vast mass
of the people was reduced to a most deplorable
state of misery and of actual wretchedness. Want
of work and deeply rooted discontent were the
consequences then of deficient crops at home, and
of large importations of grain from abroad.
Scarcity of money rendered productive labour also
scarce, and the wages paid for it were ruinously
reduced. Previous to this period agricultural pur-
suits were most inadequately, or rather not at all,
protected by legislative enactments, and the inha-
bitants of all denominations and grades severely
suffered by this circumstance. The bad conse-

74

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

quences of the bad crops of 1799 and 1800 had the
effect, however, of directing the attention of both
houses of Parliament to the defective state of the
then existing coin laws ; and in 1804 the present
Lord Western introduced into the House of Com-
mons an act for their amendment, which passed
the legislature during that year. This law, how-
ever, very little improved the former one, and
neither sufficiently protected grain of home growth
nor the value of the wages of labour. The act of
1815 did not make matters much better ; and the
metallic currency bill, whicli was passed in 1819,
deprived at least four-fifths of the farmers of the
capital which they had embarked in their leases.
Much agricultural and, consequently, much com-
mercial distress ensued ; nor was it in any mate-
rial degree alleviated until the present corn laws
gave effectual protection to every interest in the
British empire. Since they became the law of the
land, the progress made in agricultural improve-
ments has been immense, and there is not one in-
terest in the empire which has not reaped great
benefits from the prosperity of agriculture. In
1799 and in 1800, the finest qualities of Polish
wheat, as we have already mentioned, freely com-
manded in Mark Lane from 120s. to lb'Os. per
quarter, whilst in November and December, 1841,
the same descriptions of foreign wheat in the same
market were not worth 80s. per quarter. The
year 1841 has been fully as unpropitious to the
cultivation of the fields as those of 1799 and 1800
could by any possibility have been, and yet bread
is more than fifty per cent, cheaper now than it
was then. This certainly is a most important
difference in the value of the necessaries of life,
and it is not wonderful, therefore, that the people
of all grades throughout the United Kingdom are
perfectly able to appreciate the vast and extensive
benefits which the improvement of agriculture at
home confers on them. They know that provi-
sions consumed at home universally are attended
by wages for labour, high or low, in proportion to
the extent of their supply from our home growers,
or from foreign producers. When the crops at
home are large and luxuriant, then the expense
of living becomes cheaper, and the wages of labour
dearer; but when we are obliged to import largely
from foreign nations to supply any deficiency
which may occur in our home production, then
labour becomes scarce, and wages are ruinously
depressed; from the simple reason that that money
which, with a good crop at home, would have been
embarked in agricultural, commercial, and inter-
nal improvements, is from necessity remitted
abroad to foreign merchants, and to foreign land
proprietors, in payment for foreign food. Foreign
importations of food always render money scarce,
and increase the annual interest payable on loans
of it. Enterprise is thus interrupted— many inter-
nal improvements are, at all events for a time,
postponed, and the productive employment of the
industrious classes of society is proportionally
curtailed. The people thus suffer in the wages of
their labour sometimes even at periods when the
expenses of living are rendered moderate by agri-
cultural improvements at home, because unpropi-
tious seasons render foreign supplies to a certain
extent necessary, as has been the case unfortu-
nately during the last three years. The present
time affords a most complete illustration of this
fact ; for although the price of bread is not high,
still considerable distress certainly does prevail in
some of the manufacturing districts. The la-

bourers, however, who are partially depressed in
their circumstances, do not attribute their depres-
sion to the high price of provisions, but to the ne-
cessity which existed of remitting to different
corn districts abroad upwards of twenty millions
sterling, during the last three years, in payment
for grain (which is a dead loss to the capital of
the British empire), and the valueof labour, which
is their property, has been reduced in proportion
to the quantity of specie thus exported for this
most anti-national purpose. The anti-corn
law advocates can by no sophistry get the
better of these facts, and all our produc-
tive labourers and artizans are fully aware of
the object which the patrons and paymasters of the
corn law repealers have in view. It is not on a
barter trade that they depend for an increased de-
mand for British manufactured goods, for common
sense must long since have convinced them that an
exchange of their products for foreign food never yet
occurred, and never can. The master manufacturers
wish to increase their property by underselling the
foreign manufacturer in the foreign market, and they
know full well that this selfish advantage cannot be
obtained by them, unless they can very materially
reduce the wages of labour in the united kingdom.
To; import grain largely from foreign nations they
consider, and that truly too, to be the best way to re-
duce the wages of productive employment; and then
their goods would be exported to the continent of
Europe, to that of America, and to our Asiatic pos-
sessions, on terms far more favourable to them than
those under which they now conduct their foreign
commerce. With Polish serfs and Russian boors,
they do not dream of the consumption of their goods
being increased by the repeal of the corn laws. They
fire at far higher game in their desired object of re-
ducing the wages of tlieir artisans, but the school-
master has also spread too widely the principles of
real political ecomony amongst the people generally,
to allow them even the most distant prospect of suc-
cess. The productive labourers are perfectly aware
at present that the corn laws are protective of their
wages in proportion to the encouragement which
they hold out to agricultural improvements, and to
the increase of money circulation amongst them at
home. This, we repeat, is the only channel in which
productive employment can be in anv material de-
gree increased, and by which the wages paid for it
can he rendered fully adequate to the expences of
comfortable living for workmen and for their fa-
milies ; and of this great truth the entire body of the
productive classes are morally persuaded. We have
frequently stated that value is merely a relative term,
and the people are well aware that 2d. per pound
for bread in London is far cheaper than it is at Id.
per pound in any city in Europe, because the wages
of labour are generally three times higher in London
than they are anywhere else without the united
kingdom. This effect has its real origin in that de-
gree of protection which the law most properly ex-
tends to every department of industry throughout
the British Empire, and in the vast capital which the
monied interest possess for the general improvement.
Of all departments of industry, however, that of
agriculture is by far the most valuable, and conse-
quently the most important to (he British commu-
nity. The principles of the present corn laws are
well adapted to their object. In September last, the
circumstances of the country required a large supply
of | foreign wheat, and the corn law then virtually
repealed itself, admitting nearly two millions of
quarters, either in wheat or in flour, into consump-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

75

tion on payment of a nominal rate of duty, whilst in
the following month they resumed their position of
protector of British produce and of the wages of
labour. Without the graduating scale of averages
by which the duties are regulated, these advantages
could not have been obtained : and to impose a fixed
rate of duty on wheat consequently, under all cir-
cumstances and in all seasons, would be ruinous to
the utility of the corn laws. No fixed duty could
be named, which would be suitable on all occasions.
It would sometimes be found much too high for the
interests of the consumers, and at other times far too
low for the due protection of agriculture and of the
wa<"es of productive labour. In the details of the
present corn laws, there are certainly a few material
deficiencies, but which can be easily rectified. The
British revenue is not increased so considerably as
it ought to be by the duties levied on foreign grain
when entered for home consumption. In September
last, a large quantity of wheat, nearly two millions
of quarters, was entered at the nominal charge of Is.
per quarter, which was advantageous only to the
Foreign landed proprietors. Had the minimum duty
been only os. per quarter, it would have pliced
some money into the treasury, which would have
been paid, not by tLe British consumer, but cheer-
fully by the foreign proprietor of that wheat, for the
benefits which lie occasionally derives in our corn
markets. Amongst other alterations in the details of
the corn law, to strike the average prices by which
the amount of duties is regulated from thirteen
weeks instead of from six weeks, as is the custom
at present, would be a material improvement; but
these are minor points for the consideration of the
legislature; for our only business is to point out the
advantages now reaped by all classes from the corn
laws as they are now constituted, and to impress on
the community the fatal consequences which would
attend any alteration in their principle, pr their total
repeal. To them we are now indebted for the pre-
sent moderate prices of the necessaries of life — mode-
rate we may well say, when compared with their
value in the years 1799,1800, and 1812, when the
seasons were most certainly not more unpropitious
th:in has been that of 1841, and when the wages of
labour generally were not one-half of their present
amount. To encourage the progress of agricultural
improvements, is the real and only road to national
wealth ; and so long as millions of acres of land re-
main within the United Kingdom in a state of nature,
and so long as there is not one acre of land now
under tillage which may not be rendered doubly
productive, it is an act of insanity even to propose
the annual transportation to the colonies of thousands
of respectable families, whilst such unbounded
channels for their productive employment are to be
found at home. To these improvements it is not
possible to fancy any limit. For instance, the winter
seed wheats have not as yet been all sown ; indeed
we may say little has been got into the ground
— unless in the uplands, where the young plants are
healthy, and in some respects beginning to assume
the appearance of being luxuriant : still this fact is
not at present considered to be so unfavourable as
it v/ould have been twenty years ago. In December
1839, the operations in the fields were fully as late
as they now are, nnd yet the wheat crop in 1840 was
excellent, both in quantity and in quality. Spring
sown wheat is now becoming much more productive
than it was when the science of agriculture was only
in its infancy. To the corn laws alone are the
people indebted for those improvements which
are now annually occurring in tillage, and which

are so admirably maintaining the wages of la-
bour. Although field operations at present are
certainly later than usual, still no injury need be
anticipated to the crop of 1842 from this circum-
stance. The sowing of the winter wheat was not
finished in the low lands till the close of the month
of January in 1840, and this fact was not attended
by any unfortunate consequences to the wheat crop
of that year. Should the lands be got into a proper
condition for the reception of the winter seed wheat
during this month, they may yet produce as abun-
dantly as they would have done, had they been sown
two or even three months earlier. The wheat mar-
kets throughout the United Kingdom consequently
were not in the slightest degree affected by the ap-
parent lateness of the sowing season during the
last month. On the contrary, the supplies of wheat
continued, during the whole of it, to be fully equal
to the consumption, and its value remained very
steady at our quotations. As yet there certainly is
no appearance of any great deficiency existing in
the wheat crop of last year, though we still fear
that a large quantity of foreign wheat will be
requisite before the next crop be brought into con-
sumption. This necessity, if it do exist, must be
universally injurious, for it must cause a farther
drain on the precious metals, and restrictthe amount
of the circulating medium, in proportion to the value
of the gold remitted abroad in exchange for these
supplies of food ; it will then become manifest that
the larger the quantity of grain imported, the more
difficult must it be to find productive labour for the
people, and the greater must be the reduction in
wages. That considerable supplies of foreign grain
will arrive here during the spring and summer
months, is already placed beyond any doubt what-
ever. The commercial letters received from the
shipping corn ports in the Mediterranean and in the
Black Seas, are in due course of post, and fully con-
firm our former anticipations on this subject. A
considerable quantity of wheat is already on its pas-
sage from the lower ports in the Mediterranean Sea,
and the shipments already made will be followed up
bv others even on a more extensive scale. At
Odessa and other places in the Black Sea shipping-
was scarce, and freights were from 70s. to 75s. per
ton, which, added to other transit expenses, and the
original cost of 38s. per qr., make the value of it
considerably higher than similar qualities can now
be sold for in Mark-Lane, even if it could be im-
ported duty free. The exportation of wheat from
Egypt had been for a time entirely prohibited, and
yet, in a high quarter, we were lately assured that
(he Pacha was a cultivator of the principles of free
trade. His Highness, however, seems at present
to be fully sensible that, at all times, these princi-
ples cannot he acted on, and he very properly, at
the last dates, had prohibited the exportation of
grain from bis dominions, because he considered it,
at that period, injurious to the best interests of his
people. To the inhabitants of the United Kingdom,
however, this interdict is not of any serious conse-
quence. On the contrary, it must eventually be of
considerable importance to them, for the modern
Cleopatras do not use British manufactured goods,
and payment must therefore be made in the precious
metals for any grain which we may receive from that
or from any other quarter. In the north of the
Adriatic Sea considerable activify has existed in the
wheat trade since our last publication, although at
the latest dates the previous demand had in some
degree subsided. A large quantity had been, how-
ever, forwarded to Great Britain, but, to render it

76

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

profitable to the speculator, an advance in our prices
and a reduction in the present rates of duty must
previously take place in this country. In the vari-
ous corn ports of shipment within the Baltic Sea, the
navigation of course is now interrupted, and the
business which has been transacted since our last
review of the state and prospects of the corn
trade generally, has been for shipment in the spring,
when the rivers are again opened to commercial
pursuits. In this way, however, a great many bar-
gains have already been made, but at prices consi-
derably higher than the present dull state of our
grain markets warrants. At Danzig the finest high
mixed Polish wheats will, when the season for ship-
ment arrives, stand free on board little less than
three guineas per quarter ; and the same high rates
have been paid at Elbing and Konigsburg for the same
descriptions of wheats. During the spring and sum-
mer months we shall import largely from the Baltic
Sea, and although the quality generally is such as
always commands the highest prices in iMark-Lane,
still great doubts may be entertained of the sound-
ness of the principles on which these transactions
are founded. That they are in every way advan-
tageous to the land proprietors of Poland, however,
must be perfectly evident by a refeience to the high
prices which we have been and now are paying for
their produce; and itmust likewise be equally evident
that the necessity existing for the use of foreign grain
in the British empire is, in an equal degree, injurious
and prejudicial to the best interests of the produc-
tive classes throughout the United Kingdom. The
labourers in the fields of Poland are not in any way
interested in those high prices which we are now
paying for Polish wheat. To their prosperity it
matters not whether the produce of the fields be
cheap or dear ; whether the British corn laws be
continued, or whether they be repealed. They are
serfs, and are remunerated for their labour under
the worst truck system. The money received from
England in payment for Polish wheat, is not distri-
cted amongst the wheat growers. The present
season of prosperity enables them not to increase
the quantity of clothing annually consumed by them ;
and therefore, we repeat, that a baiter trade in Po-
lish grain and in British manufactures can, under
no circumstances, ever be established. In Great
Britain the system is widely different, for the tenants
are universally interested in the produce of the
fields ; and here, we may be permitted to add, that
a too low rented farm is seldom worked so well as is
that farm which is charged with a fair rent. The
fact is, that fair rents are the only spur to that de-
gree of exertion on the part of the tenant from
which springs agricultural improvement. In Po-
land, the serfs are denied all participation in the
wealth annually extracted from the fields; and
therefore, when the produce of Polish fields sells
high in the British market, the British manufacturers
receive no advantage whatever from this circum-
stance ; whilst, on the contrary, British tenants and
British agricultural labourers universally circulate
amongst the industrious classes at home all the pro-
fits which they reap from their labour in agricultural
operations. From the ports without the Baltic, and in
the North Sea, the information received is also of
much the same description as that we have just now
related. A great deal of wheat business had been
done in Hamburgh, Altona, and in the other
places for exportation, but at prices very little under
those which can now be obtained for the same de-
scriptions of wheat in Mark Lane. This is more
particularly the case at Hamburg, and shows how

little dependence can be placed on the information
from that city respecting the value of food and of
wages, which is continually appearing in the Lon-
don journals advocating the cause of the anti-corn-
law league. The price of red wheats there was 58s.
per qr. ; and the bakers must be adepts in their
business who can sell bread, baked from these
wheats, at 5§d. for the four-pound loaf. Tne fact is,
north country flour does not produce the same quan-
tity nor this same quality of bread by more than ten
per cent., which a sack of flour made from Essex or
from Polish wheats does ; and the reason is, that the
one takes far more water than the other does in the
operation of baking. A sack of Essex flour will
produce 400lb. of bread, whilst a sack of flour made
from red wheat, such as is shipped from Hamburg,
will not produce more than 360lbs. of bread, and
that of considerably inferior quality to the Essex
one. The comparison made in the same quarter in
the rates of wages is also equally erroneous ; for it
is not fair to place the pay of workmen in a large
city, such as Hamburg, on a footing with wages
paid in England to labourers in the fields ; although
we strongly suspect that the wages paid in Essex,
and in several other agricultural districts, would
suffer little by the comparison. The fair mode would
be, to place before the public the wages paid in
Hamburg, and those paid in London or Manchester
for the same description of work, and then the real
fact would be ascertained. A good deal of wheat
has already, as we have stated, been purchased for
British account at these high rates ; and during the
season a great deal too much will be forwarded here
from all the ports without the Baltic, unless the
corn law, for the benefit of British agriculture, and
for the protection of the wages of the industrious
classes throughout the British Empire, prevents its
importation. From the United States of America,
and from our American colonies, the letters received
are dated in the second week of last month, and
they communicate very little that is new or interest-
ing respecting the state of the corn trade there. The
usual quantity of abuse against the corn laws is
fulminated in the communications generally from the
United States, and their repeal or modification is
most anxiously desired by the American landed in-
terest. To employ a portion of their surplus popu-
lation in cultivating the banks of the Ohio, is an ob-
ject of immense consequence to their future pros-
perity ; but this advantage cannot be obtained unless
the inhabitants of the British Empire consent to
abaudon the tillage of many millions of acres at
home, and draw their supplies of food from fo-
reign nations. Mr. Curtis, the American lectu-
rer, to whom we have already frequently alluded,
was lately following up his vocation at Dundee, but
there he made as little impression as he did in any
city in England. The people there comprehended
not the benefit which they would derive from aban-
doning the cultivation of the Carse of Gowrie, and
patronizing the tillage of the banks of the Ohio. They
see not the improvement in their present condition
in life, which they would obtain by working in
mines, and exposing themselves to furnace labour in
exchange for American flour, and for Ohio salted
beef. In fact, they are too well versed in that sort
of political economy which enables them generally to
live comfortably and happily, to feel any inclination
to adopt the false philosophy which is to be found
in the wild theories of the anti-corn law lecturers.
The trade, however, betwixt Great Britain and the
United Slates, will continue to be prosecuted on
terms perfectly legitimate. We will continue to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

77

consume American produce in as far as that can be
done without injury to our home producers, and the
Americans will just take that quantity of our manu-
factures, and other products, which suits their pur-
poses, and nothing- more than this can be required
by either. Flour continued therefore, at the latest
dates, to be in demand by shippers to Europe,
although that demand was by no means animated ;
but it will be improved should the prospect of the
English markets be in any measure encouraging to
speculative operations during the ensuing spring
and summer months, and we shall receive rather
luge supplies therefore from this quarter, should
our future wants require them. The value of agri-
cultural produce in British America is very con-
siderably interfered with, by clandestine importations
from the United States; flour and wheat thus im-
ported there are frequently forwarded to this coun-
try, and are admitted into our markets of consump-
tion on the payment of the Colonial charge of duty.
Ibis is an injury done to our own colonies; and
means should be adopted to suppress the evil arising
to ourselves, from the grain of the United States
being admitted here at less duty than that which
should, by law, be charged on grain of Foreign pro-
duce. It may find a remedy in similar restrictive
means to those which were applied to Baltic timber,
shipped first to Nova Scotia, and forwarded from
thence to England for consumption, on the payment
only of the Colonial timber duties. To our fellow
subjects in Upper Canada, this illicit system in the
corn trade is exceedingly detrimental, depriving
them, as it does, very frequently of a fair market for
the surplus of their agricultural produce, and thus
also depriving the British manufacturers of an in-
creased demand for their goods in the Canadian mar-
kets.

The barley trade continued in a state of great
inactivity during the whole of last month. Of
the superior qualities, the supplies, in all the great
markets of consumption, have been small, but at
the same time they have not been inferior to the
demand. This depressed state of the trade has
certainly not been the consequence of high prices
being demanded for malting barley, as might na-
turally have been expected from the smallness of
the quantity reaped last harvest-time of this de-
scription ; for the value obtained even for the
finest samples has not exceeded 36s. per quarter
on the average in the different markets. For this
unfortunate dulness we must infer the cause in a
widely opposite channel — in that channel to
which we have so very frequently had so much
occasion to allude, and to which we shall continue
to direct the attention of our commercial and
agricultural readers until the nuisance be, in some
measure at all events, removed. The consump-
tion of wholesome made beer, the genuine extract
of malt and hops, is annually becoming smaller
by degrees, and more beautifully less ; and the
sole cause of this misfortune to the barley grower
and to the beer consumer, is the unnatural mode
in which malt is taxed, and the oppressive manner
in which this heavy tax is levied from the malt-
ster. We complain not of the gross amount of
money which is paid into the public treasury
from malt : on the contrary, we are persuaded
that that sum may be very considerably increased
was it collected under a different system. The
experience which is taught by the history of the
malt duties sufficiently establishes the fact, that
over-taxation is injurious to the purposes for
which it is imposed. When the malt duty was

34s. 8d. per quarter, smuggling prevented the
gross malt duty from reaching three millions an-
nually, but when the ministers adopted the ad-
vice of the Duke of Wellington, and reduced the
duty to 20s. per quarter, six millions sterling
were paid into the treasury two years afterwards.
Within these last four years, a considerable in-
crease has been again added to the rate of malt
duty, and the very natural consequence is, that
the consumption of malt by the common brewers
has already been reduced to four millions of
quarters ; and until the evil be removed, the re-
duction in the consumption of malt must continue
annually to be greater, and the reduction in the
consumption of barley must proportionally he in-
creased. This state of the brewing trade is ex-
ceedingly prejudicial also to the health of the
great majority of the consumers of beer, for the
encouragement which the high price of malt
holds out to the nefarious trader to adulterate the
beverage of the people, causes a vast quantity of
deleterious drugs to be mixed, after the beer is
sent out by the public brewers, amongst the
people's drink, by which the revenue is defrauded
and the public health put in jeopardy. The extent
to which this mixing system is carried is almost
beyond belief, and the numerous prosecutions in
the Excise Courts against the delinquents prove
how generally the fraud is practised. There is no
effectual remedy for that evil but by an alteration
in the present mode of charging the malt duty,
which should be at once reduced to Is. per bushel.
This alteration would, in a short period indeed,
triple the quantity of wholesome beer at present
consumed — would increase the actual amount paid
into the Treasury from the malt tax, and, what is
far more important, would enable many thousands
of families, who cannot under the present system
of society afford the expense, to consume their
proper quantity of beer. Instead of the present
quantity of barley, the maltsters' demand would
require at least ten millions of quarters, and the
national wealth which the production of this ad-
ditional quantity of barley would annually create,
would do much more than pay for the expense of
the increased quantity of beer consumed. The al-
teration, in fact, would he an unmixed good, and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer cannot better
serve the Empire, than by directing his best atten-
tion to this most important subject, and also to
the heavy duty per gallon at present charged on
spirits distilled in England. This charge is more
than four hundred per cent, on the value of spirits,
and this state of the trade throws open a wide and
tempting door for the operations of the smuggler.
Under the present system, one-half of the spirits
consumed in England is furnished by the illicit
trader, and pays not one farthing of duty into the
British Treasury. In this source the principal
crimes now perpetrated in the United Kingdom
mainly have their origin. It causes the crime of
drunkenness to stand on the right hand of temper-
ance, and the equally destructive vice of teetotalism
to take its position on her opposite side. It is in
every way, therefore, destructive to true morality
amongst the great majority of the people, and it is
the bounden duty of her Majesty's present minis-
ters to suppress the vice of smuggling. This, we
repeat, can only be done by a reduction in the
rate of the spirit duty charged to the English dis-
tillers. To equalize the charge throughout the
three kingdoms and throughoutthe colonies, andto
make the duty on British and Irish manufactured

78

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

spirits and on colonial rum 5s. per gallon, will in-
crease the amount of duty now paid into the
Treasury by these articles of consumption, and
will in a material degree remove the evils of
smuggling, now so much complained of. To relax
the restrictions under which the rectifiers now
labour, will likewise materially contribute to the
public benefit ; for it is only by absurd legal regu-
lations that British gin is rendered inferior to that
distiiled in Holland, and which prevent brandy
manufactured from British barley from equalling
in flavour the best brandies manufactured in the
south of France. Whiskey, Colonial rum, and
foreign spirits of all descriptions, are permitted
most properly into consumption at those
strengths which suit best the palate of the con-
sumer and the pocket of the proprietor, whilst
our own rectifiers are not allowed to sell their
rectified spirits until they be reduced under
the strength of Irish punch. If the brandy
distillers were allowed by the law to use
their talents and science in rectifying, they
would speedily produce a spirit of equal fla-
vour, and of far superior wholesomeness, to any
distilled in France ; and thus the money which we
now annually pay to France for brandies would
remain at home in active circulation amongst all
the industrious classes of society within the
United Kingdom. The enormous expense of the
coast blockade service may be saved to the nation,
and an additional quantity of at least half a mil-
lion of quarters of British grown barley will be
required by our home distillers for the production
of that additional quantity of homemade spirits
which the suppression of smuggling would render
necessary. As matters are, however, a slight im-
provement is visible in the distillers' profession,
even in the face of the serious obstacles opposed
to it ; for the supplies of distillers' barley have been
abundant throughout the season, and the prices
paid for it have been proportionably moderate.
Still this trade cannot be rendered healthy until
smuggling be entirely suppressed, and the laws of
the rectifier be very materially amended. Two
millions of acres of sandy soil, now useless to
man unless for the production of rabbits, would
be turned into barley fields, did the tillage of
barley only receive proper encouragement, and
this would add many millions annually to the
internal wealth of the United Kingdom. Agricul-
tural improvements are unlike those of manufac-
tures, in so far as the former endure for centuries,
whilst the latter depend on the breath of fashion,
and are continually fading away. The one is a
solid benefit, whilst the other is only a temporary
convenience.

The oat trade, during the last month, attracted
very little of the attention of the public. The con-
sumption was, as usual, extensive, and the sup-
plies were adequate to the demand. Prices, con-
sequently, have been exceedingly steady, not
having varied more than 6d. per quarter for many
v/eeks past. In Great Britain, for some years
past, the cultivation of oats has in a very material
degree been superseded by wheat tillage, and yet
the value of oats has been for some time past, and
now is, extremely moderate to the consumer, and
yet sufficiently remunerative to the oat farmer.
This steadiness in the oat market is mainly to be
attributed to the progress which has been, and
now continues to be, annually made in agricul-
tural improvements in Ireland. The ready mar-
kets in Great Britain for the consumption of Irish

grain are the sole cause of these improvements in
the sister island, and furnish another perfect
reason for continuing, in their utmost extent, the
principles of the corn laws ; for the protection
which they now hold out to the oat cultivator in
Ireland has already been attended by the most
favourable results, and many years cannot pass
before the wheat and barley markets in Great-
Britain must be rendered as steady as that of oats
now is, by the progressive improvement in the
growth of these two articles, which the present
corn laws must from necessity occasion in that
productive division of the British Empire. Ire-
land may well be considered as being the future
granary of the United Kingdom, from her climate
and the richness of the soil. Legal protection to
the farmers' capital is alone necessary to render
her so ; and affording to their crops a fair degree
of protection in the British markets of consump-
tion, is the only guarantee required. We may de-
pend on oats continuing moderate in our markets
during this year, for the quantity grown in Ireland
last year was large ; and this circumstance will go
far in making amends for the unfortunate infe-
riority which exists in the quality. Under the
influence of the principles of the corn laws, the
Irish wheat crops must eventually, and that before
long, under similar circumstances, produce equally
important and beneficent effects in the British
markets for wheat ; thus rendering the importation
of foreign wheat unnecessary, retaining the ca-
pital within the country for the productive em-
ployment of the people, and spreading real happi-
ness amongst the industrious classes of society,
in whatever department of labour they may be
engaged.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

Dec. 27.

50

Per Qr.

60 65

52 58

24
62
62
23

18
20

34
26
66
66
24
20
21
21
24
18
27
24
24
35
34
36

.82*.
56 Odessa 60
. — — per cwt

Per Qr.
White 64 68 71

Do 60

Do —

New.... 36
Chevalier 33
Bere .22 23
Brown.. 50
Chevalier 66
Potato .. 27
Cork, white 17 21
Westport 22 24
Black

62

33
35
25
54
68
28

10 21

Wheat, Essex and Kent, red

Irish

Old, red —

Rye, old 34

Barley, Grinding 26 30 Malting 32

Irish

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk

Kingston and Ware ....
OATS, Yorksh. & Lineolnsh., feed

Youghall and Cork black

Dublin 19

Waterford, white 18

Newry 22

Galway 16

Scotch feed n5

Clonmel 22

Londonderry 21

Beans, Tick, new 30

Peas, Grey 32

White 32

Seed, Rape S61. 401. Irish

Linseed, Baltic... 48

English Bed Clover..
White

Mustard, White 15 - brown 15 16 per bush.

Tares, old ... . 30 36 new 56 60 per qr.
Flour, Town-made 60 — Suffolk 48 52 pr sk. of 280 lbs.
Stockton and Norfolk, 49 52

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

WHEAT, Dantzic 60 64")

Hamburg 54

Rostock SO

Barley 22

Oats, Brew 19 20

Beans 34 26

Peas 28

Flouk, American, perbrl...... 33

Potato..
Limerick
Sligo . .
Old ... .
Maple . .
Boilers .

27
19

20
42

34

35
34;. per last.

29
23
23

46
38
39

56

> nominal.

54

1

24

22

Feed... 14

ia

28

33

—

Baltic . . 32

—

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

71)

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by AVERAGES from the cor re* -

the'lasi
25tli,

the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
Dec. 24th, 1841.

8. d.
9
5
5
■>
9

Wheat 62

Barley 30

Oats 21

Rye S9

Beans 37

ponding Gazette in
year, Friday, Dec.
1840.

Wheat
Barley ,
Oats . .

Rye . ...
Benas..

s. a.

(10 1

32 4
21 5

33 5
40 9

Peas

39 0; Peas 40 1

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Teas.
Week ending
Nov. 12th .. 66 4 33 4 22 8 40 2 40 11 41 3
19th .. 65 11 33 4 22 6 40 2 40 4 40 3
26th . . 64 9 32 4 22 6 44 7 4! 2 40 9
Dec. 3rd .. 63 6 31 9 22 2 44 5 39 4 39 7
10th .. 62 7 30 9 22 2 44 8 39 0 39 4
17th .. 62 9 30 5 21 5 39 537 9 39 0
AggregateAverage
of the six weeks
which regulates

the duty 64 4 32 0 22 3 42 3 39 9 40 0

Duties payable in
London till Wed
nesdaynextinclu
sive, and at the
Otitports till the
arrival »f the mail
of that day from

London 22 8 13 10 13 9 f.

Do. on grain from
British posses-
sions out of Eu-
rope

Account shewing- the Quantities of Grain, Meal, and
Flour, imported into the United Kingdom, in the
monthended the 5th Dec, 1841; the Quantities upon
which Duties have been paid for Home Consump-
tion during the same month, and the Quantities re-
maining1 in Warehouse at the close thereof.
Foreign Grain and | Quantity 0-"™^™- Quantity
Flour. ! imported. ' *e"£ f°rAn ^mammg m

r consumption, warehouse.

Wheat.

Barley.

Oats.

Rye.

Beans.

66 4
65 11
64 9
63 6
62 7
62 9

33
33
32
31
30
30

4
4
4
9
9
5

22
22
22
22
22
21

8
6
6
2

2

5

40
40
44
44
44
88

o
^>
7
5
8
5

40 11

40 4
4! 2
39 4
39 0
37 9

64 4

32

0

22

S

42

3

39 9

22 8

13

10

13

9

0

li

11 0

5 0

2

6

3

0

3

0

3 0

qrs. bush
Wheat, from British

Possessions
Peas, from do
Indian Corn, do.
Wheat, foreign . . . . 58258

Barley, d< ! 30682

Oats, do

Rye, do ,

Peas, do ,

Beans, do

Indian Corn, do.
Buck Wheat, do.

Flour, from British

Possessions

Flour, foreign

35954 0 19
49428 0 19

PRICES OF SEEDS.

Dec. 27,

Linseed, English, sowing 54 59

Baltic — —

Mediter. & Odessa 50 54

Large, foreign. . .. — —

Clover , English, red 70 90

Flemish 70 90

New Hamburgh ..65 85

Old do 60 80

French 75 05

Hempseed, small 40 45

Coriander 10 16

Mustard, brown, new ..10 14

Trefoil 16 23

Rape3eed, English new.. 36^. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42

Tares, winter — —

Canary, new 90 95

Carraway, old 50 52

crushing 48

54 per qr.

white —

— per cwt.

do.. —

*—

do.. —

—

do.. —

do.. —

—

large .. 48

50

old.... 10

18 per cwt

white.. 9

13 pr. bush

Scotch 18

40

New.. 6

7s 6d

tine 100

110

new 48

49 52

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, Dec. 27.

There were only a few pockets taken last week by
the brewers in immediate want of supplies, but the
market presented a steady appearance. Some call
Kent qualities rather easier, but no absolute decline
has occurred. The market at present is closed for the
holidays.

Bags,

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

1836
1836
1838
1838
1839
1839
1840
1840
1841

Pocks. 1S41

East

Mid.

Weald

Sussex.

Fam-

Kent.

Kent.

of Kent.

ham.

s. s.

s. s.

s. s.

s. s.

s.

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Norn.

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nom.

80.. 95

80.. 98

76 .. 90

76 . . 90

__

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

—

100.. 115

100.. 115

90 .. 105

90 .. 105

140 . . 100

140 . . 150
to 160

—

—

—

135.. 190

140 to 175

120.. 140

115.. 130

200 230

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, Dec. 27.
The arrivals of Potatoes during the past week have
been more limited than of late, and are as subjoined,
viz., from Yorshire, 910 tons ; Scotland, 210 ; Devons,
170; Wisbeach, 80; Kent and Essex, 240.— Total,
1,610 tons. Good dry and clean samples of York
Reds and Devons are now in request.

present prices as annexed.

s. s.

York Reds 70 to — per ton

Scotch 50 60

Devons 65 70

From ( Jersey Blues >. . . 55 —

Store { Jersey Whites 45 —

Wisbeach 45 50

Kent, and Essex Whites 55 60

WOOL MARKETS.

BRITISH.

Dec. 27.

s. d. s. d.

Down Teggs 1 oj to 1 1

Half-bred Hogs 1 o| ] 1

Down Ewes and Wethers 0 11 0 11*

Half-bred Wethers 0 11 1 0

Leicester Hogs 0 l\± ] 0

Down Wethers 0 9A 0 10/-

LIVERPOOL, Dec. 24.

s. d. s.

Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs.. 8 9 to 9

White do. do 11 9 12

Laid Crossed do.. unwashed.. 9 6 10

Do. washed do 10 0 11

Do. Cheviot unwashed do 10 0 11

Do. washed 14 0 18

Do. Cheviot, laid with white tar 00 0-00

Cheviot white, washed 22 0 24

.1.
0
0
6
6
6
0
0
0

FOREIGN.
CITY, Dec. 27.— The advices from the manufactur-
ing- woollen districts have been rather contradictory
this week. From Leeds they are unfavourable, and from
HuddersMeld rather good. Here, however, raw wool
of all descriptions keeps in moderate request, at steady
prices.

LEEDS. — We have no new feature to remark in the
Foreign Wool trade since our last report. The sales
for this season have been to a fair extent during' the
week, and prices are well maintained.

80

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PRICES OF SHARES.

No. of
Shares.

6,228
6,228
9,000
9,500
15,000
7,500

3,000
64,000
64,000
18,000
10,918
10,918
10,918
10,000
25,000
25,000
37,500

8,000
36,000
33,000
43,079

11,136
183,000?

24,000
1,500
2,100
6,100

11,475
7,968

86,000

3,600
6,000
25,000
25,000
31,250
25,000
13,000
13,000
30,000
10,000
10,000
15,000
15,000
22,500
10,250
3,762
1,000

28,000
6,000
6,700

15,000

7,500

10,000

20,000

20,000

2000

4,000

30,000

10,000
72,432
20,000
10,000

7,739

20,000
4,000
0,211

1,549
20,000
12,009

6,000
50,000

IRON RAILWAYS.

Birmingham k Derby June. 100/ sh

Ditto J shares ... 25/ sh

Ditto and Gloucester .... 100/ sh
Ditto Quarter Shares25Z sh 12JZ pd
Bristol and Exeter. .100/ sh 60/ pd
Cheltenham & Great West. Union
100/ sh 72£Z pd

Clarence (Durham) 100/ sh

Eastern Counties . . . .25/ sli 23/ pd
Ditto Debentures of . . 8/ 6s 8d . .
Edinburgh & Glasgow .... 50/ sli

Grand Junction 100/ sh

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh

Ditto Quarter Shares 25/ sh 2}2 pd
Great N. of England 100/ sh 90/ pd

Great Western 100/sh65/pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh

Ditto Fifths 20/ sli 4/ pd

Hull and Selby 50/ sh

Loudon and Brighton 50/ sh

London & Croydon. .Av. 13/15s9d
London and Greenwich 20/ sh Av
12/ 15s 4d
Ditto New 20/ sh Av. 18/ 17s l}d
Ditto Debentures (various amounts)

London & Blackwall 25/ sh

Leicester and Swannington. .50/sh

Leeds and Selby 100/ sli

Liverpool and Manchester. . 100/ sli
Ditto Quarter Shares .... 25/ sh

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sli

London & S. Western, late London
and Southampton Av. 88/ 17s 9d
Ditto New Shares . .50/ sh 37^/pd
Do. Portsmouth Branch .... 50/sh
London & Birmingh. 100/sh90/pd
Ditto Quarter Shares 25/ sli 5/ pd

Ditto 32/ sh

Ditto New 32/ sh 2/ pd

Manchester & Leeds 100/ sh 70/ pd
Ditto Half Shares . . 50/ sh 30/ pd
Manchester &:Birniing. 70/ sh 40/ pd

Midland Counties 100/ sh

Ditto i-Shares of 25/ 20/ pd

North Midland 100/ sh

Ditto Half Shares 40/ sh

Ditto J shares of 32/ 6s 8d . . 15/ pd
Northern & Eastern 50/ sh 35/ pd
Severn and Wye . . Average 27/ si
Stockton and Darlington. .Average
106/ 13s 4d
S. Eastern and Dover 50/ sh 43/ pd

York & North Midland 50/sh

Ditto Half Shares 25/sh 15/ pd

JOINT STOCK BANKS.
Australasia Bank(Chartered) 40/ sh
Ditto New Shares. . . 40/ sh 10/ pd
Bank of Ceylon(Cha it .)25/ sh 1 5/ pd
Bank of B. N. America (Chart.)
50/ sh 40/ pd
Colonial Bank (Cliart.)100/sh 25/ pd
Com. Bk. of London 1000/sh 200/pd

Ionian State (Chart.) 25/ sh

London and Westminster Bank

100/ sh 20/ pd

New Shares 100 sh.15/ pd

London Joint St. Ba. 50/ sh 10/ pd
National Ba.of Ire. .50/ sh!7£Z pd
Do. Provincial Bank of England

100/ sh 35/ pd

Do. New 20/ sh issued at 2/ 10s pm

10/ pd

Provinc. Bk. of Ire. 100/ sh 25/ pd

Ditto New 10/ sh

South Australian Bkg. Company

25/ sh 22i/ pd

Do. New 25/ sh 15/ pd

Union Bank of Australia.. 25/ sh
Ditto New 25/ sh 20/ pd

Union Bk. of London 50/sh 10/ pd
West of England and South Wales'
District Bank . .20/ sh 12£Z pd|

Price
per

Share.

Div. per

Share

per Ann.

— /aOZ
0/a0Z
60/a2/
lOJ/allZ
28 /a9/

— ZaOZ
— ZaOZ
81/ a9/
IO/6s8d
—ZaOZ
194a0/
97/ nOZ
26/ a 0/
ZaO/
35/a 6Z
60/ai
Q3Zal0Z
0/a0Z
39/ a} Z
121/ai/

6$/a7Z
17£Zal8Z
-/aOZ
11/ aO/
55/

195/

47Z
92/aOZ

59/a60Z

—ZaOZ

-la.01

108/a70Z

24/a25/

57/a8/

28/a9Z

musi

28/a9Z
27Za8Z
8.3 Za7/
20Za7Z
71/a3/
35/a6/
10j/al7

45/

255/

22/a0Z

90/a91Z

31A/a2Z

53Za£Z
15ZaiZ

SOZaOZ
28.i/a9i/
165/
21/a3/

Sl^Zaaz
—ZaOZ
122 a^

17Za£Z

33iZa4Z

8J/a9/
41Za2Z
152 aJZ

I8Za 0Z

5/ per ct
4Z per ct

5/ per ct

13/per ct
13Zper ct
1Z

5Z per ct
3/ per ct
32 per ct
32 per ct

7s per sh
1Z per sh
5Z per ct

2J-Z

il per sh
9jZper ct
9£Zper ct
9£Zper ct

3Z persh
7s 6d
51 per ct
SjZper ct
8;}Zper ct
8^/per ct

5/ per ct

M

/ per ct
u

2/12spsh

14/persh
4/ per ct
9/ per ct
9/ per ct

82 per ct

62 per ct
82 per ct

62 per ct

52 per ct
62 per ct

62 per ct

62 per ct
82 per ct
82 per ct

30£ZalZ
24/a \l.
Q& a|2

50s pr sh
52 per ct
llj/al2/|6/perct

Shares.

CANALS.

Price. Dividend

3,200

lOOOsh)

1000 i ]

980

6,000

l,766JlAshton and Oldham Av. 97/ 18s sh 100/
1,482 |Ashbv-de-laZouch Average 113/ sli 72/aOZ

720 IBarnsley 160/sh 250/

1,260 iBasingstoke 100/ sh 5/

1,005 (Brecknock & Abergavenny 150/ sh|92/a0/
8,800 Birmingham 1-IGth sh. 82 15s .. Il94/a0/
4,000 jBirrn. & Liverpool Junction 100/ sh,21/a0/
100,0002 JDo. do. Debentures (var. amounts)!

COO ]Bridgewater and Taunton. .100/ sli 602
159,631/ |15s0d Calder and Hobble.. 1002 sh,3002aO/

500 |coventry 100/ sh 300/

20,000 iDanube and Mayne..41Z 13s 4d sh 29Z

2,0603 Dudley 100Z sh 92/a32

3,575^ Ellesmere and Chester Av. 133/ sh — ZaOZ
1,297 Forth and Clyde ..Av. 400Z 16s shi

11,600 Grand Junction 100Z sh 113Zal5/

2.849J Grand Union 100/ sh 27/aO/

1,500 Grand Surrey 100Z sh 152

120,000Z Ditto Debentures 100Z sh 672

3,090 Grand Western 100Z sh 10Z

600 Glamorgansh. Av. cost 172Z 18s 4d

5,000 Gloucester and Berkley . . 100Z sh

6,239 Hudderslield . . Aver. 57/ 6s 6d sh

25,328 Kennet & Avon Av. 89Z 18s lOd sh

11,699^ Lancaster Average 47Z Cs 8d sh

2,879£ Leeds and Liverpool 100Z sh

18£ Ditto (New) 80Z sh

540 Leicester 140/ sh

1,897 Leicester & Northamp. Av. 83/ 10s
70 Loughborough.... Av. 142/ 17s sh

3,000 Macclesfield 100/ sh

2,409 Monmouthshire 100/ sh

711 Montgomery(East.Braneh)100Z sh

500 Mersey and Irwell

247 Neath 100Z sh

521 Oakham.. Average cost about 130/

1,786 Oxford 100/ sh

2,400 Peak Forest Average about 78/ sh
2,520 Portsmouth and Arundel . . 50/ sh

2,000 Ditto New 25/sh

21,418 Regent's (or London) Average

33/ 17s 2d sh

5,669 Rochdale Average 85/ sh

500 Shropshire 100/ sh

800 Somerset Coal 150/ sh

3,600 Ditto Lock Fund 12/ 10s sh

700 Stafford and Worcester 140/ sh

500 Shrewsbury 125/ sh

300 Stourbridge 145/ sh 396/

3,647 Stratford-on-Avon Av. 79/9s8d sh;32/a3Z

200 Stroudwater 150/ sh!— 2

533 Swansea 100/ sh!232/a0Z

1,300 Thames and Severn, black 100Z sh 36/
1,150 Ditto ditto red. .1002 sh 382

2,600 Trent and Mersey J sh 502 1500/

8,149 Thames and Medway, Average

19/ 5s 8d sh!22
Ulster 502 sh pd

Warwick and Birmingham 1002 sh

2102

10/a02

222 aO

17/a8/

27£/aOZ

7402

1552

71 ZaOZ

1570Z

20Z a22

200Z

100Z

545Z

365Z

—ZaOZ

570/ aO/

73/

9£2

852

1382

120/

11J2

620/

2802

2
4/
142

6/
10/

3/

18/
202

52
4/
302
72

12 per ct

13212s 8d

2/

1/lOs

1/ 10s

342

162

12£J

5/

842

102
52
252
202

2
302
42

5s 6d
62

82

122

6/ per ct

80/

1152

'202

122

,m

151
[22
22
322 10s

Warwick and Napton 1002 sh

Worcester and Birmingham, Av.
78/ 8s sh..
5,000 Wilts and Berks, Av.67/ 10s 8d sh
905 Wey and Arun 1102 sh

MISCELLANEOUS.

10,000 Anti Dry Rot Company . . 18JZ sh
10,000 [Assam Tea Company 60/ sh 12£/ pd

1,080 ^Auction Mart 50Z sh

10,000 (Australian (Agricultural) 100Z sh

28Z 2s pd
10,000 .Canada Company (Chartered)

100Z sh 32£-Z pd

5,000 iDroitwich Patent Salt 25Z sh

20,000 General Steam Navigation Com-
pany 152 sh 14/ pd
1,800 Ditto Cemetery (Chartered) 25Z sh
1,800 Ditto New (Chartered) 25/ sh

2,100 Hungerford Market 100/ pd

24,800 (Ditto Debentures (var. amounts)..
5,000 [London Cemetery (Chartered)
I 20/ sh

200/ alO/
117/aO/

54/ 852
28/ aO/
-I

OZaOZ

02

38/a402

27/a9/
14/a02

23}Za4Z
322

1412
102

42

1Z16S

12

5s per sh

20s pr sh

35s pr sh

6/ per ct
16s

l/8sprsh
6Z per ct
6Z per ct
30s pr sh
5Z per ct

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand, London.

';§

%

■

5

I

"S

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FEBRUARY, 1842.

No. 2. — Vol. V.] [Second Series.

PLATE I.

The subject of our first Plate is a short-horn bull, " Sir Thomas Fairfax," calved in
April, 1837; roan ; got by Norfolk (2377), dam Miss Fairfax, (Page 509, Vol. 3rd, Herd
Book), by Fairfax (1023), g. d. Lily, by Young Warlaby (2812), gr. g. d. by Young Dim-
ple (971), gr gr. g. d. by Snowball, gr. gr. gr. g. d. by Lay ton, a son of Mr. Charge's
Grey Bull (872). " Sir Thomas Fairfax" was bred by Jonas Whitaker, Esq., Burley,
near Otley, and sold by that gentleman to F. H. Fawkes, Esq., of Farnley Hall, near
Otley, and whilst in his possession, obtained the following premiums, viz. — As the best
year old bull, at Otley, in April, 1838, the premium of three guineas ; as the best two
years old bull, at Leeds, in September, 1839, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's pre-
mium of twenty sovereigns (at the same time he won a match of five guineas, against
Mr. Tempest's celebrated bull, Dan O'Connell, which obtained the first prize as the best
bull of any age at the above meeting); also as the best bull of any age, at the Yorkshire
Agricultural Society's meeting, held at Northallerton, in August, 1840, the premium of
thirty sovereigns, at the same time beating that noted bull, Clementi, in a match of five
guineas each, and was never beaten. Mr. Fawkes sold this bull to the Rev. Mr. Hig-
ginson and Mr. Wilson, of whom he was purchased by Messrs. John Parkinson of Ley
Field, and John Booth, of Gotham, near Newark, in whose possession he now is. Messrs.
Whitaker and Fawkes have some excellent specimens of his stock. If " Sir Thomas Fair-
fax" had appeared as a competitor at the Meeting of the Highland Society at Berwick,
there cannot be the least doubt that he would have won the first prize. We understand
that the present owners have been offered a much larger sum than they gave for him.

PLATE II.

MERCURY; a Celebrated Hunter, the Property of R. F. Shawe, Esq., of Brantingham,

near Hull.

This horse has carried away no less than half-a-dozen prizes as the best thorough-bred
stallion for getting hunters ; the last of which was at the meeting of the Yorkshire Agri-
cultural Society at Hull, where the well-known Slashing Harry competed with him, but
came in second-best.

Mercury was bred by that distinguished sportsman, Sir Tatton Sykes, and sold by him
at a high price to his present owner, R. F. Shawe, Esq., of Brantingham, whose gentle-
manly deportment and urbanity of manners endear him to the neighbourhood in which he
lives. He was not, however, a dear horse, having been hunted for eight successive
seasons without any accident befalling him : he is a very dark chestnut, standing about
fifteen hands three inches high, and possesses beautiful symmetry and great bone. Mer-
cury is nineteen years old ; he was got by Minos, dam by Mellish's Sancho, grandam
by Highflyer, out of Juno by Spectator, &c, and, if our judgment be worth anything, we
pronounce him to be as fine a horse as ever crossed a country. This portrait was taken
by that celebrated artist, W. H. Davis, Esq., who, as many of our readers are aware, is
animal painter to the Queen Dowager ; we need scarcely say more than that the likeness
is so true to nature, that Mr. Shawe has given Mr. Davis an order for a painting for
himself.

OLD SERIES]. G [No. 2.-V0L. XVI.

82

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ROUGH NOTES ON LANDED PRO-
PERTY IN THE WEST OF ENG-
LAND.

BY K-

AN ASSISTANT LAND-SURVEYOR.

The surveyor frequently meeting with proprie-
tors, stewards, and occupiers, has many opportu-
nities for gaining information relative to landed
property.

His profession requires a frequent change of re-
sidence, and tins enables him to ascertain the
tenure by which land is held, the manner in which
different properties are managed in various local-
ities, and to trace the effects produced by these and
many other causes, which, operating upon and
through the agriculturists, ultimately shew their
effects on the land.

The land in the west of England may be divided
into three classes or divisions, according to the
state or condition it is in.

1. Land remaining of the same quality, conse-
quently of the same intrinsic value.

2. Land deteriorating and declining in intrinsic
value.

3. Land improving and increasing in intrinsic
value.

It may perhaps be well to define the term in-
trinsic value —

" The worth of a thing
Is what it will bring."

But this worth is not its intrinsic value ; this must
be judged by the quantity and quality of its pro-
duce. An estate may be of less intrinsic value,
and yet let for more rent. If an estate continues
to produce for a number of years the same amount
of produce, and of like quality, it remains of the
same intrinsic value. If it has been farmed so as
to give a less quantity of produce, it has decreased
in intrinsic value. On the contrary, if it has been
cultivated so that it yields an increase, it has evi-
dently increased in intrinsic value.

There are other causes which affect the price of
land independent of the increase or decrease in its
quality ; but these will always be found to pro-
duce their full effects at every sale and every let-
ting. To show that such is the case, it may be
well to name a cause which increases the price of
land, and place its effects in contrast with those
caused by the alteration in its quality. The de-
crease in the value of money has increased the
price of landed produce ; so much so, that land
which has for the last twenty years constantly de-
creased in quality, still lets "for more rent ; but
notwithstanding this, the quality of the land has
made itself felt.

To shew this, let mesuppose three estates,belong-
ing to three proprietors ABC, which were at the
last setting considered of equal value, and accord-
ingly let for (lie same rent— say £200 each ; that
they are again to be let, and that the decline in
the value of money has raised the price of produce
fifteen per cent. The estate belonging to A has
been farmed so that its productive quality remains
unaltered ; if the price of produce had remained
unchanged it would now let for the same, but this

has increased £15 per cent., consequently it now
lets for £230. The estate belonging to B has
been badly managed, and decreased £10 per cent,
in intrinsic value; had the pi ice of produce remain-
ed stationary it would now let for £180; but that
has increased £15 percent., so itnow makes £210.
C's estate has been well farmed, its productions
are increased £10 per cent. ; it would from this
cause only now let for £220, but the increased
value of its produce, £15 per cent., causes it to be
let for £250. A's farm has let for £15 percent,
more — not that its productions are increased, but
because they are of more value; he is a gainer
by the decrease in the value of money, not from
the quality of his land. B's farm has only let for
£5 percent, more, although the price of produce
has risen 15. Why ? The effects of bad farming
show themselves by deducting 10 from the 15 per-
cent. ; so that the increase is only £5 per cent.,
which is the difference between the loss in the
quality of the land, and the gain caused by the al-
teration in the value of money. Here we have an
estate deteriorating in quality, of less intrinsic va-
lue, let for more rent. The increase of rent on C's
estate is £25 per cent., 10 from being well culti-
vated, and 15 from the increase in the price of
produce. In each of these cases, the quality of
the land shows its effects, remaining unchanged on
A's estate ; he only gets the increase of rent caused
by the alteration in the price of produce. B feels
the full effects of bad management by being com-
pelled to deduct 10 per cent, from the 15 he
otherwise would have realised. C experiences
the pleasing result of good cultivation by receiving
15 per cent., and also an extra £10 per cent, caused
by the improved quality of his land.

No proprietor, when he lets an estate, should be
satisfied because he receives an increase of rent ;
he should examine into the effects produced on the
estate by the manner in which it had been cultiva-
ted during the last term, and ascertain whether
the increase arises from that or from some other
source.

It may be thought that, owing to the spreading
influence of agricultural science, the exertions
making by various individuals, and the stimulus
given to agriculture, but a small quantity of land
could be found to be placed in the first class — viz.,
land remaining of the same quality. There is,
however, enough to entitle it to a separate divi-
sion. In this class, things may be said to go on
in the old- fashioned way, the sons treading in their
fathers' steps ; many think the old methods best,
and trouble themselves but little concerning new
things, and generally look with suspicion on any
alteration in farming, prophecying ill of those who
follow it.

The farm buildings in this division — and the same
may be said of nine-tenths in the West of Eng-
land— are built as if inconvenience had been stu-
died. A man must be clever who can plan a
farm-yard worse than the majority of them, and
the dwelling-house here, barn there, stable in one
corner, pig-houses in another, the cattle-sheds
somewhere— it would puzzle a stranger to find
some of them ; in fact, the farm-yards look as if
the houses had been raised upon them. The

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

83

buildings are generally in indifferent repair, a false
economy on the part of the landlords and tenants :
the live stock, of middling quality, slowly impro-
ving, and this improvement may be traced to
more active agriculturists ; the animals for breed-
ing are most of them purchased in the immediate
neighbourhood. But few of the new, or improved
implements of husbandly are seen ; the flail is
often heard in the barn, thrashing and winnowing
machines are scarce; ploughs, harrows, &c., of the
old fashioned construction, requiring a greater
power than the more modern ones to work them.

Tim land is in good heart, not very clean or par-
ticularly foul, plenty of thistles, and a little couch-
grass. The greatest fault which can be found is,
that no capital has been expended in making what
may be called permanent improvements. Waste
land, such as may be covered with furze, &c, which
would amply repay for a judicious outlay, still in
the same state ; wet land undrained, water allowed
to run unheeded that might be employed in irriga-
tion, and thereby save much good manure to be
applied to other purposes ; roads, which ought on
every estate to be well laid out and kept in repair,
but few, and frequently running direct up the face
of the hills, and the ruts axle-deep in many places.
I have seen three strong horses labouring to diag
a load which, had the road been in good repair,
two would have drawn ; or, had a few pouDds
been expended to form a new road, one strong
horse would have taken the load to the same
place.

The economy of labour is but little studied ;
most persons wish to dispatch the operations of
farming with as little labour as possible : but in-
stead of studying how to perform them well with
the least power, they generally apply only a part of
the labour necessary, and that costs them much
more than it would had they judiciously used the
power they possessed.

A man with two sticks may be heard day after
day, week after week, thumping the corn in
the barn ; three or four horses may be seen
toiling and sweating in a machine, when in some
cases a stream of water might be made, with little
expense, to perform the work. Had not the manu-
facturers studied the economy of labour more than
the agriculturists, the balance of commerce, instead
of being in our favour, would have been sadly
reversed. The rent on these lands is generally
moderate.

The description of the second division, viz. —
" land deteiioratingin quality, consequently of less
intrinsic value," ought, considering its importance,
to be most minute and particular. It is of import-
ance to every one— to the proprietor, because his
property is annually decreasing in value ; and to
all, because the land yearly produces less food for
their support.

It is also of importance when we consider the
extent of land which is admitted to be in this state.
I have heard it supposed to be upwards of a half
— the exact proportion matters little ; it is certain
that a very large quantity is deteriorating, some
more rapidly than others. Were it a consequence
that land must deteriorate if cultivated, no one
would grumble ; but when we know that with

proper management it may be made to produce
more, and also improve in quality, it is highly vexa-
tious to every one to see things going on as they
are.

It would occupy too much time to describe this
class as it ought. Possessing neither the time nor
talent requisite, F shall be as succinct as possible,
hoping that very soon some one more competent
will press this subject more forcibly on the attention
of the landowners.

On some lands in this division, the state of the
farm buildings, the quality of the stock, and the
kind of implements used, are similar to those in
the first class; and in the total absence of all per-
manent improvements, such as the reclaiming of
waste land, &c, they are alike, but here the simi-
larity ends. In the first class affairs go on tole-
rably well, but on these lands everything is bad.
The arable land, in fact this is the only kind to be
found, the meadow and pasture grounds, are all
broken and treated as the rest of the estates ; and
when such land is considered too strong to produce
com, the quantity of manure is lessened to prevent
the corn crops from overgrowing. I recollect hear-
ing two farmers conversing — " So you have broken
the meadow, you'll get no corn there ; it will all
go to lie." The significant reply was, " I'll make
the corn stand upright 'fore I ha' done wa' 'un."
It cannot be impressed loo strongly on the landed
proprietary the vast loss they are sustaining by
allowing old grass land to be broken. The occu-
pants say " the grass is coarse, and the land full of
weeds, that it must be broken to clean it, &c."
But examine how these lands have been treated,
and twenty times to one it will be found that the
grass became coarse, and the weeds plentiful, from
bad management ; there is very little grass land
but what may be made to produce good herbage,
and the weeds, if any, easily got rid of without
breaking the land. The land is all tilled, that is
if a couple of scratchings with a plough and a har-
row and roller dragged over it two or three times
can be called tilling, a small quantity of seed, a
much smaller quantity of manure. Where lime is
used, the quantity at times would hardly give the
fields a covering of whitewash ; after such manage-
ment the crops are necessarily scanty, weeds plen-
tiful, in some places more than half the produce ;
thistles, couchgrass, coltsfoot, See., grow in abun-
dance ; the former sometimes stunted in growth
by the deterioration, the other two appear to grow
in rivalry, striving which can cover the greatest
quantity of land, the couchgrass kindly forming a
thick wig to prevent the land from catching cold.
If you look at the orchards, and have not pre-
viously met the farmers returning from market,
you would think they were all teetotallers, and had
sworn dire enmity to cyder; ten or a dozen trees
crammed together here, six or seven wanting there,
many blown down and suffered to remain, others
standing though dead ; thistles, brambles, nettles,
&c, grow luxuriantly; horses or ether cattle pas-
tured on them as may be thought convenient. The
quantity of stock in proportion to the extent of the
farms incredibly small; on a farm of forty acres
naturally very good land, but when I saw it in a
most wretched condition, I found only two calves,

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84

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

one young colt, and i,vo labour horses, the whole
not worth £25.

Two classes of men are found occupying these
lands — the one poor, and paying exorbitantly high
rents (the rent is very high on all such land).
They are unable from lack ol capital to adopt the
improved systems of agriculture, and are thus com-
pelled to get as much as possible from the land at
a little expense, to pay the rent and other out-
goings. Here it may be well to slate that the rates,
tithes, &c, have been regulated in a great number
of parishes in this part by the amount of lent
paid. Thus the occupants of these lands doubly
suffer; the rent is too much for them to pay with
fair outgoings, but when they are obliged to pay
rates, &c, in proportion to that rent, much above
what they fairly ought, the amount becomes ex-
tremely burdensome, and the only way they
have to escape bankruptcy is to impoverish the land.
Let not the proprietors suppose that because the
tenants pay these outgoings they do not suffer.
When an estate has paid high tithes, rates, &c. for
a long period, it is very difficult to get them re-
duced, although they may be much beyond the
average of the rest of the parish ; in fact they may
almost be considered fixed sums, and when these
estates are to be let, every shilling of such expences
is calculated by the taker. Who then pays them ?
most certainly the proprietor.

The other class of men possess capital, which
they have accumulated or increased by taking es-
tates in fair order, and then impoverishing them.
They readily offer high rents as a bait to the pro-
prietor, calculating that they shall be able to repay
themselves handsomely during the term, which is
invariably short.

Being migratory in their habits, they look out
about the end of their terms for another farm — one
that is in tolerable order. This they make every
exertion to get, and when successful, they proceed
as before, leaving all the estates they occupy in a
"farmer-like manner." Few would believe that
proprietors are so foolish as to let to such parties ;
the fact is, they are not known to them. Many
years elapse between the letting of estates, and
circumstances are forgotten ; and the character of
a farmer coming from a distance is but seldom,
too seldom, inquired into : and should it be, the
tempting offer of twenty, thirty, or one hundred
pounds a year increase of rent generally covers all
defects, and the owner of the estate thinks him-
self a great gainer ; but were he to set down as lost
£100 for every £5 he receives above a fair rent
with a good tenant, he would be nearer the truth,
and his calculations would then be too low.

The operations on the other lands in this divi-
sion are so various, that it would be impossible to
particularise the whole. Some present a fair ap-
pearance, improved implements, superior slock,
all the waste land cultivated, draining and irriga-
tion paid much attention to. On some estates
more care is bestowed on one or two of these than
on the whole. The breed of stock is the favourite
hobby with many: to this everything else is sacri-
ficed, and the names of some figure as successful
competitors for prizes at the different agricultural
exhibitions ofstock. Some win deservedly, others

would have acted more prudently had they, instead
of giving so much food to the few beasts intended
for exhibition, distributed it equally among their
stock ; these would not then be walking skeletons.
You cannot judge of the quality or condition of
their general stock by the few animals they show ;
these are fat or in high order, those frequently the
reverse.

A few years since I attended an agricultural
show, where several pens of ewe hogs were exhi-
bited ; most of them were fat, and had evidently
been kept high for the purpose. In one pen nine
of them were fat, the tenth was in comparison a
poor miserable-looking animal. On enquiry, I
was informed that the exhibitor had selected ten
from his flock 'some months previously; one, it was
unfortunate, died ; he then took another from his
flock — of course he chose the best, and a single
glance of that animal told the quality and condition
of his stock more correctly than a long examination
of the others could have done.

The possession of good stock is all that appears
to be thought necessary by some ; they forget that
such stock require to be well kept. Instead of be-
ing kept in yards where they would be sheltered
from the rough weather, and thus a large quantity
of manure made, they are frequently turned by
day out on a common into a bare field, or are suf-
fered to ramble if they please on some waste or
marshy ground, and are often left to remain there
during all kinds of weather; the poor animals look
miserable. If you remonstrate with these parties,
(I have frequently) their reply is — " It makes
them hardy, and gives them capital coats.'' It
may be so : I know they look hollow-eyed, and
walk as if they possessed but little strength. Aglance
at some of the well filled mowhays in this class would
lead a person to suppose, seeing so much corn, and
also in the yard so many improved implements,
that they manage their arable land well: pull a
lock from a mow, the smarting of your hands will
quickly inform you that all is not corn, and the in-
ferior quality of the lock drawn will cause you to
ask yourself the question — " Where did all the
corn come from ?" A walk over the estate will
shew you that the land is badly farmed, and too
large a quantity kept on tillage. The potato crop
is in general paid much attention to, the turnip
not being so great a favouiile : with a few it is
largely cultivated ; sometimes sown in drills, but
more frequently broadcast. The land for them is
in general badly preparer!, and being as badly hoed,
a goodly company of weeds make their appear-
ance, accompanied by a pretty considerable num-
ber of stalks of corn ; these, together with the
quantity you may see growing on the thatch of the
mows, &ct, show plainly that notwithstanding
their thrashing and winnowing machines, there
must be bad management in theii barns.

It had been well if the proprietors had refrained
from draining, or assisting their tenants in reclaim-
ing waste lands in this class. It is true the land
is thus rendered fit for cultivation, but by being
so, it is tilled as the rest of the estates, and thus
becomes deteriorated : no proprietor should drain,
or assist a tenant in making those improvements,
unless the estate be well managed by him.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

85

It is a frequent complaint among such farmers
that the drained land becomes wet, and lliey throw
all the blame on the drainers, when the fault is
most frequently their own; they forget that drains
require to be kept clean as well as made. They
seldom clean the openings of the principal drains,
but suffer the weeds and mud to choke them.
When measuring such land, I have cleaned the
mouths of the drains with the end of my cross
staff, and the accumulated water has flowed in
profusion.

In this division is included perhaps the most
melancholy sight that landed property presents to
the eye. It is indeed saddening to behold an es-
tate on which a wealthy proprietor once resided
falling rapidly into ruin. Through the shattered
roof the water finds its way into every room and
passage, rotting the walls and floors ; from the for-
mer hang in strips the paper or drapery, which
wave in the wind, that finds its way through the
broken windows, and the latter crumbles beneath
the feet : the gardens and pleasure grounds over-
grown with weeds, briers, thorns, &.C. ; fallen
trees lying about rotting, fences broken down, in
fact everything looks dreary and desolate; no one
can fail of being struck with the scene : and when a
calculation is made of the properly lost in a few
years through carelessness, the calculator becomes
astonished, and exclaims — " Can this be correct V
It appears as if fate has decreed that as soon as a
gentleman's country-house becomes uninhabited
it must decay ; and so peremptory are her laws,
that not one in ten escapes. Many a noble man-
sion falls into ruin from the want of a few pounds
being annually expended to keep the water and
wind out, and to have fires occasionally lighted in
the different apartments. These are the estates
the migratory farmers most anxiously seek after —
woe to the properly if they be successful !

On many estates in the first and second classes,
the farmers collect the surface stones into small
heaps in different parts of the fields, and suffer them
to remain frequently for years, although the wheels
are calling loudly for them in the roads. They
present a singular and dirty appearance; in one
part of the north of Devon they are derisively
called " fat bullocks." Other farmers appear to
be rather more shy ; they throw them into the
ditches, and permit the weeds, brambles and thorns
to encroach a yard or two into the field to hide
them from the casual passer : it is useless to attempt
concealment from the prying eye of the surveyor,
for he passes by every hedge, looks into every
ditch, and deep sometimes are the curses he be-
stows on the farmers when he alights on such stones
as he descends from a high hedge.

Although the farmers occupying the third class,
viz. — " land improving in quality," are far behind
their northern brethren, they are entitled to praise,
for they have effected much against great difficul-
ties. The improvement of agriculture in the west
of England is retarded by causes which are not
found in many other parts, or they do not exist in
so great a degree. As I shall have occasion to
notice ihese and others which affect landed pro-
perty, it may be better to defer naming them at
present

A few of the best farmers have begun their im-
provements in the right way by thoroughly clean-
ing their land; gelling it into good tilth, and by
pursuing abetter system of cropping: instead of
two or three straw crops in succession as formerly,
they now alternate these with green crops, princi-
pally turnips. Many good farmers would do well
to follow the example of the others, and pay more
attention to cleanliness ; a stalk of corn may as
well grow as a thistle, or a root of clover as one
of couch-grass. Unclean liness is the great fault in
this class ; there is much land that is improving,
but far from clean. Their implements are also
much improved — many of the sorts used in the mid-
land counties have been introduced, and in some
instances have been judiciously altered, and thus
rendered more serviceable; there yet remains much
to be done, and no doubt it will be.

By the spirited conduct of a few individuals,
the breed of stock has been improved ; so much
so, that the celebrated breeders of the north and
east would stand a fair chance of being beaten at
the different exhibitions of stock in Devon, or even
in Cornwall. The impetus thus given, has exten-
ded itself widely, too much so ; high bred sheep
are often seen on places not adapted to them.
Some of the moor flocks, admirably suited as they
are for such localities, were a few years since inju-
diciously crossed with the Leicester breed ; their
possessors soon found that this cross would not
do, and returned to the original breed. The agri-
cultural society of Tavistock, Devon, have very
properly given prizes for the best sheep of the
Dartmoor breed. The quantity of slock on the
most improved estates, in proportion to their extent
is great ; and on comparing it with the number on
the impoverished lands, the difference is surprising.
A person who has not seen and contrasted the
quantities on the two kinds of land, would hardly
credit a true statement, the disparity is so great.

Throughout the west, the majority of farmers are
on one subject highly censurable, viz.— in the
management of their farm-yard manure. On some
farms it is collected into one heap ; on others,
scattered promiscuously here and there — frequently
the whole of the wash of the yard and adjoining
roads flows through it, carrying off" a quantity of
valuable manure ; this is sometimes used in irriga-
tion, but 1 have often seen it flowing uncared-for
into a neighbouring rivulet. I recollect measuring
a farm-yard below which there is a meadow that
had been some years previously watered ; I asked
the farmer why he did not turn the wash of his
yard over it, instead of allowing it to run into an
adjacent stream. His reply was — " I did so
for a year or two, but it made the grass grow too
strong." This needs no comment. On a few
farms more care is bestowed ; the water is kept as
much as possible from mixing with the dung, and
the liquid which flows from the mass runs into a
tank, and at leisure time, or when the tank is full,
it is carried out on the meadow or pasture grounds,
and proves highly beneficial.

I have named this plan of saving the liquid to
many farmers as one they would do well to adopt ;
their reply has been — " No doubt it would be a
good thing, but it would cost four or five pounds —

86

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

it will not do to lay out so much cash." They ad-
mit it to be a good plan, but decline doing it
because of the expense ; and yet these persons lay
out large sums, £20, £30, £50, or even £100 in
artificial manures — lime, bone-dust, &c. ; sending
their carts or waggons 10, 15, or 20 miles to fetch
it. They annually do this, but propose to ihein
a plan by which they may increase their home-
made manure, and they cry out if it costs a shilling
or two.

Were some speculator to barrel a quantity of
this liquid and give it a fine name, the same far-
mers would, I doubt not, freely purchase, and the
seller have a profitable trade.

A slight glance at the manner in which the land
is managed, shows that many of the occupants are
unacquainted with the nature of the land diey cul-
tivate, the soit of grain, grass, &c, and the kind of
stock that would be best for them to keep. On
many estates of moderately good oat land, several
acres of barley are annually grown. The produce
is but little, and the sample bad : ask the farmer
why he grows barley when he could get a belter
crop of oats; his reply is, " I want bailey for my
labourers and to feed my pigs, so 1 must grow it."
A silk manufacturer might as well say, " I wear
shoes, therefore I must make them."

Again — on certain estates large Hocks of sheep
are kept, although the farmers are yearly told in
plain terms by the death of several with the coalhe,
that they have no business with them, or at least
with a standing flock.

Again — on excellent sheep farms, two or three
colts, and ten or twelve bullocks are reared ; the
former eat their heads off before they are two years
old, the latter give but small profit.

Every farmer should make himself acquainted
with the capabilities or his farm, sow the seed and
keep the stock best adapted to it, and he will find
this to be more profitable than growing and keep-
ing all sorts.

To shew the rapid decrease in the value of land
caused by its being badly farmed, I will state one
case.

A few months since I accompanied my employer
when he valued a large parish for the put pose of
apportioning the rent-charge in lieu of tithes. As
we entered one of the fields, a respectable farmer
who was there told us that about ten years pre-
vious, he had farmed that and the adjoining field.
At that period he considered the latter to be worth
most by five shillings per acre, but lie expected
that we should find it the worst of the two.

After a careful survey, the first was put down at
70s. per acre, the second at 47s. Now supposing
the fields were of equal value at the time they were
farmed by him, we have a decrease in the value of
the second of about one-third in the short period
of ten years. The fields are of equal size, about
four acres each ; if they were now let at a fair rent
they would make —

£ s. d.

1st field, 4 acres, at 70s. per acre 14 0 0

2nd field 4 acres, at 47s. per acre 9 8 0

Again — suppose they were to be sold, land sells
freely in that neighbourhood at thirty years' value.

£ s. d.
1st field, annual value 14/ , at 30 years 420 0 0
2nd ditto 9/. 8s. do. 282 0 0

Difference 138 0 0

Thus, in the short period often years, the owner
has sustained a loss equal to £138 on a field
of only four acres. If on so small a quantity of
land as four acres the loss be so great, to what
must it amount on large properties, even supposing
the deterioration to be only one-fourth or one-
sixth instead of one-third, and there are many es-
tates as much lessened in value ? It is time for
many proprietors individually to ask themselves
this question — " Are my estates improving or re-
trograding; in quality ?" Let them not suppose
because their rent-rolls increase yearly, that their
estatesare improving ; these may increase, although
their estates retrograde. The population is rapidly
increasing, fresh demands are daily and hourly
making for food ; it may be supplied them — does
any one ask how ? I reply by referring to the
second field. At the time I saw it, there was grow-
ing in it a crop of barley of about twenty imperial
bushe's per acre : it ought to have grown upwards
of fifty. Let its owner make it do so, and the other
proprietors whose lands are deteriorated follow his
example. Let those whose property may be said
to l;e quiescent improve it, and those WJH>s3 lands
are improved continue to improve them ; they can,
scarcely go too far. It is time for this to be done
if the price of produce be materially lowered ; and
a cause which will produce that effect, if brought
into action, is even now pressing fearfully upon the
landed interest. If the price be lowered, many
estates in the third class will pass into Schedule
A, and some of the proprietors, as well as most
of the occupiers, may go with them.

Difference

4 12 0

WRENTHAM FARMERS' CLUB.

THIRD REPORT.

The committee of the "Wrentham Farmers' Club,"
in presenting their third annual report, consider it
unnecessary to make any lengthened introductory
remarks, and in reporting the proceedings of the
club for the past year, tbey will therefore give a brief
outline of the discussions that have taken place, with
the resolutions arrived at on the different subjects
brought under consideration, and although nothing
particularly new exhibits itself in those questions
whichhave been the subject of discussion, thev trust
that some interesting statements have beeu made, and
observations elicited, which may tend to the improve-
ment of all parties.

Your committee in referring to the minutes find
that the recommendation contained in the commence-
ment of the report of the preceding year, viz. —
that of establishing a fund, by subscription, for re-
warding industrious and deserving labourers and
servants, and also for the encouragement of good cul-
tivation of cottage allotments, was the first subject
taken into consideration. Accordingly the meeting
in January was engaged in promoting the above lau-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

87

<];tble object, and after a discussion, in which the
prevailing opinion was, that such a measure would
be attended with much benefit to the labouring po-
pulation, and also be of great general utility; it was
resolved that a subscription he opened for the above
purpose, to which several of the members present
entered their names. A committee was afterwards
appointed to draw up rules and regulations for its
management, and to offer such rewards and premiums
as would tend most to the desired end, which weie
afterwards printed and circulated in the district ; it
was, however, agreed, that the above fund should
be altogether distinct from that of the club, and that
any individual, not a member of the latter, should
be allowed to contribute to its object ; still as the
interests of both farmer and labourer are so intimately
connected with each other, it would be desirable to
unite them together as much as circumstances will
admit — feeling that the success of one would tend
materially to the advancement of the other. Your
committee here beg to acknowledge the receipt of
donations from Sir Thomas Gooch, Bart., and other
gentlemen, in aid of the above object ; and they would
take the present opportunity of again urging this
subject upon the consideration of members, and upon
all who feel interested in raising the moral condition
as well as endeavouring to promote the comfort and
happiness of their poorer neighbours.

At the next meeting in February, the subject in-
tended for that evening's discussion was superseded
by one specially brought forward by a member, as
claiming the attention of the club— " The equalization
of the bushel measure." In stating this question to
the meeting, he disavowed any intention of discuss-
ing it to the prejudice of any party or individual ;
he considered this and other similar societies formed
as well for the protection as the improvement of
agriculture, and therefore any grievance or abuse
from which a member suffers, was a fit subject for
discussion.

He believed that many honourable merchants and
others had bushels larger than the law allowed,
without their knowledge ; which circumstance arose
in a great measure from the inefficient manner in
which inspectors performed their duties, by stamp-
ing bushels of unequal size, more particularly when
too large, as instances were recorded of bushels
having been stamped varying from half-a-pint to a
pint beyond the legal size ; the consequence of
which was, a great irregularity in the delivery of
corn, and an unpleasant feeling between buyer and
seller frequently occasioned thereby. Several cases
were stated of corn having been sold in London, and
accounts invariably returned of the same quantity as
sent, shewing that the same bushel which gave uni-
versal satisfaction, where all corn comes under the
measurement of a sworn meter, was frequently found
deficient in the immediate neighbourhood.

He concluded by proposing a resolution to the
effect (bat it would be desirable for each member to
forward his bushel to the inspector, to be tried by
him, and where requisite, to be altered to the legal
size, holding neither more nor less than the standard
measure. After much desultory discussion, the fol-
lowing resolution was agreed upon, and your com-
mittee have much pleasure instating their convic-
tion that some benefit has resulted to the neighbour-
hood from the agitation of this question.

Resolved — '' That the secretary do write to the
clerks of the magistrates of the several divisions
ofBlything, Reccles, and Lowestoft, requesting
them to direct the attention of the magistrates
to the irregular manner in which inspectors have

been in the habit of stamping the bushel mea-
sure, and that they would be pleased to enforce
the fine imposed by act of parliament for such
dereliction of duty, whenever brought before
them."
At the following meeting, the subject was, " On
the application of nitrate of soda, and its effects as a
"manure." The member introducing it, related the
following experiment he had made as applied to
wheat : —

"March the 12th, 1840.— Sowed nitrate of soda
at half a cnrt. per acre on about half a field — missed
two stetches, then sowed the remainder of the field
with an cwt. per acre. On the 23rd of May, the
land sown with the half cwt. only was again sown
with half an cwt. per acre more, excepting one
stetch, still leaving the two stetches without any ; in
a few days a great difference was perceptible, both
in colour and strength of the wheat between the land
sown with nitrate and that not sown ; and there was
also an evident difference in the stetch sown with
half a cwt. only, being much paler in colour, and not
so strong in plant as the land sown with the cwt.
per acre— and so continued till harvest. At harvest,
measured one-third of an acre from the two stetches
left unsown, and the same quantity from two sown
stetches adjoining ; each crop was harvested and
thrashed separately, and the result was, an increase
at the rate of five bu>hels and seven pints of wheat,
and two and a-half cwt. of straw per acre on the ni-
trated part above that not nitrated. This experiment
was made on light land, a pea stubble mucked for
the wheat, which lost the colour very much in the
dry month of April, and became very weak in plant
previous to the nitrate being applied, but improved
very rapidly afterwards."

He had also applied it to barley and oats, without
receiving much benefit, and is of opinion that apply-
ing it to land of a deep staple and already in a good
state, likely to be injurious, by producing too lux-
uriant a growth of straw, and tending to injure the
quality of the grain without increasing the quantity.
In corroboration of this, another member related an
experiment he had made on a good mixed soil for
wheat, in which the crop on the land not sown with
nitrate exceeded that which was sown by six bushels
per acre, the land all treated alike previously; there
was also less straw, (a circumstance not easily ac-
counted for) and the wheat not so good in quality
on the nitrated part of the field. Several other
statements were made, in which its application had
been attended with success, on lands varying from a
poor light soil to a strong clay ; in an experiment on
the former description ot laud, the increase was at
the rate of sixteen per cent., and in another, on a
clay soil, an increase of about fourteen per cent, was
obtained — the straw on the nitrated part was also six
inches longer than where not nitrated. Instances of
its successful application to clover layers, and also to
grass lands were stated ; in the latter case, stock
were found afterwards to eat down the coarse places
where it had been applied. The following resolution
was adopted : —

Resolved — *' That on lands to which it is applica-
ble, nitrate of soda has the effect of stimulating
the plant, by which means more straw and an
increased quantity of corn have almost invariably
been obtained. From the statements made, the
wheatcrop appears to derive most benefit ; but
on rich soils, and those in a high state of culti-
vation, its application has been found injurious
to the quality of the grain, and the quantity not
increased. It is therefore the opinion of the

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

meeting; that strong clay and light soils are the
most adapted for its use."
The next meeting was engaged in a discussion on
c'The most approved varieties of heet and Swedes
for cultivation." On this suhject some interesting
observations were made with regard to the different
stocks now generally grown, the comparative merits
of each kind, and their adaptation to particular soils,
the substance of which is embodied in the following
resolution: —

Resolved — " With regard to beet.it is the opinion
of the meeting, that the stock known as the
' Ram's Horn,' is decidedly the best for cultiva-
tion on heavy land, from the circumstance of its
growing less into the land, but at the same time
being very productive ; and that for more
tender soils, the purple and yellow kinds are
considered preferable, both as regards quantity
and quality ; one important feature in favour of
the latter is, that it has been found to vegetate
much quicker than any other variety. With re-
ference to Swedes, it has been satisfactorily
proved that Skirving's stock is preferable to
any other, as producing a much heavier crop,
and not inferior in quality. Matson's stock, re-
cently introduced into this neighbourhood, al-
though considered very good in quality, has
generally failed in producing an abundant crop.
The inference to be drawn from the remarks
made on this subject is, that it is highly desi-
rable greater attention should he paid to the se-
lection of seeds of the best description for culti-
vation, and also, that in many instances, if a
larger quantity of seed weie deposited it would
be attended with benefit to the crop, as a means
of bringing the plants much sooner to the hoe."
" The proper application »f farm-yard manure,
with regard to those crops to which it can be most
beneficially applied," was the next subject which
engaged attention. The member introducing it, after
observing the great importance attending a judicious
use of animal manures, and that much would at all
times depend on the nature of the soil to which it
was applied, contended, that on strong and mixed
soil lands it was most essential to apply manure ex-
tensively for the root and bean crops ; and as regards
the latter, this system had the effect of benefiting
the following crop of wheat on lands of that descrip-
tion. On light soils, it was considered decidedly
preferable to be applied immediately to the wheat
crop, and only a small portion for roots, as it was be-
lieved on such lands a heavy manuring for wheat was
in some measure beneficial to the succeeding crop
of turnips.

Manuring young layers was often hazardous, and
not recommended as a system desirable to be adopted
to any extent, except on good lands, as when applied
on lighter soils it was frequently found to be produc-
tive of little or no benefit in a dry summer.

One member who preferred carrying his manure
for wheat, considered it desirable to be applied im-
mediately after the hay crop is carted, as manurino-
thus early tended materially to strengthen the flag,
but an objection (of much importance to a flock farm)
was raised to this practice, as sheep would not rea-
dily eat the herbage afterwards. On this subject
the meeting came to the following resolution: —
Resolved— "Although no fixed plan can be laid
down as to which are the most suitable crops
for applying farm-yard manure, a great deal al-
ways depending on seasons and the nature of
the soil ; but from the remarks made, however,
the meeting is of opinion that on good mixed

soil and heavy lands it is highly desirable to
manure well for the root and bean crops ; but that
on lighter soils, and where it is not considered
right to manure extensively for roots, most be-
nefit will arise by applying it immediately to the
wheat crop rather than to maiden layers, which
latter system the meeting does not consider it
desirable to adopt, except on lands of good
quality and kind for clover."
" The advantage of horse-hoeing the root crop,"
was the next question proposed. The implement
used for this purpose, and said to have been invented
by Tull upwards of a century ago, although but par-
tially employed of late years, has recently been
brought into much more general use ; and as the
system of drilling turnips is now so extensively
practised, its utility is the more apparent. Much
advantage was stated to result to the root crop from
an early application of it by the admission of atmo-
spheric air, and as tending materially to promote the
growth of plants in an early stage; but one of its
principal advantages would be found at those times
when a sufficient number of hands cannot be pro-
cured to meet the exigencies of the season, and cir-
cumstances render expedition indispensable. It was
however thought, that no material saving in the
shape of manual labour would be effected, but the
land would be left in a much cleaner and better
state than before. In order to be used most effect-
ually, it is necessary the land should be in a fine
state of tilth, or the clods would be liable to bury
many of the young plants. The meeting agreed as
follows : —

Resolved — "That although no pecuniary saving
will be effected with regard to manual labour
from the use of the horse-hoe, much benefit will
result to the root crop by its application, as
being a means of pulverizing the soil,
and checking the growth of weeds when
the crop is in an immature state, as well as
bringing the land into a much better condition
for more effectually performing the manual ope-
ration ; and also that the system tends mate-
rially to promote the growth of plants, more
particularly in an early stage."
" The cultivation of lucerne," next engaged the
attention of the club. The member introducing this
subject, said, he had brought it forward more with
a view of obtaining information with regard to its
cultivation and usefulness. He had two years since
laid down a piece of land of a gravelly nature with
lucerne; the first year it was cut but twice, the fol-
lowing year the first mowing produced eight tons
fifteen cwt. per acre ; that in making this into stover,
it would probably waste about three-fourths, thus
leaving about two tons of hay : the weather after-
wards setting in very hot and dry, the subsequent
cuttings were not so productive. A case was stated
where a 'piece of lucerne had been cut twice this
year, and produced at least two tons of hay each
time, with every prospect of a third crop nearly as
abundant. Ninety pounds per day was stated to be
a sufficient quantity for a horse, and that if fifteen
or sixteen tons per acre in a green state are produced
annually, it would be found very advantageous to
cultivate, especially where short of pasture ; and
one great advantage attending its cultivation is, that
it comes earlier than tares by two or three weeks.
It was considered a good system to mow the first
two crops, and to feed off a third with sheep, as the
teathing it would tend materially to keep down the
grass ;^and in making into hay it is desirable to be
mad© a good deal on cocks, otherwise much of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

89

leaf would be lost. An interesting discussion took
place, which was afterwards adjourned to the follow-
ing meeting in order to obtain the opinions of one
or two absent members conversant with the subject,
whose remarks coinciding with most of the foregoing
observations, the following resolution was adop-
ted:—

Resolved — " That a loose soil with a cool bottom
is the best adapted to the cultivation of lucerne,
and that land thus intended to be cultivated re-
quires to be previously well cleaned and ma-
nured and brought into a good state of tillage ;
and in order to ensure productiveness, a light
manuring must be repeated annually. On light
soils and where it is intended to feed a latter
crop off with sheep, sowing broadcast is recom-
mended : but on lands of good quality it is more
desirable to be put in drills of eighteen inches
apart ; in all cases a thick seed is very essential.
With regard to its usefulness, it is the opinion
of the meeting that it is a most valuable grass
to cultivate, and deserving of more attention
than has hitherto been paid to it, not only from
the abundant crops which, under good manage-
ment, have generally been produced, but from
its coming: at a time when there is an absence
of all other green food."
The following meeting was engaged in a discussion
on "subsoil ploughing with regard to its utility and
practical effects." This subject, as recommended in
the report of the preceding year, now came under the
notice of the club for reconsideration. The member
who brought it forward, observed, that the opinion
he entertained at the former discussion of the ques-
tion was not confirmed by the practical results he
had witnessed during the eighteen months which
bad elapsed since this subject was before the club,
as where he had used the subsoil plough the crops
were not improved, neither had the deep-rooted
weeds been eradicated as he had anticipated ; the
only benefit he had derived, was by getting rid of
the surface water'sooner, from the easier access
given it to escape to the drains.

Another member, occupying mixed soil and very
light land, had subsoiled his entire farm as it came
for fallow, leaving a small portion in each field un-
subsoiled, but without perceiving any decided ad-
vantage, excepting that where he has subsoiled there
is less labour in ploughing than before. Other in-
stances were given, where the subsoil plough had
been used, without any beneficial effects being per-
ceptible; one case only was mentioned in which it
had proved of any advantage ; on a piece of pasture
land recently brought into cultivation, and pre-
viously drained and subsoiled, it bad been attended
with success, although it was inferred that the
draining as well as the subsoiling tended to produce
this result. The disappointment of members was
general, as it was believed to be of no use where the
subsoil is of a sterile nature, but requiring a greater
quantity of manure to render it productive, fully
proving that on lands where it has answered, a
better soil was in some measure brought into action
than before. The following resolution was ulti-
mately passed, still leaving the question open for
any light which may eventually be thrown upon it.
Resolved — " As far as the experiments have gone
in this neighbourhood, no pecuniary advantage
has resulted from the use of the subsoil plough;
at the same time, the meeting does not consider
itself possessed of sufficient information to come

to a satisfactory decision on the subject."
' The breed of cattle best adapted for (

grazing

purposes," was a subject occupying the attention of
the Club in September. The member introducing it
having had many years' experience in grazing
Scotch, Devon, and shorthorn bullocks, at one time
was in the habit of grazing the former kind, but consi-
ders the beasts now obtained from Scotland to be
generally of an inferior description ; they must also
be bought at a higher rate than others. A well-bred
Devon is a good beast for grazing, but he prefers
the short-horn breed to either of the above kinds, as
he has generally found them to make mare growth,
and also to possess superior fattening properties.
The consumption of food by a skort-horn was un-
doubtedly greater than that of a Scot, but the in-
crease obtained in size and weight by the former
fully compensated for the extra food consumed. In
a trial made by another member between these two
breeds, it was ascertained that the short-horus con-
sumed five bushels of turnips per day, and the Scots
but three ; the short-horns, however, grazed deci-
dedly the fattest, so that there was but little differ-
ence in the end. Herefords were noticed as pos-
sessing much disposition to fatten, but of these there
was not sufficient experience to judge, as they are
not much grazed in this neighbourhood. The meet-
ing adopted the following resolution : —

Resolved — " That the short-horn breed of cattle
is the most approved for grazing purposes,
from the circumstances of their making more
growth, and also possessing greater fattening
properties than the other kinds ; and although
found to consume more food, this has generally
been compensated for by their fattening in a
shorter period."
The following meeting was engaged in a discus-
sion on " The breed of sheep best adapted to this
district, combining weight and quality of fleece with
aptitude to fatten." The member bringing this
subject befoie the Club contended that, for all pur-
poses, the pure Southdown breed was in every
respect to be preferred. As regards a cross, that
between the Down and Leicester was undoubtedly
the best, but not equal to the pure breed of the
former. The quality of the mutton of Down sheep
was superior to that of any other breed (the Nor-
folk excepted), and generally obtained the highest
price in Smithfield market ; he believed they would
make a better return to the grazier, and instanced a
case of Downs and half-bred Leicesters having been
bought from the same flock and kept together ; the
Downs beating the Leicesters considerably. lie
thought there had not been that attention paid to the
improvement of the breed of Southdowns which
there had been to that of the improved Leicesters.
Crosses between the Norfolk and Southdown, and
between the Norfolk and Leicester, were also no-
ticed, but not considered equal to the pure South-
down, requiring longer time to fatten, and when
fat not so saleable as the latter. The Down wool
was equal in quality to any other, and if kept well,
will clip nearly as much as a cross-bred sheep.

On the other hand, it was contended that there
was no breed of sheep, for grazing purposes, better
suited to this district, particularly where early ma-
turity is an object, than the first cross between the
Southdown ewe and the Leicester tup, and as both
breeds possessed great aptitude to fatten (the Lei-
cester in the greater degree), the ;stock obtained
from such a cross could not be inferior to either pa-
rents. There were some sheep called half-bred
Leicesters, but partaking of several crosses, whose
fattening properties were greatly inferior to those of
the first cross, neither is the mutton so good in

90

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

quality. It was also argued that Downs require
more time, and although it was allowed they pos-
sessed more hardihood than half-bred sheep, and can
l>e kept to more advantage in greater quantities, still
they would never produce so much weight of wool ;
and as sheep in this neighbourhood are generally re-
turned at from twelve to fifteen months old, and
many are oft mi sold in the wool, there were none so
suited for these purposes as the hitter breed. An
animated discussion took place on this subject, oc-
cupying this and part of a subsequent evening,
which ended in the adoption of the following resolu-
tion : —

Resolved — " That for the purposes of a breeding
flock, the pure Southdown is the best ; and that
for grazing, and where early maturity is an ob-
ject, the first cross between the pure South-
down and pure Leicester is the most desirable,
as possessing more aptitude to fatten, and pro-
ducing greater weight of fleece ; but where a
large quantity are kept and a longer time al-
lowed for fattening, there is no better descrip-
tion of sheep than the pure Southdown. ''

At the November meeting, the annual show of
roots took place, which, considering the unfavour-
able state of the root crop in the neighbourhood, was
as good as could have been anticipated. Some fine
specimens of the different kinds of beet and Swedes
now in cultivation were exhibited, and also of ve-
getables, the latter the production of cottagers'
gardens. The different sweepstakes were awarded
as follows: —

The best acre of common beet — Mr. Wolfran Cot-
tingham.

The best acre of yellow beet — Mr. L. O. Cotting-
ham.

The best acre of Swedes— Mr. L. O. Cottinghum.

The best acre of common turnips — Mr. L.O. (Not-
tingham.

The best thee beet (exhibited) — Mr. C. Smith.

The best three Swedes (exhibited) — Mr. L. O.
(Nottingham.

A rather desultory discussion took place in the
evening with regard to the best method of storing
and preserving carrots, in consequence of one or
two members wishing for information on these
points. The following method was recommended as
one which had been pursued with success. The
carrots to be put on clamps, of about five feet at the
base and four feet high, tapering to a narrow ridge,
to have a slight covering of straw, and afterwards
earthed up, leaving the top open for a time. They
were also said to have been preserved well on light
lands by mixing a small portion of soil in the heaps;
and it was further recommended that the tops should
he severed close to the carrots, as a preventive
against fermentation, and from shooting, in the
spring.

The Treasurer's accounts were examined, and the
balance in hand of 61. 6s. 5d. passed to the accruing
expenses of the ensuing year.

Your committee in conclusion beg to observe that,
although it is to be hoped some good has been
achieved , much more remains to be effected ; they trust,
therefore, that further experiments will be made and
increased information obtained on the various sub-
jects which have come before them, by which means
the actual results attainable will be more fully deve-
loped ; they would, however, further observe, that
in all experiments it is exceedingly desirable that
the unsuccessful as well as the successful results
should be registered, believing that such a system
would tend more than any other to carry out those

objects which ought ever to be had in view, although
much will at all times depend on seasons and pecu-
liar circumstances. Upon this principle your com-
mittee have acted in the course of this report, in
closing which they would indulge a hope that each
individual will strive to increase the general stock of
information already obtained, and ever be found for-
ward to contribute to the interests of agriculture and
the welfare of the community.

James Hingeston, Chairman.

ISLE OF THANET FARMERS'
CLUB.

SECOND REPORT.

Presented to the Annual Meeting, Nov.
2nd, 1841.

The committee of "The Isle of Thanet Far-
mers' Club," in presenting the report of the pro-
ceedings of the past year, regret that it is not so
interesting as it probably would have been had the
attendance of members been more frequent ; and
they venture to express the hope, that gentlemen
will make a point of being present at the future
meetings, whenever it is not particularly inconveni-
ent, as the committee feel convinced, that consider-
able benefit and pleasure may be derived, from the
friendly intercourse among farmers, from different
parts of the island, to which such meetings only
can give rise.

October 13th being the first monthly meeting
on the commencement of the second year, the
late secretary read the report of the proceedings
of the club for the first year, which was adopted
and ordered to be printed. It was also unani-
mously resolved, "That the moat cordial thanks
of the club be given to Mr. John Mocket Cramp,
late Honorary Secretary, for the able and zealous
manner in which he has conducted the business of
the club, from its formation to the close of the
first year, with the sincere regret of the members
that circumstances will prevent their receiving
the continued aid of his valuable services."

A vote of thanks was then passed to the chair-
and vice chairman.

Mr. T. A. Champion, was re-elected chairman ;
Mr. Bedford, vice-chairman ; and Mr. T. Hooper
was requested to act as secretary ; the committee
was appointed; and the members resolved to dine
together on the 27th instant.

At the monthly meeting, Nov. 10th, the follow-
ing books were received as a present, from Mr. J.
M. Cramp : —

" The Horse," with a Treatise on Draught.

" Every Man his own Farmer."

" Lawson's Agricultural Manual."

" Clatter's Cattle Doctor."

" Varieties, Properties and Classification of
Wheat," by John Le Couteur, Esq.

"ThePola'.o."

Six " Farmer's Magazines."

For which, the secretary was requested to com-
municate the thanks of the Club to Mr. Cramp.

It was thought advisable that a certain subject
should be selected for discussion, to take prece-
dence of all others, at each monthly meeting dur-
ing the year, and the following were agreed upon
to be printed on cards, and sent to the members ; —

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

91

1840, November 10.— " The best method of

Planting Wheat."
,, December 7th. — " The best method of
Winter-feeding Sheep on arable Land."

1841, January 5th.— "The best time for dop-

ing the Land."

,, February 9th. — "The best method of
Making Manure."

„ March 9th. — " The best method of Keeping
Farm Accounts."

,, April (ith. — " The best method of Keeping
Farm Horses."

,, May 4th. — "The best method of Making
Cinquefoil and other Hay."

„ June 1st. — "On Washing and Shearing
Sheep."

„ August 3rd. — "The best Horses for Agri-
cultural Purposes in the Isle of Thanet."

,, August 31st. — " The best Breed of Hogs."

,, September 28th. — "The Comparative Ad-
vantage of Ploughing with four, three,
or two Horses."

At the next meeting, December 7th, the roots
were exhibited for the sweepstakes ; there were
eight specimens of Swede turnips, six of other
turnips, three of mangel wurzel, one of carrots,
and three of potatoes. Mr. Champion obtained the
prize for purple-top Swede; Mr. Hooper, for
green globe ; Mr. xMaiiscr, for mangel wurzel ;
Mr. H. I'ett, for carrots and potatoes, and also for
the best field of Swede turnips.

The discussion on " The best Manner of Win-
ter-feeding Sheep on Arable Land," was gone
into ; in the course of which several members
stated, "That great loss had been incurred by
close feeding on turnips in the first instance; that
rape or cole plant is likely to be very injurious if
not quite ripe, and very dangerous when the hoar
frost is on it ; that before sheep arc removed from
cole to turnips, it. is advisable that some turnips
should be given them with the cole, that they
may go gradually, and not suddenly on the tur-
nips. That cutting Swede turnips is found to be
very advantageous, some members stating that it
would make them go one-third further than when
given whole ; some members cut clover with pea
straw, and stated that all fodder should be cut.
That the best corn for fatting sheep is grey peas,
and for lambs oats." It was agreed, " That there
was very little difference in the expense or virtue
in one-third of an oil cake or a pint of peas, but
the oil cake appeared to he preferred ; there was
no doubt that the better sheep arc kepi, the better
for them and the land also." The following reso-
lution was come to : —

" That the best method of winter-feeding sheep
on arable land, is to cut the turnips and fodder,
and give oil cake or corn."

A discussion took place respecting turnips,
when the general opinion expressed was, "That
manuring immediately before the seed is sown,
will produce a better crop than dunging the land
in the winter; and that drilling Swede turnip
seed at ten furrows to the rod, and other turnips
at twelve or thirteen furrows, is the preferable
method."

The subject for discussion on the 5th of January,
■was, " The best time for Cropping the Land."
There were only seven members present, one of
whom stated, "That to his knowledge some
barley sown in January, was better when har-
vested than that sown in March, the same year."

Another stated, " That he knew barley sown in
February, better than that sown in April." The
following resolution was unanimously agreed
to :—

" That all spring corn shall be sown as early
as possible, provided that the ground is in a
proper state to receive it."

At the next meeting, February 9ih, the reports
of " The Ilarleston and Gloucester Farmer's
Club," were read, which with the comments
thereon, occupied a considerable portion of the
evening ; no regular discussion was entered into,
very few members being present, the weather
very severe.

At the meeting on the 9th of March, on the
subject of " Making Manure," it was contended
by some members, " That it is best to allow the
animals that are fatting to go loose in the farm-
yard." It was also contended, " That it is a good
plan to keep a sufficient number of bullocks tied
up fatting, and have others loose in the yard,
ready to take the place of the fat ones as they go
off." The following resolution was agreed to : —

"That it is the opinion of this Club, that to
make the most and best manure in the yard, is to
feed beasts with Swede turnips and oil cake, with
cut hay and straw, about a quarter-part of the
latter, to exclude as much superfluous water as
possible, allowing the animals to run loose."

On the b*th of April the subject was "The best
method of keeping Farm Horses," on which the
resolutions of last year were read, and no addi-
tional information being forthcoming, the club
proceeded to the consideration of the question of
" Keeping Farm Accounts,"

Various printed account books, and also the
books of some of the members were introduced,
and all admitted to be very useful. It was unani-
mously recommended, " That a strict system of
accounts be kept, particularly the cash account, to
be balanced every week ; that stock should be
taken once a year, Michaelmas being considered
the best time ; and that it is very necessary to
keep a daily account of the proceedings of the
labourers, and all transactions of importance."

May the 4th, the secretary suggested to the
meeting, " The propriety of petitioning Parlia-
ment on the subject cf the Corn Laws." and was
desired to call a special meeting for May 11th, to
consider it.

Seven members entered their names for the
sweepstakes at two shillings and sixpence each,
for the best field of purple-top Swede turnips,
and two for other turnips; ten entered at one
shilling each, for the best twelve purple-top Swede
turnips, five for the best green-top ditto, three for
green globe ditto, two for white ditto, two for
white carrots, six for the best six roots of maugel
wurzel, and three for globe ditto.

The discussion on *' The best mode of making
Cinquefoil Ha}'," was then entered into with some
spirit, and a good deal of information given, which
may be summed up as follows: —

" That cutting should be commenced when the
plant is about halt' blown; that it cannot be too soon
turned after it is cut, nor too quickly made by re-
peated turnings in fair weather ; when from adverse
weather it has been frequently wet, salt should bo
applied when making the stack. It is necessary to
be very cautious in not moving the hay too early; it
should always be perfectly dry in the morning before
loading for stacking, the first carried should bo per-
fectly well made, to avoid too much heat, the top of

92

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the stack not being of so much consequence ; when
you leave off at nigbt, which should be as soon as
damp is perceptible, the stack should be well
rounded up, and covered with straw or a sail." The
majority of the members present*being in favour of
a sail.

At the special meeting on the 11th May, the fol-
lowing petition to both Houses of Parliament was
unanimously agreed to : —

The humble Petition of the Members of the Thanet Far'
mtr's Club.
" Sheweth,

" That your petitioners have heard with alarm,
that Her Majesty's Government have given notice of
their intention to bring in a Bill to your Rt. Hon.
House, to alter the present Corn Laws, by establish-
ing a fixed duty on the importation of foreign corn,
and by repealing the present ascending and descend-
ing scale of duties.

" That it is the firm conviction of your petitioners,
that the proposed measure must involve the general
affairs of this country in inextricable confusion, and
that the permanent interests of fund-holders, mer-
chants, mechanics, traders, and labourers, as well as
agriculturists, would be brought to the brink of
ruin.

" Your petitioners therefore humbly pray, that
your Rt. Hon. House will not adopt the dangerous
experiment of repealing the present law."

At the monthly meeting, June 1st, there were so
few members present, that no discussion was entered
into ; but it was agreed, " That a letter on corn laws,
signed ' a Tradesman of London,' and published in
tl.e Kentish Gazette, be forthwith printed and circu-
lated among the members, with a request that they
distribute them in their respective neighbourhoods."

The following letter from Sir Edward Knatchbull
was then read : —

" Grosvenor Street, May 12th, 1841.

" Sir,— I have this day received the petition you
have forwarded to me from the Isle of Thanet Far-
mer's Club. I will not fail to present it to the
House, and I will do every thing in my power to
support the prayer of the petition, and to promote the
interests of the farmers.

" Yours faithfully,

" E. Knatchbull.

«* P.S. — We had last night a majority of thirty-six.
" To Samuel Sachetle, Esq."

On the 6th July, " The best method of harvesting
the crops," was brought forward, and the following
suggestions agreed to : —

" Wheat. — The rough chaff or hoary and the sal-
mon should be quite ripe before they are cut; golden
drop should be cut rather green, to procure the best
sample, but although it is recommended to cut the
golden drop green, it should be allowed to stand in
the field until it is perfectly hard and dry, and it is
perhaps as well not to thrash that which is cut green,
until the spring. Bagging is recommended as the
best mode of cutting; next to which, striking in."

" Barley, — should be ripe when mowed, should
lay a few days on the ground, bound up when per-
fectly dry, and may be carried immediately."

" Oats, — should be cut before they are quite ripe ;
bagging the best method, if mowed, should be struck
in and laid out very carefully ; should, like Barley,
lay a few days on the ground, and when bound,
should be stood up in fives for some time before they
are carried."

" Peas, — should be cut rather green but quite

dry; the workman should be prevented laying them
in large wads, as the phrase is in this district ;
should be turned a few days after cutting, lie out
until hard, and be perfectly dry when carried."

" Beans, — should be cut or pulled as soon as the)'
begin to turn black ; must be tolerably dry when
laid together in small wads, and be bound and stood
up in fives as soon as possible."

At nine o'clock the further consideration of the
subject was postponed.

August 3rd and 31st, the meetings were so thinly
attended, that no discussions were gone into.

September 23th, the subject for the evening was
" The comparative advantages of ploughing with
four, three, or two horses." On which, in conse-
quence of the variety of the soil, the meeting was
unable to come to any definite resolution ; the opinion
is, " That in some situations, four horses are un-
doubtedly necessary, but taking the island generally,
it was agreed, that three are sufficient." There were
no members present in favour of two horses, as it is
conceived that they cannot plough a good depth,
and get over a sufficient quantity of ground.

Resolved, " That at the next monthly meeting.
November 2nd, the roots for sweepstakes be shown;
and being the anniversary, the club dine together on
that day."

The Secretary reported the receipts of the year to
amount to 14/. 6s. 5d., the disbursements to 12/. 8s.
8d., leaving a balance in hand of 1/. 17s. 9d.

In conclusion, the members of the committee beg
to express their willingness to do every thing in
their power to promote the interests of the members
of this club and of agriculturists in general ; and
trust, that they shall be seconded in their endea-
vours, by all well-wishers to the improvement of the
system of farming, on which so much of the national
welfare depends.

REPORT ON THE EPIDEMIC
AMONG CATTLE.

BY PROFESSOR SEVVELL.

(From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England.)

The Veterinary Committee of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England, having, in compliance
with a resolution ol the Council, sent a circular to
each member, containing queries for information
on the nature and extent of the prevailing epide-
mic among cattle and other domestic stock, have
received nearly 700 communications, which may
be generalised, as in the following report i —

The disease had not made its appearance in
England before the summer of 1839, and with few
exceptions had broken out in the stock of those
members who have sent communications, and the
information is mostly confined to what occurred
on their own farms and premises.

Some members state that it prevails in their im-
mediate neighbourhood, and others at several
miles' distance. It is generally reported not to
have prevailed extensively before 1840, and then
to have attacked all kinds of stock indiscrimi-
nately, even poultry, dogs, cats, and deer. In-
fluenza, by some called distemper, catarrhs, and
sore throats, prevailed much among horses, before
the epidemic, during its prevalence, and after it

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

93

had ceased ; and pulmonary diseases, proving fatal
in several cases.

As far as ^situation, nature of the soil, and ge-
neral features or aspect of the country are de-
scribed, no exemption from disease is recorded,
whether mountainous, hilly, flat, wooded or open,
dry or damp, intersected by rivers or canals, or
in the vicinity of marshes, ponds, ditches, or any
stagnant waters.

It has been attributed by some to the prevalence
of east or north-east winds ; others supposed it
induced or brought by the south and west winds.
Some are of opinion it has been produced by fogs,
and abounded more in valleys, on the banks of
rivers, and low damp situations; others attribute
the outbreaks to communication by the herdsmen,
shepherds, or persons employed.

Its attacks appear to have commenced, whatever
was the quarter from which the wind blew, and
under all temperatures, throughout the year, com-
mencing and ceasing at uncertain periods ; and
the disease did not vary in its symptoms except
when the atmospheric temperature was highest :
then inflammatory action was more intense, and
the disease more fatal, especially among animals
that travelled to fairs or markets ; by which it
was introduced into premises and farms hereto-
fore exempt, and thus became disseminated in
healthy districts. Fever was increased by fatigue
in travelling.

The feet became acutely inflamed, causing the
hoofs to shed or exfoliate, and many animals were
in consequence slaughtered on the roads.

Young animals appeared to be more exempt
from attacks than the full-grown ; but in com-
paring the number affected it was more fatal, and
often more speedily so, in them than in the adult
animals. The house and exposed stock of all ages
and conditions were equally subject to attacks from
general causes. In some cases, supposed to arise
from infection or contagion, the symptoms ap-
peared as early as the second day; in others seve-
ral weeks elapsed after exposure to infection
before the disease appeared.* One correspondent
states that himself and all his fa lily and domestics
were attacked on the lips and in the mouth in con-
sequence of using the milk of his diseased cows ;
and that a foal living with them had an attack of
farcy and glanders, of which it died.

The disease general^ commenced in the mouths
of bullocks, cows, and calves, by the appearance
of blisters and ulcers on the tongue, and sore
throats in some ; the feet at the same time, or
very soon after, became ulcerated, as also the pa-
late, lips, and nose. It was accompanied by rigors
or chills, succeeded by feverish heat. The noses
and feet of pigs were attacked, but the feet only of
sheep, except hi a few instances in which the
mouths were affected, as in cattle.

In dairy-cows the teats became affected with
pustules and ulcers at the same time as the mouth,
the udders subsequently became inflamed and
tumefied; and abscesses were formed, terminating

* The following circumstance was related to me
by the dairyman of a large farm in Dorsetshire: —
The smell of fresh blood often affects cows in a
straw-yard, making them appear as if frantic. After
milking the diseased cows the dairyman overturned
the pail in the straw-yard ; the cows were greatly ex-
cited in the same manner, smelling at it, and fighting
to keep each other away from the spot where the
diseased milk lav. — C. Lemon.

frequently in total loss of milk, and, in less se-
vere cases, in a diminution of quantity.

The pregnant or in-calf cows and barren cows
were less violently affected, but cows having re-
cently calved suffered most, more especially in the
udders, from the formation of tumours and milk
abscesses, constituting the disease commonly
called garge ; abscesses and ulcers also were formed
in various parts of the limbs and body, especially
the points bearing the animal's weight when lying
down. At this stage of the disease it was often
attended with so much fever and prostration of
strength and constitutional debility, that the ani-
mal was incapable of rising or changing its posi-
tion, which caused extensive ulcers, abscesses, and
frequently death from irritation and exhaustion.

A few cases of second attacks are reported to
have occurred, and even third attacks are men-
tioned; but these are exceptions.

There are reports of some having been herded
with infected animals and entirely escaping, and
some that had gone through the disease, and, al-
though re-exposed in diseased herds, had no re-
newal. In one report vaccine inoculation from a
child is said to have lessened the severity of the
disease. Low condition is also said to have di-
minished its virulence. In the few that had
second attacks the disease in some is stated to have
been in a severer, and in others in its usual form.*

The medical treatment has generally been of a
purgative nature, sometimes too strong and pro-
bably injurious, frequently combined with diuretics
and stimulants, &c. ; and astringents were used
externally to the teats, feet, and mouths, and tar
in some cases to the feet, and occasionally mild
caustic applications. Bleeding has also been prac-
tised by some and disapproved of by others. Se-
tons, issues, and blisters have also been employed.

Abortion has seldom occurred, nor has the pro-
duce of any stock been born diseased, although the
mothers were labouring under it during par-
turition.

Some newly-born animals became sickly in two
or three days after birth, and died apparently from
constitutional disturbance. Others, in which the
usual symptoms became manifest, were cut off
within a week. It is stated to have appeared in
the feet only of sucking-pigs.

Upon the subsidence of the disease many cattle
were attacked with cutaneous eruptions, which
usually yielded to the remedies employed in ordi-
nary cases of mange.

In the few post-mortem examinations that were
made, a diseased state of some, and in others of
all the vital organs, appeared, and marked inflam-
matoiy action had been general throughout the
system. The epidemic disappeared in some farms
and dairies in about a month, and in others ex-
tended to six months.

The cattle that have suffered from the disease in
the country are estimated to have been reduced in
value 5 per cent., which is much below the London
estimate, and dairy-cows having newly calved are
calculated to have lost 30 per cent, of their original
value. Wm. Sewell,

Professor, Royal Veterinary College.

July 17th, 1841.

* Preventive treatment has been resorted to suc-
cessfully as reported in some cases, but failed in others,
such as smearing the noses, feet, backs, loins, and
horns at intervals with tar. Others have applied it
about the premises.

94

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FACTS ON FOOD AND MANURE.

" It has been before stated that every part of a
plant contains nitrogen as well as carbon ; but,
as an invariable rule, the seed of all plants con-
tains a much larger quantity of nitrogen than the
leaves and stalks, and a lesser quantity of carbon,
and inversely, the leaves and stalks contain a much
greater quantity of carbon, and a lesser quantity
of nitrogen. Now when ahorse is fed on gra«s,
his food consists almost entirely of carbon ; and
the result is, that when he has a sufficient supply
he gets fat — that is, that particles of oily, fatty mat-
ter are deposited on the muscles under the skin ;
but, as it is well known, a horse in this condition
is quite unequal to any work, and the least exertion
reduces his bulk. But when the same horse, under
other circumstances, is fed on corn, his food con-
sists principally of nitrogen ; and although he may
never, under this keep, get as fat as under the
other, still the increase he does acquire will be
pure muscle, or, as it is technically called, sound
flesh ; and on this keep he can perforin infinitely
more work with less fatigue than on food contain-
ing no nitrogen.

" A more complete instance could not be adduced
to show that animals as well as plants can only
assimilate that food which is presented them : in
the first case, carbonaceous matters being the food
of the horse, carbon is deposited in the shape of
fat; in the latter, when more nitrogen enters into
the composition of his food, the deposit of muscle
preponderates. So it is with wheat. With a
manure that only supplies carbonaceous matter,
starch i3 the result. With a manure containing
nitrogen, gluten is formed ; both cases being com-
pletely analogous, and affording unerring proof of
one simple and uniform law."

Another example of the singular effects resulting
from the use of a chemical manure ; not in the
common and well known ca=e, resulting from all
manures, of an increase in the quantity of the
crop, but in the quality. The authority is Profes-
sor Daubeny, of Oxford.

"In an analysis of one hundred parts of two
different specimens of wheat which were grown on
the same field, one of which had been dressed with
the nitrate of soda and the other not, the result
was —

Wheat on which nitrate
was used, gave

Bran 25

Gluten 23J-

Starch 49£

Albumen 1 ',

Extract, loss and water .... 1

100

Wheat on which no nitrate
was used, gave

Bran 24

Gluten 19

Starch • 55^

Albumen }

Extract, loss and water .... |

100

Thus it is seen that the wheat so nitrated contains
four and a half per cent, more gluten and one half
per cent, more albumen than the wheat so nitrated ;
and as it has been stated that gluten is the sub-
stance to which flour owes its nutritious qualities,

this alone would prove our position. But if we
carry our investigation further, and see its results
as to the real produce of bread, we shall be more
fully convinced than ever of the utility of this
manure. And here again we resort to experiments
made by the same distinguished Professor, for an
elucidation of the fact.

Three pounds and a half of flour made from
wheat dressed with nitrates produced 4lbs. 14oz.
of bread ; whilst three and a half pounds of flour,
made from wheat where no nitrate was used,
yielded only 41bs. 4oz. of bread; thus leaving 10
ounces of bread in favour of thewheat so nitrated."
— Squarey's Treatise on Agricultural Chemistry.

EXPERIMENTS MADE WITH NITRATE
OF SODA, IN THE SUMMER OF 1811, ON
THE FARM OF BOYNDLIE, IN THE
COUNTY OF ABERDEEN.— (Communicated by

Mr. Forbes of Boyndlie.) — In the first and second week
of the month of May, part of a field (consisting of a
lia-ht gravelly soil, which had been taken out of moor
land some twenty years ago) of new grass, consisting of
clover and ryegrass, which was to be kept for hay, was
manured or sown with the nitrate of soda, at the rate of
one cwt. to the Scotch acre. This experiment was made
on three separate parts of the field, three ridges being
sown with the nitrate of soda, and omitting the three
ridges adjoining. In about a week the effect produced
was distinctly visible, in the deeper colour of the grass,
which continued to be easily distinguished, at a con-
siderable distance, for about six weeks. Previous, how-
ever, to cutting the grass for hay, the superiority of the
grass manured with the nitrate of soda did not appear
to be so great ; the grass, however, on close examina-
tion, covered and stood closer on the ground, and on
being kept separate when cut, and weighed, and fit for
the tramp cock, the result was as follows : —
The land manured with the nitrate of soda
(an equal space of the manured and not
manured having been measured) pro-
duced (16 oz. to the lib. and 141b. to

the stone) 384| stone?.

The land not manured produced (16 oz.
to the lb. and 14 lb. to the stone) .... 356 „

Showing an advantage, per Scotch acre,
in favour of the land sown with nitrate

of soda, of 2'dj stones.

The results of the experiment*, with the nitrate of
soda, made in the garden were far more favourable.
The trials were made in the garden with a solu-
tion of about lib. of nitrate of soda to 141b. Scotch
pints of water, poured from the nosle of a watering-pan,
and the vegetables experimented upon were carrots,
onions, parsnip?, and cauliflower* ; the verdure, in the
course of eight or ten days, became darker, more vi-
gorous and luxuriant, and the crops more productive,
especially the carrots which were watered with the so-
lution ; the various insects which prey upon the carrot
were for a time destroyed, and by applying the nitrate
of soda, at about intervals of three weeks throughout the
summer, the destructive worms which infest vegetables
were kept under, and the crops produced were most
abundant, particularly as regards the carrot, which was
sprinkled with the nitrate of soda, while that part of the
ground which was not watered with the solution was a
total failure. — Aberdeen Constitutional,

NITRATE OF SODA— A field of a poor soil on
clay, adjoining Hycemoor School, and three acres in
extent, belonging to Mr. Grice, of Millholme, near
Bootle, was sown with wheat in the autumn of 1840;
the nature of the soil throughout the field being much
the same, and no difference in tillage was used, previ-
ous to the seed being sown. On the second of May

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

95

following, one-third, or an acre of the field, was sown
with n hundred weight and a half of Nitrate of Soda,
and the produce of each is as follows : —

st. lb. st. lb.

2 acres produced 94 5 or 47 2 per acre;

1 acre with the nitrate of soda. . .. 81 11

or

34 9 extra.
£• s.

The 34st. 91b. at 1?. lid. per stone 3 6

Cost and labour of sowing the Nitrate.. 2 1

Leaving a profit of 15 4

Thus it appears that that portion of the field sown
with nitrate of soda produced 34st. 91b. more per acre of
wheat than the other part which had not received the
same tillage ; the quality of the grain was also from 8d.
to Is. per stone better, besides giving an extra quantity
of straw. We may here observe that so soon as within
eijrht days after the nitrate of soda had been sown, its
effect was visible ; the blades assumed a more healthy
green, and continued to outstrip the other parts of the
crop in a manner that could scarcely have been credited.
The experiment, as has been shewn above, has been
attended with decided success, and we fully expect that
other enterprising agriculturists in the district will be
induced to follow the example set by Mr. Grice, which
there can be no doubt will be attended with the like
result. — Cumberland Packet.

TO PREVENT THE WASTE OF
MANURE IN FARM YARDS.

Mr. Editor, — I am much pleased to see in your
paper of the 1st inst. some valuable observations
from a farmer of "North West Somerset," relating
to the " waste of manure in farm-yards." This is a
subject which has been most painful to myself for
some time past, more particularly when I view it in
connection with the distress of cur country and dis-
satisfaction of our corn laws, and see so plainly sim-
ple methods for obviating the long neglected evil.
By your permission, and with my warmest thanks to
the farmer of North West Somerset, I will presume
to make a few more observations on this very val-
uable and important subject, with the hope that some
competent person will give it mature consideration,
so that the public may be benefitted from any good
effects which may emanate from it. From a calcula-
tion lately made, it is proved, that for want of ma-
nure a loss to this country is sustained to the amount
of from eleven to twelve million pounds annually.
Could this increase of growth be accomplished, we
should hear but little of corn bills or corn laws ; eur
country would be amply supplied from our own soil.
I am inclined to think that this could in a great mea-
sure be accomplished by a proper system being
adopted in every farm yard in which the dung is de-
posited, so that all the liquor could be saved and
used at discretion. The surface of the farm yard
should be sloping, with a round brick tank in the
centre, in which a pump should be fixed, elevated 5
or 6 feet ; to this tank bring the drainage of your
stables, pigsties, wash-house, water-closet, &c. This
liquor you will find invaluable in the manufacturing
of manure, which is at present suffered to pass off in
draining. I beg to make a few remarks on the sys-
tem of manufacturing farm-yard manure. Instead of
allowing the great mass of manure to remain on the
surface of the yard, have it formed into ricks round
your tank, so that they may be supplied with the li-
quor during the time of making. Do away with the
abominable practice of burning your couch-grass,
bring it home to your barton ; also the cutting and
parings from your roads, deposits in your ditches,

rubbish from your gardens, &c, and let all be depo-
sited in your manure ricks according to the
following directions, viz. :— A layer of stable
dung one foot thick, salted; a layer of vegetable
matter six inches thick, limed ; a layer of stable
dung one foot thick, salted ; a layer of vegetable
matter six inches thick, limed; a layer of stable
dung one foot thick on the top of this fifth layer ;
saturate with the liquor from the tank in a sufficient
quantity to pass through the whole. Begin again
and repeat the layers as before with the dressings
and make your ricks to any size you may judge pro-
per, the larger the better. After you have made
them to the size you may wish, and thoroughly sa-
turated with the liquor, cover them up close with
long dung or straw, to keep in the ammonia and
prevent the rain from penetrating. The covering
should be removed from the centre, and the liquor
applied about once a month, and remain six months
before used ; a few layers of draining tiles will be
very proper at the bottom to give the information
that the liquor has passed through the whole body,
and to convey the waste to the tank. The extra li-
quor you may have to spare will give an opportu-
nity of employing a water-cart, (& most valuable
appendage to every farm) for meadow land ; this ex-
periment will be most satisfactory. By a general
adoption of this or a similar plan, it would very soon
be the pride of every farmer to see bis barton well
stocked with manure ricks, and very pleasing to the
landlord to see a provision made for his land. By
using this manure in a general way, and drilling
your grain with Harrison's Fertilising Urate Pow-
der, there is but little doubt but a very short period
will convince every person who may think proper
to adopt the plan, that their growth of grain will be
very considerably increased, and be amply paid for
their expense and treuble, and will, I hope, be the
means of producing peace and plenty.

A Friend to Agriculture and Trade.
Kintbury, Berks, Jan S.

ON MANURE.

Sir,— -It has often occurred to me that a portable
manure might be prepared to drill with turnips at
a cheaper rate than bones, and yet produce an
equal effect. My turnip land is fenny, varying
from four to ten inches of soil, lying upon a turf
subsoil. 1 get useful crops by laying on ten or
twelve loads of farm-yard dung, and twelve bushels
of bones drilled in with the seed. The bones cost
when in the soil about two pounds per acre, which
is a serious deduction from the value of the crop.
In looking over Vol. 2, No. 3 of the New Series
of your valuable Magazine, at page 205, I find the
following recipe for a portable manure; viz.,
" One ton of peat-dust, (or ashes,) one cwt. of
soot, one cwt. of lime, one cwt. of salt, 141bs. of
saltpetre. The ashes, soot, and lime to be well
mixed together. The salt and saltpetre to be dis-
solved in urine, as much as may be required to sa-
turate and keep moist the heap." Not understand-
ing chemistry myself, perhaps some of your nu-
merous correspondents will give me their opinion
of it, and say if my fen earth will do as well as
the "peat-dust or ashes." I think it would an-
swer to collect the recent dung of sheep for the
same purpose, as it is hut of little value lying in
the sun and wind upon the surface of grass land,
if properly combined with other articles. I think
it would prove a valuable manure to drill with any
kind of seed. An Enquirer.

96

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON LIQUID MANURE.*

Allow me to again call the attention of the far-
mer to the subject here advocated. The small ex-
pense of the machinery needed, the vast economy
in lahour by merely moistening the surface with
this kind of manure, the usefulness moreover in
following the plan I have recommended, as their
having an abundance of dung or straw in a half-
rotten state (so desirable for heavy lands, to in-
crease their porosity while decomposition of the
straw is going on beneath the surface of the soil),
setting aside the actual loss which must of neces-
sity take place during the fermentation and actual
decomposition of dung. t

Perhaps too much attention is as yet given to
the quality of all kinds of manure, rather than the
quantity suitable for different kinds of soil, and
the varieties of produce. This is by no means an
insignificant point to be attained in the agriculture
connected with chemistry. From observations
already made, it seems that an excess of manure
is peculiarly noxious to plants which contain
much resin. Again, it is to be noticed that plants
will readily leave their proper soil in their eager-
ness to obtain moisture, which they greedily de-
vour, to their own destruction.

The value of manure does not, I think, depend
upon its constituents, but upon the proportions of
these constituents, and more especially upon the
state in which it is found most capable of decom-
posing the soil, and so of being assimilated with
the vegetable produce, and this state, generally
speaking, is its capability of solution with the
soil. Hence, to say nitrogen is the peculiar prin-
ciple which influences the growth of vegetable
matter, and that therefore those compounds
which contain the greatest proportion of nitrogen
are most suitable for manure, will, I believe, be
found to be a fallacy.

Let the plan I have recommended be fairly
tested, and I have no doubt of the result ; viz.,
that bone-dust, nitrate of soda, and burnt gyp-
sum, will all be found to have their usefulness
materially increased by being applied in a divided
state (which is always to be borne in mind when
stimulating manure is used), as liquid manure,
for by this means the great principal agents are in
direct operation.

lstly, By its exposure to the air.

2odly, Its state of moisture ; and,

3rdly, By the heat resulting from its imme-
diately decomposing the surface of the soil, and
thus improving its chemical and mechanical con-
dition.

I have proposed that these saline substances at
present preferred should be applied in a state of
partial solubility and of imperfect decomposition,
so that after the liquid portion has been well
nigh decomposed, the exterior of the soil may not
remain in a languid or inert state during the
growth of the crop ; or in other words, that the
continued decay of animal matter may keep up
the fertilizing power of the soil. It is not to be
supposed, in naming these substances, that I mean

* I beg to refer the reader to an excellent diagram
on the method of constructing drains and tanks for
liquid manure, in Stephens' " Book of the Farm,"
No. 1.

t Miller's •' Dictionary of Gardening."

tp assert that these only form in their variations
a'nd applicability the summnm bonum of all im-
provements of the soil.

If, then, what I have stated be correct, how
great is the advantage — how peculiarly suitable is
the form of liquid manure for almost all kinds of
produce, thus verifying the German proverb —
" Wcnig und ofters isthesser als fiel und selten," —
A little frequently is better than much seldom.

Some, I know, inthis neighbourhood have derided
the subject, and I have been told that " these new
fangled notions are seldom of much good;" others
in more modern phrase have said " I hate so
much theory." I answer, that while they abuse
theory they theorize themselves, for he who
thinks theorizes ; the only question is, does he
theorize aright ? What I have written is by no
means chimerical — is not new,* but unfortunately
not in such general use as it deserves to be. It is
no wild experiment, but has been found both in
parts of this country and on the continent, of im-
mense advantage.

I ask for every excuse if what I have stated
should appear to belong to the opinions of others.
I have no advantages of reference in order to as-
certain this ; still I contend that the subject is of
so much importance to the farmer, that if what
I have said be found to be correct, no possible
harm can follow from the repetition. If, on the
other hand, these contributions should not have a
scientific appearance, or should not be thought to
be treated with that method the subject deserves,
I can ouly say, I wish to write so as to be under-
stood, and that as yet I do not expect farmers arc
conversant with chemistry, so that what is here
afforded may not be passed over as incomprehen-
sible, and therefore useless to them.

John Asiiford.

Hinckley, 2\st January, 1842.

ON THE DRAUGHT OF TWO AND
FOUR-WHEEL CARRIAGES.

to the editor of the farmer's magazine.

Sir, — I shall feel obliged if one of your nume-
rous intelligent correspondents, who has attended
to the subject, will inform me, through the medium
of your magazine, the relative power required to
draw a four-wheeled carriage and a two-wheclctl
carriage, each containing a load of two tons —

1st, Over level ground.

2nd, Over hilly ground.

3rd, Through farm and parish roads.

I am aware that much has been written in fa-
vour of each mode of conveyance, but am not
able from what I have yet read to arrive at a satis-
factory conclusion.

The attention of men of science has of late been
so much directed to the subject of draught, that I
am willing to believe the reply to my enquiry is
capable of proof beyond question. If not, there
are few subjects better deserving the attention of
the Royal Agricultural Society.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Jan. 19, 1842. A Farmer.

* Van Aelbroek Paris Ed.

EARL DUCIE'S EXAMPLE FARM.

At the recent agricultural meeting at Cirencester,
certain remarks were made relative to tbe model or
example farm of Earl Ducie, at Whitfield. The
topic was introduced by tbe Rev. Mr. Cripps, at
the dinner which followed the exhibition. In the
course of his remarks the reverend gentleman stated
that he had recently gone over his lordship's farm,
and found that upon 250 acres his lordship bad
raised about double the amount of produce which
was raised on tbe same extent of land by farmers in
tbe neighbourhood. As regarded stock his lordship
had been equally successful. This led to a remark
by Mr. Peter Matthews, to the effect that his lord-
ship's success was owing to his land being new, and
his purse being heavy ; and that many of tbe sur-
rounding farmers, if they possessed the same soil
and tbe same command of capital, they would " cut
as good a figure as Earl Ducie and his Scotcii
steward did."

At tbe annual dinner of the Gloucester Farmer's
Club, which took place at Gloucester on Saturday
week, Mr. Hvett, of Painswick, in proposing the
health of the noble earl, adverted in complimentary
terms to his lordship's exertions in the way of
agricultural improvement, and made particular re-
ference to Whitfield Farm.

Tbe reply of the noble earl, as reported in the
Gloucestershire Journal, was as follows : —

Earl Ducif, in returaing thanks, expressed an ap-
prehension that his language would tall short of the
eloquent terms in which his health had been proposed
by Mr. Hyeit. He felt almost abasbed at the compli-
mentary strain adopted by bis kind and worthy friend.
Mr Hyett had alluded to what h;id taken place at an
agricultural meeting' at Cirencester. On that occasion
certain observations had been made relative to Whit-
field farm. He (Lord Ducie) was unavoidably absent
from that meeting; but bad not Mr. Hyett adverted to
what had been stated, he should have felt called upon
to have adverted to the subject himself. Under ordi-
nary circumstances he would not have deemed it neces-
sary to have referred to a matter personally affecting
himself; but having so far made Whitfield farm a
public property, he considered that when remarks were
made upon it not consistent with fact, he would be in
fault were he not to stand up in its defence. ( Cheers J
He was quite sure that the observations made at Ciren-
cester were made in the most kindly spirit, but they
must have originated in misapprehension of bis motives
for undertaking the scheme, and also for calling it an
" exampie farm.'' He took all the observations made
upon it in good part, and he was not sorry at the oppor-
tunity being presented of making certain explanations.
There was one observation made at Cirencester and
only one, which he regretted. It would have been better
had it been unsaid, as it tended to do injustice to a good
servant ; but he was sare that Mr. Peter Matthews did
not intend it to be offensive. The remark to which he
(Lord Ducie) referred, and which he wished had not
been made, was the reference to the" Scotch steward."
It was rather unfair to the man and the country, because
to the uncongenial climate of the north they were indebted
for almost every modern improvement in agriculture.
If Air. Peter Matthews thoug ht he ( Lord D. ) was blame-
able for not having called forth native talent, he (Lord
D.) thought he should have been more open to rebuke
hal he, for the sake of encouraging native talent, parted
withanold and tried servant (great cheering) of acknow-
ledged talent, even supposing he knew where to put
his hand upon a gentleman farmer who possessed the
peculiar knowledge and talent, and had the necessary time
to bestow. He was quite sure that when Mr. Matthews
considered the bearing and tendency of his remark, he
would regret having made use of it. It was the only

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. ^VJ »> " 97

remark that had hurt him (Lord Dueie) ; aU the others
he (Mr. Matthews) had a right to make. I am anxious,
continued his Lordship, that everybody should make
their observations, and I wish that they would publish
them that I may be aware of what they consist. It is
only by such observations and by comparison founded
on experience that we can arrive at what the real
and true mode of proceeding is. (Cheers.) I must
explain to Mr. Matthews what my real motives were
in establishing Whitfield farm. 1 did not establish it
a* an example for the enlightened agriculturists in that
neighbourhood -a neighbourhood unfortunately where
ignorance is rife, and not only rife as to agriculture but
to other things as to which intelligence is of value. My
object was to endeavourtoopentheeyesof such farmers
to the value of improvements in agriculture. It was
rather to arouse them to use their energies in preference
to their easy chair, (laughter,) but I never intended
to show an example to such farmers as Mr. Peter
Matthews or Mr. John IVicholls. ( Continued laugh. er.)
Far from it. My only wish was to rouse my neighbours
and tenants from a state of lethargy, and to infuse
amongst them a spirit of enterprise and improvement.
I am happy to say that the undertaking has been
attended with tbe best results, of which a good evi-
dence is given in the fact that we are establishing a
farmers' club at Wickwar, hitherto one of the least
enterprising districts in the county. As I have
already said, I did not establish Whitfield farm
as an example to the enlightened agriculturist ;
neither did I consider, when I undertook to drain a
large portion of the land (for I knew, as Mr. Matthews
remarked at Cirencester, that it was not every one who
was able to lay out the capital) that I was giving an
example to the renting farmer or men without capital ;
but I intended to give an example to the neighbouring
landlords. (Cheers.) I wished to open the eyes of
the owners of the soil to the advantages which would
accrue from the proper application of capital. I wished
to show them that they would secure a much larger re-
turn by such improvements, tnan they could derive from
buying railway shares — (great cheering); and in this
respect I am happy to say that my farm bas not been a
bad example; for I can state that many landlords,
amongst others Mr. Miles and Mr. Murray, are estab-
lishing farms for the benefit of their tenants, and ef the
farmers in the immediate neighbourhood. I may men-
tion further, that a gentleman whose health was drunk
at a late meeting of the Gloucestershire Agricultural
Society, as an improving landlord — Mr. Clifford, a man
who does not fly with the pinions of fancy — is so satis-
fied of tbe advantages of the establishment now under
review, that he has placed his son under the care of the
" Scotch steward ;" and if my friend Mr. Peter Mat-
thews knows of any gentleman farmer to whom that
young man's education ought to be entrusted in prefe-
rence, I think it is only due to Mr. Clifford that he
should write to him mentioning the name. (Laughter.)
I am perfectly aware that the observations which were
made at Cirencester arose from misconception of my
motives in establishing the example farm. The fact
was overlooked or not known, that my object was solely
to show an example to the ignorant farmer and to the
landlord. But I will go a little further, and will admit
what was stated by Mr. Matthews, that any man could
produce as good crops from newly broken up land— (a

voice — "Any Gloucestershire farmer") — Well, let it
be so ; but I cannot give up all merit nevertheless, be-
cause a great portion of the land in question was bog-
before I drained it : 45 acres were under arable cultiva-
tion when I entered upon the scheme. I will now state
the produce of the three crops which preceded my tak-
ing possession. In 1836, fifty sacks, about six tons, of
potatoes were produced ; in 1837, eighteen bushels of
wheat; in 1838, twenty-three bushels of barley; in
1839, the land came into my hands. I will now give
you the proluce since, taking the average of two par-
ticular acies. The first crop was Swedes, and I laid
down twenty loads of good clung and some bones. I
had long wished my tenants who held small arable

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

firms to lay aside their old system, and to grow a few
Swedes or carrots. They asked me if I would sell
them some Swedes. 1 said, " I will not sell you, but I
will measure off an acre, and allow you to have the pro-
duce at 20s. a ton." They agreed, and an acre was
measured off ; the produce was26£ tons, being equal to
a return of 53/. for the two acres. ( Cheers. ) This was
the produce ol the two acres, to sow which Mr. Sheriff
gave me a sack of new spring wheat. In 1840 the pro-
duce of these two acres was 90 bushels of head wheat,
besides the produce of three or four rows of Swedes as
a side crop. In 1841 clover was sown : my sheep have
been folded seven times this year upon it, and it has
been mown twice and driven to the cattle ; and this
being the case, I think you will allow that the land has
not gone back under my management. (Great cheer-
ing.) I will give you another proof. I had 24£ tons
ot Swedes and four different varieties of wheat, the yield
of whieh was 40 bushels — new red wheat 42, the third
sort 43, the fourth is not yet thrashed, but the average
may be taken at 45 bushels the acre. (Cheers.) The
old tenant paid me 200/. a year, and he had probably
(as we understood) 60 head of cattle, a few pigs, two
men and a boy, and a dairy maid. I have 31 beasts
upon it, besides 500 sheep, and I think you will allow
that the difference is striking. As to profit, I may say
that I have declined several offers of 500/. a year for
what I received 200/. before. I laid out 3,500/. in per-
manent improvements, in buildings and draining, and I
consider that I realise eight per cent, for my money. I
only hope that landlords will follow my example with
more vigour than they have yet done, as assuredly they
will find it to be for their own advantage, and for the
advantage of their tenants. I have to thank you for the
patience whith which you have heard me, and to assure
Mr. Matthews that I entertain not a spark ot ill-will
for what was inadvertently spoken ; and 1 can assure
you that in all your efforts to prosecute inquiry, discus-
sion, and improvement, I shall be glad to co-operate
with you to the utmost of my power. (Cheers.)

Mr. Peter Matthews, said as Earl Ducie's object
was to try experiments, it was the duty of the laud-
lords to follow his example, for experiments seldom
answered in three out of four trials (laughter), and such
being the case the farmers could Dot stand the chances
of failure, but the landlords might, and a great benefit
to the public would be the result. (Cheers.) He hoped
the experiments would be continued, and he had no
doubt that some of them would prove lucky, and they
(the farmers) would reap the advantage. One observa-
tion he begged to make, which he was sure would
meet the approval of the meeting, and it was that
instead of calling it the " example farm" it should be
called the " experimental farm." To his lordship he
was sure they all felt obliged, for they had been bene-
fitted by many things which he had tried. (Cheers.)

Earl Ducie said that he had only one remark to
make. He had purposely avoided calling his farm an
" experimental'' one, because he knew it would create
prejudices against it. He could assure the company
that no experiments were tried ; the only object he had
in view was to bring into general use those experiments
which had been found to answer without involving the
least risk. The only experiments he tried related to
the feeding of sheep, but these did not involve risk.
He wished to enlighten the ignorant, and by no means
to induce people to adopt doubtful experiments.
(Cheers.)

The business concluded by the Chairman again pro-
posing '* the Gloucester Farmers' Club, and a good
meeting next year."

continually purchasing and transporting some of
the best to the United States. Mr. Sotham,
who has frequently visited this country to pur-
chase cattle and sheep, has just gone on board the
" Hendrick Hudson," hound for New York, which
vessel will sail from Portsmouth on Wednesday
next, having purchased, and taking with him Mr.
Win, Hewer's Hereford bull " Major," which has
obtained seven prizes; two short-horn cows, and a
bull calf from the stock of Mr. Lovell ; fifteen
Leicester ewes from Mr. Lovell's flock, twenty
Cotswold ewes from Mr. Wm. Hewer's flock, ten
of the same breed from Mr. Joseph Hewer's
flock, and seven of the same sort from Mr.
Cother's flock. We know that the selection will do
Mr. Sotham credit, and we wish him a safe voy-
age, and a speedy return to this country upon a
similar errand.

Our brethren on the ether side of the Atlantic
are constantly giving us practical proof of their
determination to encourage their own agriculture,
■and of their estimate of the value of our stock, by

RURAL CHEMISTRY.

The important influence which water has on the
changes which vegetable substances are liable to
undergo, has already been alluded to, when speak-
ing of gluten and the other similar substances
which enter into the composition of seeds. All
these substances, which under the joint action of
air and moisture are so liable to undergo various
changes, become comparatively fixed and un-
changeable, when well dried and protected from
the access of water. During the germination of
seeds a great change takes place in the nature of
the substances comprising them. Carbonic acid
is formed by the combination of a portion of the
carbon which they contain with oxygen of the air.
The conditions requisite to the germination of
seeds, are moisture, a certain degree of heat, and
the presence of air. Light appears to be prejudi-
cial, and, therefore, darkness may he said to be
also necessary to the perfect germination of seeds,
and these conditions are all seemed by a good soil.
The office performed by moisture is in the first
place principally mechanical, serving to soften
and swell up the dry matters composing the seed,
and by assisting in the introduction of air, to faci-
litate the changes requisite to germination : it
likewise acts chemically, its presence being essen-
tial to the conversion of starch into gum and
sugar, and the other effects produced by the ac-
tion of the air. When seeds germinate in a con-
fined portion of air, we find that the air does not
increase in bulk at all ; the nitrogen is not at all
affected, but the oxygen is found to have com-
bined with a quantity of carbon, and become con-
verted into carbonic acid; and in consequence, the
insipid and comparatively insoluble starch con-
tained in the seeds has changed into more easily
soluble, sweet, and mucilaginous, or gummy sub-
stances, fit for the nourishment of the embryo
plant before its roots and leaves are sufficiently
developed to enable it to derive support from the
different sources of food presented to it by the air
and soil. When the access of air is prevented,
whilst at the same time the seeds are exposed to
moisture, they are unable to undergo this change ;
germination, or the growth of the embryo, cannot
take place, and the seeds decay ; a portion of the
water is decomposed, and the oxygen and hydro-
gen which it contained unite with the elements of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

99

the vegetable matter, and form carbonic acid,
carburetted hydrogen, and other substances.

The chemical changes attendant on the process
of germination arc very different from those which
go on during the growth of a complete plant : be-
fore the formation of leaves, and in the very earliest
stages of its growth, a plant requires only warmth,
moisture, and the presence of air ; but subse-
quently, it requires, in addition to these, carbonic
acid and light. It is the oxygen of the air alone
which is essential to the germination of seeds, as
the nitrogen being unable to combine with carbon,
is quite useless in diminishing the quantity of that
substance contained in the seeds : its presence in
the air is, however, very useful, serving to dilute
the oxygen and prevent its act'ng too rapidly.
Seeds arc found to germinate very quickly in
pure oxygen gas, but the plants produced are
weak and unhealthy. In the next stage of the
growth of plants, or when they 'nave leaves, they
begin to absorb carbon from the air instead of
parting with it, and this they do by decomposing
the carbonic acid always present in the air, which
they are able to effect when exposed to the influ-
ence of light. When seeds are sown in the earth,
they are placed in a situation where they are pro-
tected from the action of light, and exposed to the
influence of air and moisture ; and provided they
are sufficiently warm, th it is, above the freezing
point of water, they will germinate and produce
plants. Below that temperature seeds cannot ger-
minate, because, as has been already said, the
action of water is in the first instance to soften
the seed, and this of course it cannot effect when
so cold as to assume the solid form itself. If
buried too deep in the soil, the free access of air
to the. seeds will be retarded, or even perhaps
wholly prevented, and under these circumstances
of course they cannot grow. The nature of the
soil too is of considerable importance : very clayey
soils allow a less perfect action of air than those
which are of a more porous and open structure,
and in the former, therefore, the process of ger-
mination proceeds more slowly. When the young
plants appear above the surface of the ground,
their mode of growth is changed ; they then re-
quire air and light, and being no longer preserved
by the soil from the action of light, are immedi-
diately able to effect the decomposition of carbonic
acid.

The roots of a plant require little more than
moisture ; and the water which they obtain from
the soil contains those saline and gaseous matters
which the plants want, whilst the leaves require
carbonic acid, ammonia, and the influence of
light ; and these they obtain by growing up into
the air. When they are shaded from the light, or
covered up, either artificially or by the leaves of
surrounding plants, the action of light is impeded,
and they are unable to effect the proper decompo-
sition of carbonic acid. Every one knows that
under these circumstances plants become un-
healthy and send up long weak shoots, endeavour-
ing to reach the light, and to place their leaves
in a situation where they will be exposed to its
influence.

The germination of seeds may be readily effected
in water, although they are for the most part
unable to grow and vegetate under that fluid. The
change which under ordinary conditions is effected
in seeds by the oxygen of the air, is, under these
circumstances, caused by the oxygen of the small
quantity of common air always dissolved or held

in solution by water. In no case can a seed ger-
minate unless free oxygen is present, or some
other means exist by which a portion of the car-
bon in the seed can be removed, so as to cause
the change in the constituents of the seed before
described.

In the process of malting or converting raw
grain into malt, the object to be attained is to
change a large portion of the starch and gluten
which the barley contains into gum and sugar.
This is effected by steeping the grain in cold
water, and then heaping it up together on the floor
of the malt-house ; it is thus placed in the most
favourable conditions for germination, and in
consequence the chemical changes attendant on
that process immediately commence. The seeds
lose carbon, and at the same time convert the
oxygen of the air into carbonic acid; the embryo
or young plant begins to increase in size, and the
grain becomes warm from the heat evolved by the
chemical action. If this were suffered to conti-
nue, the sugar and gum formed would be con-
sumed by the growing young plant, and the malt
would then become useless : when, therefore, the
process has proceeded to a certain extent, it is
stopped by the gradual application of heat, which,
by driving off the water and drying the grain,
destroys the conditions requisite for the further
growth of the young plant, and preserves the
grain in the state most proper for the uses of the
brewer and distiller.

The substances requisite for the growth of
plants may be classed under two heads — those
which by combining together form various organic
matters, such as lignin, gum, albumen, gluten,
starch, &.c. ; and those saline and earthy sub-
stances which have been before alluded to as en-
tering into the composition of all plants. The
organic parts of plants are entirely formed by the
four elements, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and
carbon ; all of which are supplied to the plants by
both the air and soil, in the forms of water, am-
monia, and carbonic acid. These three substances
are always present in greater or less quantity in
the air, and from the common atmospheric
changes — the fall of rain and dew — arc necessarly
gradually brought down to the earth. The inor-
ganic substances which are absorbed by the roots
of plants dissolved in water are almost entirely
obtained from the soil exclusively. When we
burn plants or vegetable substances, we invariably
find a quantity of ash remains; this consists of
saline and earthy substances, varying in nature
and quantity with the soil on which the plants
grow. The ashes of some plants are always found
to contain particular salts, the presence of which
in the soil is evidently of considerable importance
to the healthy growth of these plants. The conti-
nual growth of plants on a soil of course dimi-
nishes the quantity of these saline matters, and
the soil would necessarily become gradually less
capable of supporting the growth of successive
crops, unless either the nature of the plants culti-
vated on it was continually changed, or the salts
thus abstracted were from time to time replaced,
either naturally, by the decomposition of stones,
or artificially, by the application of manures.
There is one source, however, whence soils derive
a continual supply of saline matters, which is the
sea. The water constantly evaporating from the
surface of the sea always holds in solution a very
small quantity of salt, which being carried away
by the winds is brought down to the surface of the

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100

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ground by rain, lu this way the soil, often to a
very great distance from the sea, obtains a small
but constant supply of muriate of soda and the
other saline substances contained in sea water.

With respect to the natural sources of saline
matters in the soil, it must be observed that
although their nature and quantity are in great
measure influenced by the composition of the
subsoil and stony substratum, yet it frequently
happens that from want of mixture the soil is defi-
cient in some of those very substances which the
subsoil is rich in ; and in consequence the soil be-
comes greatly improved by mixture, or by spreading
over the surface some of the decomposing stones
dug from below. The system of subsoil ploughing,
so successfully practised in many parts of the coun-
try, is connected with this subject, and depends
mainly upon the advantages derived from ad-
mixture of the subsoil with the surface. In this
operation a plough is employed to break up and
pulverize the soil to a considerable depth below the
surface, without bringing the soil so disturbed up to
the top ; by this process the permeability of the soil
to air is greatly increased, and in consequence the
subsoil is soon brought into a fit state to be mixed
with the ordinary soil, by the use of a suitable
plough. Part ef the benefit derived from this ope-
ration is doubtless due to the greater openness con-
ferred upon the soil, which permits a more perfect
access of air and moisture, and allows the roots of the
growing plants more easily to penetrate throughout
it ; but at the same time advantage is also derived
from the greater supply of saline and soluble eartbv
matters which are thus made available for the use of
the plants. We are apt to think that a soil must
necessarily contain portions of those substances,
which enter into the composition of the substratum ;
but this is by no means always the case. Thus the
surface-soil of a chalk district is not unfrequently
nearly wholly destitute of calcareous or chalky
matters, and soils in such situations are often greatlv
improved by spreading lime over the surface. It is
therefore of high importance to know the nature and
composition of the subsoil, as well as the surface-
soil ; for by a judicious use of the former, the soil
itself may frequently be greatly improved and pro-
bably some saving effected in the quantity of manure
required for the land.

The artificial sources of earthy and saline com-
pounds are very numerous, and their applicability
to particular soils usually depends upon local cir-
cumstances ; in general, however, those manures are
best which supply the required salts at the same
time that they yield ammonia and carbonic acid to
the growing plants. Ashes, bone-dust, and many
other similar substances are chiefly valuable for the
saline and earthy matters they yield ; whilst dung,
and the more common kinds of vegetable and animal
manures, yield in addition ammonia and carbonic
acid. Saline substances assist vegetation in two
ways ; some are directly absorbed by plants, whilst
others are useful in causing the formation of diffe-
rent salts, without being themselves absorbed bv
growing vegetables.

Many plants are found to contain peculiar salts
which do not exist in the soil in which the plants
grow, but which have been formed at. the same time
with th_e gum, sugar, and other vegetable substances
they contain. These salts are composed of the ordi-
nary bases, such as potash, soda, lime, and mag-
nesia, which are derived from the soil, combined
with peculiar vegetable acids formed during the
growth of the plants. There are a great number of

these vegetable acids, which differ in properties and
chemical characters, but agree in being all composed
of the same four elements, or some of them, which
constitute all organic substances. These acids are
formed in the organs of plants by the combination
of the elements of carbonic acid, ammonia, and
water, like gluten, albumen, and the other similar
substances ; but the salts of these acids cannot be
formed in the plants unless the bases which consti-
tute them are present in the soil in a state capable of
being dissolved by water and absorbed by the roots
of the plants, and not already in combination with
an acid for which they have a more powerful attrac-
tion than they have for the peculiar organic acid
generated by the plant. These salts are not found
in the ashes of plants, because the organic acids, like
all other organic substances, are decomposed by
heat, and hence in the ashes of plants we only find
carbonates of those bases which were previously
combined with organic acids ; the bases having com-
bined with carbonic acid, after the decomposition of
the vegetable acids. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE EFFECTS
OF DRAINAGE.

BY HENRY R. MADDEN, ESQ., M.D., TENICUIK.

PRIZE ESSAY OF THE HIGHLAND AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

[concluded.]

Thirdly— What influence has water upon all the
above changes, both as they occur in soil and in
vegetables? and is there any difference in the re-
sult, if the water be stagnant or current, constant
or occasional ?

The effect of water upon soil will be best exam-
ined under the following heads : — 1. The effect of
water on the mechanical condition of soil, toge-
ther with the variations produced in the effect,
according to the quantity present.

II. The effect of an excess of water in altering
the state of the soil, as regards atmospheric in-
fluences.

III. The effect produced by water upon the chemi~
cal processes occurring in soil.

IV. The effect produced by water upon those
parts of vegetables which are below the surface of
the soil.

V. The answer to the latter part of the question,
namely, the difference produced, according to the
state of the water, as to its origin and condition,
will lastly engage our attention.

I. We shall now endeavour to trace, in the
first instance, the effect of water on the mechan-
ical condition of the soil, together with the varia-
tions produced in the effect according to the quan-
tity present.

We have already seen that soil, considered me-
chanically, is composed of an infinite number of
particles of every possible variety of size and
shape; and we have likewise made it evident,
that their intrinsic value is in the inverse ratio of
their size, or, in other words, that the most finely
divided portions arc at all times the most valuable.
Still further, we have explained that, in all fertile
soils, there is the most perfect mecb anical mix-
ture of the organic with the mineral constituents ;

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101

so that it is impossible to remove a single particle
of the one, without at the same time carrying
away a certain portion of the other.

Of the constituents which form soil, two at least
have the power of absorbing and retaining mois-
ture, namely, clay and humus. Carbonate of lime
has likewise this property, but it does not in gene-
ral, except in chalky soils, exist in such quantities
as to require our taking it into particular conside-
ration.

Let us now see what will occur when water is
added. The first portions will be absorbed by
those particles consisting of clay or humus, or both
conjoined; and, in consequence, each such parti-
cle will assume the form of a sponge saturated
with moisture. Thus far the mechanical condition
has not changed, because, although the particles
themselves have undergone alteration in size by
the absorption of fluid, still the mass will continue
to be porous : and I may here observe that this is
the healthy condition of soil. If, however, a
greater quantity is added, these spongy bodies must
be filled to overflowing ; and the result will be,
that the innumerable intervals between the various
particles will be filled with fluid, so that, for the
time, the whole mass will have lost its porosity,
and will therefore have become impervious to
gaseous matter.

Again, when water exists in such small quanti-
ties that the soil retains its porosity, the water it-
self will be in such a state of subdivision, that it
will obey the laws of a volatile solid instead of a
fluid ; that is to say, its particles will no longer
have the power of moving so freely upon each
other that currents could be produced by heat or
cold, or the solution of any substance by the por-
tions nearest the surface. Moreover, the method
of evaporation will be quite different, for in this
instance the water near the surface will be dissolved
in the surrounding air, with greater or less
rapidity, according to the power of attraction ex-
erted by the soil upon it ; and when the surface
has lost all that the air is capable of removing, or,
in other words, when an equilibrium has been es-
tablished between the forces conducing to evapora-
tion and the power of retention, as mutually ex-
erted by tbe atmosphere and the soil, no more
water can be brought to the upper portion, on
account of the want of continuity between its par-
ticles, and, consequently, that below the surface
will evaporate comparatively more slowly, being
acted upon only by the air existing in the inter-
stices of the soil, whose absorbent powers will,
however, be increased by its direct continuity with
the mass of the atmosphere.

When, however, water exists in soil in such abun-
dance that, owing to the intervals between its
particles being occupied by the fluid, the whole
water of the soil presents one continuous surface,
which is almost always the case in soil requiring
drainage, a totally different series of phenomena
takes place — upward and downward currents are
produced by so many different causes, that a con-
stant circulation must exist. During the day for
instance, when, from the increased warmth of the
air, the surface of the soil will be more heated
than the under portion, a current from below up-
wards will be produced by the continued evapora-
tion of the upper stratum, producing a momentary
dryness in those particles of soil which are nearest
the surface, and which will therefore, by capillary
action, draw up the water that is immediately be-
neath them. From the comparative slowness of

evaporation, however, these 'currents will be ex-
tremely slight : not so after sunset ; a much more
vigorous circulation will now take place. The air
will now have become colder than the soil, and
consequently the upper strata of fluid will, by di-
minution of temperature, become specifically
heavier than the rest, and will consequently sink,
while their places will be immediately occupied by
the fluid which is below; and thus a distinct double
system of currents will be produced, which will
last with more or less interruption throughout the
night.

In comparing, therefore, the two cases together,
we find that a constant circulation occurs in both
instances, with this important distinction, that
whereas the circulating fluid is in the one case
water, in the other it is atmospheric air. That a
circulation of the latter constantly occurs in moist
as distinguished from wet soil, is evident from tbe
following circumstances. We have seen that eva-
poration from the surface soon ceases, on account
of the restoration of an equilibrium between the
forces of evaporation and absorption ; and that it
is then carried on below the surface, by the action
of the air contained in the interstices of the soil.
This air, however, is in direct continuity with
the atmosphere, and consequently, as soon as it
becomes saturated with moisture, it will rise up-
wards, on account of its being of less specific
gravity than those portions of air which are drier,
and these in their turn will descend ; thus produ-
cing as distinct a system of currents as could be
effected by the water in wet soil, and with this ad-
dition, that they will be as vigorous by day as by
night ; because, although the cause producing
them be different, the night ones, depending partly
upon cold, still in both cases they will be of consi-
derable power.

In order to put these considerations to the test,
the following experiments were performed : —

1. Two vessels of equal size and form were
taken, so as to represent two portions of an un-
drained field. Into each, 500 grains of soil taken
from the same position were placed, the soil having
been previously dried by exposure to the atmos-
phere.

Into one of the«e (No. 1) 277.2 grains of water
were poured, which gave the soil the appearance
of being verymuch the worse for water.

Into the other vessel (No. 2) 200 grains of water
were poured, which rendered the soil uniformly
damp, and was considered to represent land after
a good shower of rain.

Both vessels were then placed in the sunshine
under precisely similar circumstances, and allowed
to remain for one hour, the thermometer varying
from (>7° to 62°. They were then weighed, and it
was found that No. 1 had lost 7 grains, and No. 2
5.7 grains ; or, proportionally, No. 1 had lost ^th
nearly of the w hole quantity of water, wheraas N o. 2
had lost^th. The difference of the ratio of evapora-
tion in this case is easily explained, when we consi-
der that very wet soil presents almost an unbroken
aqueous surface ; whereas in very damp soil the
surface of the water is continually broken by pro-
jecting portions of soil, so that the actual area of
the surface is considerably increased.

The vessels and their contents were again ex-
posed for four hours and re-weighed, when No. I
was found to have lost 25.8 grains since the last
weighing, and No. 2 had lost 23.6 grains ; or, pro-
portionally, No. 1 had, during the last exposure,
lost at the rate of ./$d part of the whole water

102

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

per hour, whereas No. 2 had been evaporating
at the rate of a^ per hour; thus shewing the
effect of still further increasing the surface by re-
duction of the quantity of fluid in soil.

The two vessels were then left under the same
circumstances for a considerable time, when,
after a lapse of forty-three-hours since th<j last
weighing, it was found that No. 1 had lost 149 5
grains, and No. 2 127.1 grains ; or, proportionally,
No. 1 had been evaporating at the rate of^th of
the whole fluid per hour, and No. 2 at the rate of
-3'?th. The great diminution in the evaporation of
both is ofcourseto be explained by the diminished
temperature during the night ; and the increased
rate of No. 2 over No 1 can receive explanation
only on the supposition of the increased freedom of
circulation of air through the soil, dependent upon
the principle explained in the preceding page, for
No. 2 now had resumed the appearance of dry soil.
They were now exposed for one hour, during
which No. 1 lost 3 grains, and No. 2 2.1 grains ; or,
proportionally, No. 1 had lost ^nrl part of the
whole water, and No. 2 ^'.h ; thus shewing that
No. 1 contained nearly twice as much water as
No. 2, although at the commencement it exceeded
it by little more than one-fifth.

Lastly, six hours after, it was found that No. 1
had lost 34 grains, and appeared to be dry, and
No. 2 had lost 21.1 grains ; or, proportionally,
No. 1 had evaporated at the rate of -^th of the
whole mass per hour, and No. 2 had lost Jth per
hour.

At the end of the experiment, No. 2 had the
appearance of being perfectly dry, although it still
contained 20.4 grains of water, and Wo. 1 was
merely slightly moist, and that only below the
surface, whereas 47. !) grains of water were still re-
tained; thus shewing the large quantity of fluid
which may exist in soil, although it be to all ap-
pearance dry.

2. The next experiment performed, was to as-
certain if drainage had any effect upon the rate of
the drying of the soil, beyond the obvious one ot
affording an exit for the superabundant water.

Two vessels of precisely the same form were
filled with soil, so that each of them represented
equal portions of a held one inch in depth.
No. 1 represented a portion of land undrained.
No. 2, on the other hand, was furnished with a
drain : 400 grains of water were then poured upon
each of them, and they were exposed for two
hours ; after which period it was found that No. 1
had lost 42.5 grains, and No. 2 (53.3 grains, leaving
20.8 grains for the quantity carried off by the
drain, which had now ceased to discharge.

The vessels were then left under the same cir-
cumstances for 46 hours, when it was found that
No. 1 had lost 142 grains, and No. 2 143 grains.
Here, therefore, we perceive that the rate of eva-
poration is equal for equal surfaces of soil, when
both contained the same quantity of water origi-
nally.

3. The following experiment was performed to
ascertain the comparative rates of evaporation in
equal quantities of soil, when the proportion of
water in the two vessels was as 1 to 2, or exactly
double.

The same vessels which were used in the first
experiment were each supplied with 500 grains of
soil, and No. 1 was wetted with 205 grains of
water, and No. 2 with 410; in this case the soil
was completely covered, and the water presented
an unbroken surface*

Both were exposed to the direct rays of the sun,
the thermometer being at 84Q Fahr. In one hour
No. 1 lost 15 grains, and No. 2 17 grains ; the
rate of evaporation, therefore, in No. 2 was little
more than one-half that in No. 1, as compared to
the whole quantity of water, owing to the circum-
stance already stated in reference to the increase
of the actual area of the surface in moist soil as
compared to an unbroken surface of water; and
probably likewise to the attraction of cohesion
being greater between one particle of water and
another, than between soil and water.

During the next three hours, the thermometer
being at about 61° Fahr., No, 1 lost 36 grains, and
No. 2 45.5 grains.

After twenty-three hours, during which the
mean temperature was about 60* Fahr., No. 1 was
found to have lost % grains, and No. 2 116
grains; the increased rate of evaporation in No.
2 being accounted for by the water above the sur-
faoe having been dissipated, and the soil having
become uncovered.

In the whole twenty-seven hours, however,
No. 2 had only lost 31.5 grains more than No. 1.

57.75 grains of water were now added to No. 1,
in oider that it might contain exactly half as much
as No. 2, the actual quantities being 115.75 grains
in No. 1, and 231.5 grains in No. 2 ; both soils
were, now damp, but not tret.

In twenty-four hours, during which the ther-
mometer had ranged from 58° to 60°, and the at-
mosphere being loaded with moisture, No. 1 lost
51.5 grains, and No. 2 57.2 grains.

In twenty-seven hours more, No. 1 lost 47.8
grains, and No. 2 70.3 grains. The cause of the
great increase of evaporation in No. 2 during the
last exposure of course depends upon No. 1 having
become nearly dry, the quantity remaining in it
being only 16.45 grains, whereas No. 2 still con-
tains 104 grains.

From these experiments we may draw the fol-
lowing conclusions : —

1. That equal surfaces lose nearly equal quan-
tities of water by evaporation, provided there is
not so great a disparity in the quantities of the
water as to render the mechanical conditions dif-
ferent.

2. That moist soil evaporates at a greater ratio
than very v:et soil.

3. That the evaporation is most rapid from the
period at which soil assumes the colour of dry
soil, until it has lost all that it will part with at
the ordinary temperature.

And, 4. That drainage has no effect whatever
upon surface-evaporation, except in as far as it
tends to bring very wet soil into the condition of
soil that is merely moist.

II. We shall now examine the effect of an excess
of water in altering the state of the soil as regards
atmospheric influences. This will of course com-
prehend temperature and electricity. With regard
to the latter, I need only remark, that water be-
ing a most excellent conducter, the quantity of
electricity retained in, or attracted by, soil will be
increased by the increase of this fluid, and conse-
quently its presence may exert a powerful influ-
ence over many of the chemical changes which
are constantly occurring beneath its surface. If
the absence, however, of anything like proof of
such effects, it will be advisable to lay aside this
portion of the subject, and proceed to consider the
effect of an increased quantity of water upon the
temperature of the soil. The temperature of soil

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

103

must of course be modified by evaporation, and
likewise by anything which will interfere with its
conducting powers. Fluids in general, and water
in particular, are among the worst possible con-
ductors of heat.

Now, if we consider that soil can receive its
heat merely at the surface, it follows that all the
lower strata can receive an increase of temperature
by conduction only.

The metals are the best conducters, then the
earths and fluids are among the worst. It follows,
therefore, as a consequence, that an excess of
water will render the soil much longer in attain-
ing an increase of temperature than would he the
case were the soil perfectly dry. Again, evapora-
tion is a constant source of a diminution of tem-
perature ; and as this will always take place where
water is exposed to air, we have, in this man-

ner, two distinct methods in which water must
tend to diminish the temperature of the soil. To
test the power of this cooling process, the follow-
ing experiments were performed : —

Two flower-pots were filled with soil from the
same spot, the one having been previously lined
throughout with clay, while the other was left in
its natural condition. Into each a thermometer
was inserted, so that the bulb should he almost
two inches below the surface. The pot lined with
clay was kept constantly moist, to resemble un-
drained land ; whereas the other was allowed to
dry, and had merely a small quantity of water
added occasionally. They were both placed under
precisely similar circumstances, and a series of
observations made upon the temperature, at irre-
gularintervals, during several successive days, of
which the following were the results :—

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

IS

u

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

•28

°

0

o

0

o

o

0

o

o

c

o

o

O

o

Q

a

o

0

Q

Q

o

o

o

o

o

a

o

o

Drained.. ..

58

60

59

65

fid

72

66

54

58

63

62\

75

55

60

66

73

67

58

64

72

57

60

58

76

69§

74

60 83

Undrained .

58 58J

58

66

56

66.61*

55

51

57

5?

66

52

65

61

65

61

55

54 61

57

(if)

57|70

631

65

5771

In explanation of the foregoing observations it
will be necessary to state, that at first the earth
in both pots was wetted, and hence the tempera-
ture is the same in both; but it will he observed
that a gradual increase of temperature of the
drained over the undrained took place during the
next six observations, during which period the
drained soil was becoming dry, whereas the un-
drained was kept moist by repeated additions of
water. It will likewise be observed, that the
greatest difference occurred at mid-day, or when
the temperature was highest, but ihis was of
course to be expected. After the experiment had
continued for a few days, it occurred to me that a
fallacy might possibly exist in the experi-
ments, from the following cause : — The pot to re-
present undrained soil was lined completely with
clay. Now, as a certain quantity of the heat must
have been conveyed through the sides of the pot.
1 thought it possible that the lovvness of tempera-
ture of the undrained soil might depend upon the
coating of clay. In order, therefore, to ascertain
this fact, the observations marked 21 and 22 were
made. In 21 both soils were moistened, and the
thermometers both stood at 57° ; and prior to the
22nd observation, both were allowed to dry, when
the temperature in each was 60° ; thus proving
beyond a doubt, that the difference in the other
eases was produced solely by the presence of the
water.

From the whole series of observations we may
draw the conclusion, that water lowers the tem-
perature of the soil in all cases, with one excep-
tion, to be mentioned immediately; the mean
excess of temperature in drained soil in the
above experiments being 6^ deg. F.

The exception above alluded to will occur in
winter, and at all times when the temperature is
below 40 deg , and depends upon the peculiarity
possessed by water of attaining its maximum
density at that temperature, so that the addition
either of heat or cold renders it specifically
lighter. It follows, therefore, that whereas in
drained, and consequently dry soil, the tempera-
ture will be reduced during winter as low as that

of the surrounding air, undrained soil will con-
stantly remain at between 39 and 40 deg., be-
cause below this temperature wet soil can be
cooled by conduction only, which power we have
shewn to be almost wanting in water.

III. Let us now see the effect produced by an
excess of water upon the chemical processes oc-
curring in soil.

We have already entered so fully into many of
the chemical changes which take place in the or-
ganic matter of soil, that we shall touch very
briefly upon this subject in this place. Very
little is known at present of the difference pro-
duced in the results of putrefaction, as dependent
upon the quantity of water ; but by reasoning
upon what we have said with regard to the
changes which occur during the progress of decay,
we shall perceive that several remarkable differ-
ences must occur.

We have seen that the absorption of oxygen is
absolutely necessary in order that putrefaction
should proceed. Now, as this element is supplied
by the air, when organic matter is placed under
water it cannot receive oxygen from this source,
except the small quantity contained in the dis-
solved air. It must accordingly receive it from
the water itself, in which case hydrogen will be
set free, and consequently a different series of
changes will occur. Whenever there is not ni-
trogen sufficient to produce ammonia with the
liberated hydrogen, as will be the case when the
decomposing substances consist chiefly of vege-
table matter, then the hydrogen will unite with
the carbon and form carburetted hydrogen, and
thus reduce the quantity of ulmic acid formed by
10 £ grains for every grain of hydrogen set free.

That this change actually takes place is in a
manner proved by the evolution of carburetted
hydrogen from stagnant pools, where vegetable
matter is constantly putrefying under the surface
of the water.

In order to get some little insight into the
differences between the results of putrefaction,
as it occurs under water and in moist air, I per-
formed the following experiment, which, however ,

104

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

can be considered as proving merely that there is
a difference, without throwing any light on the
nature of the variations.

Two quantities of sheep-skin cut in thin shreds
were set to putrefy; the one (No. ]) being im-
mersed in water, while the other (No. 2) was
merely kept moist; otherwise both were kept in
precisely similar circumstances. Putrefaction
soon commenced in both ; but the smell in the
two instances was entirely different — No. 1 being
very ammoniacal and fetid, whereas in No. 2 the
smell was extremely disagreeable and pungent, as
if acetic acid were present. Both of them were
shewn to have given off a small quantity of sul-
phuretted hydrogen.

Again, the pieces of skin in No. 1 have changed
their colour and become leaden blue, whereas No.
2 has remained unaltered in this respect.

A portion of both parcels was next boiled in
water. In No. 1 the steep-water was used, as it
would of course contain part of the soluble matter,
and the solutions were then tested with the fol-
lowing re-agents : —

1. With Tincture of Galls.
No. 1. No effect.
No. 2. A slight precipitation.

2. With Pernitrate of Mercury.
No. 1. A considerable precipitate produced.
No. 2. A much less quantity thrown down.

3. With Proto-muriate of Tin.

No. 1. A considerable precipitation took place.
No. 2. Little or no effect produced.

4. With Subacetate of Lead.
No. 1. A well-marked cloudiness produced.
No. 2. No effect.

In the present imperfect state of our knowledge
concerning the various modifica'ions of organic
matter, I shall not pretend to explain the cause of
the differences observed in the above case, and
indeed it is sufficient for our purpose to prove
that there is a difference ; because, since we know
that putrefaction in healthy soil never takes place
under water, we have certainly good grounds for
supposing that any modifications produced by an
excess of water will not be such as to render it
more useful to plants. So much for the influence
of an excess of water upon the organic matter of
soil. There are, however, various changes con-
stantly occurring in the saline constituents, which
•will be very different in /twist, as distinguished
from wet soil.

There are several chemical changes which are
entirely regulated by the quantity of water pre-
sent. In fact, it is by no means uncommon to
find that if a certain change is produced when the
materials are kept damp, the very reverse occurs
if they are placed under water. One or two in-
stances of these differences will suffice. Almost
all soils contain carbonate of lime and muriate of
soda {common salt) ; if an excess of water be pre-
sent, no chemical action takes place between
them ; if, however, so little water is present that
the mixture is merely moist, an interchange takes
place ; the acids and bases mutually change their
mode of combination, and muriate of lime and car-
bonate of soda (mineral alkali) are the result,
which latter immediately escapes beyond the reach
of chemical action by efflorescence. Both these
salts are soluble, and both of them valuable to
soil ; the alkali by increasing the solubility of the

organic matter, and the muriate of lime by in-
creasing the power possessed by soil of absorbing
and retaining atmospheric moisture. If, however,
by any means the quantity of water should so in-
crease that these two salts should meet in solu-
tion, they immediately resume their original
forms of carbonate of lime and muriate of soda.

Again, we have already seen the great value of
carbonate of ammonia, or its pure alkali, in soil.
Now, most fertile soils contain sulphate of lime
(gypsum). If a mixture of carbonate of ammonia
and sulphate of lime be kept moist, a gradual
change, precisely similar to the last, takes place,
and the consequence is, that sulphate of ammonia
and carbonate of lime are produced. Now, this
change is of great consequence. Let us suppose,
for instance, that, from a want of proper mixture
of the manure with the soil, so much manure is in
one spot (which must occur for the first year or
so of each rotation in drill-husbandry), that the
quantity of ammonia given off is more than one-
half per cent, of the soil around it. Should no-
thing prevent it, the excess of this valuable ingre-
dient would escape into the air. If, however,
sulphate of lime were present, the alkali, which
would have become carbonate by union with
the carbonic acid always existing in soil, would
immediately be absorbed ; and, provided the
soil were not too wet, the change above alluded
to would occur, and sulphate of ammonia be
formed, which, being perfectly fixed, will re-
main any length of time without being dissipated
or lost. When, however, by the occurrence
of a good shower of rain, the sulphate of ammo-
nia is dissolved, and thus brought in contact with
the carbonate of lime, the opposite change gra-
dually occurs, and carbonate of ammonia and
sulphate of lime are reproduced. There is another
most important difference in the chemical changes
which occur in moist, as distinguished from wet
soil, which must have great influence upon vege-
tation : I refer to the action of carbonate of am-
monia upon humus. We have already seen, that
when soil was agitated in a solution of carbonate
of ammonia, the fluid acquired a distinct yellow
colour; which, however, was very much lighter
than when the pure alkali was employed. In
order to ascertain if there were any difference
when the soil was kept moist merely in place of
wet, as in the last experiment, I mixed some car-
bonate of ammonia with another portion of the
same soil, and moistened the mixture with water.
In this state I allowed it to remain a few days,
adding a little water when necessary. I afterwards
diluted the mixture, shook it well, and let the soil
subside. After the insoluble matter had fallen,
the solution was left of an intense brown colour,
fully as dark as when the pure alkali was employed.
Lest any one should suppose that this depended
upon the length of time during which the two
were mixed together, I may mention that the ex-
periment with the solution of carbonate of am-
monia was performed first, and the liquid, when
examined on the same day that the last experiment
was concluded, was still of a yelloiv colour only,
although somewhat deeper than at first. An ex-
cess of water, therefore, destroys in a great mea-
sure the beneficial effects of carbonate of am-
monia. There are no doubt many other changes
in the saline matter dependent upon the quantity
of water present in the soil, but these will suffice
to shew the great power which this substance pos-
sesses over chemical action ; and we may rest

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

105

assured, Mat if an excess of water produces
changes in the saline matter of soil of a directly
opposite nature to those which occur in moist soil
(its healthy state), its presence cannot he beneficial,
but must be injurious in this respect, in a direct
ratio to the importance of the saline ingredients
which are thus influenced. Or if, on the other
hand, both changes are requisite, namely, first,
that which occurs in moist soil, and afterwards
that which takes place when soil is ivet, it follows
that a long continuance of either of these con-
ditions would be injurious. For example, if the
soil were continually wet (undrained soil), then
sulphate of ammonia could not be produced by the
action of gypsum.

Before leaving the subject of the chemical pro-
cesses which occur in soil, I must call attention to
one circumstance of considerable importance, for
two reasons ; first, because the fact has always
been considered as the strongest argument against
the theory adopted in this paper, namely, that
plants obtain organized food from soil ; and se-
condly, because I believe this is the first time that
it has received a satisfactory explanation. The
fact I allude to is that which I have already men-
tioned cursorily, namely, the impossibility of
obtaining a solution of organic matter from
soil, although we have already proved that
such soluble matter must exist. Now, I have
already shewn that a coloured solution could
not be expected from the extremely minute quan-
tity which is in a soluble state at one time.
Still, however, if this were the only reason, it
could be overcome by treating soil repeatedly with
water, and allowing it to be exposed freely to air
during the intervals; but that this process would
not succeed, is proved by many facts in nature,
especially by the formation of stalactites of pure
carbonate of lime in caverns beneath rich soil,
where the lime has been conveyed in solution in
water which had percolated through the soil ; and,
consequently, it has been argued, that if the
smallest trace of the organic matter of soil were
soluble, an accumulation of such dissolved matter
must have taken place in the caverns above alluded
to. But we have proved that a soluble compound
of humus and ammonia must exist in soil. How,
therefore, can this apparent contradiction be ex-
plained ? Some physiologists have supposed that
the spongioles of the roots exert a specific action
over the organic matter of the soil, so that it is
not soluble except where in immediate contact
with the roots ; this, however, will not explain
our inability to obtain a solution of humus in am-
monia from soil. It occurred to me that it was
possible that soil, which contains such a variety of
chemical re-agents, might have the power of de-
composing the compound of humus and ammonia
during its percolation ; so that although the water
did dissolve this compound, still it was again pre-
cipitated during its passage through the soil, so
that the water on leaving the soil was nearly, if
not perfectly, pure. Now, direct experiment has
enabled me to prove that this is actually the case. I
took a solution of ulmate of ammonia, similar to
the one used for the plant of groundsel before
mentioned, and poured it upon dry soil in a flower-
pot, adding more and more until it began to flow
out at the bottom of the pot. On comparing the
fluid which had percolated through the soil with
that which had remained in the glass, the former
was fou id to have lost colour to such an extent as
to lead to the supposition that it did not contain

more than one-half of its original quantity of so-
luble organic matter. I did not attempt to ascer-
tain the fact by evaporation, as it would have
been impossible to do so, owing to the quantity of
saline matter necessarily dissolved during its pas-
sage through the soil. Thus we have at once a
most satisfactory explanation of this hitherto ob-
scure circumstance, and it is indeed one of the
most beautiful provisions of Nature with which I
am acquainted. Since soil is the stomach in which
the food of plants is prepared, but is nevertheless
external to themselves ; and since this preparation
is a purely chemical process, and occurs indiscri-
minately all over the soil, provided heat, moisture,
and air are present, it follows that food will be
prepared in all parts alike ; and consequently, were
not some means adopted for its preservation, the
first rain that fell would wash away all those por-
tions which had not already been visited by the
spongioles in their slow travels through the soil.
This wouM be the case, for example, were the food
supplied to the roots in the form of carbonic acid ;
but from the power which soil possesses of decom-
posing the solution of humus, whenever rain falls
all those portions which are not in the immediate
neighbourhood of the spongioles are not washed
away, but merely carried a little deeper into the
soil and precipitated upon the mineral matter,
there to remain unaltered, until, by the drying of
the soil, the new evolved ammonia is of sufficient
strength to redissolve the humus.

IV. What are the effects produced by an excess
of water upon those parts of the plants which are
under the surface of the soil? Upon this point,
very little can be said ; because the portions of
plants which are beneath the surface of the soil
must of necessity be hidden from our observation,
and, consequently, as we have no means of ascer-
taining their healthy functions, we are not capable
of arguing upon the effects of external agents upon
them. The only functions which we know as
belonging to roots, are those of absorption and ex-
cretion. With regard to the first of these, namely,
absorption, it occurs naturally in moist soil, and
we might hence argue that it would be effected by
an increase of water, producing, probably, a
species of maceration of the delicate spongioles of
the roots ; that this effect, however, is not fatal to
the plants, is shewn by the possibility of growing
them in pure water. It is very difficult, in the
present state of our knowledge, to say what is the
effect of an excess of water upon the process of
absorption, further than that as plants get fluid
enough to dissolve their food in moist soi], we may
argue that in wet soil the food will be too much
diluted, and thus the plant itself will be overloaded
with moisture.

In regard to its effects upon excretion, one cir-
cumstance alone will be mentioned. The roots
of plants have been proved to grow by their ends
only, and this has been shewn to be a most beau-
tiful provision of Nature ; for many reasons, but
particularly for the two following, — namely, 1st
that the spongioles will thus be constantly pre-
sented with fresh food ; and, 2nd, that while the
soil continues merely moist, the excreted matters,
which have been proved to be injurious to the
plants, will always be left behind. Now, when
there is an excess of water in soil, all the soluble
matter must be continually descending, on account
of the greater specific gravity of the solution, and
consequently, the prevailing direction of the roots
of plants growing in marshy ground should be

106

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

perpendicular, as this is the direction in which the
greatest supply of food will be obtained. Now,
I rather think that observation will prove the
correctness of this remark ; at least I know well
that many marsh plants have a horizontal under-
ground stem or rhizoma from which the rootlets
proceed directly downwards. If, however, the
roots of plants descend, it follows that the excre-
tion of to-day will be relatively nearer the surface
than the spongiole of to-morrow; and, conse-
quently, if an excess of water he present, all
excretions of plants being at first soluble in
water, it will follow that the excrementitious
matter will become immediately mingled with the
food, and applied directly to the spongiole. If this
observation be correct, it should be found that
marshy plants are not so easily injured by the
absorption of excrementitious matters, as those
growing in drier situations, which may probably
be accounted for by the greater quantity of fluid
at all times circulating through them.

V. We now come to the consideration of the
last portion of the question, regarding the effects
of an excess of water on soil, namely, What are
the differences produced by the condition of the
water, whether stagnant or current, constant or
occasional ? This leads us to consider the various
origins of the water of soil. We may observe, I
think, with safety, that the air is by far the most
healthy source of the water for soil ; but even
this becomes very injurious, if, when falling in
excess, it is not capable of getting away readily, so
as to prevent an undue accumulation. In fact, there
is every reason to believe that surface-svater, which
is for the most part stagnant, is by far the most
injurious; because, in this manner, the currents
produced during the heat of summer, namely, the
period at which vegetation should be most active,
will of necessity be entirely from below upwards,
being produced by the evaporation of the water
upon the surface of the soil ; and the consequence
will be, that the roots of the plants, instead of
heing supplied with water charged with all the
valuable gases of the atmosphere, will be bathed
in water which has existed so long in soil that it
will have lost all these valuable ingredients, and
will, moreover, be charged with excrementitious
matters, &c. When, however, the water is
derived from below, in the form of springs, it will
be found in many instances to be useful instead of
injurious; the greater number of instances of
land injured by springs, being cases where the
springs themselves are small, and their contents
diffused over so large a surface, that stagnation is
produced by the quantity of water lost by
evaporation being equal to the 'quantity supplied
by the spring; moreover, spring-water is not
deprived of the valuable gases, as stagnant
water is.

The difference in the effect produced by the
water being constant or occasional is very great.
In fact, an occasional excess of water is very
valuable to plants ; nay, we may very safely con-
clude, that the circumstances requisite to make an
excess of water injurious are stagnation and con-
stancy. In fact, were it otherwise, what good effect
could drainage produce ? No system of drainage
can diminish the quantity of water which a soil
receives; it can only affect the quantity which it
retains, and prevent stagnation by allowing it to
escape so freely that continual currents are pro-
duced, so long as any excess of water remains.

Fourthly — What influence can water exert over

the changes which occur above ground, but which
are capable of influencing, in a great degree, the
vegetation of the soil ?

Water effects the various processes in vegetable
nutrition which occur above ground, by rendering
the atmosphere moist. By this means, we have
reason to believe that three distinct injuries will
be inflicted, two of which are functional, and one
organic. These we shall now consider.

There are two processes of the greatest im-
portance to plants, which take place in the leaves,
and both of which are effected by the condition of
the atmosphere as regards moisture : I refer to
absorption and evaporation. It is well known
that the green parts of plants, but more especially
the leaves, have the power during daylight to
absorb carbonic acid, fix its carbon, and emit
oxygen ; and it is further known that this process
is not only of vital consequence to plants, but
likewise, from its purifying influence on the at-
mosphere, is of great importance to the whole
animal creation. This process, however, is
greatly interfered with by an excess of moisture.
The absorption of carbonic acid occurs through
small pores in the leaf, which are denominated
stomates,- these lead into subcuticular cells, in
the walls of which the process of assimilation
goes on.

Now, as soon as these cells become filled with
water, they close, and consequently it follows that
the absorption of carbonic acid must cease when-
ever this takes place: of course, we need scarcely
say, that anything which increases the dampness
of the atmosphere must increase the frequency of
this effect, and hence diminish the absorption of
carbonic acid.

These stomates, however, have another office to
perforin. It is through them that evaporation
takes place, a process essential to the digestion
and elimination of the crude sap. The sap as
received by the roots is in so diluted a state, that
it requires to lose two-thirds of its water during
digestion before it acquires the proper consistence.
All circumstances, therefore, which retard evapo-
ration must, in an equal degree, retard digestion:
this evil will, moreover, be still more augmented
by the necessarily dilute state in which plants will
receive their food, from the excess of water
existing in the soil. But plants have the power of,
in a certain degree, accommodating themselves to
circumstances, and in this manner the stomates
will diminish in number, for there are always
fewer in plants growing in marshy places, and
thus an organic change will be produced upon the
leaf; and we may be certain, that if plants in a
healthy state have naturally a great number of
stomates, they will no longer thrive if, to suit
themselves ta unnatural circumstances, these
pores diminish in number.

It will no doubt be asked here, how it happens
that plants should be rendered unhealthy from
diminished evaporation, when they possess a
greater number of stomates than those natural to
marshy places ? To explain which it is merely
necessary to remember, that, in marsh-plants, the
cuticle or outer covering of the leaf is so thin,
that evaporation takes place indiscriminately over
its whole surface, and hence stomates are not re-
quired ; whereas in plants frequenting dry
situations, the cuticle is thick to prevent injury
from drought, the stomates being chiefly situated
on the under surface of the leaf.

It follows, therefore, that plants which naturally

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

107

inhabit dry situation', will be injured by a con-
tinual excess of moisture in one of two ways —
either by diminution of the functions of absorption
and evaporation, the structure remaining un-
altered, or from the leaf acquiring an unnatural
organization by an effort of nature to overcome
the primary source of evil.

Fifthly — How does efficient drainage remove all
the bad effects caused by water, and produce the
many good results with which its employment is
accompanied ? The answer to this question is
self-evident. Drainage effects ail its good by
affording a ready outlet for all excess of water, by
preventing stagnation, and thus removing the source
of evil.

In conclusion, therefore, we shall briefly re-
capitulate the various bad effects produced by an
excess of water all which are of course removed
by having recourse to drainage.

1. One great evil produced by an excess of
water in soil, is the consequent diminution in the
quantity of air within it ; which air we have
proved to be of the greatest consequence, not only
in promoting the chemical changes requisite for
the preparation of the food of plants, but likewise
to the roots of the plants themselves ; for Saussure
and Sir H. Davy have proved that oxygen and
carbonic acid are absorbed by the roots, which
gases, however, especially the former, can be con-
veyed to them only by the air.

2. An excess of water injures soil by diminish-
ing its temperature in summer and increasing
it in winter, — a transposition of nature most
hurtful to perennials, because the vigour of a
plant in spring depends greatly upon the lowness
of temperature to which it has been subjected
during winter (within certain limits of course),
as the difference of temperature between winter
and spring is the exciting cause of the ascent of
the sap.

3. The presence of a large quantity of water in
soil alters the result of putrefaction, by which
some substances are formed which are in all pro-
bability useless to plants ; such, for example, as
carburetted hydrogen, and diminishes the pro-
portion of more useful ingredients, as ulmic acid.

4. An increase in the. proportion of fluid in soil
has a most powerful effect upon its saline consti-
tuents, by which many changes are produced
diametrically opposite to those that take place in
soil where the water is in much less quantity ; and
in this manner the good effects of many valuable
constituents are greatly diminished, as, for
instance, the action of carbonate of ammonia upon
humus, and of gypsum upon carbonate of am-
monia.

5. The directions of the currents which occur
in wet soil are entirely altered by drainage ; for,
whereas in undrained soil the currents are
altogether from below upwards, being produced
by the force ot evaporation at the surface, and con-
sequently the spongioles of the plants are supplied
with exhausted subsoil water, — when land is
drained, the currents are from the surface to the
drains, and the roots are consequently in this
manner supplied with fresh aerated water.

Lastly — An excess of water in soil produces a
constant dampness of the atmosphere, which we
have shewn to be injurious to plants in three
distinct ways : — 1. By diminishing evaporation,
and thus rendering the process of assimilation
slower; 2. By diminishing the absorption of
carbonic acid, and thus lessening the atmospheric

supply of food ; 3. By creating a tendency in the
plant to produce leaves possessing a different
structure from those which the same plant pro-
duces in dry situations.

Thus we have six distinct methods in which an
excess of water in soil has been proved to be
greatly injurious to the plants cultivated by the
farmer; and it hence follows as a necessary con-
sequence, that the adoption of any method capable
of affording a certain and ready means of escape
for the superabundant moisture, must be ac-
companied by the most beneficial results. That
drainage has this power, the experience of many
years has most abundantly testified.

We have now, therefore, completed the object
we had in view when writing this essay; and we
trust that the intricacy of the subject will be a
sufficient excuse for the minuteness with which we
entered into its examination.

HARLESTON FARMERS' CLUB.

TO THE EDITOR.

Dear Sir, — In the account of the discussion at our
Farmers' Club, on the subject of " Cultivation Clauses
in Leases," 1 am reported to have said, '' One clause,
however, struck him as being very injurious, and that
was the outgoing tenant not being paid lor the after-
grass on the farm — there being no compensation al-
lowed, he necessarily consumed all, and the incoming
tenant had uo feed ou taking the farm." This is mani-
festly incorrect, as it is customary for the outgoing
tenant to be allowed for aftergrass left for the next
occupier. But uo instructions being given in leases on
this point, it is optional with the party quitting the
farm to consume or leave the after-grass ; it frequently,
therefore, occurs that the incoming tenant finds no
^rass on the farm, and having brought his stock from
his late occupation, he is compelled to put them imme-
diately ou hay aud turnips, if, as regards the latter
crop, after having paid six or seven pounds per acre for
tillage upon Suffolk covenants, he is lucky enough to
find any.

It is not unusual either for the outgoing tenant to sell
a portion of his stock in the spiing, that he may be eu-
abled-to mow a greater breadth of pasture, lu the autumn
he has a superabundance of feed, which, as it may
not answer his purpose to purchase stock for so short
a period, he sells to his neighbours, who of course take
it off as bare as possible by Michaelmas, leaving the
incoming tenant in the dilemma alluded to above.

To remedy this, my suggestion was, that the outgoing
tenant should be compelled to leave a certain portiou
of the after-grass on the farm for the use of the next
occupier, to be paid for by valuation. This would be
no hardship to one party, and a great boon to the
olher.

As regards one of the chief points in di;,cussion, viz.,
the compulsory tillage for fallows in Suffolk covenants,
versus the valuation of the root crop in Norfolk, it is
desirable to decide which ha* or ought to have the pre-
ference. Perhaps to long as restrictions are thought
necessary to good cultivation, a modification of the two
may be betier than either.

Abundance of evidence has been offered during the
various discussion* at our club, that since the intro-
duction of improved machinery, clean fallows and good
root crops may be obtained without all the ploughing*
our leases compel; and it is within the experience <sf
every farmer, that occasional deviations from the
course prescribed on entering the farm, would be highly
beneficial to him without injury to the land. The latter
is necessary to guard against. The farm should be

108

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

left in as good a state as when taken, or the difference
paid for; and if landlords would pay the outgoing tenant
a portion of such improvements as warrant an advance
of rent to the next occupier (of which a good example
has been set by the Flixton estate, on which I have the
pleasure to farm, in the scale of allowances produced at
our meeting), cultivation would rapidly improve, to the
benefit of landlord, tenant, and consumer, all having an
interest in obtaining an increased produce from the
soil.

This is the object of Farmers' Clubs, and that they
may witness its success, is the desire of,

Dear Sir, your obedient servant,

Robt. B. Harvey.

DIPPING SHEEP.

The practice of dipping sheep in the autumn, to
destroy the ticks and other vermin to which they
are subject and promote the growth of the wool, is
become so general, while the process usually
adopted is so tedious, that I am induced to give
publicity to that which has for several years been
pursued by myself and several others in this neigh-
bourhood, and is far more expeditious, efficient,
and economical ; declaring at the same time, that
neither the idea or first practice originated with
me, though, perhaps, I have improved the apparatus

1 now use.

The usual way of dipping sheep is, by two men
immersing the animal into the mixture in a
common tub, and delivering it to four others ;
two of whom lay it on a small tray or board, about
three feet wide and four feet long, covered with
ribs to allow the liquor to escape, while the other
two men press as much as possible of the wash
from it and set the sheep on the ground ; the
board or tray having what may be termed a spout,
by which the liquor pressed out returns into the
tub. By this plan it requires six men to dip ten or
twelve score in the day, and the tray being of
necessity about three feet above the ground, more
than doubles the labour of the men who dip.

The plan suggested to me, and which I have
pursued for five years, is this :— I have a board or
tray, made of foreign deal an inch thick, nailed to
strong ribs, tongued and put together with rushes
and white paint to make it water-tight— 6 feet 3
inches wide and 12 feet 6 inches long ; that is, the
width of one and the length of two hurdles, ex-
clusive of the spout projecting a foot, which is
placed on three trestles ; the lower one 2 feet, the
middle one 2 feet l|inch, and the upper one

2 feet 3 inches high, giving a fall of three inches.
Under the spout is placed a quadrangular tub or
bath 4 feet 3 inches long, and 2 feet 6 inches wide
at the top, 3 feet 3 inches long by 2 feet wide at
the bottom, and 2 feet 9 inches deep; the bath
being sunk into the earth, so as to stand under the
spout to receive the drippings of the sheep : a rim
two inches deep is fixed at the ends and sides of
the board (except a passage over the bath) to
stay the hurdles, and prevent waste of the wash.
It is scarcely necessary I should observe, how
oreat is the saving of labour and exertion to the
men who dip, having to raise a weight when the
lower arm only is moved. The depth of the bath
is such as to contain a sufficient quantity of the
liquor thoroughly to wet the sheep without
splashing it over the sides. The board is of a size

to be dividedinto two pens, each one h urdle square,
which will contain a score of common sized ewes.
At the upper end on each side of the upper pen,
and across the middle, are placed common hurdles ;
at the sides of the lower pen, that is, next the tub,
I place what I call "boarded hurdles" in lieu of
those which are open, to prevent the waste of the
wash by the sheep shaking themselves ; the rim
round the board will stay the close and open
hurdles, which are properly secured by stakes.

The board and tub being thus prepared, two
men dip the sheepand laythemon the board, when
they immediately recover their legs, and the wash
drains regularly from them, the men proceeding to
dip and place as before without any stop, receiving
them from the shepherd's servants. As soon as
the lower pen is filled, the shepherd withdraws the
hurdle between the pens, and the dipped sheep
proceed upwards. The lower pen is again filled,
the sheep in the upper one still draining; and by
the time the lower pen is again full, the first
detachment will be sufficiently drained to be
allowed to go by opening the upper hurdle, when
they will readily leave the board, their pen being
again filled by a second detachment. Thus, two
men will dip forty-five scores in about seven hours,
including the time of dinner, while the wash will
be more effectually and regularly distributed over
the sheep. It must be understood, 1 refer to such
sheep as usually compose the heath and open land
flocks.

The cost of the board, made of foreign deals in
the best manner, will be about fifty shillings — of
the tub or bath thirty shillings ; the boarded
hurdles should be made as light as possible, of half
inch stuff. With proper care and cleaning after
use they will last fifty years, or perhaps twice that
period on one farm. In placing the board, it is
requisite to put the feet of the trestles upon
boards to prevent their sinking into the earth
when loaded with sheep. It is too cumbrous an
implement to admit of its being much moved
about from place to place, except on a full-
sized low waggon with fiat eaves ; but I think it
may be divided at the middle, which would render
it far more convenient, lapping the upper half
three inches over the lower half, and securing
them together by a hook and staple on each side,
though the stakes, which must necessarily be
placed at the ends to secure the hurdles would
prevent their separation. This would admit its
being easily moved from one farm to another with
little risk of damage.

The mode of proceeding I have mentioned is so
expeditious when compared with that usually
practised, that a quantity of the wash should be
prepared in advance.

Every flockmaster has a recipe for the wash
he most approves. That u?.ed by myself and others
around me is one pound of soft soap, and half a
pound of arsenic to a score ewes, mixed and dis-
solved in a pail (three gallons) of boiling water:
one pail of this mixture added to four pails of
water will be sufficiently strong where sheep are
dipped annually, but if fresh stock are bought,
which are much infested with lice, or the sheep
are large and long-woolled, one pail of the mixture
to three pails of water may be used. The cost, in-
cluding all expenses, scarcely exceeds a shilling per
score. Agricoi.a Norfolk) f.n^i>.

Dec. 1841.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

109

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF
LEASES TO THE FARMERS.

We have frequently recorded our opinions upon
the importance of a lease to the tenant farmer ;
and we have never yet heard any argument suf-
ficiently cogent to induce us to alter those opi-
nions. The discussion which recently took place
at the Harleston Farmer's Club was confined to
a consideration of the merits or demerits of the
usual "cultivation clauses" in leases, the gene-
ral question of leases or no leases was not touched
upon, but the inference to be drawn from the dis-
cussion of the " cultivation clauses," is, that the
Harleston Club would advocate leases. We learn,
by a report of the meeting of the Gloucester
Farmer's Club, given in the Gloucester Chronicle,
and an extract from which will be found in another
part of this paper, that the question of the "Ad-
vantages and disadvantages of leases" was to have
been brought forward at that meeting by Mr.
Woodward, but that he was unavoidably prevented
from attending. This circumstance elicited some
remarks from Earl Ducie, and we are happy in
being enabled to class the noble Earl amongst
those who estimate highly the value of leases to
the tenant fanner. His Lordship's remarks upon
that " bugbear " to the short-sighted amongst the
tenantry commonly expressed in the terms
" letting the landlord know too much" — are espe-
cially deserving of notice, and are based upon the
experience of every man, whatever be his pursuit.
Business is always more expeditiously and
satisfactorily arranged with the man who possesses
a full knowledge of his business, than with him
who is ignorant of it. The time is gone by, when
landlords are to be taken in by him who seeks
to rent a farm. If the landlord is no judge of the
value, he will obtain the information from some
other person, whose interest is to please him rather
than consider the tenant; and a want of knowledge
of the actual situation of a tenant on the part of the
landlord, will assuredly operate to the prejudice of
the former. Earl Ducie said —

Those farmers who looked with dislike upon the pro-
gress of improvement, under the impression that it
operated against themselves, could not entertain a
greater mistake ; for, go through the length and breadth
ef England, and it would be seen that where the land-
lord was found the most enlightened, the tenant was
found in the mostflourishiDgcircumstances ; the tenant
knew his duty to his landlord, and the landlord to his
tenant. No question could affectmore therelative posi-
tion of both parties than that ot leases, and he was glad
that it had fallen into such able hands. His opinion
was that till that question was fairly and clearly under-
stood, all their efforts after improvement would fall
short of what they ought to be. For himself, he would
say that he never wi«hed to see any man enter upon a
farm without a lease, but in return he (Lord Ducie)
must have intelligence. He would not give a lease to
one ol the old school— a man who because his father
and his grandfather did so and so, refused to change.
That was not the sort of man for him. To a man of in-
telligence, on the other Imnd, he would give the most
liberal encouragement. He was sure it was a most
mistaken idea to suppose that their landlords would take
advantage of their tenants, and raise their rents when-
ever there was a rise in the price of corn ; still he would
regard the tenant as a fool who would sink money with-

out the protection of a lease, because however much
confidence he might have in the landlord, he had no se-
curity lor similar treatment in the event of a son or
trustees becoming the managers. No man, in his
opinion, was justified in expending money upon im-
provements unless the value was secured to him and to
his children after him by a lease. (Cheers.)

The description given by Mr. Jemmett, in the
subjoined letter, of the condition of church lands
arising from uncertainty of tenure, is well de-
serving the consideration of those who are opposed
to leases. — Mark Lane Expi'ess.

THE CULTIVATION CLAUSES IN
LEASES, AND CHURCH LANDS.

Sir, — I am glad to see the original and worthv
" Rusticus'' assuming his own " mien and feature."
A man who writes sensibly, and to the purpose, need
not conceal himself under a feigned or fictitious
name. There can be little doubt that the subject he
is now treating of, and which has been discussed at
" the Harleston Club," admits of much alteration
and improvement in his part of the country, and
might probably be amended in most others. It is
certain also, that many covenants in leases are carried
on from generation to generation, and by mere copy
from one tenant to another, though totally inapt for
the present times or condition of the farms. The na-
ture of the " covenants" should be left to the land-
agent or steward, who alone (if the proprietor can-
not do it) is capable of seeing what restrictions or
privileges are requisite for the landlord or welfare of
the tenait. This subject, however, is now thrown
before the agricultural public by the above very able
society, and will doubtless be continued until the
merits or demerits of many "cultivation clauses"
(as they term them in some parts of Norfolk and
Suffolk) be fully established. It is evident, in short,
that the modern changes of management oa many
soils, particularly those of an aluminous kind, re-
quire a change also in the" conditions" of agreements
or leases ; for the tenants must otherwise act illegally,
or be debarred those improvements which are sug-
gested by the various learned Professors both at
home and abroad, who are now kindly studying the
best modes of cultivation, or nullify in part the
meritorious proceedings of " The Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England."

Connected with this, is a subject on which I ori-
ginally meant to address you, as tending materially
to obstruct the improvement of various properties in
this country — I mean what are commonly called
" Church Lands." It is notjthe title or possession of
these lands which is questioned or objected to — that
is admitted to be sufficiently good ; but it is the
sort of tenure or limited power thai body has over
them, thus occasioning various restrictions as to
letting, detrimental both to landlords and tenants,
which I consider so great a bar to every species of
their improvement. As they now stand, these pro-
perties afford most uncertain incomes to the different
" successors" in the church — some having a great
deal, and others scarcely any ; thus stopping every
regular and co-operative outlay of the lessors with,
the lessees for bettering the estates like other private
jandlords ; whilst the lessees dare not from the na-
ture of their holding (at most for three lives or in-
cumbencies only, but generally for a term of 21
years, renewable every seven years) expend tbeir
capital on so precarious a tenure. Both parties are

no

THE FAPaMER'S MAGAZINE.

thus prevented improving the estates ; and, in con-
sequence of it, we see no buildings erected on them,
no trees planted, not even a new road made, ami the
common mounds scarcely kept up as they should be.
They look for the most part like properties (to use a
common phrase) that are 4* in Chancery." This
should not be in the present age of agricultural im-
provement : it hinders trade to the amount of an
expenditure of many hundred thousands a year ; is
injurious alike to the parties concerned, and occa-
sions a great national loss. The only remedy seems
to be the " enfranchisement" of these kinds of lands
(and who does not see that in so small an island as
our own, so rich in capital, so prone to improve the
soil, every acre should be freehold ?) , observing at
the same time, due justice to all parties, and under
such laws as Parliament shall think fit. The church
has now a patron at the head of affairs, who has often
declared an adherence to its interests both temporal
and spiritual. He may therefore be safely trusted,
whilst their lessees would be equally satisfied with
bis propositions. IVdw therefore is the time. The
mode of " enfranchisement" need not at present be
entered upon. Perhaps that suggested in a small
work, intituled, " A Letter to Sir Robert Peel,
Bart., M.P., First Lord of the Treasury, on Church
Leases," written by Wm. Bainbridge, Esq., Bar-
rister-at-Law, and lately published by Ridgway, is as
good as any which could be adopted. That the
above step is quite as necessary as the " Act for the
Commutation of Tithes," or for the " Enfranchise-
ment of Copyholds," appears self-evident to

Yours, &c,
Burford, Jan. 5, 1842. H. Jemmett.

AGRICULTURE IN NEW BRUNS-
WICK.

TO THF. EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — I have just been perusing with great
interest and pleasure one of the volumes of the
" Farmer's Magazine," and the thought occurred
to me that my brother farmers in Great Britain
might feel an equal interest in reading a short de-
scription of the agriculture practised on newly
cleared land in British North America. I may
perhaps he allowed to premise that New Bruns-
wick is possessed of the healthiest climate in the
world, contains as fine land, and may be reached
almost to its centre by water carriage. Stanley,
where I reside, is situated in the tract of the New
Brunswick Land Company, of whom 1 have pur-
chased two hundred acres of forest land, at six
shillings currency an acre, payable in five annual
instalments. We have a good road to Fredericton,
twenty-four miles distant, where we dispose of
our produce, and buy British goods ; and other
roads are making in our neighbourhood. The po-
pulation of the Stanley district is four hundred,
owning 34 horses, 1!) oxen, 71 milch cows, 34
other cattle, 42 sheep, and 97 swine. It is but
seven years ago that this settlement was part of
the forest, and the majority of the farmers on it
were British day-labourers, working for from
Is. (id. to 2s. a day, and now they are possessed of
property, in cleared land, buildings, live and dead
stock, of from 100J. to 300/. each, and still going
on improving their condition. Bat to describe the
manner in which this has been achieved is the

intention of my letter, and to that I will proceed.
The emigrant, having selected his lot of land, and
paid his first instalment, looks out for a site for
his house contiguous to a public road and good
water, and sheltered from the north and north-
west winds ; and immediately sets to work chop-
ping down the underwood first, as close to the
ground as possible, as the numerous little stumps
would otherwise interfere with the rolling of the
heavy timber into piles. He then fells the trees,
cutting them about 2j feet from the ground, and
as much as possible makes them fall parallel to
each other, and then chops them into twelve or
fourteen feet lengths, lopping off all the branches
and tops, that they may be burnt with the under-
wood, which, when sufficiently dry, he sets fire
to, and having consumed it, proceeds to pile the
logs. If he be a poor man, all the neighbours
come and assist him ; and on the first dry windy
morning he puts fire to his piles, beginning at the
leeward side of his field, and all being consumed
off two or three acres of ground, he may safely
build his house, and proceed at once to put in his
seed, taking care, however, to have a good strong
fence round it, of spruce fir or cedar ; the former
will last ten or twelve years, but the latter is far
more durable ; for, as a farmer's son remarked,
" Cedar will last for ever — father has tried it twice."
Our settler takes the precaution to plant potatoes
around his house, the hoeing of which brings up
the subsoil to the surface, and this checks the fire
from coming near the buildings in subsequent
burnings ; and as soon as he takes up his crop, he
sows six pounds of timothy and one of red clover-
seed to the acre. The potatoes should be planted
between the 10th of May and 7th of June, and in
this manner the earth is loosened with a hoe about
a foot in diameter ; on this are placed three tubers
or sets, about three inches apart : a hillock of
earth is then hoed up over them, about six inches
high, and the hillocks about six inches apart. An
acre of new land so planted will require about
fourteen bushels of seed, and produce from 150 to
300 bushels. An acre of buckwheat is generally
sown the first season, being a pretty sure crop,
yielding largely, and its flour, made into pancakes,
forming an excellent substitute for wheaten bread.
Wheat must be sown early ; the seed is thrown
on the burnt land, about a bushel and a half to
the acre, and raked in, or else harrowed with a
heavy triangular harrow, drawn by oxen, and will
yield from twelve to thirty bushels per acre. The
emigrant also sows some oats to cut for hay, to
support his cow, and if he be so fortunate as to
possess them — his oxen, through the winter ; but
before the winter sets in, he underbrushes more
land, for chopping on the snow ; and as soon as
the snow is off the land, it is time to prepare for
cropping again, and he will now perhaps add to
his other crops barley, which is sown like the
wheat, but is a very uncertain crop ; Indian corn,
planted like potatoes, three seeds on a hillock, and
yielding about forty bushels an acre ; and turnips —
a pound and a half of turnip-seed sown to the acre
will produce 200 bushels. In five or six years the
roots of stumps become so decayed that they may
almost all be removed by the aid of a yoke of
strong oxen, and the land ploughed, three men ac-
companying each plough, one to drive, one to hold
the plough, and another walking by its side, with
his axe ready to cut through any very t ;ugh root
that may threaten to stop its progress. The
weaker roots are dragged to the surface by the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ill

plough , and burnt ; after this, the agricultural im-
plements in use in Britain, only of a somewhat
ruder form, are employed. Draining is not much
employed, partly perhaps on account of the low
price of land, but chiefly because in our hot and
dry summers the wettest parts about a farm pro-
duce the most hay.

The horses of this province are small, and light
made, but strong, active, and hardy. The horned
cattle resemble the Welch breed ; oxen are more
employed in agriculture than horses ; the cows
are good milkers. The sheep are generally of a
long-legged, coarse-woolled breed, but there are
many exceptions to this. Swine and poultry are
of all sorts.

The farm buildings generally consist of a root-
house, for preserving potatoes, turnips, &c, from
the severe frosts of our winter (they are usually
merely cellars excavated out of doors, but some
are built above ground, and mine is of this kind, —
eighteen feet long, ten wide, five feet ten inches
high; it has two walls, the inner one of cedar
logs, the outer of spruce fir, with three feet thick-
ness of earth between them, and the roof covered
to the same thickness), and a barn, in which are
stables, cowhouses, ox-stalls, waggon-house, fowl-
house, and pigsties, hay and corn bays, threshing
floor, and granary. In this barn the greater part
of the farmer's live stock is housed during the
winter — the store pigs and sheep take shelter be-
neath it, the building being usually supported
three or four feet from the ground by stout cedar
posts, sloping platforms being laid to the door-
ways; the young cattle often only get the shelter
of a shed open to the south. In the spring all the
cattle are turned out to range over the commons
and woods in the vicinity of the farm till the hay
season is over, when they get the rowens. When
the after-grass is consumed, they will take to the
woods again, and keep themselves in good condi-
tion till the winter sets in. The price of a horse
varies from 15/. to 50/. ; of a yoke of oxen, from
15Z. to 30/. ; of a milch cow, from 61. to 9L; sheep,
15s. to 1/. ; pigs, 5s. to 2/.; poultry, cheap in the
fall and dear in the spring; wheat, 6s. to 12s. b"d.
a bushel ; oats, 2s. 6'd. to 3-s. (id. ; buckwheat, 4s. ;
potatoes, 2s. Oil. to 3s. fid. ; turnips, 2s. 6*d. ; la-
bourer's wages, 5s. a day, or from 2/. to 41. a
month and their board ; all in currency— the En-
glish sovereign being worth 1/. 5s., the English
shilling Is. 3d., currency.

In remote situations, the bears will occasionally
take off a pig or a sheep, and the foxes and hawks
attack the poultry. We have an Agricultural So-
ciety established at Fredericton, which has its
annual cattle show, cattle fair, and ploughing
match ; a monthly agrictdtural journal is pub-
lished at St. John's, called the " New Brunswick
Farmer." In our own little town of Stanley we
have a neat though small church, the frame of the
parsonage house already finished, and we are ex-
pecting a clergyman from England in the spring;
a new school-bouse is in process of building ; we
have two taverns, an oat and malt kiln, two saw-
mills, a grist-mill, a small tannery, forges, car-
penter's shops, and other tradesmen, and artificers
in proportion ; and next spring we are expecting
a large accession to the number of our farmers
and labourers.

The winter has not yet commenced with us ; the
thermometer was standing at 7 this morning
(Nov. 23rd) at 38 deg. There has been no snow
of consequence, and our cattle are still in the

woods, where the swine are also, fattening on the
beech-nuts. I must not omit to mention that our
Agricultural Society has sent to England — I believe
to Althorpe — for eight new Leicester rams.

I remain, Mr. Editor, your obedient servant,
Stanley, near James Neale.

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Nov., 1841.

WHAT IS A FAIR RETURN FOR
CAPITAL INVESTED IN FARM-
ING?

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXi-RF.SS.

Sir, — I am desirous of originating a discussion in
your verv useful paper, on what is a fair trading in-
terest for a farmer's capital invested in the occupation of
land] I dare say there will not be wanting those
who will think a discussion on this subject coining
home a little too close, and prying into matters which
ought to be kept secret. I would say to such, I'm
not asking what you do make, but in calculating for
the purpose of ascertaining the rental value of land,
what is a fair alloicance for interets of tenants' capital
necessarily invested to make a rental at all ? I find se
veral modes in existence, whereby a conclusion is
arrived at by different parties as to a fair rental of a
farm: for instance, A says, 1 calculate the expected
income or produce of a farm, and take the probable
amount of disbursement, making one of these a
charge of 5/. per cent, for capital employed, as well
as the rent required, and then see what amount shall
be left for housekeeping expenses. B calculates
the expected income as before, and making bis dis-
bursement to include only rent, declares the farm
not worth using unless there be one rent left for
him. These are tenants' methods of calculating, and
are fallacious, inasmuch as they must ever give a ca-
pricious rate of interest for capital : the first de-
pending on the domestic habits and associations of
the tenant as to the amount necessary for his pur-
pose ; in the last, making the rate of interest to de-
pend not on the amount of capital employed, but on
the quality of the land employed upon, as every one
must see it would take more capital to stock an equal
rental on poor than on rich land.

As surveyors, it is well known we rely on our
judgment to put an acreable rental, but this ought
to be borne out by a practical calculation of income
and expenditure ; to make this calculation complete,
we want a generally allowed and admitted rate of
interest, which custom shall sanction as reasonable
for the farmer's profit in his business. To obtain
and circulate through the medium of your pnper
useful information on an important subject hitherto
(juite undefined, is my object in making it the arena
of this discussion. I will not hold back my own
opinions, or hesitate to open this subject in a way it
has presented itself to my mind. The question, I
take it, comes before us with a threefold bearing.
First — What is a fair (not trading) interest for mo-
ney lent on personal security 1 Second — What is a
fair per centage for risk, considering the nature of the
investment 1 Third — What is a fair percentage for
one's time and attention 1

On the first question, the answer is given in every-
day transactions, and it will not therefore be
attempted to be refuted, I should think, that bl. per
cent is a fair and reasonable rate ; or, that the capi-
tal employed in the occupancy of a farm is other
than personal security. The second question, of
per centage for risk, is one on which much is to be

112

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

said ; every one is aware that the interest made of a
farmer's capital is not so large as the generality of
traders, because the risk is not so great in his having
to trade only in a wholesale commodity in a ready
money market, and he has consequently few if any
drawbacks in the shape of bad debts, like other
traders ; yet, on the other hand, it should be con-
sidered that it is a capital completely locked up, so
much so, that should loss follow it will not be a
small one, from the time it takes to retire from busi-
ness of this nature. For this reason, he is pecu-
liarly sensitive of the influence public opinion on
laws affecting his trade have upon bis property : like
other traders be can see the storm gathering, but un-
like most others, he has no means of socuring even a
portion of his property from its effects. These
seem the most prominent risks, besides those casual-
ties a farmer has frequently before his eyes in los-es
of stock and unpropitiousness of seasons not to be
guarded against, and for which 1 would place a
charge of three per cent. The last question is much
more difficult to dismiss, and opens a wide field for
discussion. I think, however, it will be admitted
that whether for one or ten thousand pounds worth
of stock the rate of per centage should be the same,
because, beyond a certain extent, there must be as-
sistance in the shape of bailiffs, whose pay would
come from the rate of per centage allowed ; in the
smaller sum there would not need the same amount
of oversight, and consequently if the abilities were
good, the time might be turned to other purposes ;
and one would scarcely think 401. per year, or 4 per
cent, too much for the management of a farm re-
quiring 1000/. to stock. In the larger amount this
sum would be disproportioned to the smaller one, in
the additional quantity of land the larger sum would
stock by the condensation of means. I conclude
therefore 41. per cent, to be a fair rate of charge for
one's time and attention, making the total charge for
interest to amount to 12 per cent, as a farmer's profit.

From the non-existence of some generally allowed
and admitted rate of interest for capital invested in
the occupancy of land, there has always appeared to
me a want of a common standard of computation by
which to estimate the value of landed property. We
have, it is true, a common standard of computation
for interest on monies invested in the purchase of
land, but the interest must be considered as only ca-
priciously fixed while this point of interest remains
unsettled, and is subject to the whim of every sur-
veyor. There are generally found occupiers of land
at whatever rental put on it, during high prices of
corn; but during a recurrence to low prices the
landlord is obliged to make heavy deductions, or
ruin his tenant. The surveyor, or whoever estimates
the rent, is not perhaps to be blamed in putting rents
higher than in justice they ought to be; as, aware of
the blindness with which tenants are found to take
during high prices of corn, should he put only a
justifiable rent for a farm, the first thing he would
hear after it had been taken would be, that some one
would have given much more rent, and if defending
his judgment by a practical calculation of income and
expenditure, the question of interest for capital em-
ployed would be the vulnerable point of his position.

There must be amongst the numerous readers of
your Express, men much more competent to discuss
this subject than I am. My object and hope in
bringing it forward is, that they will be kind enough
to favour me and others with the benefit of their
opinions. I remain, Sir, yours, truly,

EnwARD Wyatt.

Up-JUordm, Dec. 22, 1841.

DAIRIES AND DAIRYING.

The importance of dairy-farming, though generally
considered as occupying a secondary degree — arable
farming taking the precedence — is so universally ad-
mitted, that it requires no apology for giving the
subject a prominent place in the columns we are in
the habit of devoting to agriculture and farming
affairs. It may be true that when farming is classed
under two heads only — which commonly is the case,
— namely, arable and grass farms — the latter are not
exclusively confined to the dairy, for grazing in
many parts of the country cuts a far more conspicuous
figure than dairying does; but still, on the whole,
the latter is in most countries the more important
branch of farming.

In corroboration of this opinion, we could quote
many eminent and popular authorities, but shall
content ourselves with making an extract from Pro-
fessor Low's recent work on the Domestic Animals
of Britain and Ireland, where he says — " The dairy
is a branch of rural industry, deserving of attention
in the highest degree. There are no other means
known to us bv which so great a quantity of animal
food can be derived for human support from the same
space of ground. In the British Islands, production
of this kind of aliment is immense, aud its entire
value forms no inconsiderable proportion of the
yearly created produce of the land.

"There is no class of persons by whom milk in one
or more of its forms, is not used. Cheese may seem to
be a mere superfluity to those who feed largely on othei
animal food : yet, even among this class, the con-
sumption, from its regularity, is considerable ; but
among the far more numerous classes, to whom
cheese is a part of their customary diet, the con-
sumption of this substance is very great. Butter is
used in almost every family above the poorest, to an
enormous extent, as a substitute for oil in culinary
preparations. Simple milk, too, enters into the diet
of every class, with this peculiarity, that it is con-
sumed in a larger quantity in the rural districts
than in towns. It may be difficult to make an ap-
proximate calculation of the quantity aid ibe value
of the milk consumed by the twenty-five millions of
the inhabitants of the British Islands. It is perhaps
a reasonable calculation, that each individual con-
sumes half a pint a day in its different forms, which
would produce 570,312,500 gallons; and at 8d. the
gallon, 19,010,416/. besides more than 200 millions
employed in the rearing and fattening of calves.
Great as the production is, it is not sufficient for the
supply of the inhabitants ; and an importation takes
place both of butter and cheese, which an extension
of the native dairy would enable the country to dis-
pense with."

If, as Professor Low asserts, no other branch of
rural industry produces so large a quantity of animal
food from the same space of ground as the dairy,
surely since the demand for dairy produce in this
country exceeds so considerably the supply, it con-
snquently must be a matter of the highest importance
to increase that supply by every means that can be
adopted, which would not injure or materially in-
terfere with other interests of great importance.
This country, or rather particular sections ot it, has
long been noted for the produce of the dairy — both
cheese and butter — in which few foreign countries
have been able to rival us ; and the cheese and butler
that we haveimported from the continent have always
been considered inferior to the best qualities pro-
duced at home. The process of making these articles,
it is true, in most foreign countries differs somewhat

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113

from tbat generally adopted amongst our own dairy-
farmers ; but this is not always sufficient to account
for tbe difference of quality wbich exists, since it is
not an unusual thing to tind dairies, in different
parts of tbis country, conducted upon precisely tbe
same plau which furnish products of very different
qualities. When such is the case, this difference
must be in consequence of one or other of tbe two
following reasons — either there must be a difference
in tbe breed of cattle employed in tbe dairies, or else
the quality of the food upon which the cattle subsist
must be materially different. It behoves, therefore,
persons interested in dairying, who perfectly under-
stand the modes adopted in those districts where the
products of dairy-farms are held in tbe best repute,
to apply themselves diligently in the discovery of
the cause why their dairy productions are considered
inferior to tbe products of others, probably at no
very great distance from them. We do not presume
to say tbat tbe defect could be easily or in all cases
remedied at all, because, where it was ascertained to
proceed from a difference in the herbage upon wbich
the milch cows pastured during tbe summer, it
might be found impracticable to assimilate tbe her-
bage of tbe one to that of tbe other ; or at least this
could not be effected permanently, nor at all unless at
a very great expense. But where the inferiority
was ascertained to proceed from a difference in tbe
kind of stock, where tbe dairy is the first consider-
ation with the farmer, tbis defect should speedily be
remedied. But in all dairies where the plan of
soiling tbe cows is adopted — whether in Yorkshire,
Gloucestershire, or London — were tbe cows of the
same breed, there could be little or no difficulty in
producing butter or cheese of equal quality ; since
for the most part, tbe food raised for tbe purpose of
soiling milch cows does not vary materially between
one part of tbe country and another.

Something depends, no doubt, upon the climate,
since extremes of cold or beat are known to be pre-
judicial to dairying ; and although in the warmer la-
titudes cheese, and sometimes even butter, is made,
neither of them would be considered fit for human
food in the more refined and more favoured countries
for dairying purposes. Something also depends upon
the manner in which the dairy-bouse and cheese-
room are constructed ; and probably less attention is
bestowed upon this point among our own dairy far-
mers than it deserves, or which it obtains in most
other countries where the management of milk is
carefully attended to.

It is not in general that we look to America for
any peculiar degree of excellence in the various de-
partments of farming ; for in a country where all the
productions of tbe soil are sold at low prices, and
where husbandry labour is much clearer than with
us, it is not to be expected tbat the generality of
American farmers will be induced to expend large
sums in farming, without tbe shadow of a chance of
their being reimbursed for tbe sums thus expended.
To be sure a great majority of the farmers of tbat
country live upon their own farms, and, therefore,
have no rents to pay ; yet when it is taken into con-
sideration that, principally owing to the climate,
the best crops of wheat, barley, and oats, as regards
both quantity and quality, under tbe very best modes
of tillage tbat have been adopted in England, would
prove considerably inferior to our own crops, while
the cost of labour would be nearly double, it will at
once be seen that tbe American farmers who live
rent-free would be worse off than our tenant-farmers,
were they to cultivate their lands upon an expensive
course of tillage.

There is one department of farming which is moro
particularly attended to in some parts of the United
States than any other, and that is dairying ; and not-
withstanding the heat of their summer weather, and
tbe great degree of cold usually experienced in
winter — both inimical to dairies and dairying — the
butter and cheese produced in some of the Eastern
and Middle States is hardly surpassed by tbe most
noted productions of our own dairies. And since of
late " American cheese" has found its way into tbe
metropolis and elsewhere, where it commands a
price exceeded only by a few of our own choicest
varieties, it may be interesting, and perhaps useful,
to give a short account of the management of milk
amongst American dairy farmers.

Wherever the situation will admit of it, an Ame-
rican farmer, when be first selects a site for bis
dwelling-house, makes choice of one near a spring
of water, or, if that cannot be effected, on the bank
of some small brook or rivulet : bis chief object being
to avail himself of a constant and never-failing sup-
ply of pure water. Usually, at a short distance from
the dwelling-house, and very often at the immediate
well-head of tbe spring, may be seen a low square
edifice, built of logs or blocks of timber, or else of
stone, around which are planted rows of trees for
the purpose of shadingit from the rays of the summer
sun ; while a well-beaten path shows that a frequent
communication is kept up between tbe dwelling-
bouse and the building in question. Tbis, then, is
the " spring-house" or " dairy-bouse," according to
tbe names generally made use of among American
farmers. To tbis building the milk is taken as soon
as the cows are milked ; and here it is tbat tbe ordi-
nary business of the dairy is carried on ; for, al-
though there is no convenience in the "spring-house"
fqr heating water, which is so necessary towards
the purification of dairy utensils, yet another and
smaller building is commonly close by, where the
fire is kept, and where pans, kettles, and other con-
veniences, are always at hand.

Tbe great object seems to be, to keep the milk as
cool as possible during tbe summer months, and as
free from all impure taints as cleanliness, aided by
an abundant supply of pure water, is able to accom-
plish. The floor of the building is mostly flagged
with stone, tbe centre being set apart for tbe larger
vessels and utensils in common use ; while round the
sides are shallow but smooth channels for the water
free to circulate in, and it is in these channels tbat
the " milk-pans," for tbe most part shallow ones,
made of tin, are placed. Where a large number of
cows are kept, so tbat a channel round the four
sides of the room is inadequate for the placing of all
the milk-pans, it may be necessary to employ a little
ingenuity, and a trifling expense will complete an
upper channel or trough for a second tier of milk-
pans. In some dairy-houses as many as three
courses, one above another, but all at a convenient
height for the dairy-maid's inspection, are in use at
the same time ; for where the head of water is at a
sufficient elevation to permit of its being conveyed
into the channel where the uppermost row of pans is
placed, there is little difficulty in making it subser-
vient to the pans arranged in the channels below.
But in a dairy-bouse of the above description, of
twenty feet diameter, sixty or seventy milk-pans,
each containing a gallon and a half, would find ample
sp»ce in a single course or channel round the room.
And allowing that the milk, during the summer
months, were kept thirty-six hours, or three meals,
as the dairy-woman would say, this single course of
pans would contain the produce of from fifteen to

I

114

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twenty cows during the time they yielded the largest
supply of milk.

The windows admitting tlie light into those spring
houses are usually small ; nor is it found necessary
to open them frequently for the admission of air,
since the constant stream of pure water, though but
small, creates a circulation of air sufficient to keep
the place cool and well ventilated. By the milk-
being kept thus cool, and at an equal temperature
the greatest possible quantity of cream is thrown up ;
and no doubt its great purity must have a favourable
effect upon the butter yielded from it. The churn,
which is now in the American dairies mostly worked
by a large dog kept for the purpose, is placed near
one end of the room ; the dog and wheel he works
upon being outside the building, but an axle or shaft
passing through the wall acts upon an inner wheel,
which puts the dashers of the churn in motion.
When the operation of churning is complete, the
dairy-woman immediately sets about salting and
preparing her butter for the tubs in which it has to
be deposited, the tubs being afterwards ranged on
shelves formed of stout plank, either in the vacant
space in the middle of the room, or over the ranges
of the milk-pans. Here they can be kept for months,
should it be desirable to do so, and afterwards be
sent to market in as sweet and good a condition as
if they had been filled the week before. Sometimes
the milk is churned immediately on its being brought
from the cows — twice a day; not on the presumption
that the butter will prove of a superior quality to
that which is made from the cream in the manner
above described, but there is a pretty general opinion
in America that the milk which has been churned
answers better as food for swine than skim milk ;
hence many of the farmers who keep a considerable
number of hogs extract the butter from the milk in
this way, solely because they are of opinion that
swine thrive better upon churned than unchurned.

In the cheese room, too, the American dairy far-
mers are exceedinglvcleanly and particular ; and un-
less they were so during the months of June, July,
and August, the weather is frequently so hot that
they would find great difficulty in making cheese
which would turn out sound and marketable at the
end of the season. Most of the American cheeses
brought to this country have a bandage, or piece of
cloth bound round them; but this is not the case
with the cheese generally consumed in the country
where they are made. This bandage is not employed
in consequence of the brittleness of the material,
nor to hide any cracks or defects in the cheese itself,
but rather as a protection against injury, where after
being carted a considerable distance to market they
are exposed for sale, bought up and warehoused, and
afterwards sent on a long voyage across the Atlantic.

After the cheeses have been thoroughly pressed,
they are never steeped in brine; but a little fine
salt is rubbed upon them from time to time — the
quantity and frequency being regulated by the size
and richness of the cheese. But it may be observed
with regard to their mode of preserving butter, that
most of the housewives who have but small dairies
at their command, and whose few cows are com-
monly allowed to go dry for several weeks during
the latter part of winter, when of course no butter
is made, in order to'keep a supply of tolerably fresh
butter on hand for family use until butter-making
commences in the following spring, during the sum-
mer months a portion of the butter, after it has been
well worked and every drop of butter-milk extracted
from it, is then formed into "balls" — round lumps
of twelve or fifteen ounces each ; and these are put

into earthern jars or wooden pails — the former being
preferred, containing a tolerably strong brine or
pickle. This brine is changed or renovated occasi-
onally during the season ; and if care be taken to
keep it pure and sweet, and the lumps of butter con-
stantly covered by this liquid, after many months it
may be taken out, and after being worked up a little,
may be brought to table in a condition but very
little inferior to what it was the day after churning.
Though we have been induced to go to some
length upon the subject of dairying in America, and
at the same time acknowledge the excellence of the
products of some of the dairies in the United States,
we must confess that when we see these products
finding their way info our own markets — with a per-
fect conviction before our eyes, that within (he
limits of the British Islands there is, notwithstand-
ing our increased and increasing population, still
more than sufficient land, if it were brought into
cultivation, to furnish not only a sufficient supply of
" the staff" of life," — bread, but also of erery other
vegetable and animal production that the necessities
of the people call for, we by no means feel satisfied.
We moreover see thousands, nay, tens of thousands
of persons annually immigrating from our shores and
bound for America, in consequence of their not
being able to meet with employment at home, which
there would no longer be any necessity for were the
cultivation of our waste, and unproductive lands ex-
tensively commenced upon.

ON DRILLING AND HOEING
WHEAT, &c.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S IMAGAZINF-.

Sir, — There is perhaps no profession or busi-
ness which has made such rapid strides in the
march of improvement as that of farming ; the
preparation of the soil, the management of ma-
nures, the implements used, the season for sowing
and harvesting — each have undergone a thorough
examination, and been brought to a reasonable
system by availing ourselves of the assistance and
instructions long offered but obstinately declined,
of those invaluable sciences— chemistry and me-
chanics ; and by a more careful attention to the
numberless and various methods Nature has
of affording that helping hand so absolutely
necessary in all our operations, but which
at the same time she leaves to ourselves to make
use of in the most profitable way wc can. Ob-
serving, as every person must do, these great
changes in the old system, we may naturally look
with a suspicious eye at any part of that system
which remains in its original state ; and it is an
observation of this kind which has induced me to
trouble you with these remarks. The observation
to which I allude is, that I have noticed all the
agricultural associations in this neighbourhood
with which I am acquainted, offer premiums for
the best sown wheat broadcast, yet none of them
give a price for the best drilled corn. Now, Sir,
although not a very old agriculturist, I do not
hesitate to say that the general use of the drill-
plough for sowing corn of every description is one
of the most important things to be attended to in
the management of a farm. I was taught this
from theory, and practice has convinced me that
my lesson was a good one. Feeling, then, so
strongly the advantage of drilling over broadcast,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

115

I am naturally anxious to know why so many of
my neighbours — men possessing far more expe-
rience than myself — not only continue the latter
system themselves, but encourage it in others, by
offering rewards to the be^ broadcast sowers. If
any of these gentlemen will kindly give me their
reasons for continuing ihe old fashion, 1 shall feel
obliged to them ; but before I can expect this,
perhaps I ought to give my own reasons for pre-
ferring the drill. In the first place, I consider it
impossible that any land, however well managed,
can be depended upon as being free from weeds,
when it is so well known that the seeds of some
of them will lie in the ground in a dormant state
for many years, and then most unexpectedly stait
into life, either from being brought nearer to the
surface, or from coming in contact with some
particle of soil congenial to their vegetation, or
from a concatenation of circumstances beyond the
reach of human knowledge. Let us suppose this
to happen with poppy, &c, in a field sown broad-
cast; the farmer must cither go to the expense of
hand-weeding as well as hoeing, both of which
must seriously injure the tillers of the corn, or he
must let the weeds ripen and scatter their seeds,
and consequently threatening a repetition of rub-
bish for some years. If, on the other hand, the
corn has been drilled in, he i* always prepared to
meet these unwelc >me visitors with the hoe,
whbh with common care can be used without in-
jury to ihe growing crop : on the contrary, it
stimulates the plant to make vigorous spring
shoots. The operation of hoeing wheat at this
time of the year is, I am aware, much objected to
by many farmers, but I conceive without reason ;
for the roots of the wheat plant are divided into
two distinct sets, the seminal and coronal : the
former, running down perpendicularly from the
seed, have been traced to the depth of twenty-
eight inches, and it is these roots which derive so
much benefit from deep ploughing ; and to attain
this advantage, we must still continue to use the
much ridiculed, but in my opinion most necessary
implement, the four-horse plough. The coronal
roots are connected with the seminal by a small
pipe, which varies in length according to the
depth the seed is sown, as they always form the
crown of the plant, first taking an horizontal di-
rection, then running down obliquely : and it is
these roots which derive so much benefit from the
operation of an early spring hoeing, as it admits
the air and warmth so essentially necessary to aid
them in imbibing the nourishment they seek, but
more particularly valuable is the hoe if manure
be given as a top-dressing ; for in that case the
coronal roots will be chiefly fed, and should there-
fore have all the encouragement we can give
them. One of the objections raised to the
free use of the hoe is, that it lets in the
drought. My answer to this very common
error is, that evaporation goes on more ra-
pidly from a hard surface than a loose one, and
soil which has been well pulverized will admit
moisture much sooner than that which has he-
come close from lying so long unmoved. Another
advantage gained by the use of the drill-plough is,
that the quantity of seed required is not so great,
for in sowing broadcast there must necessarily be
a considerable quantity of seed left uncovered, and
which of course is wasted. Again, the regular
depth at which the seed is deposited in the ground,
and therefore the greater chance that it will all
germinate, than if some were buried at two, and

some at four or five inches, which is the case
when corn is sown by hand. And this brings me to
my last, though by no means the most unimpor-
tant, of my reasons for preferring the system of
drilling, that, as the seed, from all being sown at
equal depth, will generally come up at the same
time, there is the greater chance of regularity in
the growth and ripening of the plant : and every
farmer knows what loss he sustains when a crop
ripens unevenly — he must either cut it before much
of the grain is ripe, and thereby spoil the quality
and value of his sample, or he must leave it stand-
ing until the more forward is over-ripe, and con-
sequently lost in the field instead of going into the
barn. H.

Favenham, Dec. 18th.

ON SAVING LIQUID MANURE.

BY AIR. MATTHEW MARMADUKE MILBURN, THORPE-
FIELD, TH1RSK, YORKSHIRE.

PRIZE ESSAY OF THE HIGHLAND AGRI-
CULTURAL SOCIETY.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

[Gold Medal.]

It is an unaccountable circumstance, that while
many thousands of pounds are yearly expended
by the agriculturists of Great Britain in the pur-
chase of artificial and extraneous manures, so
little attention is paid to the collecting, preparing,
and using of that which is always within their
reach. There can be little doubt that, in one
shape or another, as much available manure is ac-
tually wasted and lost as would have, if applied to
the land, had an effect equal to the whole of the
lime, bones, rape-dust, &.c, which are annually
purchased.

With very few exceptions, the generality of far-
mers allow the whole of the urine made by their
stock, the drainage of the fold-yards, and the li-
quid from the mixens, to run down some sewer and
enrich the rank grass and weeds which it ap-
proaches, or run into some distant river.

The writer of this report had his attention di-
rected to the utility of liquid manure from the
following circumstance : — The liquid from the
fold-yard — which by the way was originally a
quadrangular court-yard, is entirely paved, and
lies rather high — ran for several years down an
open drain belonging to an adjoining neighbour.
For a considerable period the sewer was not
cleaned out, and in consequence of the yard-drains
being partly blocked up, permission was asked to
clean out the sewer. The contents, after being
allowed to dry, were put upon a light, poor, sandy
soil, as a dressing for autumnal sown tares. The
consequence was, that though the soil had grown,
comparatively, nothing for a long time, such a
crop of tares was obtained as is seldom witnessed.
The same piece was sown with tares the following
year, contrary, it will perhaps be said, to good
farming, and another beautiful crop was obtained.
Indeed the power of the sewer cleanings seemed
to be double that of fermented farm-yard manure;
and peculiarly adapted to promote the full develops
ment and vigorous vegetation of the plants.

The next object of the writer was to save a
portion at least of this fertilizing mixture, and he

i 2

116

-THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

determined upon the construction of a tank to
collect a manure so valuable. There were one or
two slight difficulties to encounter ; first, the si-
tuation of the farm-stead was a dead level, and
continued to be so for several hundred yards from
the premises ; and, in the next place, the soil and
subsoil were exceedingly porous, and at some
depth springy. These difficulties were, however,
overcome, and a full year's experience of the
effects of the application has been had.

In order to methodize, he will treat separately
of the nature of the liquid manure — of the mode of
its application — of the effects produced — and of the
construction of tanks and other receptacles for
saving it.

The liquid manure which the writer has applied
consists of the drainage from the cow-house, calf-
house, pig-cot, and fold-yard. Grates are placed
in the different places whence it is derived, and
under-drains to convey the liquor to the tank.
The cows are principally store animals, fed on
turnips, with a little hay at night; the calves are
fed on turnips, linseed-cake, or porridge and hay ;
the pigs are fattening ones, fed principally on bar-
ley meal ; and the fold-yard has in it the dung from
every kind of stock ; besides, a few store cattle
and pigs are kept in it. The dung is mixed indis-
criminately, and remains a few weeks previously
to its being carted to the mixen. The fold-yard
is open to the weather, and as the hammels and
some of the farm-buildings are not spouted, a
great quantity of the soluble parts of the dung and
decomposed straw passes off with the drainage.
The writer is not sure whether this is as rich as
the urine and such parts of the dung as it carries
in solution from the interior of the buildings ;
but it is a valuable manure which would otherwise
be lost, and, were it not in any way applied to
the land, would be entirely wasted. Complaints
have been made of the close drains stopping up
with residuum ; mine are perfectly open. Stopping
arises either from the under drains not having
sufficient fall, or from the tank not being emptied
as soon as it is full.

In a dry season, of course, less drainage proceeds
from the fold-yard, but it makes no difference as
respects the drainage from the buildings ; and in
the latter case the fermentation of the liquid ma-
nure proceeds much more rapidly than when there
is more drainage from the fold-yard.

When the temperature is not too low, a white
creamy fluid covers the surface of the liquor in the
tank, and a black sediment subsides to the bottom.
This indicates the incipient fermentation of tbe
liquid, and adds much to its efficacy.

When the quantity of rain which falls is very
great, the tank is soon filled ; and of course must
be emptied before it can have undergone any fer-
mentative process. The urine in such case is per-
fectly raw, but it is so much diluted by the excess
of water as to counteract any injurious effects
upon the crop to which it is applied. Although
there can be no doubt that, in its fermentative
state, the liquor is much more concentrated and
powerful in its effects, still, as urine contains food
for plants in a state of solution, and, when suffi-
ciently diluted, is of great service, from my own
experience it seems to be necessary to apply it in
much greater quantities when unfermented to pro-
duce the same effects upon the crop.

Unfortunately from its position the reporter is
unable to collect the urine of the horses ; this is a
great disadvantage, as the ammonia which the

urine of horses contains would tend very materi-
ally to excite fermentation in the mass, which, as
it is, contains too much of the excrements of colder
animals readily to ferment.

The liquid in summer is somewhat different in
its character from that made in winter ; it depends
entirely upon the drainage from the fold-yard, the
washings, it may be called, of manure gone through
the first stage of fermentation ; but the height of
the temperature induces fermentation rapidly : it
becomes speedily putrescent ; the black residuum
is even more liberally deposited than in winter, as
well as a green vegetable mucus suspended in the
body of the tank.

At the commencement of the application of the
liquid manure, the writer was anxious not to ex-
pend a large sum on the instruments for removing
the liquor, at least until he was satisfied of its
practical utility in increasing productiveness. His
method of removing it was indeeeda primitive one,
and one which required a great deal of time, and
caused some inconvenience. The liquid was
baled out of the tank by pails, to which cords
were attached, and conveyed to the field in two
large tubs in a cart, and again baled from these
and spread upon the land. So satisfied is he now,
however, as to the value of the plan, that he has
had a water-cart constructed, on a very simple
and inexpensive plan, viz., a large pipe fixed on a
pair of low wheels and axletree, to which a pair
of shafts are attached. A large hole is made in
the top of the cart to pour in the liquid, another
at the end, which is closed with a plug ; to this a
perforated oblong box may be attached, which
spreads the liquid as the horse proceeds, and re-
moves any unpleasant effects to which the former
rather primitive plan is necessarily liable. A
wooden pump with a leathern tube attached might
be added to raise the liquid from the tank into the
water-cart.

The writer has used the liquid manure hitherto
invariably in dressing grass land, and from No-
vember till April. Since the last-named period
the liquid has been poured upon a compost-heap
consisting of quitch roots, and some very imper-
fectly made manure, which plan he prefers to the
burning of the quitch. A fine rich compost is
made, which he intends also to lay upon the grass
land. He was deterred from applying the liquid
manure to the grass in the summer season, from
the idea that it might, in hot weather, destroy the
vegetative power of the grass, or, under any cir-
cumstances, render it so unpalatable to the stock
as to prevent their eating it.

In detailing the results of its application, the
writer conceives he cannot do it more simply than
by stating the facts of the experiments he has
himself conducted. Almost immediately after the
tank was made a very heavy thunder-storm, pre-
ceding a long succession of heavy rains, occurred ;
the consequence was, that having then very little
stock in the houses, and little manure in the fold-
yard, the tank was shortly full of coloured water,
— of rain-water very slightly impregnated with de-
composed or excrementitious matter. The tank
was necessarily at once emptied, and its contents
poured on a pasture growing very indifferent her-
bage : the soil sandy, with a slight mixture of un-
decomposed vegetable matter ; subsoil a sharp
yellow and grey sand, impregnated with oxide of
iron. Up to the present time (Sept. 11, 1840), I
can perceive no difference between the part of the
field where the liquid manure was poured and the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

117

part without any application. This experiment
was made about the first of November; the quan-
tity laid on was about 800 to 1200 gallons per acre.
The same quantity, as nearly as can be estimated,
was applied in every experiment made.

The second experiment was also tried on a
pasture, soil sandy, subsoil sandy gravel, and per-
fectly dry though undrained. Two-thirds of the
field were manured with rotten chaff, mixed with
horse-litter, and well rotted, in the month of Feb-
ruary. The remaining third was watered with
the tank liquor, now consisting of the drainage
from the whole of the stock as stated above, in the
months of December and January. The spring
appearance of the grass was altogether in favour
of the part manured with the liquid manure, both
in the deepness of its green, in its tallness, and in
its thickness upon the ground. The field was de-
pastured with milch-cows, and as soon as they
were turned upon it, they eat up the grass where
the liquid had been applied long before the other
was comparatively touched, and have maintained
a decided preference to it up to the present time ;
it is close and even as a lawn, while in some parts
of the field the grass is quite neglected. From this
the writer infers, that some principle has been
supplied to the grasses on this piece much more
favourable to the development of their character-
istic qualities than on the remainder of the field,
animals always choosing such plants as are in the
greatest perfection ; he has no doubt, that, had
the whole of the grass been cut, a most decided
superiority would have been manifested on the
piece watered with the tank-liquor.

The next experiment was made on a meadow.
The liquid was applied in February ; it had fer-
mented, and black residuum had formed very libe-
rally. Part of the field was manured with a rich
mixture of ashes and night-soil ; the remainder
no manure whatever ; soil, a cold grey sand ; sub-
soil, adhesive silt, rather spungy, and not efficiently
drained. The precise spot where the liquid ma-
nure had been applied could be marked to a yard
up to the time of mowing, and the grass was
equally good with that manured with the ashes
and night-soil. Indeed it had so overgrown, that
the bog was spoiled by over luxuriance.

The last experiment was on a sandy soil, where
potatoes and Swede turnips had been foddered up
to the 13th of May. The grass was eaten very
close, and on a light burning sand little cut of
grass could be expected after that period. Part
was watered with the liquid manure. That part
where it was applied soon gave out a rich luxu-
riant herbage, and contained three times as much
grass as any other part of the field. It is refused,
however, by the stock, being probably applied too
late ; some of the effluvia possibly is still detected
by the animals.

Perhaps the writer may mention, that a relative
of his has a deep well in the middle of his fold-
yard, which is now a kind of receptacle for a por-
tion of the drainage ; this he empties when the
manure is removed, and spreads it over a paddock,
which he mows every year for soiling his draught-
horses ; it gives perhaps three times as much grass
as any other part of his farm of an equal extent.
The soil is a cold retentive clay.

The construction of tanks is the next important
question. That of the writer is " a brick in length"
in walling, plastered with Roman cement, and
flagged over the top, one of the flags being move-
able ; the drains into it are all covered, and no

stranger could be conscious of it* existence. In
some situations, with natural falls, &c, it might
be built upon the surface, and the liquid allowed
to pass through open drains, clayed and puddled.
As the former is the most efficient and commo-
dious method, the writer will give an estimate for
cutting, walling, plastering, and covering a tank
of the following dimensions, viz. : —

ft. in.
Length (within) .... 13 fi

Width 6' 6

Depth 6 0=1 9 J cubic yards.

Cutting at 3d. per
cubic yard (over

all) £0 7 6

Walling, including

brick & mortar, 4s. 6 8 0

Plastering & cement 0 1(J 0

Covering anil flags. . 2 15 0

£10 G G
This would be a tank sufficiently capacious for
a farm of 1.50 to 200 acres.

Receptacles of a more simple and inexpensive
nature might be constructed, which would an-
swer some of the ends of a more complete tank.
A pond in a suitable situation might be adapted
to the purpose ; it would, however, be subjected
to excessive dilutions, so much so as to weaken
the manure and very materially increase the ex-
pense of cartage, with less actual benefit to the
land.

A tank might be made under a shed, and com-
posed of walls of clay, and covered with slabs of
boarding, or any refuse boarding. The expense
of such a receptacle would be somewhere as under,
dimensions as in the preceding case, viz. : —

£ s. d.

Cutting at 3d. per yard 0 7 G

Clay and carting 0 14 O

Board and covering 0 5 0

£1 6 G

It would, however, be subject to suffer in frosty
weather, as well as in extreme drought and
would be liable to be perforated by worms.

For very small farms, or for the allotments or
gardens of cottagers, one or a series of large casks
might be inserted in the ground with a conducting
drain on channel over the whole. This might be
effected at a very trifling expense, and the advan-
tages resulting from it would be very great. The
writer knows an instance of a small receptacle of
this kind, where the owner has but one pig; he
manages, however, by its aid in his garden, to
grow astonishing crops, and has garden produce
both earlier and superior to most of his neighbours.

LIFE OF THE CORN-GROWING SERFS OF
RUSSIA.— At the beginning of winter the peasant
fares well ; eats wholesome rye-bread, and plenty of it.
Towards spring, his stores, never well husbanded, begin
to fail, and the coarse rye-floar is eked out with a little
chopped straw ; but when the cold season is prolonged,
this position is reversed, and it is the straw which is to
fill, not nourish, his body— so much so that on exposure
to fire this wretched bread will ignite and blaze like a
torch. This insufficient fare is often followed by an
epidemic, typhus or scarlet fever. This latter, especially,
is the scourge of thei land, and almost invariably fatal
to children ; and villages are sometimes depopulated of
their juvenile members ; for those who struggle through
the fever are carried off by subsequent dropsy. — Letters
from the Baltic.

118

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON SHEEP-FEEDING, MANURE,

&c.

BY A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

Of all the domestic animals, sheep are of the
greatest importance to the farmer. Although much
has been done to improve the breed of sheep, and
to supply them with better food at all periods of
the year, much vet remains in order to perfect
the feeding of these animals when folded on tur-
nips. Having tried various methods to fatten
sheep in the shortest space of time, at the least
possible waste of food and expense, and to pre-
pare the land for the following grain crop, I find
the following system by far the best.

It must be evident to all practical farmers, that,
in the feeding of all kinds of animals, the sooner
their appetite can be satisfied, the sooner will they
lie down to rest: consequently, an animal very
soon takes on flesh, and becomes fat. Few farmers
can be ignorant of the waste and injury their tur-
nips suffer from allowing sheep to be folded on
them. Whenever sheep are let into a turnip-fold,
they run over the whole, partially scooping out
only a little, and then leaving them to be trampled
upon, and befoulded with urine and dung, which
makes them disagreeable to the taste of the ani-
mal. All these evils can easily be prevented by
cutting the turnips into small pieces, and feeding
the sheep in wooden troughs. Gardner's turnip-
cutting machine is tbc best for the purpose. A
utout lad will cut two bushels of Swedes per mi-
nute. The troughs I use are ten feet long, eight
inches wide at bottom, and eight in depth. The
shepherd will be required daily to move the troughs
within the fold, so that the ground may be equally
well trodden upon and manured by the flock. As
soon as the turnips are properly matured, they
should be pulled up, the roots and tops care-
fully removed, and then put into heaps of from
forty to fifty bushels each. Let the heaps be dis-
tributed over the field, so that the shepherd, in
shifting his fold, may always find a heap conve-
nient to be cut by the machine. The turnips after
being heaped, are covered over with straw or fern
and mould. No trench is dug, as in the usual
way ; but the turnips are heaped on the surface,
and they keep much better on the higher ground
than when put into deep pits. This method I have
adopted for the last eight years ; and while I have
seen acres of Swedes nearly consumed by wood-
pigeons and game, mine have been perfectly safe
for my sheep.

Another greatpoint in sheep-feeding is regularity
of feeding. When sheep have eaten sufficient,
they will lie down and ruminate, and their rest
should not be afterwards disturbed. It is a great
saving to the farmer to have a chaff-cutting ma-
chine. Two years ago I had one erected to work
with one horse : the whole cost about £15. This
machine would cut from eighty to a hundred
bushels of hay chaff an hour. I find sheep (and
all kinds of cattle) improve much better bv being
fed with hay chaff, sprinkled with salt. I never
gave hay in racks to any sort of stock. After the
sheep have been feeding on cut turnips and hay
chaff about a month, I gave to each of them daily
in the wooden troughs half a pound of bruised oil
cake, which is gradually increased toa pound until
the sheep ai-e ready for the market. Bruised bar-
ley and oats may be given with great advantage,

mixed with the cut hay, allowing a pint of barley
a-head. It is a well known fact, that the better
an animal is fed, the more valuable is the ma-
nure produced, and by giving oil-cake, its fertili-
sing powers are nearly doubled. It is my decided
opinion, that the slicing of turnips, and putting
them into troughs to be consumed by the flock,
makes these roots go further by one-third than in
the old way of feeding., every part of the root being
thus rendered eatable. On light land this method
of feeding has a wonderful effect. Previously to
following this plan, my average crop of grain was
twenty-five bushels an acre, and now it is thirty-
five.

Last year I had one hundred and eighty Down
tegs. I run out ninety, so that the two lots should
be as equal as possible. Ninety were put into one
fold, the remaining ninety into another. One lot
was put on turnips in the usual way, having cut
hay and bruised oil cake ; tho other ninety had
the turnips cut with Gardner's machine, cut hay,
and bruised oil-cake. In thirteen weeks from the
time of folding, I sold the whole hundred and
eighty to Mr. Gihlctt, Bond-street, London, pur-
veyor to her Majesty. The ninety which had been
fed on the cut turnips, &c, realised five shillings
a-head more than the ninety folded on the turnips
in the usual way.

All my breeding ewes arc fed on the same plan
by having cut food given them in troughs ; and
when the lambing season commences, they will be
found in better condition, better able to support
their lambs, and much sooner ready for the but-
cher. The same method of feeding I adopt with
cattle. Last year I fatted, tied up in stalls, sixty-
three bullocks. Six out of the sixty-three were
fed with whole Swedes, bruised oil-cake, and cut
hay. The remaining fifty-seven had cut Swedes,
bruised oil-cake, and cut hay. It was soon evi-
dent that those which had the cut turnips put on
flesh much faster than the others. The whole
were put up to fatten on the first week of October,
and kept on till the end of December, when the lot
was purchased by Mr. Giblett, who, when looking
over the sixty- three, remarked that there were six
not so ripe as the others. These six were the lot
fed on whole Swedes. This affords another proof
of the decided advantage derived from cutting
the turnips.

As 1 have previously stated that I never give hoy
in racks for sheep, 1 beg it to be understood also,
that 1 never give any to either cattle put up to
fatten, milch cows, store cattle, or horses. It must
have been observed by every one who has exam-
ined the litter in stables and cattle-feeding houses,
that there is much hay trodden under foot. When
a rack is crammed with hay, the animal, before he
begins to eat, generally pulls out a quantity of it,
which, falling down to the ground, he chooses from
the mass what is most agreeable to his palate ; the
remainder being rejected, passes into the litter ;
therefore hay ought never on a farm to be put in
the rack, but should always be cut by the ma-
chine, and placed before the animals in deep,
wide mangers : these being filled with cut hay
and straw, bruised oats, &c, there can be no
waste. In feeding horses, it is much the best plan
to have the oats bruised and mixed with cut hay.
Two feeds a day, bruised, and given in cut hay,
sprinkled with salt, will he found to keep the ani-
mals in as good condition as four feeds given
whole. Only examine the dung of horses fed with
whole oats, and the matter will be explained.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

119

In conclusion, allow me to say a word or two
on the management of dairy cows. In tins neigh-
bourhood, the cows, when brought from the pas-
tures for the winter, are fed in open yards, exposed
to all weathers. This certainly is not a judicious
plan. Cattle should be kept as much as possihle
in the house — horses always. Let all have plenty
of bedding, and be fed with cut hay and straw,
lucerne, tares, rye-grass, mangel, or carrots. Cattle
should always be well fed, if it were only for the
increase of the dung-bill. Dung is the farmer's
magic wand ; making manure is the foundation
of all good agriculture: and he who has the honest
ambition of being a good farmer, will give every
attention to the making and collecting manure.
One load of dung made by stall feeding is worth
three made of straw, wet and rotten with rain in
yards, of which the principal beneficial qualities
are lost and washed away.

Hale, near Downton, December lb', 1841.

ON THE INFLUENCE WHICH
THE MANURE APPLIED TO
PASTURE LANDS HAS ON THE
CATTLE FED THEREON.

Sin, — I took the liberty last week of addressing to
you a letter, on the Preservation of Manure. I will,
with your permission, at present occupy your atten-
tion with a few remarks on the manuring of mea-
dows, with a view to render the grass as nutritious
as possible to the cattle which it is intended to feed.
It is not the quantity alone of grass that should be
considered, but its richness in nutritive material,
and those salts without which the life of animals
cannot be preserved for any length of time in that
condition necessary to the production of increased
muscular fibre and fat.

We know that animals can derive their nourish-
ment from only two sources — the food which they
eat, and, in some [conditions, that sustenance which
is conveyed through the pores of the skin; with the
first of these means of feeding we alone have to do.
If your time permits, sir, we will trace the existence
of an animal from the time of its existence in liter o,
to maturity. An embrvo animal does not respire,
and therefore does not require those substances rich
in carbon to support respiration, but it requires sub-
stances suited to the development of its muscular
and membraneous tissues. These substances are
conveyed to it through the circulation of the mother,
lint no sooner is the animal born than its body is
subjected to the action oftheoxvgen of the external
air, and the food it requires is of a different kind.
Nature provides this new food in the form of milk.
When an animal is born its bones are soft, and
contain no earthy matter; for some time after its
birth its sole food is milk, and most wonderfully
does il prosper with this diet; the bones that were
soft become strong, the points of ossification become
enlarged till the cells of the gelatinous substance be-
come Idled with the earthy parts to which the bones
owe their hardness.

Milk contains all the earths and salts which are
found in the animal body ; it contains sugar, and
fat in the form of butter ; and it also contains those
nitrogenized principles necessary for the formation
of flesh, hair, wool, tkc.

Grass, wheat, all cereal grains contain very nearly
the same substances as milk — I mean the same in
chemical composition ; and though they are diluted
in plants, the effects on animals are the same, yet
perhaps in a less mauifest degree ; and the more simi-
lar grass is in composition to milk, the greater will
be its nutritious powers. In mature life, when we
wish the body, already partially or nearly fully de-
veloped, to increase in weight and flesh, we must
supply it with food containing, in a state fit for as-
similation, those substances which the fully per-
fected body contains, and of which its various paits
are composed. But there are other substances re-
quired in the animal economy, not absolutely for the
increase of flesh, but for putting the body in that
condition in which it is in the greatest state of acti-
vity, means, in fact, of assisting those chemical
changes which are always going on. Most men have
observed animals lean and meagre return from salt
marshes fat and in good condition; my occupations
have in some degree kept me from those situations
where I could personally observe this, but I think
most men have seen and know it to be the case.
Salted hay, and other food containing salt, are ex-
cellent for cattle. Indeed, no animal can exist in a
healthy state, for a long period, without common salt ;
and if you will excuse my going a little into physio-
logical causes, the reason of this will be made evi-
dent.

Common salt is a compound of sodium with chlo-
rine ; it is what is called by chemists, a haloid salt.
When it is decomposed, and water is present, muri-
atic or hydrochloric acid is formed, and soda is set
free.

Now in the gall bladder, or that receptacle which
contains the bite, we find, in union with that fluid,
soda. In the stomach of all animals during diges-
tion, we find muriatic acid. These facts are the result
of often repeated experiments ; and without these two
bodies neither can bile be formed nor digestion car-
ried on. Chloride of sodium, or common salt, is the
origin of these constituents of the bile and gastric
juice; and without these no animal can exist, much
less gain flesh. You will perceive, sir, that salt is
absolutely necessary for the support of animal life;
and 1 affirm that any meadow may be converted into
a salt marsh by manuring it with salt in a judicious
manner. Why, I would ask, is the mutton fed on
the mountains of Wales so very good? and that fed
on any placeexposed towards the sea? Because the
sea breezes carry with them salt water suspended,
which they deposit on the grass and hedges over
which they pass. 1 myself have seen on the east
coast of Scotland, six miles from the sea, in the
Pentland Hills, the walls of stone and the twigs of
the hedges covered with a white bloom ; and this
bloom the sheep very eagerly licked, and which con-
sisted of salt carried up from the sea by east winds
which had prevailed : nay, 1 would almost go so far
as to say, that one of the chief uses of sea breezes is
to carry the salt from the sea, and spread it over the
land. If you manure a meadow with salt, the grass
will contain salt. And I have no doubt that if vou
manure particular kinds of grasses with bone dust
and gypsum they will in like manner contain the
salts of the bone dust and the gypsum. With a few
remarks on these substances and liquid manure for
meadows I shall conclude.

The flesh, blood, hair, and skin of all animals con-
tain (he same salts and earths which are contained
in the bones ; bones must bo a very excellent ma-
nure then for those grasses and grains which are in-
tended for the food of animals. The grasses and

120

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

grains contain all these salts also, and they get them
from the soil ; how very necessnry it is then to sup-
ply the soil with these substances; if they exist not
in the soil, they cannot exist in the plants grown on
the soil. For the same reason as salt is useful in
the formation of bile, so are the earths and salts ne-
cessary for the support of the various tissues of the
body. Those phosphates and sulphates which bones
contain are all required to form new deposition of
animal matter.

Gypsum is used for other purposes on meadows,
and liberates ammonia slowly from the soil. It is
said to exhaust meadows ; but, to use the old pro-
verb, " We cannot eat and have" — if it is removed
in the grass, the grass is the better for it ; and the
only purpose for which we use those liquid manures
is to give nitrogen and salts to the soil, that the soil
may give them to the crops. I think there is some-
thing almost ridiculous in saying, " Oh ! such a crop
exhausts the soil of the manure; but how much bet-
ter is the crop on this account. In my next letter,
sir, I will, with your permission, make a few obser-
vations on the cultivation of grain for the purposes
of distilling. Thanking you for any attention you
may have bestowed on my remarks,

I am, Sir, yours faithfnlly,

T. G. T.

To Jonathan Hijtley, Esq.
Hungary Hall, Essex.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

ON THE FOOD WHICH PLANTS DRAW FROM
THE SOIL.

Dear Herald, — As Liebig's work contains, on
this branch, much that is truly valuable to far-
mers, and as it is not generally in their hands, I
have for some time intended to send you a few
extracts from it. These will show what the soil
must contain in order to fertility ; they will point
out the sources of these ingredients, and the
means of rendering them available. As my ob-
ject is to present a brief and plain view of Liebig's
sentiments, I shall sometimes condense his lan-
guage, and on each point shall collect sentiments
which are scattered over his volume ; and as he
refers to Hessian measures and weights, 1 shall
reduce these to the standard of Scotch acres and
avoirdupois pounds. Minute accuracy in these is
unnecessary ; I shall therefore consider the Hes-
sian acre as half a Scotch acre, and the Hessian
pound as one and a tenth avoirdupois pound.

You will observe the maxim with which a che-
mical philosopher sets out in investigating this
subject. He says — "Whatever ingredients are
found in every plant of any given species (as corn) ,
in whatever soil or country these grow, must be
viewed as ingredients indispensable to the growth
and existence of these plants." Without keeping
this maxim in view, it will be impossible to ap-
preciate the extracts which follow : —

" Plants contain organic acids, combined with
such bases as potash, soda, lime, or magnesia.
These bases regulate the formation of the acids ;
for the diminution of the one is followed by a de-
crease of the other. A plant which has just
broken through the soil, and a leaf just burst open
from the bud, contain as much , and generally more,
of alkaline, salts than at any after period of their

life. These alkaline salts enter the young plants
thus : — the acetic acid formed during germination
is diffused through the moist soil, becomes satu-
rated with lime, magnesia, and alkalies, and is
again absorbed by the fibres of the root in the '
form of neutral salts.

"The leaves contain more of these bases than
the branches, and the branches more than the
stem. The bark and leaves of oak, for example,
contain (i to 9 per cent, of potash, while the wood
contains only 2£ per cent. And the needles of
firs contain 8 per cent., while the wood contains
less than 1 per cent.

" The acids found in different families of plants
are of various kinds : it cannot be supposed that
their presence and peculiarities are the result of
accident. But if each family of plants has its ap-
propriate acids, these acids must be viewed as
necessary to the life of their plants ; and as these
acids are always found combined in plants with
alkaline bases, it is equally certain that alkaline
bases are indispensable to plants. Each acid re-
quires a definite quantity of a base of saturation ;
and as a plant, growing freely in its natural heal-
thy state, does not produce more of its peculiar
acids than it requires for its existence, a plant on
every soil must contain an invariable quantity of
alkaline bases.

" It is a notable fact, that when many plants
grow on soils which cannot afford alkaline bases,
or afford these bases too sparingly, the plants, ra-
ther than want an alkaline base, form one to
themselves. The opium plant may be mentioned
as an example. If potatoes grow in cellars,
where they are not supplied with earth, and there-
fore can have no alkaline matter from the soil, a
true alkali, called solanin, of a very poisonous
nature, is formed in the sprouts, which extend to-
wards the light ; while no such substance exists in
any part of potato plants grown in the fields.
Nothing can more clearly show the necessity of
alkaline bases to the growth of wholesome and
valuable plants. If these bases are deficient, the
plants will languish in summer, and be worthless
in harvest.

" But all plants do not draw, with equal seve-
rity, on the bases in the soil — e. </., 10,000 parts
of nak wood yield 250 parts of ashes ; the same
quantity of fir yields only 83 parts ; while 10,000
parts of the herb of the potato plant yield 1,500
parts. Hence firs find enough of alkalies in
granite and sandy soils, where oak will not grow."

I intended to have added nothing of my own ;
but really this fact is too important to be passed
over without a special nota bene. Do the " shaws"
of potatoes, when dried, contain 15 per cent, of
saline matter drawn from the soil ; and was this
matter indispensable to their growth ? Then why
are the shaws allowed to be carried off the field ?
why are they not returned to the soil in a state of
decomposition, to supply those indispensable ma-
terials which they have drawn from it ? It is the
haulm of potatoes, and the leaves of turnips, and
the straw, chaff, and husks of corn, which chiefly
rob a soil of those bases which are needed for the
growth of future crops. Farmers may stare at
this, and cottars may be astounded ; but the fact
is undeniable. The man who carries off the haulm
of one crop of potatoes, or the straw of one crop
of oats, does more to impoverish the soil than if
he had carried off the tubers and grain of three
crops, and left the straw or haulm (or converted
each into a manure). The proof of this depends

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

121

on analytical facts, which I have not time to state
at present, but which I can put in a strong light
if they are called in question. I am satisfied that
the above estimate, staggering though it be, is
much below the truth.

What do we observe in the growth of turnips,
for instance ? One part of a field has grown
many crops; and another part is new ground,
where a fence has stood, or where trees have
grown. Both parts are, to all appearance, of the
same soil ; both are tilled, manured, and sown at
the same time, and in the same manner. But the
difference of crop is striking, and this difference is
manifest chiefly in the leaves. If the season was
warm and sunny, but not too dry, the bulbs
on the old ground are not very much less than
those on the new ground; but the leaves are not
half the size of the leaves on the new ground. If
the season was cold and sunless, the leaves on the
old ground are a little, but not much, less than in
the favourable season, but the bulbs are not one-
fourth the weight of those on the new ground ;
and the leaves on the new ground are large,
strong, widely spread, and dark green, after those
on the old ground have begun to soften and
wither. The bulbs cannot grow after the leaves
have begun, to any extent, to wither; neither can
potatoes grow after their leaves have been black-
ened by frost, or their haulm cut over. The leaves
are the laboratory in which the food of plants is
prepared. The leaves turn to the sun, and elabo-
rate from the atmosphere and the ascending sap
those organic acids which are needed for their
growth ; but without the presence of alkaline
matter in the leaves, this elaboration would not
take place. When the season is warm and sunny,
less alkaline matter is needed in the leaves than
in cold gloomy seasons, because the sun, to a
certain extent, supplies the want of alkalinity.
But to return to Liebig : —

" All kinds of grasses (including corn plants)
contain in the outer part of their leaves and
stalk a large quantity of acid silicate of potash.
The proportion of this salt does not vary percep-
tibly in the soil of corn-fields, when it is returned
to them in the form of putrefying straw. All the
potash contained in the food of cattle is discharged
in their excrements."

It thus appears that Liebig is far from thinking
that farm dung is useless as a manure. He after-
wards states other facts, showing the value of
dung ; but he enters into some calculations to
prove that the same ingredients may be more eco-
nomically imparted to the soil than by dung. But
of this by and bye.

" Arable land is formed by the crumbling of
rocks, and its properties depend on the nature of
their principal constituent parts. Pure sand and
pure limestone, in which are no other inorganic
substances except silex, carbonate or silicate of
lime, form barren soils. All fertile soils contain a
part of clay. These are produced by the disinte-
gration of aluminous minerals by the action of
the weather. Aluminous earth or clay owes its
fertility to the potash or soda which it contains.
From the analyses of different aluminous minerals,
it appears that a Scotch acre, of a soil eight inches
deep, contains of potash, if the soil be from
Felspar, l,267,2001bs.

Clinkstone, 220.0C0 to 440,000
Basalt, 52,250 to 82,500

Clayslate, 110,000 to 220,000
" A single cubic foot of felspar is sufficient to

supply a wood, covering a surface of 40,000 square
feet, with the potash required for five years !"

This may seem a quiz to some of your readers.
But observe he states the potash in felspar at 17 J
per cent. ; and I find that this allowance is at the
rate of 57 Jibs, of carbonate of potash to the Scotch
acre in five years, or ll&lbs. per acre yearly. All
that he means is, that the wood on a Scotch acre
needs only lljlbs. annually from the soil for its
growth. He does not mean that lljlbs. would
be enough for us to sprinkle over an acre : for
much of the potash which we sprinkle is washed
away from the roots of plants by rains. Whereas,
the potash in felspar is there locked up, and can
be given out but very slowly, as the stone is disin-
tegrated by the air.

It may be interesting to know how much potash
can, in ordinary circumstances, be afforded by
the soil, and also how much is needed by agricul-
tural crops. But this problem is so modified by
climate and soil, and dependent on so many vary-
ing data, that its solution is no easy matter. I
shall, as an average case, give the results of calcu-
tion formed on such data as chemical analysis has
afforded for a climate similar to our own. I shall
take as a standard an acre of average soil, not
under tillage, but under wood. We can ascertain
pretty accurately how much potash is annually
taken up by the wood on this acre ; and we will
not be far wrong in supposing that (if the acre is
sufficiently planted), the wood will take up all
that the soil is able to give, without tillage or ma-
nure.

One Scotch acre, in wood, annually requires
about 81bs. of potash, or HJlbs.of carbonateof pot-
ash from the soil, and restores 31bs. of this potash
by fallen leaves, &c, in autumn. Thus 51bs. of pot-
ash maybe stated as all that the mineral ingredients
of a soil can afford annually, where tillage is not
resorted to. Careful tillage, especially summer fal-
lowing, may double this quantity, or enable the
soil to yield lOlbs. per Scotch, or Olbs. per impe-
rial acre.

But a heavy grain crop will take, in straw and
grain, at least 261bs. of potash per Scotch acre.
On old soils of good quality and long pastured, so
much potash is in reserve, that this quantity can
be readily got ; but after the field has been often
cropped, and all the reserved potash has been
drawn from it, it can yield no more than what
weather and culture can draw out of the soil
during the year. In this case 161bs. to 201bs. of
potash must, in some form or other, be added to
the soil, before it can yield a good crop. When
excessive cropping has been followed by manuring
only with lime and a scanty supply of dung, the
roots are enabled so to draw upon the potash in
the soil that it is " exhausted," and rendered un-
able to bear grain after some years- All the
available potash has been abstracted, and although
an inexhaustible supply remains, yet this supply is
locked up in stones and coarse sand, and requires
for years to be exposed to the atmosphere, to
hasten its disintegration, and restore its former
fertility.

Hence a well-wrought naked fallow (with the
leave of Sir Humphrey be it spoken) is the best
restorative for an exhausted soil. It was not
without good reason that the Israelites were en-
joined a fallow once in seven years. Liebig men-
tions that the Neapolitans, who have been famed
as growers of corn for " thousands of years," have
never yet carted any manure to their soil. He

122

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

thus states their mode of culture : — " A field is cul-
tivated once every three years, and is in the inter-
vals allowed to serve as a sparing pasture to
catile." This may do ahout Vesuvius, " the type
of a fertile soil ;" but in cold Scotland, where we
have neither the lava nor the sun of Naples, we
find a different course preferable.

The addition of lime, of urine, or of any diluted
mineral acid on the fallow, early in summer,
would greatly promote the disintegration of the*
coarse soil, and form fertilizing salts. Nothing-
would more tend to thi> than carbonate of soda,
or of ammonia, if either could be had cheap
enough. Common salt is ihe last thing I would
use. We have enough of it in the rains wafted to
us from the Atlantic. I can get no rain-water free
from it. It is an antiseptic salt, and tends to pre-
vent the formation of carbonic acid in the soil,
and therefore to retard vegetation. In small
quantity it has been found beneficial in some
places. We know not exactly how it acts. I sus-
pect that, when beneficial, it is by giving rise to
muriate of potash and carbonate of soda. If the
muriate of soda meet any carbonate of potash in
the soil, the muriatic acid goes to the potash, and
the carbouatic acid to the soda. This, in small
quantity, will be connected with other fertilizing
formations, especially carbonic acid ; but muriate
of potash, to any extent, in our cold and wet cli-
mate, would much injure vegetation : the salt can-
not enter plants but in very small quantity : we
have neither heat nor nitric acid to decompose it :
hence the needful potash would be thus spoiled
for the purposes of vegetation.

But as other fertilizers than potash are needed,
farm manure, either in a solid or liquid state,
should be added, after the fallow work has been
nearly finished ; thus, phosphates will be given in
an available form ; and although solid manure is
less rich, it has the advantage of holding the salts
till they are needed, whereas much of the liquid is
washed off by rain. This is the chief cause which
makes saltpetre and nitrate of soda little available,
except for one crop. Saltpetre contains about 47
per cent, of potash, while nitrate of soda contains
only 37 per cent, of soda. Hence oo'lbs. per Scotch
acre would be an over-dose of either salt, if the
whole were available for the crop ; but much is
washed off or through the soil by rains.

Of the two salts, i would expect the nitrate of
soda to be by far the most efficient; not because
soda is more valuable than potash, nor because
nitrate of soda contains more nitrogen than salt-
petre does, but because the soda salt immediately
induces chemical action, which the potash salt
does not. The saltpetre can scarcely be decom-
posed by any other salt, and must be reduced by
solar and organic agency ; whereas the nitric acid
leaves its soda to combine with the potash in the
soil, and tends thus to disintegrate the soil by
liberating potash, which saltpetre would not have
done. The soda thus liberated combines with what
carbonic acid it finds in the potash ; acts on the
vegetable matter in the soil ; forms and combines
with carbonic acid till it is saturated ; and, being
still possessed of alkaline reaction, it tends con-
stantly to the formation of carbonic acid, which
acid is dissolved in water, acts powerfully in disin-
tegrating the soil, and is readily taken up by the
roots of plants.

Again, the nitric acid contained in 100 parts of
nitrate of soda is enough to form about 120 parts
of saltpetre. Thus, by giving lOOlbs. of nitrate of

soda (in favourable circumstances), we give rise
to 1201b*. of saltpetre, besides about G21bs. of
carbonate of soda, or 1661 US. of the crystallised
carbonate of commerce, (called "washing soda.")
I have avoided fractions ; and I am aware that the
potash, even in more favourable circumstances,
cannot decompose all the nitrate of soda ; hence
the above estimate may be a few per cent, from
the truth. But if the decomposition is not com-
plete, so much the better ; we have then in the
soil, at once, nitrate of potash, nitrate of soda, and
carbonate of soda, besides a powerful formation of
carbonic acid and of carbonate of potash. This
presents the action of the nitrates in a very differ-
ent light from any I have seen stated ; and it
shows oOlbs. of nitrate of soda to be of more value
(whet e potash is in the soil) than lOOlbs. of pot-
ash. Yet I believe the soda nitrate is cheaper in
the market than the other.

I beg your pardon, Mr. Herald, for drawing you
away from Liebig with jog-trot notes, but as I
wish to set your speculating heads agog in these
long evenings, you may hear again from
Yours, &c,

Kf.phas Bar Gamma.

Nettle Hall, \8th De:., 1841.

THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF
THE OX.

EY MR. W. F. KARKF.F.K, V.S., TRURO.

(From the Veterinarian.)

That which peculiarly distinguishes the cha-
racter of the present age from all others that have
preceded it, is the restless endeavour that exists
to explain the cause of everything, " in the heavens
above, the earth beneath, and the waters under
the earth." Science appears to have burst all
bounds, and is aiming to comprehend the uni-
verse— and thus it multiplies fields of inquiry for
all orders of mind. There is no province of Na-
ture which it does not invade ; for, not content
with exploring the darkest period of human his-
tory, it goes beyond the birth of the human race,
and studies the stupendous changes which our
globe experienced for thousands, perhaps millions,
of centuries before it became prepared and fitted
for their habitation.

A century has scarcely elapsed since the most
astonishing and fantastic tales were believed of
imaginary monsters, such as the Monoculi, with
one eye in the middle of the forehead, and of

"The Anthropophagi, and men whoso heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders."

The Centaur, half man, half horse; the Pegasus,
a winged horse ; and the Griffin, alluded to by
Esehylus in the tragedy of Prometheus : —

" Thus the gryphens,
Those churl and rsne'rous dogs of Jove, avoid
The Arimospian troops, whose frowning foreheads

Glare with one blazing eye."

That such should ever have been believed would
appear almost impossible ; and yet, strange as it
may appear, these old tales of the ancient poets
have no sooner ceased to be credited, than they
have been superseded by stories stranger still — of
gigantic monsters that one time walked the earth
or swarm'd the lake — not dim and shadowy phan-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

123

toms of the imagination, hut in all the reality of
form and structure ; leaving; their skeletons to he
disentombed in after ages from their rocky se-
pulchres, as evidences of a former existence : so
certain it is that truth is stranger than fiction.

On no suhject has greater ignorance prevailed
for a long period than that of the creation of ani-
mals. Accustomed to consider the whole of na-
ture as having sprung out of nothing, in the
course of a few days, at the Divine command, and
erroneously deeming this belief as essentially con-
nected with the fundamental articles of the chris-
tian faith, it is not to he wondered at that it should
be believed so long, and that, when Hutton first
announced that the earth afforded no trace of a
commencement or any prospect of an end, he
should have been assailed as an infidel. But time
effects changes in the moral as well as the phy-
sical world, and such a belief is now considered
no way obnoxious to a true interpretation of the
sacred text. The vast antiquity of the globe is
now as fully demonstrated as its spheroidal figure ;
and the lapse of ages which must have occurred
in the completion of a geological epoch is clearly
proved by a glance only of the different fossil
genera and species in their respective strata, by
the order of which we are enabled to calculate, to
a certain extent, the number of revolutions the
globe has undergone.

As, in the history of the horse, it is our inten-
tion to render some of the geological phenomena
subservient to unravel the early history of the
ox — his story being antecedent to all human his-
tory and tradition — the strata on which his re-
mains have been found are the only manuscripts
by which it can be elucidated : and as every
author is at liberty to select the spot on which his
hero shall " strut his hour upon the stage," pro-
vided be is a little particular as to the place and
date of birth, so do we choose the soil of France
whereon he shall commence his career and run
bis race. Unfortunately, there was no registry-
office kept in those days ; yet, notwithstanding
this, we hope to furnish our readers with tolerably
correct data as to his birth, though we may not
be able to discover the exact locality where he was
first ushered into life. We shall also introduce to
them some of our hero's acquaintance, by which
they will be enabled to judge in some measure of
bis character — for the character of an individual is
frequently determined by the company he keeps.

Our readers will now have the goodness to re-
collect that, in our ancient history of the horse,
we described his fossil remains :is being found in
immense numbers in the diluvial strata, which
must be considered as totally distinct from the
regular strata, consisting of beds of loam and
argillaceous sand, &c. Now, between this and
the chalk formation are strata filled with fresh and
salt-water productions. These mark the erup-
tions and retreats of the sea to which portions of
the earth have been subjected posteriorly to the
formation of the chalk. Mr. Lyell has recently
proposed a fourfold division of this formation,
commonly called the tertiary series: — Eocene,
which implies the commencement or dawn of the
existing state of the present animal creation ;
Miocene, which implies that a minority existed;
older and newer Phocene, by which is understood
that the majority of the shells belong to the pre-
sent species, the recent species in the newer being
much more abundant than in the older division.

Now it is during the miocene period of the ter

tiary deposits, containing an admixture of extinct
genera of lacustrine mammalia of the first or
eocene series with the earliest forms of genera ex-
isting at the present time, that the ox was intro-
duced into the world.

But, previous to introducing our hero in propria
persona, we will just take a glimpse of the period
which immediately preceded his birth— the eocene
period.

The seas and lakes of that remote period occu-
pied areas which are now above the waters and
rocks; and mountains, hills and valleys, streams
anil rivers, diversified the surface of the countries,
which are now destroyed or entirely changed, and
whose past existence is revealed by the spoils
which the rivers have accumulated in the ancient
lakes and deltas. The vegetables that diversified
the surface were forests of oak, elm, and beech —
firs, pines, and other coniferous trees — palm-tree
firs, and the principal groups of modern floras ;
while the waters, both salt and fresh, teemed with
the few simple forms of vegetable structure pecu-
liar to the climate.

The changes in the relative level of the land and
sea during this epoch were numerous and exten-
sive, and one region in particular still preserves
traces of its original physical geography, the
lowermost lacustrine deposits in Auvergne, in
which are embedded the successive generations of
aquatic insects, Crustacea and mollusca, with the
bones of crocodiles and turtles in immense num-
bers ; about ten species of birds and fifty species
of mammalia, among which the most conspicuous
are the palxotherium, anoplotherium, lophiodon,
anthracocherium, cheroptamus, and adapis. The
nearest approach, among living animals, to the
form of these extinct quadrupeds, is found in the
tapirs that inhabit the warm regions of South
America, Malacca, and Sumatra, and in the Da-
man of Africa.

It would appear as if the animal kingdom was
thus early established on the same general prin-
ciples that now prevail; hut as the bones of all
those animals are accompanied by the remains of
reptiles such as now inhabit the fresh waters of
warm countries, as well as by the leaves and pros-
trate trunks of palm-trees, we cannot but infer that
the temperature of France was much higher then
than at present. This epoch, which is considered a
long one, was perfectly tranquil ; that is, free from
the volcanic eruptions which evidently preceded it.
13ut a change came over this scene ; for either the
district which we have been describing became
elevated, or, what is probable, by the sea retiring,
a new system of lakes was established- The coun-
try became clothed with forests, and inhabited by
large deer, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, and hyenas ;
and, mixed with those earliest forms and genera
which exist at the present time, were these lacus-
trine mammalia which we have just mentioned of
the eocene period ; and a gigantic herbivorous
animal, called the denotherium, measuring from
fifteen to eighteen feet long, possessing a head a
yard broad and a yard wide ; also the megathe-
rium, or fossil sloth, whose bulky size may be in-
ferred by a tail six feet in circumference, and, like
the rhinoceros, armed with a coat of mail, and ex-
tracting, with a single delve of his talons, the roots
of gigantic trees; the mastodon, allied to the ele-
phant; the hippotherinm, allied to the horse; the
felis, or cat, as large as a lion ; the machairdos,
allied to the bear; and the agnotheiinm, allied to
the dog, as large as a panther ; these were among

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the countless inhabitants that were contempora-
neous with the hero of our tale — the ox.

The nearest, and perhaps most intimate, com-
panion that he possessed was an animal that we
have not yet mentioned — the bison. So close a
resemblance, indeed, did he bear to him, that by
many persons of late years they were supposed to
be one and the same animal, but at the period to
which our history refers they were easily recog-
nised. We shall have occasion to notice these
differences by and by ; in the meantime, having
already introduced the hero himself, we will pro-
ceed to describe him.

In those days he was known amongst his ac-
quaintances— and we have already introduced them
to your notice — by his proper name of Urus,
which has been changed of late for the sobriquet,
ox ; and it is generally acknowledged that at that
time he was a most formidable character, being a
perfectly wild and savage animal. Some of his
descendants may now be seen in one or two of the
northern parks, the last remnants of his wild race.
He was also of an enormous size, possessing a
head full one-third larger than the domesticated
urus, and mounted with monstrous horns.

In mentioning only those gigantic monsters, the
cotemporaries of the ox, the mind naturally reverts
to the remote period when the face of nature, and
plants, and animals, was in some measure different
from what it is at present. Palms, reeds, and
many other kinds, are met with in the strata in
which the remains of these animals have been
found ; indicating, upon the whole, a vegetation
not exactly of tropical climates, but rather such as
now clothes the countries bordering on the Me-
diterranean.

But the whole scene again became changed —
hundreds of pent-up volcanos suddently burst
forth, and spread ruin and desolation over the land :
the whole of the living population is swept away
or entombed in the volcanic products. Cuvier de-
scribes some thirty species of animals that were
found in the volcanic tofa — viz., nine ruminants,
six pachydermata, one edentatum, twelve carni-
vora, and two rodentia.

Ages rolled by, and the mists of the mountains
and the rain produced new springs, torrents, and
rivers. A fertile soill gradually accumulated over
the cooled lava, and beds of scoria?, to which the
sediments of the ancient lakes, borne down by the
streams, largely contributed. Another vegetation
sprung up ; gigantic deer and oxen are again
found on its surface, having for their cotempo-
raries the horse, the bear, the wolf, and the fox,
with the elephant, the hyena, the rhinoceros, and
the tiger. This period is supposed to have con-
tinued for a long time also : but changes were
still going on ; and volcanic eruptions occasionally
succeeded, and continued, geologically speaking,
until a comparatively recent period. The tempe-
rature of the climate, too, became colder, and
many of the last named animals passed away, and
were succeeded by the sheep, the goat, the dog, and
the wolf; and, lastly, the earliest race of mankind
took possession, who soon began to exterminate
those whom they could not subjugate to their do-
minion.

We have confined ourselves hitherto to the soil
of France, being the spot which the genius of
Cuvier has again, as it were, called into existence.
But it has been already proved that the same for-
mations extend largely over the whole world ; we
have every reason, therefore, to believe that the

ox species must have extended, as it does now,
over a very large surface.

Ere we conclude, we will endeavour to give
some authority for our opinion that the ox must
be considered as belonging at one time to a dif-
ferent zoology from many of his present cotempo-
raries. M. Desnoyer.s was the first that noticed
the remains of palteothereum and lopheodin in the
marine formations of Touraine, mixed with bones
of the tapir, mastodon, rhinoceros, &c. Cuvier
states- — and his is no mean authority — that he
found the remains of the ox in the calcareous
fresh-water formations of Orleans which incloses
the debra of those extinct pachydermata. Again,
in the miocene strata of Touraine and of Darm-
stadt, there is, according to Mantell, an intermix-
ture of the remains of the ox and the mastodon
with the palseothereum and anaplotherium. Mr.
Murcheson also discovered, in Bavaria, bones of
those extinct animals, mixed with the mastodon,
rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, &c. in lacustrine
deposits, associated with fresh-water shells.

This forms a very material part of the history of
the ox, since his remains are found embedded in
deeper strata, and appertaining to an age far more
remote than many of his present cotemporaries ;
and we therefore consider ourselves justified in
coming to the conclusion, that he was the first
animal belonging to our domesticated mammalia
that was created.

One striking feature in the events that we have
passed in review before us — and our observations
have extended over a period of vast duration — is,
that forms of life prevailed which gradually be-
came extinct, and were succeeded by others,
some of which also passed away ; and if we were
to go still further back, and trace the varying types
of being from the earliest ages — from the trilobite
to the whale, and from the iguanadon to the ele-
phant— we should find a gradual approach to the
present condition of organic existence, the grand
line of separation between the present and the
past being the human race. From this period, in
proportion as man has extended his domain over
the earth, many races of animals have been either
exterminated or modified by his caprices or ne-
cessities.

(To be continued.)

PLOUGH.— NEW PATENT.

Edward Hammond Bentall, of Heybridge, in the
County of Essex, ironfounder and agricultural imple-
ment maker, for certain, improvements in ploughs. —
Dec. 10, 1841.

The first part of this invention consists in the peculiar
construction and mode of adapting an adjustable lever
to the frame of the plough, such adjustment being for
the purpose of changing the inclination of the share
which is attached to the end or nose of the lever, so that
the point of the share may stand at any required angle
below or above the level of the sole, slade, or ground of
the plough, and thereby be made to take a greater or
less depth in the soil which would render the share
more or less free.

Secosdly.in the peculiar form of the shares, and mode
of attaching them to such adjustable levers.

Thirdly, in the mode of affixing the breast or mould-
board to the plough, in order that it may rise and fall
with the adjustable levers and share.

And fourthly, the mode of applying the double-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

125

breasted share (when cast or formed in one piece) to
the adjustable lever, so that it shall contract or expand
when required.

The upper part of the lever is connected to the frame
by a bolt fixed in the end of the lever and passed through
a hole in the ear, having two nuts screwed on to the bolt
at the opposite sides of the ear.

The share slides on to the no;e of the lever, and is
fastened thereto by a bolt which is passed through a
hole in the lever. The lever and share being thus
attached to the trams of the plough, should it be re-
quired to lower the point of the share deeper into the
ground tlun the level of the sole, it can be effected by
turning the nuts further into the screw of the bolt,
which brings the upper end of the lever nearer to the
ear, and consequently depresses the note of the lever
and the share, the lever turning upon the edge as a
joint or fulcrum, and the loose connecting bolt admit-
ting of that slight movement. If it be required to raise
the points of the share, the nuts should be turned upon
the screw in the opposite direction, so as to force the
upper end of the lever hack from the ear.

In putting the parts of this plough together, the lever
should be first attached to the frame by passing a pin
or bolt through an aperture in the frame and through a
circular hole in the lever, and inserting the screw to the
ear. The chap is then placed upon the nose of the lever,
and the holt passed through the eye in the hinder part
of the chaps, and then by means of a screw-nut pluced
on the end of the bolt, the frame, the lever, and the
chapj are made fast altogether. The back edge of the
share is then inserted between the chaps and the nose
of the lever and by a bolt, and not screwed up tight,
the share being confined securely between them. The
pad or fore-shoe is then attached and made fast to the
lever by a bolt and screw-nut. The shoe or slade may
be bolted into the under part of the frame in the ordinary
way. In order to give any required dip or elevation to
the point of the share, the nuts on the screw must be
moved as before described.

Having explained the manner in which the point of
the share is varied by an adjustable lever and screw, it
is necessary to add, that should it be thought desirable
to make this adjustment whilst the plough is progressing,
it may be done by means of a longitudinal screw shaft,
extending from the point to the back of the plough, the
forward end being passed through a swivelled eye or
socket at the top of the lever, the reverse end of the
shaft being supported in a bearing fixed into tl»,e back
part of the plough, and the shaft turned when required
by a winch or other apparatus within the reach of the
ploughman. As it is necessary that the front part of
the breast of the plough should rise and fall with the
elevation or depression of the share, the front part of the
breast is secured to the lever in the one instance, and to
the chap of the lever in the other by means of a. pin or
bolt passed through a hole in the lever or slip, making
it fast to the under side by a screw-nut, the back or
binder part of the breast being attached to the former
by means of a weary pin.

When the breast has been thus connected to the im-
proved ploughs, its front part will rise and fall with
the movements of the share by the means already ex-
plained.

The double-breast is cast in one, and is fastened to
the front part of the frame in the ordinary way, but the
back parts of the breast are attacked to the way-bar by
means of screw-pins or nuts. The way-bar itself is
firmly affixed to the frame by a bolt and nut, and the
screw-pins are bolted to the inner surfaces of the breasts
at the hinder parts near the top edges, when it is re-
quired to expasd or contract the width of the hind parts
of the breasts. The nuts of the screw-pins are turned
so as to draw those parts of the breasts inward, or force
them outward, the elasticity of the metal allowing of
this contraction or expansion.

The inventor prefers the inside of the share to be case-
hardened instead of the outside, as not being likely to
wear through.

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF PEAT
SOILS.

PRIZE ESSAY.

BY CUTHBERT W.JOHNSON, BARRISTER-AT-LAW.

(From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England.)

" The improvement of peat soils," now proposed
as a question for investigation by our society, is one
of very considerable importance to agriculture.

It involves not only the permanent improvement
of large estates, but these peat soils include a very
large proportion of several counties of the United
Kingdom.

In this essay I feel the advantage of confining my
observations and the details of my experimental re-
searches to those peat soils whose profitable im-
provement is attended with the greater obstacles —
to those deep peat mosses, or bogs, which are natu-
rally the most difficult to bring- into cultivation.
These often extend to a depth of many feet, contain
but little earth, are usually tolerably level, and con-
sistof a mass of light vegetable fibres. This peat,
even in the midst of summer, is commonly saturated
with water ; nt other periods semi-fluid, and very
often a trembling dangerous quagmire. Its soil, if
I may call it such, is usually of a dark brown, chang-
ing to a blackish colour when thoroughly dried by a
gentle heat.

In this state the peat is easily inflammable, is com-
monly used for fuel, and has been occasionally em-
ployed by the gas-manufacturer, the lime-burner,
the cbarcoal-maker, and even the iron-smelter.

The directions which I am enabled to give, and
the suggestions I venture to offer, are of necessity
general in their nature. It is in vain to hope that
any can be given which will not require modifica-
tions according to the many circumstances under
which the possessor of the bogs is placed.

Peat soils abound in almost all those situations
where stagnant waters are for a long-continued pe-
riod allowed to rest, and where the vegetable mat-
ters produced and very slowly decaying on the sur-
face are not carried off".

The common masses of pcatexisting on the earth's
surface in England, with which I have had most
experience, are the products of the decay of the
mosses, common heath-plants, coarse grasses, and
the sedges which often accompany them. But the
varieties of peat are numerous, according to their
age and situation. There are some of the peats
which are found beneath the soil, in the lower portions
of the valley of the Thames, which are evidently the
remains of considerable masses of underwood, and
contain sulphate of iron. Many others, dispersed
over the coast of Essex and in Ireland, abound with
the remains of large forest-trees, and were most pro-
bably produced by some great convulsion of the
earth in a distant period. In the southern counties,
except in those of the banks of the Kennett, and the
Thames, the depth of the peat has not in my experi-
ence often exceeded a tevr inches ; but in the places
I have mentioned, and in those with which I have
come in contact in the northern counties, the depth
generally extends to several feet.

The formation of bog-moss is first commenced in
very many instances by the rapid-growiDg broad-
leaved bog-moss (Sphagnum latifolium), a plant of
very curious habits, whose growth under favourable
circumstances (and it is strictly an aquatic) extends
from an inch in length to two or three feet. In dry

12G

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

situations, or in those only periodically flooded, its
progress is not rapid, but when it vegetates, always
immersed in the water of low stagnant situations,
there it increases with great vigour. It is true that
this plant is an annual ; but it sheds an abundance
of hardy seeds, producing seedlings, which vegetate
and easily support themselves in the water, with a
slight assistance from the mere remains of their
preceding generation. Their thread-like stems re-
main on the surface of the water till the seed is ri-
pened, they then fall to the bottom and form distinct
layers, which in some specimens of peat may be
distinctly traced.

The bog-moss thus commenced gradually gets
mixed with a variety of lichens, mosses, and scirpi,
which annually add to tbc depth of the accumulating
peat, and as the moss becomes firmer other plants
gradually establish themselves, such as several vari-
eties of the rushes and sedges. It is only when the
peat-moss is raised by the gradually-accumulated
remains of these peats from beneath the surface of
the stagnant waters that the heaths, the cranberry,
the bilberry, and the grass-weeds make their ap-
pearaucp.

The few plants which commonly tenant peat moors
and bogs are of the most worthless kind, such as all
live stock commonly refuse.

Besides the common heath plants there are various
rushes (Juncus), sedges (Carex), rush-grasses
fSchajnus), club-rushes (Cyperus), cat's-tail rushes
(Typba), bur-weeds (Sparganium), &c.

Amongst the (ew specimens of the common
grasses which are found in such places, strug-jrlin"-

. A < " COO

as it were for existence, are the marsh-bent (Agros-
tis palustris), the awnless brown-bent (x\grostis
canina). This is a very common grass in bogs whoso
winter waters are dee]). The awned creeping-bent
(Agrostis stolaris), tho small-leaved creeping-bent
(Agrostis stolaris Ang.), the creeping rooted bent
(Agrostis repens), the white bent (Agrostis alba),
the hote fescue (Glyceria fluitans), tall fescue (Fes-
tuca elatior), turfy hair-grass (Aira cjespitosa),
knee-jointed fox-tail grass, water hair-grass (Aira
aquatica), water meadow-grass (Poa aquatica), long-
leaved cotton-grass (Eriophorum polystachion), and
the sheathed cotton-grass (Eriophorum vaginatum).

It is of primary importance that the farmer should
clearly understand the chemical composition of the
peat with which he has to contend, and that cf the
watery solution with which it is usually saturated.

The common varieties of peat when dried by a mo-
derate heat lose a very considerable portion of their
weight, and are materially reduced in bulk. The
dry mass consists chiefly of woody fibrous remains
of a dark-brown colour, of which a very inconside-
rable portion is soluble in water; and even by ex-
posure to the unassisted action of the sun and air,
under the most favourable circumstances, it decom-
poses with extreme slowness. When burnt to an
ash the solid product thus obtained varies commonly
in its composition with the nature of the stratum of
earth on which the mass of peat rests. If this is of
a gravelly or argillaceous nature, the ashes are gene-
rally chiefly composed of silex, and a small portion
of alumina, oxide of iron, with some carbonate of
lime and sulphate of iron : if, however, the substra-
tum immediately under the peat is calcareous, then
the ashes commonly yield a considerably larger pro-
portion of carbonate of lime, the sulphate of iron
(green vitriol) is absent, and the sulphate of lime
(gypsum) abounds in its place.

The celebrated Dutch ashes, which are produc-
tive of such large crops of clover, are composed of—

Silicious earth 32

Sulphate of lime (gypsum) 13

Sulphate and muriate of soda (Glau-
ber salt and common salt) 6

Carbonate of lime 40

Oxide of iron 3

Loss 7

parts.

100
The liquid with which peat is usually soaked is
also equally varying in its composition. It almost
always contains a very small portion of brown vege-
table extract, a quantity of the red oxide of iron, and.
when pyrites (sulphur and iron) are contained in
the gravelly or other substrara, these are gradually,
by the action of the water and the oxygen of the at-
mosphere, converted to sulphate of iron, which dis-
solves, and is found in the water. When, however,
this solution comes in contact with chalk or other
calcareous matter, the lirno decomposes the green
vitriol, the iron is precipitated, and sulphate of lime,
so enriching to some of the artificial grasses, is very
commonly found with red oxide of iron, dissolved
in the peat water.

The chemical composition of peat-soils of course
varies in the proportions of their constituents. The
following analysis of a specimen of an entirely barren
peat moss in a perfectly dry state will give the far-
mer a tolerable idea of their general composition: —

Fine siliceous sand 29 parts.

Inert vegetable matter 289

Alumina 14

Oxide of iron 50

Soluble vegetable matter, with some

sulphate of potash 11

Sulphate of lime (gypsum) 12

Loss Id

400
Such is the composition of a barren peat moss.
The analysis of an active or fertile peat moss, with
which it will be well to compare it, gave the follow-
ing results, after being also dried in a gentle heat: —

Fine siliceous sand 156 parts.

Unaltered vegetable fibre 2

Decomposing vegetable matter.... 110

Silica (flint) 102

Alumina (clay) 16

Oxide of iron 4

Soluble vegetable and saline matter. 4

Muriate of lime 4

Loss 2

400
Such is the usual chemical composition of peat.
This, however, is occasionally varied by the presence
of other substances, but the above sketch will afford
a tolerably correct view of its ordinary properties;
and this kind of knowledge will very materially aid
the farmer in proceeding to examine the mode in
which the composition of such soils may be altered
so as to be rendered tenautableby useful varieties of
plants.

The most common delusion in which the posses-
sors of peat soils are apt to indulge is the belief in
the possibility of rendering them permanently pro-
ductive without either previous drainage or the ap-
plication of earth. The melancholy attempts of this
kind which I have witnessed on the peat land of va-
rious parts of England, especially in timber planting,
can only excite the pity of those who witness the
effects of such misspent time and money. The
young trees too, which are most commonly employed

THE FARMERS MAGAZINE.

127

in these ill-judged attempts, are usually of the fir
tribe, precisely the kind the least adapted to prosper
in a bog of water and peat. Common reflection
would suggest that, if any kind of trees could be ex-
pected to vegetate with even moderate vigour in
soils such as these, composed as the)- are often ot
merely a mass of hard inert vegetable matters, satu-
rated with a weak solution of green vitriol — i f any
kind of plantations would progress, it would be the
alder, the willow tribe, or ibe hardy birch trees, te-
nacious of life, which can endure more moisture and
subsist on poorer soils than most other plants. After
the slightest consideration we should hardly decide
upon placing on such swamps trees which delight
in dry upland slopes, as the Scotch fir and the larch ;
yet we can hardly traverse a single line of railway,
driven as their constructors have too often been to
take for their line of country the most trembling, dan-
gerous bogs, the most worthless heaths, without being
struck with the ludicrous appearances of bright yel-
low-topped larches and ragged sickly-looking Scotch
iirs, soaking in bog-water — and that too not in mere
patches, but over hundreds of acres. I do not con-
line these observations to the north of England — to
Lancashire and Yorkshire — but the remark applies
to many of the southern counties; for instance, by
the road-side between Warehasa and Poole, in Dor-
setshire, may be seen similar wet peaty heath plan-
tations of Scotch firs.

The peat soils with which I have bad the chief
experience, have been either those on upland slopes
or in the hollows of low grounds, such as near the
rivers Kennett. and Itchen, and in all cases placed
in situations where it was possible to drain them by
open or under-drains previous to commencing ulte-
rior proceedings. The under-drainage of peats is
usually, especially on high moorish grounds, con-
ducted on very erroneous principles, and with little
regard to the after effects to be produced by it on
the peat. The first error to be carefully avoided is
placing the drains too near the surface. 1 have in-
variably found in deep peats that, where the drain
cannot be placed beneath the peat, thev should he
constructed at least at a deptii of from four to six
feet, or even more ; and this is not adding materially
to the expense, for the peat-owner will find that one
drain at the depth of five or six feet will produce
more powerful and far more permanent good effects
than three drains at a depth of three feet. The good
results of depth in peat-land drainage will be found
by the farmer years after the soil is reclaimed — for,
as the peat is dried and its upper portion decomposed
and rendered solid by cultivation, the mass of peat
gradually and very materially sinks, and this too in
deep peats for a lengthened period. And as this
contraction is chiefly confined to the upper portion
of the peat, the result is that the improving soil of
the surface gradually approaches the drains, and that
in some varieties of the softer kinds of peat to a very
injurious extent. Such too is the porous, spongy
nature of most peat soils, that it is difficult to remove
entirely the water from those portions of them lying
on a level with the sides of the drains, and in con-
sequence the roots of many cultivated crops are apt
to penetrate, under the shillow-drain system, into
the corrosive water of the peat, which they never do
without material injury.

For it is not, let me again remind the farmer, the
mere presence of too much water which renders the
peat-moss sterile, but the noxious, astringent, irony
quality of that water. Some of the richest water-
meadows of the valleys of the Kennett and the
Itchen, in Berkshire and Hampshire, are formed on

a deep stratum of peat, merely covered with a shallow
dressing of chalk mixed with hog-earth; and these
are periodically flooded and kept for many days soak-
ing in the bright rapid waters of the Kennett and
the Itchen: but then the excellent managers of
those prolific meadows take especial care that no
stagnant mineral waters shall be allowed to corrode
the extreme roots of their grasses ; deep drains and
lands laid in elevated ridges carry oft* all these, and
keep the surface-soil clear of the red oxide of iron
and green vitriol, which are sure to accumulate in
situations where chalk mixed with iron-pyrites exists
in the immediate neighbourhood. It is only neces-
sary to observe the bright, irony, rusty incrustations
of the deepest drains of many of these celebrated
meads to be convinced of the nature of the mineral
substance against which their skilful owners are so
sedulously and successfully guarding.

In the construction of open drains (and some peat-
mosses require hardly any other) the improver must
be guided by the extent of his field : the larger the
peat-moss the more capacious must be the open
channels and the greater the fall of the water. It is
well to avoid forming these too narrow, so as to make
the current of drainage-water too rapid ; for the soft,
peaty soil is not able to bear even a moderately rapid
flow of water.

The materials for under-draining must also vary
with the nature of the moss and the facilities afforded
by the district. Tiles and stones are certainly the
best. The bog itself generally affords heath and
rushes ; these, when well made, keep open for a long
period ; thev both decay in such places with very
considerable slowness.

There is hardly a situation to be found in which
the drainage of the peat cannot in some form or other
be profitably effected. If the surface of the peat is
below the adjoining river, or in hollows, then the
well or boring system of Elkington, or even mecha-
nical power, as windmills, or steam-engines, may bo
successfully followed. And again, in many situa-
tions where peat-bogs are not far distant from co-
pious rivers, I am certain that great things are to he
effected not only by draining the bog-waters, but by
raising those of the river on to the surface of the
peat. In those localities where this kind of water is
to be readily procured (especially if it abounds with
earthy matters), the possessor of the peat-soil would
require hardly anything else for their improvement.
The steam-engine, I am convinced, has not yet been
employed in the service of the farmer to one-half the
extent to which it is capable. Its gigantic powers
have hitherto been confined to draining the land, but
little has been done with it in irrigation ; and yet,
when the landowner remembers how laboriously
even by manual labour this is done in oriental coun-
tries, and that in the fens of Lincolnshire one eighty-
horse-power steam-engine raises 7 feet high 51,250
tons of water every eight hours, by the combustion
of only 2* chaldrons of coals; and that, allowing
l/>0 tons per acre, this mass of water is sufficient to
irrigate more than 340 acres of land ; when, I repeat,
the landowner is reminded of these gigantic powers,
he will feel convinced of the probable certainty that
more yet remains to be done in the permanent im-
provement of the soil by the use of the steam-engine
than many persons have sufficient leisure to examine
or the courage to attempt.

The drainage being effected, the next important ob-
ject is to furnish the soil with a sufficient quantity
of earthy matter to support vegetation, and this may
be done in several ways: that by paring and burn-
ing, so common in various parts of Cambridgeshire

123

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

and Lincolnshire, I consider the worst of all modes ;
for it merely furnishes tbe soil by an expensively
rapid progress with tbe freed earths of the peat",
which its gradual decomposition would by other
modes more profitably and steadily effect.

The first operation after the water has been drained
off is to break up as deeply as possible, by the com-
mon and the subsoil-ploughs, the surface of the
peat ; and then, if good well-burnt lime can be pro-
cured, there is no earthy addition so rapid and so
powerful in dissolving 'and rendering pliable the
peat as this. A tew ploughings, assisting the com-
bined operations of tbe atmosphere and the lime, will
in a few weeks bring the soil into such a state as to
enable it to bear a first crop. The quantity of lime
should be about 250 or 300 bushels per acre ; but
the quantity of necessity must vary with the readi-
ness with whicl) the lime is procurable ; where it is
very expensive the cultivator is obliged either to re-
duce the quantity or mix it thoroughly with a pro-
portion of clay or marl before be spreads it over the
surface of the peat. Where limestone is to be ob-
tained in the immediate neighbourhood, and other
fuel is not to be readily procured, peat may be em-
ployed in many cases in the process of lime-burning
without much difficulty, it chiefly requiring that the
peat should be thoroughly dried previous to its being
used. For a first crop on the thus so far reclaimed
peat-soils I have found no other crop equal to pota-
toes. These are best planted in ridges : the horse
hoe-plough can then be easily kept at work, which
not only considerably promotes the decomposition of
the peat, by facilitating the introduction of the mois-
ture and gases of the atmosphere, but this very ope-
ration adds very materially to the vigour and pro-
duce of this valuable root, than which no other
plant more delights in fresh soils, such as that pro-
duced by well-drained fresh earth-dressed peaty
lands.

It is well to avoid for a year or two all attempts
to produce corn-crops on land like that I am de-
scribing. The course of cropping which the farmer
will almost always find the most profitable is to fol-
low the potatoes with peas, then turnips, oats, grass-
seeds, peas, wheat. In all cases, too, he must re-
member in what small proportions some of the essen-
tial ingredients of his crops are at first existing in
this peaty soil, and how valuable even a slight dress-
ing of clay or marl will be found in supplying such
deficiencies.

And, again, it is here that the services of the ma-
nure-drill are available to an invaluable extent in
applying bone-dust or any kind of organic or even
earthy manure, especially to the young lands' earliest
crops. For the natural results of the progress of
cultivation — the gradual decomposition of the soil
and tough vegetable remains — the accumulation of
more easily decomposable vegetable matters — the ap-
plication of the ordinary farm-yard compost, finally
sufficiently enrich the ground with those salts of
lime and of potash which form the essential ingre-
dients of all fertile land.

To expedite the accumulation of decomposing so-
luble matters in the soil several expedients may be
adopted. For instance, if the farmer has access to
night-soil, an admirable compost may be made by
mixing this seven or eight weeks previous to its em-
ployment with the peat itself. I know of no other
compost so powerful on peat-soils as a compost of
well-putrified peat and night-soil : four or five cubic
yards of the night-soil is an ample dressing per acre
with twelve or fifteen cubic yards of peat. If the

farmer has not access to night-soil, let him substitute
farm-yard compost with the peat in a rather larger
proportion, or even urine or the drainage from his
farm-yard. This plan, first, I believe, successfully
adopted by the late Lord Meadowbank, is well de-
scribed by Mr. Dixon, of Ileathershow, in an essay
for which our society's prize was avyarded to him in
1839.

The farmer must, to derive the maxium benefit
from this plan, avoid certain errors, which will else
materially deteriorate the richness of the compost.
He must be careful to have the peat he intends to
use dug for some time previously, and exposed in
spits to the drying influence of the sun and winds.
The peat, in fact, can hardly be employed too dry ;
and the farmer will find that, if he makes the com-
post in the dry warm weather of summer, he may
then use more peat in proportion to his farm-yard
dung or night-soil than if he makes the mixture when
the temperature of the air is less. In the warm
weather of the spring and summer months the culti-
vator will find one cubic yard of fresh good farm-yard
compost sufficient for three or four cubic yards of
peat ; but. in colder >,veather the proportion of peat
must be decreased. The farmer will find that the
fresher and richer the animal manure the larger will
be the proportion cf peat with which it may be
successfully mixed. Thus with the rich semi-fluid
mixture from the slaughter-houses of London, with
one cubic yard of this six or seven cubic yards of
the peat may be mixed ; and I have found on se-
veral occasions every reason to agree with Lord
Meadowbank, and others who have employed peat in
this way, that it is very desirable not to mix more
than half the intended proportion of peat at first,
but to wait until the fermentation of the mass is
somewhat advanced, and the temperature of the heap
increased, before the last half is added to the heap.
Some persons recommend the addition of a portion
of lime to this compost; but this is a plan I do not
consider either advantageous or even harmless : for
the lime combines with and even partially decom-
poses some of the richest portions of the animal
matters of the manure ; and i have on some occasions
suspected, from certain appearances, that it retarded
when thus used, the dissolution of the peat. In eight
or nine weeks the compost will be ready for use ; the
peat and dung will be thoroughly mingled together,
and the whole heap will have the colour of a dark
garden-mould. Of the nourishing quality of this
mixture of peat with night-soil or yard-manure, or
urine, the farmer will readily convince himself by the
fertile effects which it produces ; and when drilled
with turnip-seed, the roots of the young plants will
be found to encircle the lumps of it, just as they do
in the case of crushed bones.

If the possessor of a peat-soil cannot well prepare
a compost of either night-soil or farm-manure with
the peat, he may still furnish his soil with a valuable
dressing, by mixing hot lime and peat together, at
the rate of one cubic yard of the former wit!) three
or four cubic yards of the latter. In this case it is
not necessary to dry the peat previously, for the
lime readily absorbs the water contained in it, and
in the course of seven or eight weeks the entire mass
is reduced to the state of mould. From some ex-
periments which I have made on a small scale, I have
found that the addition of a portion of common salt
to the lime, not exceeding one part of salt to three
parts of lime, will still more increase the fertilizing
powers of this peat compost ; but my experiments
on this head require repetition before I can confi-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

129

di'iiily recommend (his plan for tlie farmer's
adoption.

When once the peat is well drained, n very thin
covering of earih will produce much greater effects
in forming a solid soil than the farmer may imagine
possible : the facility with which roads are made
across the extensive deep Scotch peat-mosses and
the great Irish bogs in some degree illustrates the
same fact — the bog when once dried is found to re-
quire only a thin layer of gravel to make an excellent
road. It is true that these are apt to tremble pretty
considerably under the feet of the plough-horses, but
they bear the heaviest carriages with perfect safety,
even in places where the bog of peat is of a depth
of from 20 to 40 feet.

Peat-moss lands are commonly divided by the
deep ditches or channels by which they are drained.
If hedges are necessary, there is some difficulty in
raising tbem of quick, or any of the ordinary hedge-
row plants, until the peat is thrown up into banks
for some little time and is tolerably decomposed. A
little manure, either earthy or from the farm-yard,
materially adds, I have found, to their rapidity of
growth, and is certainly not an expense thrown away,
With hedges thus formed the failure of the young
plants is but rare — the hedge is much more quickly
formed — the expensive use of hurdles is diminished.
The same remarks apply to the timber-trees : for
such soils, birch, the larch, the Spanish chestnut,
with a very slight dressing with lime, or marl, or
clay, will do well on well-drained peat; and if the
earthy additions are liberally bestowed, such planta-
tions very rarely fail to abundantly reward in more
ways than one the possessor of the estate for all the
expense he has bestowed in their formation.

These I have found to be the chief points to be
attended to in the improvements of peat soils, a de-
scription of barren waste which perhaps abounds
more in these islands than in any other European
kingdom of equal extent. Their improvement, either
by converting them into cultivated fields or for the
formation of timber-plantations, is a question of na-
tional importance ; for ever}' bog that is thus added
to the farmer's possession not only enlarges, as re-
gards a supply of food, the internal resources of
the state, but increases the demand for agricultural
labour, banishes unwholesome stagnant waters, pu-
rities the atmosphere, and even renders the climate
of the district perceptibly milder.

WITNEY FARMERS' CLUB.

At the monthly meeting on the -25th of Novem-
ber, the members of this institution were highly
gratified by an address, in the shape of a lecture,
delivered by John Bush, Esq., as an introduction
of a subject for discussion, which was illustrated
by the exhibition of specimens from his own ento-
mological collection, together with magnified
drawings of the "Turnip Beetle." The following
is an outline of the interesting lecture: —

" The subject for consideration is the natural his-
tory of the turnip-fly, with its destructive propen-
sities ; and I know not how I can better enter upon
it than by giving you, in the first place, the deriva-
tion of the term under which it, with a large number
of congeners, is classed — I mean the word insect ;
in the second place defining what an insect is;
thirdly, pointing out the great use and importance

of ihe insect tribe in the wide field of nature; and
lastly, treating of the turnip fly itself, giving you, as
far as I have been able to collect, whatever is known
of its habits and economy.

" The word insect is derived from a Latin word,
signifying an animal cut or divided into parts or
segments."

There is not a person present but must have been
struck with amazement at one or more of the insect
tribe : take for instance the common wasp — the head
and the tail appear to be nearly severed from the
bod}', and yet how beautifully perfect is the fly as a
whole.

" In the next place, we have to consider what is
an insect 1 and how to distinguish it from any
other class of animals'! An insect then is a crea-
ture possessing a head, antennas, horns or feelers,
six or more legs, and a body ; it may be with wings
or without ; it may have only two wings, and those
exposed, as the common fly ; two concealed under
hard cases, as the beetle ; four wings clear and trans-
parent, as the bee ; covered with feathers or dust, as
the butterfly; their skin sufficiently hard to supply
the place of bones, aud they breathe through holes
or pores in the side of the body : but what chiefly
distinguishes them from other creatures is the an-
tennas. All insects make their first appearance in
the shape ofeggs/then undergo three^changes — cater-
pillar, chrysalis, and perfect insect ; each step of
existence being of longer or shorter duration, as
will best answer that wise purpose for which they
were created."

He pointed out their use and the important
place they occupy in the great chain of nature —
mentioned some few insects from which man di-
rectly receives benefit, such as the bee, the silk-
worm moth, the gall-fly, the cochineal insect, &c.

" Other insects may be considered the great sca-
vengers of the earth, removing noisome and offen-
sive matter; others, feeding on vegetables, keep
down that luxuriance which otherwise would by its
preponderance disturb the balance of nature, and
thus eventually destroy all animal life ; again, they
are food for numerous classes of beasts, birds, and
fishes, thereby contributing again to man's comfort.
And could we stop here all would be pleasant, but
there are many vexations arising from the insect
tribe. Look at the havoc and destruction committed
by the white ant of India; look at the effect of the
clothes moth, aud the visitation of the turnip fly."

He then proceeded to a description of the turnip
beetle.

" The females lay but few eggs compared with
other insects, which require a space of about thirty
days to carry them through all their stages — egg
10 days, maggot 6, chrysalis 14 — are long lived,
and pass the winter in a torpid state in. the bark of
trees, under leaves, in crevices ; called into activity
by the sun sometime in April and till September,
during which time the sexes pair, the females depo-
sit their eggs on the under side of the rough leaves
of the turnip, or some plant of the same family, and
only about one daily being hatched in ten days ; the
maggot feeds between the two skins of the leaf, and
then burrows itself less than two inches in the ground,
changes into the chrysalis, and in a fortnight comes
to light as a perfect insect, and then commences their
system of spoliation."

He then went into the means to counteract the
injuries from the ravages of this insect.

K

130

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

" The egg being so minute, and occupying so long
a period, it appears useless to attempt its destruc-
tion at that time in the caterpillar and chrysalis
state ; he appears also equally safe, with the excep-
tion of those few that may be destroyed by birds and
other creatures which may prey upon them ; conse-
quently the whole array of extermination must be
brought to bear on the fly itself, but how to begin
the onslaught, and what allies to enlist is the ques-
tion. Chemical action, the watering with liquids
and other remedies have been mentioned ; fire has
been called into aid, burning may be the means of
destroying some of the grubs ; hoeing and rolling
may destroy some ; nets made for the purpose of
catching them, and smeared boards, are too tedious
and expensive as remedies."

After mentioning other means and applications
which have been held out as remedies, he said —

" May we not make friends, and perhaps valuable
ones, in quarters which are by many overlooked?

" Tn the feathered and other tribes, the wagtail
and the swallow class in particular, ought to be pro-
tected, being strictly insect feeders • the frog, the
toad, and the hedge-hog, which are quite harmless,
and feed on insects, yet how many of these are wan-
tonly killed.

" As regards the system of tillage, that farmer will
be likely to succeed the best in his turnip crop, who,
by the use of manures or other processes, forces the
plant on most rapidly in its early stage, getting it
soonest out of this fly's power."

He concluded by recommending, more particu-
larly to the younger members of the society, to
give some of their leisure time to the study of na-
tural history, which is so intimately connected
with agricultural pursuits, that it must ere long
enforce itself upon their minds ; and although the
pursuit of catching insects may appear frivolous,
it may probably tend to render this fly inocuous
to the farmer.

The lecturer was listened to with great attention,
and met with deserving applause ; the illustration
of the subject by his exhibiting the different spe-
cimens of the insect tribe, heightened the interest
upon the subject.

A vote of thanks was unanimously proposed
and seconded to the lecturer.

GYPSUM AS A MANURE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — A friend of mine, being much pleased with
the result of an experiment I tried this last season in
the application of gypsum as a manure for potatoes,
sent a brief notice of it to one of our county papers ;
from whence it has found its way into several of the
leading Journals, and given rise to so many appli-
cations to me on the subject, as shows more interest
attaches to it than I imagined ; and on which account,
I respectfully beg a corner of your excellent Maga-
zine, to lay the same before your numerous readers.

Having heard from Messrs. Huxley and Buckley,
agricultural manufacturing chemists of this town,
that the gypsum with which they were supplying the
farmers in large quantities for grass and clover lands,
was an excellent manure for various descriptions of
garden produce, I determined to try its effects on a
piece of garden ground on which I bad lately en-

tered. First I used it to beans ; when about an incb
out of the ground, in the month of April, I dusted
it over several whole rows, leaving intermediate rows
undusted. I then divided other rows into two parts,
dusting one part, and leaving the other undusted,
taking care to vary the ends to which I applied it.
In a fortnight a very great difference was percep-
tible, the gypsumed portions being much stronger
in stalk and leaf. When gathered, the crop of the
gypsumed beans was at least double in quantity,
besides being much finer in size, and better in qua-
lity. A neighbour, after seeing the progress mine
were making, applied it to his beans, which were then
attaining a good size, but almost ruined with the
blight. Soon after he dusted, the good effects were
apparent — the blight disappeared, the plants became
strong and healthy, and instead of the utter destruc-
tion he anticipated, he realized a good crop. This
led him to strew it over his onion beds (I mean
soon after witnessing the improvement in his beans) ;
and although around here the worm is very destruc-
tive, wherever he applied it, not only were the plants
preserved, but the crop was so abundant that he
challenged the parish to produce its equal. Mine,
which I limed, were ruined. A relation, living at a
little distance hence, who had watched my experi-
ments, applied it to a large quantity ofcabbage-plants
in the same way I had done to the beans, and with
the same decided good effects ; wherever used, the
cabbages were considerably larger and firmer-
hearted than the undressed rows. I then tried it on
turnips with equally good results, being much ear-
lier and finer than the others ; but being continually
drawn out for use, I cannot speak particularly as to
quantity. Peas were as much benefitted as beans
by its use in the cropping, btit I do not think they
were any earlier than the undusted plants. With
currant bushes it does not at all agree, the leaves soon
crisping • but the most striking effects were pro-
duced on my potatoes. A piece of the ground I oc-
cupied was so thoroughly worn out, that the previ-
ous occupier did not think it worth cultivating, no
manure having been applied to it for five years pre-
viously. I prepared a portion of this with the usual
stable manure. The other part I did not manure at
all, but after having cut the potato sets into powder-
ed gypsum, I placed about a table-spoonful upon
each set in thehole where deposited, and then dusted a
small quantity over each row ofsets, as recommend-
ed in C. Johnson, Esq's., pamphlet on gypsum. The
gypsumed sets grew* most luxuriantly, remarkably
long and strong in the stalks, some of which
measured from five to six feet long, presenting a
very striking contrast to the manured portions on
the same soil, which were most dwarfish and sickly,
and yielded only when got up at the rate of 150 bush,
per acre ; while those to which the gypsum was ap-
plied produced at the rate of 479 heaped imperial
bush, per acre, of fine large and excellent potatoes.
The description of potato was what is called here
" pink eyed," averaging about seven ounces each
by weight. One root I selected had nine potatoes
attached to it — the largest weighed one pound tbir-
teenounces; two others from the same rootupwards
of one pound each, and all solid throughout. I gave
the former to Messrs. Huxley and Buckley, by whom
it was exhibited to numbers of persons, who, I
learned from them, were almost incredulous as to the
means by which it attained such growth ; but since
the paragraph containing this account was published
in the Shrewsbury paper, the relative to whom I
have before alluded, on getting up his crop of pota-
toes found several plants to which the gypsum had

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

131

been applied at the time the cabbages were dusted
with it, the yield of which far exceeded mine. One
of his potatoes weighed a trifle short of two pounds
and a half, and was exhibited by him to all his
neighbours at Edgmond, who will confirm the face
if needful. His were a common white potato on a
black soil ; mine, as before stated, pink eyes on a
light reddisli sandy soil, for which I think this new
description of manure will be found very advanta-
geous, being of a binding nature. The gyspnm was
unburnt, but ground particularly fine, i procured
it from Messrs. Huxley and Buckley's mill woiks
in this place, whose price was Is. 9d. per bush., or
4js. per ton to farmers ; and who, I believe, have
similar vouchers from others of its good effects. I
used it throughout at about the rate of eight to ten
bushels per statute acre, and though this seems very
little, yet being as fine as the finest flour, a little
goes over a good deal of ground. 1 have condensed
into as little space as possible, answers to the num-
berless queries which have bsen addressed to me from
every part of the country, TiunTEEN of which have
been contained in a single letter. I did not send
this before, in hope that the subject of some of the
papers in your excellent periodical would have ren-
dered it unnecessary, and entered more fully into
the subject than my numerous engagements will al-
low of my doing, except in the way of recording
facts. Trusting that this information will prove
generally interesting to your readers, and lead to
more extended experiments with equal results,
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

Thomas Bougiiey.

P.S. I think the top-dressing of the potatoes
very important.

Newport, Shropshire, Jan. 10.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS OF THE
UNITED STATES (OMITTING KENTUCKY,
NORTH CAROLINA, WISCONSIN, AND
FLORIDA, AND PART OF LOUISIANA),
FOR THE YEAR 1840, AS TAKEN BY THE
MARSHALS APPOINTED FOR THAT PUR-
POSE.

Corn and wheat 371,110,902 bushels.

Rye 16,445,373 —

Oats 107,072,265 —

Buckwheat 7,392,018 —

Potatoes 99,930,100 —

Barley 4,040,094 —

Rice 76,154,731 lbs.

Sugar 281,265,116 —

Cotton 1,064,560,785 —

Tobacco 138,070,806 —

Wool 27,917,996 —

Hops 1,154,101 —

Wax 666,799 —

Silk cocoons 328,931 1 —

Hemp and flax 1,686,045.864 —

Hay 10,282,660,000 —

Pot and pearl ash 32,887,500 —

Hogs 20,563,898 numb, of

Sheep 19,086,261 —

Neat cattle 12,957,301 —

Horses and mules 3,489,073 —

Poultry (value of) 10,742,591 dollars.

Dairy (value of products). . . . 33,959,681 —

Orchards (value'of) 7,259,318 —

Lumber (value of) 10,948,596 —

Wine 286,627 gallons

Tar, pitch, and turpentine, &c. 31,689 barrels*

EXPERIMENTS WITH THE
URATE OF THE LONDON MA-
NURE COMPANY.

This powerful manure, which is peculiarly well
adapted for application by the drill, is entirely able
to supply the place of crushed bones, and that too at
a very considerably less expense ; it abounds, in
fact, with the earthy salt of bones (phosphate of
lime), as well as with the rich ammoniacal salts of
urine.

It is thus described in a recent work by Mr. Cuth-
bert YV. Johnson : — " As this manure is almost en-
tirely composed of rich organic matters, the earthy
salt of bones, gypsum, and various salts of ammonia,
it is evidently a most powerful, dry, fertilizing pow-
der, well adapted not only for turnips, but for all
grain crops. I have had an opportunity of inspect-
ing the manufactory of this company, and from the
care displayed in its preparation, the urate will, I
think, be rapidly and extensively employed by-
farmers."

Mr. Anderson says, in a letter to Mr. E. Purser,
dated Oakley, West Farm, near Bedford, September
18,1841,—

"I should have written you earlier, but though it better
to wait, and see whether the Urate was sufficiently
powerful to make the turnips bulb equal to the farm-
yard manure, which was used in the same field up to
the present time. I must confess the urate has proved
itself quite equal if not superior to the farm-yard manure,
and does the inventor great credit. The land I used it
on was a sharp gravel, and was much out of condition
previous to the present crop. The six tons was drilled
with Swedish turnip seed, eighteen inches apart, on
eighteen acres."

From Mr. Manning, to Mr. E. Purser, dated Elstow,
Bedfordshire, 13th September, 1841.

"Sir,— In reply to your enquiries respecting the
urate, I beg to state that I am well satisfied with its
effects as a dresssing for turnips. I drilled a ton of
Urate upon three acres, in rows, seventeen inches
apart, upon a very hot gravelly soil : on each side ad-
joining this, was manured in the usual way, with good
farm-yard manure, about fourteen loads per acre. The
turnips on the Urate were fit to hoe seven days before
the manured part ; from their first appearance, a stranger
could point out the spot where it commenced and ended -
the difference still is evident and in its favour. Both
the manured and Urate pieces were sown the same day,
about the 14th of June. I certainly consider it a good
artificial dressing, and its fertilizing properties great.''

From Mr. Norman Taylor, to Mr. E. Purser, dated
Old Rowney, near Shefford, Sept. 2, 1841.
" Sir,— In reply to yours of the 30th of August, I beg
to itate that I applied 124 cwt. of Urate, broad-cast, on
two acres in the centre of a twelve acre field of sand
land, at the cost of 33s. per acre. The rest of the field
I dressed with bone-dust, broad-cast also, .at the cost of
52s. per acre. Up to the present time (September 2,)
I perceive no difference whatever between the two, the
whole field promising to be a very good crop. The
turnip3 are drilled at eighteen inches, and set eut about
the same."

Henry Price, Esq., of Hartlip, in Kent, says:—
" It gives me great pleasure to be able to report to
you that I have made some trials, on a small scale, with
your Urate, which have far exceeded my expectations
of its fertilizing effects. I now fearlessly recommend
its use to all n.y neighbours. It certainly rendered the
plants to which I applied it, some days more forward
than those treated in a different manner."

K 2

132

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP IN
GERMANY.

The economist who may feel disposed to refer
to the Agricultural History of Germany, will find
that within the last half cent in y a few Merino
sheep, obtained, almost it might he said smuggled,
from Spain, have caused a complete revolution in
the flocks of the Germanic empire. Bourgoine,
in his" Modern state of Spain," published in 1807,
observes, that in Saxony, Wirtemberg, Denmark,
and Sweden, these sheep had bsen naturalised
with success. He says that " at Fredericksburg,
a palace of the king of Denmark, he saw a flock
of Spanish breed, which was in the fourth genera-
tion, and had not degenerated." He adds, " that
the original flock was chosen in Spain by a Dane
well versed in agriculture." From very small
stocks in various parts of Germany, and more par-
ticularly in Saxony, it is now an established fact,
that a race of sheep has been bred producing wool
of a more delicate texture and finer fibre than any
other class of the same animal in Europe. This
astonishing change has even been effected within
very few years, and it may therefore be presumed
that in the development of their industry our gra-
zing colonies will endeavour to rival the perse-
vering and scientific exertions of the Northern
States; and from their example derive such en-
couragement as may induce them to attend to the
improvement of their flocks, well assured that an
ample remuneration awaits them. It thus appears
that the introduction of fine-woolled sheep in the
German States has proved a source of substantial
wealth to the agriculturists and manufacturers ;
and it requires no prophetic spirit to foresee that
the Germans will, ere long, be enabled to meet not
only their own demand for cloth, but also compete
with us in foreign markets. The introduction of
this small stock of sheep has consequently con-
ferred an inestimable blessing on the people among
whom they were naturalised ; inasmuch as their
cultivation has already afforded a sufficient quan-
tity of fine wool to supply their own manufactories,
and besides greatly contributed to the improvement
of the land over which they are spread. Like a
navigable river, which daily fertilises and augments
the wealth of the countries through which it flows,
this new source of agriculture and industrial
wealth has spread plenty around. To render the
subject more familiar 1 shall, in the first instance,
enumerate the various kinds of fodder provided
there for the winter sustenance of flocks, as
this is a point which ought to engage the first at-
tention of the farmers in every country. The judi-
cious sheep-owners in Prussia, Saxony, and
throughout the Germanic empire, cultivate an
ample supply of the following vegetables for the
winter support of their sheep, viz., clover, trefoil,
vetches or lintels, beet-root, carrots, turnips, po-
tatoes, peas, oat or rye straw, lucerne, sainfoin,
&c, &c. Chestnuts arc generally cut into pieces,
which it would be dangerous to neglect, as they
might otherwise stick in the throats of the sheep.
It is also customary to mingle salt with dry leaves
and other chopped dry food ; and partitions are
made in the mangers in which sheep feed, in order
to prevent the most ravenous of them from taking
more than their due share, a practice evidently
worthy of imitation. In Dr. Blight's Travels
from Vienna through Lower Hungary, the follow-
ing interesting information upon the subject will
be found :—" It is," says this author, writing in

1818, " about fourteen years since the first Spa-
nish sheep were introduced upon the Hunyadi
estates, from Moravia, where Baron Geisler had
been many years employed in improving the breed ;
since that time, the Graf has exercised unwearied
assiduity in crossing and recrossing, and intro-
ducing more perfect Merinos. By keeping the
most accurate registers of the pedigree of each
sheep, he has been able to proceed, with a mathe-
matical precision, in the regular and progressive
improvement of the whole stock. Out of 17,000
sheep, comprising his flock, there is not one whose
whole family he cannot trace by reference to bis
books ; and he regulates his yearly sales by these
registers. He considers the purity of blood the
first requisite towards perfection in the fleece; but
he is well aware that little can be done, unless the
sheep arekeptin health and condition. He further
adds, that the sheep are driven under sheds when it
rains, or the heat is oppressive, and they always
lamb in the house; the ewe being placed where
she remains unmolested. The number of shepherds
is about one man to every ten sheep." In the same
volume the following may be found among the re-
gulations adopted in the care of the flocks of
Graf Hundyadi. " Sheep ought not to be exposed
to rainy weather. The dew and hoar frost in the
morning are injurious to them, occasioning coughs,
colds, and diseases of the lungs ; and therefore
they should not betaken to the pasturage until the
dew is gone off. In the summer months, when the
heat is intense, the sheep should be conducted to
some shady place. It is indispensably necessary
that the sheep should have water twice a day.
The rams should not be kept in the house with the
ewes, nor the young with the old. For fourteen
days before the coupling season, the rams should
be fed with oats, and this food should be continued
not only during that particular period, but for
fourteen days after ; and one ram will thus be
sufficient for 80 ewes, provided great care and at-
tention is paid to him in every other respect
during the whole of the season. During the
lambing period a shepherd should be constantly
day and night in the cote, in order that he may
place the lamb, as soon as it is cleaned, together
with its mother, in a separate pen, which has been
before prepared. The ewes which have lambed
during a week, be driven neither to water nor to
pasture ; but low troughs of water for this purpose
are to be introduced into each partition, in order
that they may easily and at all times quench their
thirst. It is also very useful to put a small quan-
tity of barleymeal into the water ; for, by this
means, the quantity of the ewes' milk is much in-
creased. When the lambs are so strong that
they can eat, they are to be separated by degrees
from their mothers and fed with the best and
finest hay and a few oats, being suffered at first
to go to them only three times a day — early in the
morning, at mid-day, and in the evening, and so
to continue till they can travel to pasture and fullv
satisfy themselves." Such is the method practised
by experienced flock-masters, by which means they
have succeeded in bringing their wool to a state of
the highest perfection. It is not unusual for sheep
farmers in these countries, as well as in Bohemia,
to wash their sheep twice during an interval of
ten days or a fortnight previous to shearing,
and more particularly the lambs, by which expe-
dient they produce wool in a higher condition than
that generally imported from Germany. — National
Advertiser.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

133

FOOD FOR CATTLE.

A correspondent furnishes us with the fol lowing table
of the. quanlitv of soluble or nutritive matter* a Horded
by 1000 parts of different vegetable substances, examined
in their green sta>e.

Whole quan-

Saccha-

Gluten

Vegetable

tity of Solu-

Mucilage

rine

or

Substances.

ble or Nutri-

>r Starch.

matter

Albu-

tive matter.

or Sugar

men.

Middlesex Wheat. .

995

765

_

190

Barley v

9-20

790

70

66

Oats from Scotland

743

641

15

87

Rye from Yorkshire

792

645

38

109

Common Beans . . .

570

420

—

103

574

501

22

35

260 to sno

200 to 155

20 to 15

40 to 30

151

133

11

17

Red Beet

118
136

14
13

121
119

14

White Beet

4

Swedish Turnips . .

G4

9

51

o

Common Turnips. .

42

7

34

T

Our correspondent adds — " The question which I wish
to prove is, which is the cheapest and at the same time
most nutritious food for cattle. Calculating one bushel
of beans to weigh sixty pounds, which, at 31s. per qr.,
would be rather more than three farthings per pound,
will) nutriment in the proportion of 570 parts in 1000;
or linseed cake at 9/. per ton, which is not quite Id. per
pound, containing nutriment in the proportion of 151
parts in 1000 ; and from the above table it will be seen
that oats and barley-meal bear a greater proportion of
nutriment still.

DEAD WEIGHTS OF SOME OF
THE ANIMALS EXHIBITED AT
THE SMITHFIELD CATTLE
SHOW.

OXEN.

Weight.

St. lb.

Mr. Blewett's 4 years and 9
months old Hereford Ox. .

Mr. Chamberlain's 4 years &
8 months old Hereford Ox 187 6

The Most Noble the Marquess
of Exeter's 4 years and 7
months old short horned Ox

Mr. Hillyard's 4 years and 4

months old Durham Ox .. 180 0*

The Rt. Hon. Earl Spen-
cer's 4 years and 1 month
old Durham Ox

Mr. Chamberlain's 4 years &
8 months old Hereford Ox.
Prize 20/ 189 6

Mr. A. Mitchell's 4 years and
8 months old Hereford and
Aberdeenshire Cross Ox ... 1G8 4

Mr. Longmore's 3 years and
6 months old Durham and
Aberdeenshire Cross Ox . .

Mr. Senior's 3 years and 9
months old Hereford Ox
Prize 5/ 136 0

Mr. Crisp's 2 years and 7l
months old short horned
Ox. Prize 10/., and Silver
Medal as the Breeder ... . 152

Mr. Collier's 3 years and 5
months old Aberdeenshire
Ox 104 0

Mr. Gisborne's upwards of 5

yrs. old West Highland Ox 160 0
* Loose Fat, 20 stone
COWS.

Mr. Longmore's 3 years and
8 months old short horned
and Banff9h. Cross Heifer 107

Purchased by

Mr. Giblett,
Bond Street

Ditto

Ditto

Mr. Yates,
Wandsworth

Mr. Giblett,
Bond Street

Ditto
Mr. Gibbs,

Ball's Pond,

Islington

Mr. Kitchen,
Blandford St.

Mr. Guerrier,
Upper Street,
Islington

Mr. Giblett,

Bond Street
Mr. Gibbs,

Ball's Pond,

Islington
Mr. Hayward,

Holloway

Mr. Kitchen,
Blandford St.

>

J

en of}

:rs,20 >
'.51... )

*i

en"|

?:)

?n of"]
2is, 32 \

1

St.

15
16
16

14
13
14
14
14
12
18
18
IS

18

20
16

14
14

19
20
19

14
13

13
11
10
16
15
14
17
17
16
15
15
16

15

18

lb.

5
1
0

SHEEP

Mr. Chamberlain's pen of

new Leicester Wethers,

20 months old. Prize

20/., and Silver Medal

a« the Breeder

Mr. Painter's pen of Leict-s- }
ter Wethers, 20 months '■

old 3

Mr. Chamberlain's pen of }

new Leicester Wether*, s

20 months old. Prize 10/. )

Mr. Sanday's pen of Leices-"}

ter Wethers, 20 months J

old. Prize 5/ 3

Mr. Twitchell's pen of new~|
Leicester Wethers, 20 |
months old. Prize 15/.,
and Silver Medal as the
Breeder, and Gold Medal
as the best long-woolled

Sheep

Mr. Grantham's pe
South Down Wether
months old. Prize
Mr. VVhittengstall's pen of }
South Down Wethers, /•

under 22 months 3

Mr.E.G. Barnard's, M.P.,"}

pen of South Down We- s

thers, 21 months old. ... 3

The Duke of Bedford's pen"}

of South Down Wethers, >

21 months old 3

Mr. E. G. Barnard's pe
of South Down Wethers
33 months old
The Duke of Bedford's pen
of South Down Wether
33 months old.
Mr. Grantham's pe
South Down Welhe
months old. . .
Lord Lovelace's pen of
South Down Wethers.

32 months old

PIGS.

Mr. Temple's pen of Buck-}
inghamshire Pigs, 27 /■
weeks old. Prize 5/ 3

Colonel Wood's pen ol Mid-
dlesex Pigs, 27 weeks old.
Prize 10/., and Silver
Medal as the Breeder . .

EXTRA STOCK.

Mr. Giblett,
Bond St.

fMr.H.

Ren-
dell, Oxford
t Street
( Mr. May-
] nard, Chel-
C. sea

) Mr. Giblett,
i Boad St.

"1

>Ditto

Ditto

>

s

» Ditto

t'Mr. Kent,

Upper King
C Street

?Mr. Giblett,
f Bond St.

rMr. Kent,

Upper King
£. Street

| Mr. Giblett,
i Bond St.

Ditto

Ditto

34

0

37

0

38

0

29

0

27

0

30

0

Mr. Garland,
Oxford
Market

LONG WOOLLED SHEEP

The Marquis of Exe-
ter's Leicester Wether
20 months old ...

Mr. Large's new Oxford-"}
shire long woolled Ewe,
68 months old

Mr. Painter's new Leices
ter Wether, 20 months
old

'1,1

•s

14

6

28

4

13

7

/Mr

{-

Giblett,
Bond St.

Ditto

fMr.
I °J

Rendell,
Oxford St.-

SHORT WOOLLED SHEEP.

"j

{

Anglo- "I r

, 32 ^ 17 3* J

Fat, isaibs.

[GS.

II If

I 32 6 I

Mr. Kent,
Upper King
Street
Mr. Allen,
South Aud-
ley Street

Mr. E. G. Barnard's South-"}
Down Sheep, 32 months
old
Lord Western's An
Merino Wether

months old

* Loose Fat, lSJlbs
PIGS

MrHobman's Pig of the "| I I fMr. Garland,

Neapolitan breed, 7 >\ 32 6 \< Oxford

months old J| II Market

Humphrey Gibbs
London, 1841. Hon, Sec

134

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AN ACCOUNT OF EXPERIMENTS MADE WITH MANURES

ON THE ESTATE OF JOHN' JELICO, ESQ., AT BRIGHTERTON, NEAR SHIFFNAL, SALOP.

Turnips were sown M?y 15th, and taken up November, 1840.

MANURES.

Bone Dust

Lance and Co.'s Humus. ^

Rape Dust

Gibbon's Compost
Fold-yard Dung: .

Weight clear of
top and bottom.

Ton. Cwt.

18 15
•25 10

24

19

16

12

32

3

Qrs.
2

1

2
0
0

Cost Price.

£

?.

d.

5

8

0

2

16

0

3

10

0

2

8

0

4

18

0

Carriage. Total Cost.

£ s. d. £ s. d.

0 2 6 5 116 Obtained near.

1 18 5 I 4 14 5 25 bushel* at 2«. 3d.

Packed in London.

0 10 0 14 0 0 Purchased near.

0 10 0 ! 2 18 0 Ditto.

1 8 0 6 6 0 The Yard distant.

* Query.— J/ 94s. (Tie cost of Humus, produced 25^ Tons; what should 126s. of Yard Dung produce!
Answer.— 34 ions 3 J cut.— Therefore Humus ivas cheapest, though taken 150 miles.
The above experiments were made by Mr. Hammond, steward to J. Jelicoe, Esq., who, since, has
had a large quantity of Humus for 1841 ; when he handed the above account to Mr. Redgrave, re-
ferrin°- to Mr. Skirving, Seedsman, of Liverpool, who witnessed the experiments.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR
SOURCES IN MANURE.

RE-

Granite with lime for Potass ; Gas liquor for
Nitrogen ; Stercorized bark rait Nitrogen and
Phosphokic Salts.

To the Editor of the West Briton.

Sir, — Your columns being often occupied with
subjects of agricultural improvement, 1 am induced
to hand you some suggestions, already printed here,
for extending and diversifying our resources in ma-
nure.

Regarding the object of manuring as not just to
supply what will enable the plant to grow, but to
promote its luxuriant vegetation and abundant pro-
duction, by feeding it with wbat is most congenial to
its east] nutrition ; and even to stimulate, if this be
possible, its vegetative action on the manure and on
the air. And regarding this abundant production,
too, in reference to the breadth of soil, rather than to
the quantity of seed ; for to get 30 ears of wheat
from a single grain, in three square feet, is less
valuable either to the farmer or the country, than
to get 30 ears from ten seed grains, within one
square foot. We have probably yet to learn the
amount of produce which may be obtained from a
given breadth of ground, by a maximum of rightly
selected and proportioned manure ; instead of the
minimum too often used, and sometimes of the wrong
kind. " Poor land" may become a comparatively
rare term, when manuring is systematically under-
stood ; though we must always be in degree depen-
dent on situation for warmth and sunshine.

With respect to stimulation, it is not yet decided
whether plants are susceptible of this operation ; but
if they are so, there can be no doubt of its import-
ance in many cases, and in cone more than bringing
forward the harvest early in high grounds where
fogs and cold are apt to set in before the corn is ripe.
To effect these objects, it is not enough to supply
the due quantity of manure, — its being of the right
quality is not less essential ; for the plant cannot
take up an excess of one ingredient, when its other
constituents are not present in due proportioji for its
growth.

Vegetables cultivated for food are generally com-

posed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a little
nitrogen, and some salts which remain as ashes,
when the plant is burnt. Their hydrogen and oxy-
gen being derived from the rain and air; their
carbon and nitrogen partly from the air and partly
from the soil ; but their salts from the soil alone.
It is also ascertained that the salts thus drawn off
by the crops, consist chiefly of silicate of potass,
and magnesio-phospbateof lime ; and that exhausted
soils have their fertility generally restored when
treated with wood ashes, which contain much potass,
the silica being always abundant in the soil, and the
phosphates, abstracted by some of the crops only,
being seldom so far exhausted as the potass.

In this coal-burning country, however, where
wood ashes are not to be had in quantity for
manure, the remarkable effects of bone dust, night
soil, and guano, showing- what may be produced by
adding to the phosphates, indicate how much more
might be expected, if we could make proportionate
additions to tb6 potass. We do this, so far as we
can, with burnt weeds and leaves, stable and farm-
yard dung, and their good effects are well known ;
but they only return what was before drawn oft' from
the soil, and indeed only part of that. To supply
the remainder, the farmer has recourse to tillage, for
decomposing the rocks and stones in which it is con-
tained, as the slate and duustone. And during the
time of decomposition, he is almost obliged to put
his land in pasture ; the rotation of crops finding
hardly one which does not extract potass.

There is, however, in our vicinity, an inexhaust-
ible store of this alkali ; though not hitherto thought
of as a manure, nor, in its present hard and durable
state, fit for the purpose. If slate and dunstone
contain potass enough to fertilize their soil, felspar
comprises it in much larger proportion, nearly 17
per cent, of its weight ; and felspar is the basis of
our granite. Thus, granite may contain about 10
per cent, potass (varying, of course, with the pro-
portion of felspar), in too hard and compact a state
to yield to the weather fast enough for the purpose
of a manure. But this hardness is not difficult to
reduce. By turning it whilst red hot into water, it
is rendered quite brittle and crumbly ; and being
then mixed with fresh lime and water, is made much
more susceptible of decomposition, and easily yields
part at least of its potass. The surface granite,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

135

already softened bv the weather, will not do, having
already lost a part of its alkali; china clay, appa-
rently decomposed granite, is almost entirely desti-
tute of pofass, and the soils formed upon granite are
unproductive, probably from the same cause.

The chippings and fragments of the solid stone,
accumulating at the granite quarries, may be heated
with turf, in common lime kilns, and taked down
into water, as fast as they get red hot ; in which
manner many tons per day may be done in or.e kiln.
Thus rendered brittle, it may be rapidly crumbled
by a waier-power crushing mill. And as turf and
water power are both plentiful about the granite,
this rough powder might be sold to the farmer at a
lower price than lime.

A ton of this powdered granite mixed with half a
ton of fresh lime, being heaped up on a thick bed of
earth, and closed in all round with earth, leaving tho
top open, water is to be poured on gradually, enough
to slake the lime entirely, and then all covered in,
the bed of earth at bottom being about two feet
thick, and round the sides eight or nine inches,
making good the cracks produced by the swelling of
the lime in slaking. After two or three days it may
be uncovered, the granite and slacked lime well
mixed up with more water, to a soft mortar, and
again all covered in close with earth. In this state
it may be left two or three months at least, and bet-
ter if longer, keeping it wet and soft. When wanted
to use, the whole heap should be well mixed together,
including the earth, which will be impregnated with
solution of potass. It is then fit for spreading.

Two hundred weight of granite will contain as
much potass as a good acre of wheat (say thirty
bushels), including the straw. Hence a ton prepared
as above might do (reckoning the time required for
decomposition, and the other manures employed),
for five acres of light soil, once in four 01 five years.
Loamy and dunstone soils are not likely to want
potass so often ; but in an article yet untried, we
cannot recommend proportions with much confi-
dence). Experiments, at first in the small way, with
different proportions, on different parts of an ex-
hausted field (not over limed), giving the whole
about one hundred weight of bone dust per acre (or
rather a ton night soil), that the crops might not fail
for want of phosphates, would furnish some indica-
tions for future guidance. Its durability must be
determined in the baine way : of course the faster it
is decomposed, the greater will be its early effects,
and the le.*s its permanency.

It is, so far, a mere suggestion, induced by reflect-
ing on the great importance of re- implacing the annual
loss of potass in cultivated land, and even of adding
to the quantity present; the difficulty of effecting this
in a coal-burning country ; and the suitability of
the present opportunity for giving it publicity. My
experiments have gone only to ascertain the easy
practicability of preparing the compound, and the
readiness with which it begins to yield potass. Its
effect upon the soil, there has beeu no time to inves-
tigate, nor am I at ail sure that the above is the best
proportion of lime ; less it should not be, but equal
parts are very likely to be more active, if also more
costly ; and three or four times the quantity would
do no harm, unless on ground already overlimed, the
object being to convert the hard crystalline silicate
of alumina and potass into a soft granular silicate of
lime and potass, much more susceptible to the weather.
This being a pretty long letter, for one reading, I
hope to send you the continuation next week.

Yours, &6„ J. PniDiiAux.

Plymouth, Dec. 24, 1841.

THE FARMER.

No. II.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — As you deemed the homely hints I sent you
worthy of a place in your magazine of knowledge
last month, you may expect to receive some every
month during the year. Good practical knowledge,
gleaned from various sources, is none the worse
for being repeated, for with a slight transposition
of the old adage,

" Manure, like money, does most good when it is spread ;"

I trust I shall be excused for the liberty taken
of embodying in the following paper, a few obser-
vations given in an article that has already ap-
peared in your pages, and which struck me at the
time as being practical, useful, and highly inte-
resting. I am, Sir, yours, &c,

Delta.

ON MANURE.— No. II.

All cultivators of the soil are well aware that the
most fertile ground becomes soon exhausted and
unprofitable unless renovated by manure; but it
requires some degree of discrimination in select-
ing suitable manure for the grounds it is intended
to benefit. In corn ground where the soil is friable,
loose, or gravelly, it requires solid compact ma-
nure, if mixed with a quantity of stiff earth or road
scrapings all the better; but if the soil is princi-
pally clay, or heavy loam, nearly impervious to
wet, the best manure to he used is good stable-dung
in which a large quantity of straw has been used,
which being ploughed in, keeps the surface po-
rous, and consequently absorbs the rain and im-
bibes more of the atmospheric air than in its na-
tural state ; in the heavy adhesive soils coal-ashes
are very useful as a manure, and in some instances
coarse river sand has been found beneficial. If
the ground is properly drained, a due portion of
lime is of great advantage, and may be deemed in"
dispensable to the ensuring of good crops.

The following practical observations on the pre-
paration of manure presents a singular coincidence
of ideas on the subject with the preceding hints;
they arc the substance of a prize essay that ap-
peared in the Farmer's Magazine for January 1840.
The prize was offered for the best essay on, or de-
scription of, a manure which will make the best
substitute for that usually prepared in the farm-
yard.

In pursuit of his enquiries on the subject which
he was anxious should be supported by practical
experience, the writer selected a farmer's field
where a number of persons had their potato crops
planted beside each other. A great difference in
the several lots was very perceptible ; he states,
" My first impression naturally was, as the farmer,
the owner of the field, had the largest manure
heap the produce of many cattle, he should have
the best crop. On enquiry, I found I was mistaken,
for one lot of a person who kept only one pig, and
another belonging to a cottager who kept no pig,
were both better than the general crop. I applied
to the cottager that kept no pig to know how he
contrived to get such fertile manure ; he told me
that he collected all the grass weeds he could,
scraped the roads, pared all the green hedges, and
cleared out the water tables opposite his own

136

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

house, and as much further as he could, and if his
landlord would allow him, scoured out a ditch ; all
these he collected into a heap, and he never allowed
a drop of suds, dirty water, chamber vessels, or
any other liquid that could be collected, to be lost,
but poured all on the heap of rubbish he had
gathered, and after some time turned it carefully
and mixed it pi-operly. He did not apply a greater
quantity of this manure to produce his crops than
is usually done from the farm-yard ; and he as-
sured me, that its good effects remained in the
soil, and appeared in the future crops."

Thus you have a plan of making manure on a
small scale, and which is within the power of every
industrious person to pursue. The writer next
proceeds to describe the process on a large scale.
" Provide a large heap of eighty or a hundred
loads of road scrapings, water table semirings,
weeds, and every kind of refuse that can be scraped
together, with several large casks of soap-suds,
and all sorts of liquid manure which are produced
about a farm-house (with some more solid), and
empty the contents of those casks into numerous
communicating cuts, made over and through the
surface of the above described heap, the liquid
being always immediately covered over to prevent
evaporation. The cuts must be made in different
parts of the surface of the heap for each successive
cask of liquid till all is completely saturated ; then
an additional layer of earth and other material, and
so on, till it is ready for a complete turning, which
will be in the course of a few days, or as soon as
the whole mass becomes thoroughly mixed or
amalgamated. Or, suppose a pit dug in a conve-
nient part of a field, near your house, which I have
tried, with a layer of finely broken earth at the
bottom, on which a cask of the material before
described has been discharged, the whole properly
mixed with a shovel, the operator standing on the
brink of the pit; and afterwards a thin layer of
earth added to prevent evaporation. In another
week, or as often as possible, add another layer of
finely broken earth, and another cask of the liquid,
mixed and covered over as before directed till your
pit is full aud ready to be cleared out to make
room for another making : when the material is
thrown out of the pit, it will always be necessary
and proper to cover it entirely with weeds, or
some kind of refuse ; but the more vegetable mat-
ter the better. The process drew wondering spec-
tators, from its perfuming- the air with that rich
odour which would make a knowing farmer look
six months before him, and say to himself, — this
will come to something, if crops don't grow after
the application of this prime manure."

The examples shown in this and the former
paper, are well deserving of attention. No farmer
ought to neglect so very important a subject ; he
should not allow a weed, nor a bit of dirt, nor even
dirty water near the house to be lost, every thing
convertible into manure should be gathered to the
dung heap, and see it all well mixed ; the cleanli-
ness will be conducive to the health of himself,
bis family, and his servants, and the increase of
his manure will enable him to improve his land
and increase his crops, and thus prove a pleasing
reward for his industry.

Now, Mr. Editor, those wealthy scientific gen-
tlemen, experimentalists, who would fain compress
the globe into a nutshell, and already talk of
carrying manure in their waistcoat pockets, suffi-
cient to spread over the ground, in their shooting
excursions ; and who boast of their chemical salts,

hone-dust, old rags, desiccated compost, the won-
derful nitrate of soda, and the more wonderful
Guano manure, &c, &.c, &c, may despise and
laugh at such homely ideas as above stated, but let
the iudustrious farmer pursue the plan, and he
will soon find the benefit of perseverance, and join
in the merriment, though with a different feeling,
for he would be one of

"Those who win mil laugh."
Jan., 1842. Delta.

ON

AGRICULTURAL
TRY.

CHEMIS-

(l'ROM A CORRESPONDENT OF THE "LANCASTER
CHRONICLE.")

1. Agriculture, like every other branch of indus-
try, is capable of great improvement, from the ap-
plication of well established scientific principles ;
it can never claim to rank as a separate science,
but must be considered as one of the most ancient,
most useful, and most honourable arts.

2. When we review the numerous and wonder-
ful discoveries of modern chemistry, and their suc-
cessful application to every other art of life, we can-
not repress the hope and belief that agriculture will
advance in the general march of useful knowledge,
and not merely receive but reflect back some rays
of the light that now beams from so many points.
Impressed with this hope and belief I would in-
vite the attention of your readers to a few facts
in chemical philosophy, which to me appear the
most fully established, the most easy to be com-
prehended, and the best calculated to reward in-
quiry by their application to agriculture, and,
above all, by the striking evidence they afford of
the goodness, the power, the wisdom and bounty
of the Almighty Creator of the universe.

3. " Knowledge," says Lord Bacon, " is not a
couch whereon to rest a searching and restless
spirit ; nor a terrace for a wandering and variable
mind to walk up and down in; nor a tower of
state for a proud mind to raise itself upon ; nor a
commanding fort for strife and contention ; nor
yet a shop for profit and sale ; but a rich store-
house for the glory of the Creator and the relief
of man's estate."

4. Plants and animals — being endowed with life
— constitute what is called the organic kingdom
of nature, because they are furnished with organs
or instruments adapted to the maintenance of that
life. The material of which they are constructed —
that which forms the roots, stems, leaves, fruits,
and seeds of plants — the blood, flesh, &c, of ani-
mals is termed organic or organised matter.

5. Physiology is the study of the living powers
or vital functions of animals and plants. This is a
very extensive and fascinating branch of science,
but we can only touch upon it incidentally as we
proceed. There is, however, one proposition of
physiology now generally admitted, which we
shall take for granted, otherwise all the inquiries
of agricultural chemistry will be vain. It is this,
that animals and plants can create nothing — that
everything entering into their composition, how
much soever it may be modified and exalted — so
to speak — by the marvellous powers of life, is de-
rived from without, from their food, or from the
air or soil. A cow, for instance, supplies us with
milk and beef; hut she derives the elementary

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

137

matter of which milk and beef tire composed,
from the food taken into the stomach, carried
into the circulation, exposed in the lungs to the
air, &c. How the food of the cow is converted
into beef is a question of physiology, it is a vital
process which chemistry cannot imitate or explain
— chemistry can decompose but cannot recompose
organic matter, The chemist, indeed, can put
sugar, gum, starch, or sawdust into his flasks and
alembics with acids, alkalies, and the like, and
can convert something like one into something
like another ; he discovers, at last, that these are
mere charcoal and water in different proportions
and nothing more ; but supply him with charcoal
and water, and set him to work — he will confess
himself still in want of the " Promethean Fire."
He cannot rival the eye of an old potato. There
is life in the bit of potato — it is organised — it
possesses the living principle which is "not the
result of organization but the cause of organiza-
tion."*

C. The chemist can decompose organized matter
and resolve it into its elementary constituents,
which are few in number — admirable in their pro-
perties.

7. If we put a piece of wood into a gun barrel,
or other iron tube, closed at one end and loosely
plugged at the other, so as to permit the escape of
smoke and at the same time to exclude the air,
we can heat the iron tube red hot, and observe
smoke issuing for some time by the sides of the
ping. If we examine the contents of the tube,
after it has grown cool, we shall find the wood
retaining its size and shape, but lighter than
before, and quite black in colour. Tbe wood is
now converted into charcoal.

8. If the heat were continued for hours or days,
guarding against the admission of air, the char-
coal would undergo no further change or loss of
weight ; but whenever we make it red hot in the
open air it consumes away, and in its place we
only find a few ashes.

9. Wood, therefore, consists — 1. of something
volatile, which flies off of itself, or exhales away
by heat ; 2. of charcoal, which in close vessels is
not volatile but fixed, yet is combustible in the
open air ; 3. of ashes that the fire leaves behind.

If we treat in this way seeds of wheat, or
bits of carrot, beef, potato, sugar, gum, cotton,
flax, flesh, hair, silk, &c, &c, we resolve them
all, by fire, into volatile matter — charcoal ashes.

10. If instead of a gun barrel or iron tube, we
employ a suitable glass retort and receiver, with
some other apparatus easily procured, we can col-
lect every thing driven off by the fire, can
separate and examine these volatile products.
Chemists have collected them, and tried upon
them an infinite number of experiments ; they
have obtained— or produced—so many other sin-
gular matters that their very names are enough to
terrify the beholder, environed as they are with
cabalistic symbols which the present state of che-
mical science is found to require. Hard indeed
would be the lot of a contemplative agriculturist
if a knowledge of all these cruel names were
essential to the success of his inquiries. Such,
however, is not the case ; it is enough for him to
learn that the sum of all the chemist's knowledge
thus obtained is merely this, — that every material
part of every thing that has lived upon the earth
may be resolved into a very few elements, the

* Prout's Bridgewater Treatise— 442.

four principal ones being oxygen, hydrogen, azote,
and charcoal, termed by chemists carbon.

Now oxygen and hydrogen constitute water ;
oxygen and azote form the air we breathe; so
that water, air, charcoal, and a few ashes are the
primary elements or materials from which have
sprung every living thing, — every beast, bird, fish,
and insect, every tree and green herb, and into
which they all return when bereft of life.

11. Again — water, as we shall see, consists of
two kinds of air, oxygen and hydrogen — charcoal,
as we have just shown (S. •)), is easily burnt away
in the open air, being dissolved into carbonic acid
gas ; so that, in point of fact, plants and animals
are nothing more than air and ashes. A contem-
porary philosopher of the first rank (M. Dumas)
goes, however, rather too far on concluding that
"plants and animals come from the atmosphere and
return into it.* Those substances which enter
the juices of plants in very minute quantity, and
which constitute their ashes, are proved more
clearly every day to be of vast consequence in
vegetation, and of commensurate interest in the
operations of agriculture. Nor must we foro-et
the bony skeleton of animals, though the latter
consisting principally of lime and phosphorus'
may be kept out of view for the present.

12. But, in the first instance, at least, we can-
not apply ourselves to any subjects of chemical
inquiry so profitably, in every sense of the word,
as to the four cardinal points — oxygen, hydrogen,
azote, and carbon. These four elementary bodies
are diffused above, below, and on every side ; by
their unceasing influence, their actions and re-
actions, their combination and decomposition,
they minister to the life, growth, death, and
decay of all organized beings.

13. The study of these elements the illustrious
Lavoisier appears to have selected with admirable
sagacity, and to have pursued with unremitted
perseverance, inspired and supported by the con-
viction that by the agency of these elements all
the stupendous changes manifest on the face of
the globe, and all the inscrutable operations of
animal and vegetable life, have been and are ac-
complished.t

14. The atmosphere is supposed to be about
fifty miles high, gradually decreasing in density
or specific gravity as it rises above the surface of
the earth. At the level of the sea the atmosphere
presses with a force of fifteen pounds upon every
square inch of surface, when the barometer stands
at its average height.

15. Atmospheric air consists principally of two
gases, named oxygen and azote, the latter is also
named nitrogen. Besides oxygen and azote, atmos-
phericair always contains the vapour of water, car-
bonic acid, and other gaseous matters ('sect. 11)'. But
chemists, speaking of atmospheric air, or common
air, suppose a mixture of oxygen and azote, free
from all impurity, and in every 100 measures con-
taining 21 measures of oxygen and 79 of azote.
It is a general opinion among those who have at-
tended to the subject, that the constitution of the
atmosphere, so far as regards the proportion of
oxygen and azote, is nearly uniform in all quarters
of the globe and at every point of elevation above
the surface of the earth ; this view of the subject

* Les plantes et les aninaaux viennent done de Pair
et y re tournent done ; ce sont de veritables depen-
dances de 1' atmosphere— Statique Chinique, p. 6.

f Dumas — Philosophic Cbimique, Lecon v.

138

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

has been called in question by Dr. Dalton, but
may be admitted at present as sufficient for all
practical purposes.

16'. There is an elementary substance called
phosphorus, in appearance not unlike wax or
tallow. Like these matters it is combustible .• but
they can be decomposed, they can be resolved into
carbon and hydrogen. Phosphorus contains no
carbon, no hydrogen — nothing more elementary
than itself; it is therefore deemed a simple or
elementary substance. If we set a piece of phos-
phorus on fire, and bold a bell-glass over it, the
phosphorus burns a short time, and is then extin-
guished. It ha? the property of consuming all
the oxygen of the air confined by the bell-glass
expeditiously and completely. The same object
may be attained in a more quiet manner, and
moreinstructively, without setting thephosphorus
on fire at all. Dry a stick of phosphorus on
blotting paper for a minute or two, then put it
into a wine glass. Set the foot of the wine glass
in water, and invert the bell-glass over it as before :
by slow degrees the water will rise on the inside
of the bell-glass, and at the expiration of a few
days, in warm weather, the phosphorus will be
found by sloir combustion to have devoured about
one fifth of the air, and the remaining four-fifths
will be found entirely altered, not in appearance,
but in properties. It will no longer support flame
of any kind, and a small animal confined in it
would die for want of breath, hence it is called
azote or azotic gas, lifeless air. The other name,
nitrogen, was applied because it may be obtained
from nitre or saltpetre.

17. When chemists analyse air they mostly find
it sufficient for the purpose they have in view, to
asceitaiu the proportion of oxygen, and as they
consider oxygen the purer portion of air they
term the instruments by which it is measured
" Eudiometers," tests of purity or virtue. To ef-
fectuate this object there are many other contri-
vances which, like the experiments above described,
abstract the oxygen and leave the azote behind.
But no ingenuity has yet accomplished the ab-
straction of azote from atmospheric air, so as to
leave the oxygen pure. Azote is not merely shy,
reluctant, and furtive, in forming combinations
(indeed it is often hard to say how it does come to be
combined at all); but it seems always on the watch
for an opportunity to regain its free and indepen-
dent condition, and frequently bursts away with
violence. Some of the most dangerous chemical
compounds, those which explode on the slightest
touch, derive their formidable character, their
fulminating property, from this element, azote or
nitrogen.

18. Azote combined with another element, hy-
drogen, will be found worthy of deep attention
and study in the stale of ammonia and its com-
pounds ; combined with oxygen azote forms
nitric acid, one constituent of the nitrates of soda
and potash, — but ammonia and the nitrates must
be postponed for the present.

19. Uxygf.n constitutes more than a fifth of the
atmosphere in which we live, eight-ninths of the
whole quantity of water on the surface of the
earth, and, besides existing in great quantity in
all animal and vegetable bodies, it forms at least
one-third of the total weight of the crust of the
globe. On oxygen the process of combustion and
if spiration are dependent, the functions of animal
and vegetable life are sustained through its agency,
and dead organized matter uniting again with

oxygen by the process of decomposition, become
the food of a new race of plants.

20. It has been shewn (sect. 10) that atmosphe-
ric air deprived of its oxygen will no longer
maintain the flame of a taper, or that sort of
combustion which is called respiration and is es-
sential to animal life. We may expect therefore
that pure oxygen gas — air without azote — will
support combustion with more brilliancy than
common air. Accordingly it is found that a wax
taper, a stick of phosphorus, charcoal, sulphur,
and even iron-wire may be burnt in oxygen gas
with an evolution of much light and heat. Animals
confined in oxygen gas do not, however, live long
— it burns life away too fast. But with this we
have little to do, it is enough for our purpose just
now to learn that the atmosphere consists of two
gases mixed together in the proportion of one
part, or a little more by measure, of oxygen, to
four parts of azote, and that the one oxygen sup-
ports combustion and respiration, whilst the other,
azote, extinguishes flame and auimal life.

21. Chemists, as we have already noticed (sect.
17), attach more importance to oxygen than to
azote, but it may be taken as a general principle
that all articles of food are enhanced in value by
the proportion of azote they contain, and that
among the substances which, acting as manures,
yield food to plants, those which contain the largest
quantity of azotised, animal, or vegetable matter,
contribute the most to enrich the soil.

22. W.\TiiR. — Sir Isaac Newton conjectured that
water contained some inflammable ingredient.
Our illustrious countryman, the Hon. Mr. Caven-
dish, discovered its real composition, about the
year 17Gb'. Water is found to consist of oxygen,
the gas wo have already considered, and hydrogen,
another gaseous element, which derives its name
from this property of forming water with oxygen,
though the latter constitutes by far the greater
portion. In every nine ounces, pounds, or tons
of water by weight, there are precisely eight
ounces, &c, of oxygen to one of hydrogen. This
is a fact of great importance to be remembered;
chemists have taken infinite pains to ascertain the
point with accuracy. Otic of the most recent and
most precise (M. Dumas) burnt together oxygen
and hydrogen, until he had obtained above a quart
of water, in a series of very difficult and delicate
experiments, the result of which enabled that emi-
nent philosopher to pronounce the composition of
water to be, by weight, exactly one part of hydro-
gen and eight parts of oxygen. These are termed
combining proportions by one, chemical equiva-
lents by another, atoms by a third, — by whatever
name they may be called, these simple numbers
represent the constitution of pure or distilled
water, from what source or what climate soever
it be obtained — whether at the level of the sea, or
the summit of the highest mountain, thawed from
an icicle, condensed from a steam-engine, poured
from a thunder cloud, or deposited from a mist.

23. Hydrogen (sometimes called inflammable
air, because it is combustible in oxygen gas or in
atmospheric air) is the lightest substance in na-
ture ; when the two gases are burnt together, in
the oxy-hydrogen lamp, one measure of oxygen
is found to combine with two measures of hydro-
gen exactly. Whenever water is decomposed by
voltaic electricity the two gases are invariably
collected in the same proportion — two to one by
measure : if these be mixed and fired by electri-
city, they explode together, the gasses disappear,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

139

and water is produced. Now, as water consists
of two measures of hydrogen to one measure of
oxygen, and as this one measure of the latter
weighs eight times as much as the two measures
of the former, it follows that oxygen is sixteen
tines heavier than hydrogen.

24. It would seem' that by the process of vege-
tation, and in many operations connected with
agriculture, water is resolved into its two gaseous
elements, and that sometimes the oxygen, some-
times the hydrogen, sometimes both together,
produce, by composition and decomposition,
effects which at first sight could hardly be ex-
pected from bland, clear, tasteless water acting
upon azote or charcoal, whether under the myste-
rious influence of vital power, or the no less
admirable laws of chemical agency. As we pro-
ceed we shall gradually learn to appreciate the
results of this never-ceasing activity of the ele
ments of water.

25. Carbon. The charcoal of wood is a sub-
stance familiar to every one ; when burnt away it
leaves behind a small quantity of ashes (sect. 8).
Could we deprive the charcoal of these ashes it
would be pure carbon. Carbon, therefore, is the
elementary part of charcoal, its combining por-
tion as it exists in the carbonic acid of marble,
&c. Pure carbon, like pure iron, is rarely if ever
separately obtained. The diamond, exposed to a
strong heat in oxygen gas, or even common air,
burns away, and the result of its combustion is
the same as that of the combustion of charcoal.
Diamond was long supposed to be pure carbon,
but some philosophers have lately obtained ashes
even from the diamond, which, in all probability,
has no more claim than the soot of a gas-lamp to
be considered as pure carbon. Be this as it may,
the carbon derived from any source is very ready
to form compounds and to leave all impurities
behind. When we speak of the charcoal in a che-
mical compound, the term carbon is the more ap-
propriate.

2b". Ordinary wood, as that of the oak or beach,
consists principally of charcoal and water, (i. e.
carbon, water, ashes). Water enters into the
composition of most organised beings in two sepa-
rate foims, which must be clearly distinguished,
and which it i3 requisite to bear in mind. Water
may constitute an essential element of a substance,
as of wood in its driest state, or water may con-
stitute an accidental ingredient, as of green or un-
dried wood. New wood, and most other organized
bodies, contain water in both these forms.* If we
bake the wood for some time in an oven, we expel
all the water which it may contain as an acci
dental ingredient ; and if we expose the wood so
baked to moisture, it will again absorb more or
less, which may be again baked out. But the very
driest wood, or the purest woody fibre, as cotton
or fine washed linen, when exposed to strong heat,
turns first brown and then black, by the loss of
that water which constitutes an essential ingredient
of the wood.

2". The washed and bleached thread of cotton
or linen is pure wood, or woody fibre — chemiste
call it lignin. The driest wood — the purest lignin
still contains half its weight of water chemically
combined. You can only expel this water by a
violent heat — a heat which not merely expels the
water but decomposes it; then, each element of
water (sect. 22), in taking its departure, carries

* Prout,p.484.

along with it a quantity of carbon, the oxygen of
the water uniting with some to form carbonic
oxide, carbonic acid, &c, &c, and the hydrogen
uniting with another portion to form numerous
inflammable gases ; so that the remaining char-
coal may well be found to be very light. The dry
wood— the lignins loses not merely the chemically
combined water which constituted half its weight,
but all the carbon that the elements of water could
carry off in the form of smoke and gas.

28. A great deal has been written in books of
agriculture and chemistry upon humus, humic
acid, ulminc and ulmic acid, the geic acid, the
humatcs, ulmates, geates, and other inventions,
rather than discoveries of ingenious men, who
gave each other the change in words instead of
facts. All that the agriculturist requires to be told
is, that these are merely new names for carbona-
ceous matter in certain states of combination and
decomposition, which for every practical, aye and
every scientific purpose, can be studied to more
advantage by confining the attention to the most
striking among the chemical properties of carbon
and charcoal. In fact, to pursue, successfully,
the Proteus carbon through all its changes of
form, would be to fathom the profoundest depths
of animal and vegetable physiology, and to esta-
blish at once the true theory— which must reveal
the true practice — of agriculture.

29. A piece of charcoal, recently prepared, ivas
weighed and set aside for a week ; it was then
weighed again. The same experiment was tried
upon the charcoal obtained from different kinds of
wood. Fir charcoal gained 13 per cent, in weight ;
that from lignum-vita; 9.5; from box 4; from
beech lo'.;5 ; from oak lrJ.5 ; and from mahogany 18.
The charcoal was found to have absorbed both
water and atmospheric air, and these could not be
driven off' without a red heat.

30. Another experimenter observed, that when
charcoal recently burnt was confined in a jar of
atmospheric air, the air was not only much dimi-
nished in quantity, but was also deprived of a larger
proporti in of its oxygen than of its azote. At-
mospheric air, as we know ("sect. 16), contains 21
per cent, of oxygen; buttheair remaining after this
experiment, contained only 8 per cent. If you
take a piece of charcoal out of the fire, when it is
red hot and plunge it into water, you may then
confine it under a moderate quantity of air, and
it will soon consume all the oxygen and leave the
azote pure. These are very plain experiments
establishing facts that are capable of conveying
information of the highest value.

31. An elaborate set of experiments were made
upon box-wood charcoal, by one of the Saussure
family. An account of them was translated and
published by Dr. Thompson, in his Annals of Phi-
losophy, vol. G. Saussure heated the charcoal red
hot, and quenched it in mercury (quicksilver) •
he exposed it, when cool, to about a dozen dif-
ferent gases, for 24 hours,. and found that it
absorbed of hydrogen not quite twice its bulk, of
azote 7.5, of oxygen nearly 10, of carbonic acid
gas 35, and of ammonia ninety times its bulk.

32. We shall find, hereafter, that certain kinds
of clay and other inorganic or earthy matters of
the soil, especially some of those that contain
iron, possess the property of absorbing, retaining
and giving off water, ammonia, and carbonic acid,
though not to the same extent as carbonaceous
matter or charcoal. We shall find that this pro-
perty (of absorbing from the air and other sources,

140

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of storing up for a time, and of again giving out
on demand that which i9 universally admitted to
furnish the principal food of plants), is possessed
only by the best ingredients of the best soils when
subjected by the care and industry of man to
favourable circumstances. We shall find the
best practical husbandry to be that system which
most sedulously avails itself of this property, and
that a study of the various circumstances attend-
ing it, will abundantly repay a patient, perhaps
tedious inquiry.

33. Charcoal, wrapped up in articles of clothing,
has the property of correcting that musty smell
which wearing apparel is apt to contract when laid
by for a time. Water, preserved in casks that
have been charred on the inside, is less apt to ac-
quire an unpleasant taint. Meat that has begun to
change may be restored by being sprinkled with
charcoal powder. The numerous uses of this sub-
stance in correcting offensive effluvia have been
long known to persons of various professions and
callings, whose object was to destroy what offended
their senses or endangered their health. Such
matters are highly valuable to the agriculturist
whose labours, at once useful and salutary, tend
to the production of wholesome food for man and
the lower animals out of substances which,. ne-
glected and wasted, are productive of annoyance
and disease.

34. Charcoal, as is well known, possesses the
useful property of depriving many liquids of their
colour. This power is limited and soon exhau?ted
by use, but may be restored by heat or fermenta-
tion. Ivory black, or bone charcoal, obtained by
calcining bone instead of wood, possesses this de-
colouring or bleachingproperty in great perfection,
For some purposes the bone earth of ivory black
would be prejudicial to the liquor requiring to be
cleared, and it becomes necessary for the manu-
facturer to remove it — but the remaining charcoal
is found to be much weakened by the process. On
the other hand, it has been found that wood char-
coal mny be improved, if burnt, or calcined with
clays, flints, &c. One hundred paits of clay
mixed with twenty parts of tar and five hundred
parts of coal, burnt in a proper manner, have been
found to afford a bleaching charcoal, little inferior
to ivory black. — (Graham's Chemistry, 302). The
addition of carbonate of potash to ivory black, &c,
before calcination, is found to enhance its power
of removing colouring and odorous matters. For
bleaching syrups and other purposes, the animal
charcoal which has lost its power is found to be
much more completely restored by fermentation
than by burning.

35. Now, peat moss is carbonaceous matter in a
state that has long been a problem, perhaps an
opprobrium to the agriculturist. Sir Humphrey
Davy says emphatically " a soil covered with peat
is a soil covered not only with fuel, but likewise
with manure." Lord Meadowbank and others
have shown its value, but somehow or other this
copious source of carbon and humus, and acids
with many names, — this peat moss, which is stated
in books to be like Falstaff's wit, not merely fertile,
but a cause of fertility, is, like that, too often un-
profitable to the possessor. Yet whenever the
farmer shall investigate this matter with the dili-
gence and sagacity of a sugar refiner he will arrive
at results equally as valuable.

36. Wood charcoal generally contains one-fiftieth
of its weight of alkaline and earthy salts orashes ;
the quantity or quality of this ash varies in differ-

ent plants.— (Brande's Chemistry, 511). Whether
charcoal be burnt in atmospheric air or in oxygen
gas (sect. 8) the air undergoes a remarkable
change ; its bulk or volume remains the same, but
the oxygen has consumed, dissolved the carbon,
and is found to have acquired an increase of weight
exactly corresponding to that of the carbon burnt
away. Philosophers have burnt carbon, for the
purpose of experiment, in apparatus the most
costly; they have heated diamonds red hot in cru-
cibles of gold or on trays of platinum, throwing
upon them the light of the glorious sun concen-
trated by a glass lens ; they have resorted to many
other contrivances and have made laborious cal-
culations to ascertain exactly the quantity of car-
bon that unites with a definite quantity of oxygen.
They have not yet quite agreed on the point, but
the best authority seems to be that of Dr. Prout,
that one part of hydrogen, by weight, or eight parts
of oxygen, combine with six parts of carbon. The
combining number or chemical equivalent (sect.
21) of carbon, is six.

37. Whenever charcoal is burnt in the open air,
or in oxygen gas, an acid is produced called car-
bonic acid ; and if carbon be the most important,
indeed peculiar element of organic beings (sect.
28), carbonic acid is, beyond all other compounds
of carbon, most deserving the study of the agri-
culturist.

38. Carbonic acid was first described by Dr.
Black, who called it fixed air. Lavoisier ascertained
that it consisted of oxygen and carbon, and pos-
sessed acid properties ; he gave it the name of
Carbonic Acid. This gas is very easily procured
for the purpose of experiment, by pouring an acid
on marble, or the carbonate of soda or of potash.
When marble is employed the muriatic (or hydro-
chloric) acid is the best for the purpose.

39. We can always detect carbonic acid gas in
the atmosphere. Although much heavier than
common air it makes its way, notwithstanding, to
the loftiest mountain tops. Saussure found it on
the summit of Mont Blanc. The precise quantity
contained in the air has been variously estimated.
The latest and best authorities give the average
quantity much less than was formerly supposed —
about one measure in five thousand. The quantity,
however, is variable, and it is enough for our pur-
pose to know that it exists constantly in atmos-
pheric air.

40. Carbonic acid gas is considerably heavier
than atmospheric air ; a measure holding one hun-
dred grains of common air will hold one hundred
and fifty of carbonic acid gas. Hence this gas
remains near the surface of the ground in places
where it is exhaled abundantly. The Grotto dei
Cani, in Italy, is so named, because dogs are suffo-
cated by breathing the air near the ground ; men
escape, their heads being raised above the stratum
of noxious gas. Persons lying down and falling
asleep in the neighbourhood of lime-kilns, some-
times meet their death by the carbonic acid gas
issuing from the burning limestone. Notwith-
standing the great specific gravity of carbonic
acid, some persons believe it to be even more
abundant on mountains than in plains below, which
they attribute to the influence of vegetation in the
lower and warmer regions. Some philosophers
think that the carbonic acid discharged by vol-
canoes will account for the presence of this gas in
the upper regions of the atmosphere.

41. Practically, however, there is no donbt but
the stagnant air of low damp situations does con-

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141

tain a large portion of this heavy gas. It is of
frequent occurrence in wells and mines, when it is
termed choke damp.

42. Water dissolves its volume of carbonic acid
under every pressure. Some salts, especially soda
and potash, enable water to hold in solution an
additional quantity, and it would seem that the
beneficial effects of carbonic acid in vegetation is
materially influenced by the presence in soils of
substances which have an affinity for it. — (Sect.
32.) The hardness of spring water is owing in a
great measure — and. its briskness entirely — to this
acid. Where springs issue from calcareous rocks
carbonic acid enables the water to dissolve lime,
as will appear hereafter. The earthy concretion
in tea kettles originates, for the most part, in lime
dissolved by means of carbonic acid.

43. The respiration of animals is a sort of com-
bustion, and a source of animal heat. This is a
physiological process (Sect. 5), upon which it is
not necessary to enlarge. Whether the combus-
tion of carbonaceous matter by warm-blooded ani-
mals takes place in the lungs or in the course of
circulation, is not important to our inquiries. It
does take place, beyond all doubt, and the resulting
carbonic acid is thrown off by the lungs in the act
of expiration ; the expired air contains, on an
average, eight per cent, of carbonic acid.

44. The fermentation of wine and beer is attended
with a large evolution of carbonic acid, which
gives the sharp agreeable taste and sparkling ap-
pearance to champagne, &c. It is generated also
by the fermentation of bread, in the process of
malting, in the fermentation of new hay, and in
the process of decomposition of all animal and ve-
getable substances, more or less of heat being
always evolved at the same time.

45. Thus we find that there is a constant burning
of carbon going on over the face of the globe, and
a corresponding consumption of oxygen gas is
effected by processes of every kind, differing greatly
in their nature and the phenomena they exhibit,
but all essentially agreeing in their results with
those that ensue from the burning of wood or of
charcoal in the open fire. Carbon disappears, the
oxygen of the air disappears, carbonic acid and
other gases deleterious to animal life are generated,
and mixed with the atmosphere. We know of no
other process than vegetation by which the wood,
the charcoal, the ashes can be collected again,
some from the air, some from the water, some from
the earth, and unburned, to use the right word,
deacidified or reduced, in the language of chemis-
try— the oxygen gas being unchained from car-
bonic acid to revivify the air, and the carbon
converted into organic and organised matter, to
replenish the earth with herbs, trees and fruits, for
the use of man, again to be consumed, and again
to be returned through the atmosphere to the soil
in the form of carbonic acid.

46. " In all plants," says Sir M. Davy, " there
exists a system of tubes or vessels, which in one
extremity terminate in roots, and at the other in
leaves. It is by the capillary action of the roots
that flwid matter is taken up from the soil. The
sap in passing upwards becomes denser and more
fitted to deposit solid matter: it is modified by ex-
posure to heat, light, and air in the leaves ; descends
through the bark, in its progress produces new
organized matter, and it is thus, in its vernal and
autumnal flow, the cause of the formation of new
parts, and of the more perfect evolution of parts
already formed."— Sect. I, vol. vii. 182.

47. This clear and simple view of the economy
of vegetation seems to be founded upon the facts
most plainly established, and to lead to those prac-
tices in husbandry which at once enrich the soil,
and afford the best returns to the agriculturist —
practices which equally promote the interest of the
landlord and the tenant. A. new theory has been
advanced, or rather an old one has been revived,
by a distinguished philosopher abroad, and has
been rather hastily adopted by Professor Daubeny,
of Oxford, and others.

48. " We seem to be justified," says the Profes-
sor, " in attributing the carbon which plants con-
tain exclusively to the decomposition of carbonic
acid, which before the leaves are developed is in-
troduced, together with the sap by the roots, but
afterwards is obtained directly from the air itself."

" On a well-managed farm," he says in another
place, " even where (being situated at a distance
from a town) it consumes no more manure than is
obtained on the premises ; at the end of a century
the live stock may be increased, the crops may be
more abundant than they were at the beginning,
and yet every year a large quantity of carbon and
nitrogen will have been carried off in the shape
of corn and cattle sold." He might have added,
that every living animal maintained upon the farm
is all this time exhaling carbon into the air.

49. " It is not denied," says Liebig, " that
manure exercises an influence upon the develop-
ment of plants ; but it maybe affirmed, with po-
sitive certainty, that it neither serves for the pro-
duction of the carbon, nor has any influence upon
it, because we find that the quantity of carbon pro-
duced by manured lands, is not greater than that
yielded by lands which are not manured. The dis-
cussion as to the manner in which manure acts has
nothing to do with the present question, which is
the origin of the carbon. The carbon must be de-
rived from other sources ; and as the soil does not
yield it, it can only be extracted from the atmos-
phere."— (P. 15, 16.) In another place, the same
author says, "The carbon of plants must be de-
rived exclusively from the atmosphere-- carbon
exists in the atmosphere only in the form of car-
bonic acid."

50. " Carbon," says Dumas, " is procured by
vegetables from carbonic acid exclusively, either
directly from the air or from that other portion
which the decomposition of manures constantly
affords, in contact with the roots. But it is espe-
cially from the air that plants most frequently de-
rive their carbon. How can it be otherwise, when
we observe the enormous quantity of carbon ap-
propriated by ancient trees and the limited space
to which their roots can extend themselves : As-
suredly, when the acorn sprouted which a hundred
years ago produced the oak we now behold with
admiration, the soil into which it dropped did not
contain one-thousandth part of the firewood which
the tree now affords. It is the carbonic acid of
the air which has supplied the remainder, that is,
almost the whole. But what can be more conclu-
sive, in addition, than the experiment of M. Bous-
singault, in which peas planted in sand, moistened
with distilled water, and fed upon air alone, found
in that air all the carbon requisitefor them togrow,
to flower, and bear seeds ? — (Statique Chimiquc,
p. 22).

51. Now, in the charcoal of the oak tree will be
found, as has been stated (sect. 36) two per cent,
of ashes, earthy and saline materials, the whole of
which could no more exist in the soil at the time

142

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

when the acorn was planted than could the carbon
itself. These ashes could not be derived from the
air; how did they come to be part and parcel of
this monarch of the wood ? The space to which
roots can extend themselves is limited — roots can-
not roam in search ot food, the food must be sup-
plied to the roots not by air, but by water. We
have taken M. Dumas's estimate of the quantity of
carbonicacid in the air as one part in five thousand,
(sect. 3$). But water can dissolve five thousand
times as much, and can dissolve other materials,
by means of carbonic acid, as we have stated (sect.
A'i), and shall prove hereafter. The experiments
of M. Boussingault, with the peas, though very
interesting, is not likely to be profitably repeated
on a large scale.

(To be continued.)

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

At a Monthly Council held on Wednesday, the
5th of January, present, his Grace the Duke of Rich.
raond K. G. in the chair, Riebard Westwood Baker,
Esq., David Barclay, Esq., M.P., Henry Blanchard,
Esq French Burke, Esq., Colonel Challoner, James
Dean, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., William Fisher
Hobos, Esq., William Woods Page, Esq., Philip
Pusey, Esq., M.P., Rev. William Lewis Rham, and
William Shaw, Esq.

Finances.

Colonel Challoner presented to the Council, Ihe Re-
port of the Finance Committee, announcing the current
cash balance in favour of the Society, on the 31st of
December, 1841, as 1028/!. 12s. 2d., and the amount of
invested capital as 5700/. stock, in the Three-and-a-half
percent. Reduced Annuities.

Remuneration of Services.

On the motion of the Rev. W. L. Rham, seconded
by David Barclay, Esq., M. P., it was ordered " That
an account be laid before the Council of all sums paid
to Members of the Council for any services performed
for the Society, from the year 1839 to the present time.
Bristol Meeting.

The Duke of Richmond laid before the Council a
further Report of the proceedings of ihe General Bris-
tol Committee, of which the following were the chief
topics of recommendation : —

1. That the Council be reminded that they are by
thtir Charter required to hold a General Meeting of
Governors and Members of the Society once every year
in the Country ; and that they be recommended to hold
such Meeting at Bristol, on the day immediately fol-
lowing the principal day of the Show, namely, on Fri-
day, the 15th of July, 1812, at ten o'clock in the fore-
noon. ,

2. That Earl Spencer, and Mr. Druce, be requested
to act as Steward* of the Cattle-yard at Bristol, and to
appoint a gentleman from the neighbourhood of Bris-
tol to act with them in the same, department.

3. That a Steward of the Implement-yard be ap-
pointed.

4. That no building be allowed to be attached to the
fence of the Show-yard or Pavilion without the per-
mission of the Council.

5. That the temporary screen of partition between the
two yards for the show of cattle and exhibition of im-
plements be removed during the night of Wednesday,
the 13th of July, alter the Prize-Placards have been
placed above the pens, and "the implement yard closed
for the night.

6. That no stock shall be untied or taken away out

of the yard, after the show has closed, without the
printed delivery order being produced.

7. That Q booths be erected for the sale of catalogues,
and that these erections be conspicuously distinguished
by a painted announcement.

8. That, agreeably with Mr. Gibbs's report, tenders
be requested to be sent in by contractors for 1000 hur-
dles, each 5 feet long and 2 feet 8 inches high.

'Ihe Chairman further reported that he had received
a communication from Francis Savage, Esq., The Mas-
ter of the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol, in
reply to His Grace's application for permission to erect
the Dining Pavilion and enclosure of the Show-yard on
the fields in the occupation of their tenant, Mr. John
Fisher, with access to Durdham Down, in the event of
the Bristol Committee not being able to nrocure a
nearer site to theVictoria Rooms, and that the Committee
of Merchant Venturers had expressed the satisfaction it
gave them to have it in their power to render any assis-
tance to the Royal Agricultural Society of England;
Mr. Savage placing his own personal services on this,
and oh any other occasion in which they might be
deemed in any way useful most willingly at the disposal
of the Society ; and that Mr. Miles, M. P., had in-
formed the General Bristol Committee, of the comple-
tion of the number of the Local Committee, in his own
and Mr. G. Webb Hall's election of The Mayor of
Bristol, Mr. Marmont, of Horfkld, and Mr. John Mor-
ton, of Chester-hill, as its Members, Mr. Marmont hav-
ing also consented to act as their Secretary.

The Council then unanimously confirmed this report,
and adopted its recommendation.

House.
The Council having revived the former House Com-
mittee appointed in June last, and having added to it
the Members of the General Bristol Committee, it was
referred to the United House Committee, to report to
the Council the best arrangements to be made in refe-
rence to an established residence for the Society.

Great Seal.
On the motion of the Duke of Richmond, a com-
mittee was appointed to prepare and lay before the
Council a design for the Great Seal of the Society, to
be attached to all documents in which the Society by
their charter contract under a Common Seal in their
individual and corporate capacity, consisting of the
Duke of Richmond, Mr. Pusey, M.P., Mr. D. Barclay,
M.P.,andMr. H. Gibbs.

Annual Country Meeting of 1843.

His Grace the Duke of Rutland, as President of the
Leicestershire Agricultural Society, transmitted to the
Council a memorial, signed by the Hon. H. W. Wilson,
their chairman, in the name and on the behalf of the
Committee of that Society, inviting the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England to hold its great agricultural
anniversary of 1843, at the town of Leicester ; and enu-
merating in detail the various topics of information
required by the resolution of the Council of the 8th of
December last; enclosing a sketch of the Leicester
Cricket ground, as the site recommended as most suit-
able for the erection of the pavilion for the dinner, and
the general purposes of the Show, and a plan of the
street leading to the ground from the railway station.
The Duke of Rutland concluded the communication
by assuring the Council, that should they consider fa-
vourably this request of the Leicestershire Committee,
there was no town in the north-eastern district where
the endeavour would be more strenuous to afford every
accommodation to the visitors, and to advance both the
interests of the show and the general welfare of agri-
culture.

The thanks of the Council were unanimously voted
to the Duke of Rutland and the Leicestershire Com-
mittee for this instance of their attention to the Society,
and their wishes to promote its objects ; and the Secre-
tory was directed to inform the Duke of Piutland that
the memorial and plan had been duly received by the
Council, and would receive the best consideration at

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

143

the time when the subject of the town at which the
Society would hold its animal county meeting of 1843,
should come under their consideration for final decision.

Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of
Ireland.

Edward Bullen, Esq., Secretary of the Royal Agri
cultural Improvement Society of Ireland, transmitted
to the Council the second report of the proceedings of
that Society, along with a list of suggestions to the
local agricultural societies throughout Ireland, of such
regulations as appear to the general Society most cal-
culated to perfect their organization and ensure an
uniform system of action and similarity of principle
and detail in their establishment, Mr. Bullen stated
that the Metropolitan Society bad been very success-
ful in its efforts to organize these Societies and effect
their correspondence with themselves, na less than 50
local societies at the present time being in communica-
tion with them already ; that the Society's annual show
in the country would probably be held at Kilkenny,
and in the month of August ; smd that it was the ear-
nest hope of the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland
that such an interchange of communication and good
feeling would by that time have been effected between
themselves and the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng.
land, as would result in that connection between the
members of the two national societies having a com-
mon object of usefulness to the country at large, which
would lead to the attendance at their meeting on that
occasion of some of the principal agriculturists and
breeders of England, with their prime stock.

The Earl of Ducie presented to the Society a model
of his Uley Cultivator, one of the prize implements of
the Liverpool Show ; the Rev. John Ileysham, of the
Abbey, Carlisle .communicated a report on the epide-
mic ; Mr. Champion, of Sarr, transmitted a note rela-
tive to the question agitated by the Thanet Farmers'
Club of the best kind of Swedish turnip ; Mr. Sbaw
presented the recent numbers of the " Farmers' Maga-
zine ;'' Professor Johnston, the first part of his " Lec-
tures on Agricultural Chemistry and Geology," and
copies of his " Suggestions for Experiments in Practical
Agriculture;" Mr. Squarey, his "Agricultural Che-
mistry for Practical Farmers;'' Mr. Stephens, the
first part of his " Book of the Farm ;" Mr, Youatt,
the last number of the "Veterinarian ;" Mr. Cuthbert
Johnson, the " Farmers' Encyclopaedia ;'' and Profes-
sor Dick, of Edinburgh, his " Manual of Veterinary
Science," reprinted from the seventh edition of the
" Encyclopaedia Britannica.''

The Coui.cil then adjourned to Wednesday, the 12th
of January.

At a Monthly Council held on Wednesday, January
12th, present, his Grace the Duke of Richmond, K.G.,
in the Chair, Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq., Hum-
phrey Gibbs, Esq., and William Shaw, Esq. St. John
Chiverton Charlton, Esq., of Apley Castle, Welling-
Shropshire, was elected a Governor.

Meeting at Bristol.

The Duke of Richmond presented the Fifth Report
of the General Bristol Committee, which was re-
ceived and adopted by the Council. The Re-
port detailed the progress made in the prepara-
tion of the Certificate and Regulation Sheet for
the use of competitors sending stock, implements,
&c. to the Meeting; the preliminary steps taken
for the arrangement of the programme for the use
of the Members of the Society ; the Chairman's ap-
pointment of a Committee to be held on Monday, the
24th instant, for the special purpose of taking into con-
sideration the best mode of distributing the total amount
of 300/. voted for Agricultural Implements into distinct
prizes for the several classes of implements most required
to be introduced into the counties of Somerset, Dorset,
Devon, and Cornwall, forming the district in which the

meeting at Bristol would be held ; the appointment of
Mr. W. Miles, M.P. and Mr. Marmont as Stewards of
the implement Yard, and of Mr. Webb Hall, Mr.
Shaw, and Mr. It. W. Baker, as Stewards of the Trial
of Implements ; the recommendation that the Judges
shall have power to order out of the Show Yard, lor
trial, at the expense of the Society, any of the implements
exhibited at the Meeting ; and the Stewards of the Yard
to allow the servants of exhibitors immediate access to
their respective cattle as soon ;\s the Judges have com-
pleted their award ; the Stewards of the Trial of
Implements, in conjuntion with the Local Committee,
being requested to make arrangements for keeping the
ground.

That all persons who enter stock for sale by auction
shall not be allowed to withdraw them from the auction,
unless giving due notice to the Honorary Director of
the Yard, and at the same time paying a penalty of 5s.
on account of every such entry.

That the Medals or Premiums for Prize Essays shall
be given at the General Meeting, to be held at 12
o'clock on Friday the 15lh of July ; and the cheques for
the respective amount of the Prizes gained by competitors
at the Show should be drawn in London at the Monthly
Council on the first Wednesday in August, and trans-
mitted as usual to the various parties by post, or deli-
vered on personal application to the Secretary : and
that the Implement Yard should be open on the first
day on Wednesday at 8 in the morning, and close at 6
in the evening; the General Show of Cattle and Imple-
ments being open on the second (or principal) day of
the Show, from 6 in the morning, at an admission of
half-a-crow n each person, till 2 o'clock in the alternoon,
and at one shilling frem that heur till 6 in the evening,
when the show will close.

Australian Agriculture.

Mr. Henry Manning, the Honorary Distributor of
the Society's Journal for Australia, submitted to the
Council the various prizes he was about to send out for
distribution by the York Agricultural Society in that
colony, in evidence of the progress of agricultural in-
terest making in that part of the world ; and was
authorized to state the Society'* desire to enter as
fully as possible into communication with the great
breeders of stock and manufacturers of agricultural
implements in the mother country. The Council re-
turned their thanks to Mr. Manning for this informa-
tion, with an expression of the satisfaction it gave them
to hear of the successful establishment of this and similar
colonial associations for the advancement of agricultural
improvement.

The Duke of Richmond and John Guillemard, Esq.
each requested their names to be. put down for 50 copies
of Mr. Main's paper on " Cottage Gardening," to be
reprinted for cheap distribution among cottagers, from
the last part of the Journal ; and James Cawley, Esq.,
of Winwick, near Warrington, transmitted to the
Council a communication on the injudicious principles
on which the present system of constructing cart-wheels
was founded, and the evils arising from the use of the
bearing rein for horses.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 19th
of January.

At a Council held on Wednesday, the 19th of
January, present, Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq., in
the chair, George Raymond Barker, Esq., Humphrey
Gibbs, Esq., William Woods Page, Esq., the Rev. W.
L. Rham, and William Shaw, Esq.

Major Moon, F. R. S.of Bealings, near Woodbridge
Suffolk, called the attention of the Council to the desi-
rableness of some cheap and efficient mode being made
known for the conversion of Barley, and other meal of
cheap gram, into a substitute for the present expensive
oilcake for caltle ; Mr. R. W.Baker, of Cottesmore,
communicated the results of his experiments on the
growth of turnips, tried on the model plan, proposed by

144

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the Society ; Mr. Walker, of Newbury, transmitted his
remark^on economy in manures ; and Mr. Charles New-
man, of Court Farm, near Hayes, communicated a paper
on the results obtained by him in the adoption of the sys-
tem of sub-soil drainage he employed to so great an extent,
and with so much advantage on his farm : all of which
communications were referred to the Journal Commit-
tee.

Mr. Evan David, of Raydyr Court, Glamorganshire,
informed the society of the establishment of a Farmer's
Club at Cardiff; and Mr. Sheppard, of the Commercial
Road, Lambeth, presented a sample of new red spring
wheat from Spain, the merits of which Mr. Gibbs un-
dertook, at the request of the Council, to test by proper
cultivation.

The Council then adjourned to the 2nd of February.

NEW MEMBERS.

The following gentlemen have been elected
members of the Society during the month.

Allfrey, Robert, Coombe Lodge, Reading

Allies, George, Worcester

Armitage, Arthur, Moraston, near Ross, Herefordshire

Berry, John, Chagford, Exeter, Devon

Blisset, the Rev. Henry, Letton, Herefordshire

Boustead, John, Berkbank, Penrith, Cumberland

Bright, Paul, Secretary of the North Derbyshire Affr.

Society, Sheffield
Brooke, John, Birchington, Isle of Thanet
Brown, Henry Langford, Barton Lodge, Kingskers-

well, Newton Abbot, Devonshire
Brumskill, John.Lambrigg, Kendal, Westmoreland
Burder, A. H., Hinnington, ShifTnall, Salop
Burgess, James, Ridlington Park, Uppingham, Rut-

landshire
Burt, Edwin, Montacute, near Yeovil, Somerset
Cartwright, Thomas, Hill Hall,Eccleshall,Staffordsh.
Cartwright, Henry, ditto

Choyce, William, Hann'3 Bridge, Atherstone, War-

wickshire
Clarke, Thoma*[Truesdale,34, Upper Brook Street, Lon-
don, and Swakesley's, Uxbridge, Middlesex
Claypon, Joseph, The Elms, Hampstead Heath, Mid-
dlesex
Coltenham, Lord, Coppice Hill, Wimbledon, Surrey
Dowle, Thomas, Bernitham Court, Ross, Herefordshire
Elkins, Joseph Norton, Elkington, Welford, Northamp-
tonshire
Etheridge, Frederick William, Wytham, near Oxford
Eyre, George, Warrens, Stony Cross, Hampshire
Fair, Thomas, Frenehfield, Penrith, Cumberland
Fearnley, Fairfax, Bishopsfield, Bawtry, Notts
Ford, Wm., Lawn End, South Lambeth, Surrey
Fox, Robert, The Lodge, Wendover, Bucks
Franks, John Wm., Elstree. Hertfordshire
Gayner, John, Filton, Gloucestershire
Gisborne, Matthew, Walton Hall, Burton-on-Trent,

Staffordshire
Goodliffe, Richard, Wood Walton, Huntingdon
Gough, Richard Douglas (High Sheriff of Brecknock-

shire), Ynscedwin, Brecknockshire
Harrison, George, Barton, Dover
Harnvold, Thomas, Blaek Moor Park, Great Malvern,

Worcestershire
Herapath, William (Philosophical Chemist), Old Park,

Bristol
J Iill, Edward, 2, Ravmond's Buildings, Gray's Inn
Hippisley, Edward Burgess, Chewton-Mendip, Bath
Hood, The Hon. Alexander Nelson, Hanover- square,

London
James, Rev. C. J., Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex
Jenkins, Griffith, Pantivion, near Cardigan, S. W.

Jordan, William, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Joyner, Henry St. John, Upminster, Romford, Essex

Kemp, John, South Minster, Essex

Keyworth, Joseph, Spital, Lincolnshire

Laiug, John, Marldown, near Durham

Laing, James, Murton, near Durham

Lawford, Thomas, jun., Peterstone Court, near Brecon,

S. W.
Loud, George Hatton, Buckland, Dover
Mannings, George, Downton, Wiltshire
Marsh, John Riley, Weston Coyney, Longton, Staff.
Meyrick, William, Gwailod-y-Garth, Merthyr Tydvil
Millington, John Bayfield, Boston, Lincolnshire
Mortimer, John, 43, Doughty Street, Mecklenburgh

Square, and Iden, near Rye, Sussex
MountEdgecumbe, Earl of, Mount -Edgecumbe, near

Devonport
Mudg-e, Lt.- Colonel Richard, R. E., Beechwood,

Plympton, Devon
Mundy, Edward Miller, M.P., Shipley Hall, Derby-
shire
Muskett, George Arthur, Millfield House, Edmonton,

Middlesex
Newman, Robert, 121, Regent Street, and Neasden,

Willesden, Middlesex
Odcll, John, Octagon House, Cople, near Bedford
Osbourne, George, Court Farm, Elberton, Bristol
Parry, John Wra., Noyadd-Yri, Cwmdu, near Swansea
Parslo, Joseph (banker), Thornbury, Gloucestershire
Peacey, John Freeman, Prescott, Winchcombe, Glouc.
Pennell, H. B., Dawlish, Devonshire
Pigott, Francis, Heckfield, Hartfordbridge, Hants
Pole, Edward Sacheverel Chandos, Radbourne Hall,

Derbyshire
Pole, Rev. Reginald Chandos, Radbourne, Derbyshire
Powell, the Rev. Samuel Hopper, Sharon Hall, Ripon,

Yorkshire
Powell, Colonel, Hardwick, Hay, Brecon, S. W.
Price, William, Cwntwrch, Ystragunlais, near Swansea,

S. W.
Richardson, Thomas, Barcombe, Lewes, Sussex
Rouse, the Rev. George, Laverton, Frome, Somerset-
shire
Richardson, Captain Thos. Wm., Sutton Hurst,

Lewes, Sussex
Rix, Benjamin, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Russell, Sir William, Bart. (7th Hussars), Charlton

Park, Cheltenham, and 86, Harley-street, London
Sanders, Edward Andrew, Stoke Hill, near Exeter,

Devon
Sewell, Joseph, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Seymer, Henry Ker, Hanford, Blandford, Dorset
Sherwood, William, Abbotts-Langley, Herts
Shield, Wm. Henry, Landawke, Laugharne, Carmar-
then
Short, Henry, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland
Simpson, Rev. Wm. Bridgman, Babworth, Retford,

Notts.
Smyth, James, Peasenhall, Yoxford, Suffolk
Stanhope, Henry Edwin Scudamore, Holrac-Lacy, near

Hereford
Strickland, Henry Eustatius, Apperley Court, Tewkes-
bury, Glouc.
Stone, Joseph, (solicitor), Dorchester, Dorset
Stow, William, Farnborough Hall, Kent
Street, Joseph, Treribble House, Ross, Herefordshire
Tekell, John, Frimley Park, Surrey
Thomas, William, Soilwell, Sydney, Gloucestershire
Thornhill, Wm. Pole, Stanton House, Bakewell,

Derbyshire
Thorpe, Rev. Thomas, Burton-Overy, Leicestershire
Tottenham, Zophtus, Glenfarne House, Florence Court,

co. Leitrim, Ireland
Taylor, Joseph, Newington, Bawtry, Notts.
Vizard, William, New-street, Spring Gardens
Wathen, Thomas, Trevase, Ross, Herefordshire

.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

145

LEOMINSTER FARMERS' CLUB.

The monthly meeting of this institution was held
on the 24th Dec. The suhjects appointed for dis-
cussion were, 1st. — The hest and cheapest method
of keeping fann-horses. '2nd. — The best method of
fattening neat cattle, sheep, and pigs, in winter.

On the first subject, no discussion took place, the
time of year being unfavourable for making the re-
quisite calculations ; it was therefore thought ad-
visable to adjourn it. On the second subject, the
club considered it necessary to look to the quality
of the animals, as those which are well bred possess
superior qualities and a greater aptitude for fatten-
ing ; the price, too, of the different articles consumed
should be taken into account. With respect to neat
cattle, the attention of the meeting was directed to
the verv able remarks of 0. Hillyard, Esq., author
of "A Summary on Practical Farming."

The first method given by him is as follows : —

10J bushels of turnips.
If cwt. of hay.

SECOND METHOD.

10j bushels of turnips.

lj cwt. of cut and uncut hay.

Half a bushel of meal.

THIRD METHOD.

Half a bushel of linseed.
3 gallons of meal.
1 j cwt. of cut and uncut hay.
10j bushels of turnips.

FOURTH METHOD.

21 oil-cakes.

3 gallons of meal.

1 J cwt. of cut and uncut hay.

10i bushels of turnips.

Mr. Hillyard farther observes — " No food can be
given to stall-feeding beasts that will fatten them so
soon or so well as linseed oil-cake. It certainlv is
expensive feed, but not so expensive as it appears
to be, taking into consideration that it fattens
quicker."

A member also submitted to the meeting the plan
adopted by J. Meredith, Esq., of Cockcroft, the
vice-president of the institution, in feeding neat
cattle, viz. : —

1st feed. — Hay.

2nd ditto. — Turnips (cut), half a bushel.

3rd or mid-day.— One pint of flax-seed ground
with the same quantity of bran, and one quart
of barley-meal mixed with half a bushel of
chaff.

•Itb. — Half a bushel of turnips.

Supped with hay.

The members concluded that the methods given
by Mr. Hillyard, as we!l as of that of Mr. Meredith,
were in every way entitled to their approval, as
emanating from great experience and well attested
judgment. It was also remarked that, generally
speaking, no cattle in this neighbourhood were
brought out sooner, or were sooner ready for the
market, than those of Mr. Meredith — a convincing
proof of the efficacy resulting from his mode of fat-
tening.

It was also resolved — " That the comfort of the
animals, so far as regards cleanliness, proper tem-
perature, and regularity of feeding, should be parti-
cularly attended to ; and that this applies to every
description of stock."

2nd. — Sheei-. — The club were of opinion that
sheep fatten faster when confined in a yard I they
thus afford also a greater increase of valuable ma-
nure.

In this district, as turnips form a staple article of
consumption, it was strongly recommended that
they should be cut ; and, for this purpose, it was
generally agreed that Gardiner's machine has been
found best adapted. A proper mixture of corn
should also be given (split peas being preferred),
and a proportionate quantity of cut hay.

It was also resolved — " That the animals should
be regularly supplied with a portion of rock-salt,
and that oil-cake (if the price admit) may be given
with great advantage."

3rd. — Pigs. — The value of the food given, it was
recommended, should always be taken into conside-
ration.

A great difference of opinion existed as regards
the best method of feeding pigs, but the prevalent
impression was " that ground corn is far preferable
to anything else." This opinion was advanced by a
member, who is an extensive and experienced
breeder and feeder of pigs, and on whose judgment
great reliance might be placed. It was resolved —
" That potatoes are only useful at the commencement
of feeding."

At the next meeting (on the 21st instant), it was
proposed (hat the subject of the " Best and Cheap-
est Method of keeping Farm-horses" be resumed,
which was agreed upon.

REVIEW.

THE VETERINARIAN— J anuahy.

It is announced in this number that some altera-
tions have taken place in the arrangements of this
publication. It is, however, still under the manage-
ment of the talented and respected Editor, Mr.
Youatt, assisted by Professor Dick, Mr. Percivall,
Mr. Field, Mr. Karkeeke, Mr. Mayer, and many
other talented veterinary practitioners, from
whom communications appear in the number now
before us. The reduction of the price from two
shillings and sixpence to eighteenpence, is in per-
fect keeping with Mr. Youatt's well-known liberal
spirit — the diffusion of knowledge in his profession,
and its permanent advancement, weighing more
with him than personal advantage. The Veterinarian
has clone much for the profession, but there is still
much more to be done ere that great desideratum sought
for and encouraged by the liberal contribution of the
Royal Agricultural Society on behalf of the prac-
tical farmers of England is attained, namely, a
competent knowledge by the veterinarian of the
treatment of the diseases of cattle, sheep, and pigs.

JOHNSON'S FARMER'S ENCYCLOP/EDIA.

Part 5.

It is considered to be the highest compliment
that can be paid to a man, to say that " The more
we know of him, the more we respect and admire
him." We can conscientiously say, the more we
see of Mr. Johnson's work, the more we are con-
vinced of its utility to the farmer. Hypei criticism
may indulge in scrupulous examination, but until
man is perfect, neither will be bis works. When
completed, this will be one of the most useful
works that the farmer can possess.

146

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PLOUGHING BY STEAM.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AT MILWICH.

The first meeting of an agricultural society was

held in Milwich Church School Rooms, in this
county, on Tuesday last, the 18th Jan. The Clergy-
man of the parish kindly occupied the chair on the
occasion, and delivered an interesting introductory
address, which, however, is too long for our columns.
At its close, the Rev. Chairman said he understood
that a gentleman present had a communication to
make to them upon an important subject connected
with agriculture. Upon which,

Mr. W. Blurton, of Field Hall, Uttoxeter, rose
and addressed the meeting as follows : — Mr. chair-
man and gentleman, the principles upon which this
society is intended to be established have been so
clearly and eloquently elucidated by the rev.
chairman, that I feel nothing more can be said ex-
planatory of its important objects ; therefore, Sir,
with your consent, and with the concurrence and
approbation of the highly respectable members of
this society here present, I shall proceed at once,
according to my promise, to explain my project of
employing steam, instead of animal power, for the
important purposes of ploughing. In trying fin ex-
periment a short time ago, I discovered that plough-
ing might be as effectually, and quite as easily,
performed with the power behind the plough as by
the usual method of dragging the plough after the
power ; therefore I conceive that four or five
ploughs might be arranged and be propelled by a
locomotive steam-engine, so that poaching the land
in wet seasons might be entirely avoided. As the
calculations and deductions made in an Essay on
Steam Ploughing, published more than twelve
months ago, were derived from the most authentic
sources, 1 will therefore take them, as far as they
go, as the basis on which I have founded my pre-
sent scheme. I trust that I have satisfactorily
shown in that essay, (pages 11 and 12) that steam
power equivalent to 694lbs. would be sufficient
either to drag or propel a double plough, at a proper
width and depth, 2^-miles an hour, leaving an ex-
cess of power of 3561bs., which latter power maybe
applied as will be subsequently shewn. It isawell-
knovi-n principle in mechanics,that by decreasing the
speed vou maj thereby increase the power; therefore
agreeable to that principle, viz., by reducing the
speed to one-fifth of 2^-miles, or to half a mile nn
hour, five double ploughs may be propelled at once,
which decrease of speed will render the ploughs
much more manageable, and the necessary number of
turnings at the extremiiies of the furrows will, con-
sequently, be reduced in nearly the same proportion.
There are various means bv which increased power
may be obtained by decrease of speed, and 1 will
instance one familiar to almost all, viz., the cemmon
crane, which may be seen in most of the wharf yards
in great varieties. An 8-to"thed cast-iron pinion
working in a 48-toothed wheel, will, by a com-
mon windlass and the power of one man, lift from the
ground to the height required much more than half a
ton. I will suppose, for instance, that only four double
ploughs are arranged, and that two of them shall turn
the furrows in the usual method towards the right-hand
and the centre of the land or butt, and the two other
ploughs with the mould boards reversed turn the fur-
rows to the left hand, also towards the centre; these
altogether propelled forward by the engine would
complete what is now called a four-'bout land or
butt at once. It will, therefore, be obvious to every

practical farmer; that by such an arrangement the
ploughs will leave two open furrows, both of them
solid and even at the bottom, which for all the pur-
poses of steam-ploughing will serve as a rail-road
for the driving wheels of the locomotive engine to
move along, and therefore much less propulsion will
be required than if the wheels of the engine had to
act on a soft cr uneven surface. You will perceive
that in the arrangement previously made, four double
ploughs were mentioned, and the consequence of de-
creasing the number of double ploughs from five
to four will amply compensate for, or overcome,
any difference in draught, caused by the nature of
the various tenacities of soil, or other circumstances.
The excess of power before mentioned of 3.36lbs.,
acting on the foregoing principle of decrease of
speed, will, I conceive, be sufficient to overcome the
power necessary lo move the engine alone. Four
double ploughs moving at the slow speed of half a
mile an hour, and ploughing furrows ten inches
wide, would plough an acre in two hours, allowing
a reasonable time for turning at each end of the fur-
row ; and I take leave to state, that I have, in the
foregoing observations, derived from the sources
before mentioned, endeavoured to be much under the
real efficiency of the power of the locomotive engine
that 1 should recommend to be employed. I will
not now enter further into the details of the plan, as
I think I have already said enough to satisfy most
men of the practicability of the humane project of
using steam, instead of extreme and distressing
horse-power, for the very important and almost in-
dispensable purpose of ploughing. I am very de-
sirous of putting my plan to the test of experiment,
if a fund can be raised for that purpose ; ami as the
application of the power of sleam has cheaply clothed
our increased and increasing population, so may its
power, by the blessing of Providence, enable the
farmers of the United Kingdom, by increasing the
produce of our fertile soil, lo make us independent
of any other country for our daily bread.

Mr. Blurton's observations having been heard with
approbation, members were admitted and general
rules adopted, and the business of the meeting was
concluded by thanks being voted to the Rev. Chair-
man.

BUTTER.— The great point in making good butter,
and that which will keep, is the freeing it from all
buttermilk ; and if everything else is well done, if this
poiut is overlooki-d, pood butter is impossible for any
length of time. The mixture of milk in any degree
with the butter is sure to produce frowsiness or any
unpleasant taste to the butter : and the entire freedom
from this constitutes the grand secret of making good
hutter. There are many who think washing butter with
water incompatible with retaining the rich flavour, hut
if the water is cold and pure it is scarcely possible
anvthing should be washtd away, the buttermilk which
destroys the flavour of all butter excepted. Besides, the
best butter in the world, and that which in all markets
commands the beat price, viz., Dutch hutter, is invari-
ably made in this way ; and where the example has
been followed by others, it ha* rarely failed of success.
If any, however, doubt the propriety of wasliinir butter,
they may use any method they choose, provided the
milk is separated perfectly. Perfectly free from the
substance that causes it to assume the putrid frowsy
taste of bad butter, it may be kept with almost as
much ease as tallow ; solidity in packing, elf an, sweet
vessels, and a low temperature, will ensure its keeping
for any reasonable time. Let no one expect good but-
ter, however, so long as coarse impure salt is used ; or
a particle of the buttermilk is allowed to remain in it,— •
Domestic Annals of Butter.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

147

REPLIES TO QUERIES ON
TRENCHING.

TO TUP. EMIOrt OF THE NORTHERN WHIG.

RiATt Sin, — I have rend, with much interest, in
your paper of the 25th instant, the replies of your
correspondents " II.," and " J.'D. ' to the queries
of '• Agricola," in The Whig, of the Kith ; and, as
the subject is one of the first importance to the agri-
culturists, I beg to trouble you with a lew additional
words on the subject. I feci, that an apology is
scarcely necessary for so doing, from the great inte-
rest uniformly evinced for the dissemination of use-
ful information, on agricultural subjects, in your
valuable journal.

Although the trenching of the land is only referred
to in the first query, it is better that the different
rhethods of deepening the soil should be referred to.
Your correspondent, " II.," observes, that trench-
ing with the spado is almost totally exploded. There
are, however, certain situations, in which trenching
wiih the spade is the only practicable method of
deepening the soil; and there are others in which it
is certainly the most expedient. The spade is the
only instrument which can be employed in deepen-
ing soils abounding in stones; and in the case of
deepening land, brought under cultivation for the
first time, which frequently contains roots, and other
obstacles to tillage, trenching is the only method
available. The cases in which trenching is expe-
dient are, when the land to he deepened is in small
enclosures, and when the occupier has not the re-
quisite force of men and horses to work the subsoil
plough. In the case of the small fanner, the use of
the subsoil plough is beyond his reach,' and it is
well that an opportunity presents itself to him of
effecting the same purpose by the spade.

The operation of the subsoil plough has been very
properly described by *' II." A furrow is first re-
moved by the common plough, after which the sub-
soil plough follows, and breaks up the subsoil to the
depth of fourteen or sixteen inches. The furrow of
the subsoil plough is at right angles to the drains,
and the track made by the plough serves as so many
channels, at only the width of a furrow apart, to
convey the water to the drains on each side ; un-
less, when impeded by obstacles, the channels thus
formed, are of uniform depth, and without obstruc-
tion in either course, so that the superfluous mois-
ture is conveyed from the soil to the drains, almost
simultaneously with its falling. By the action of the
plough, the subsoil is loosened, after which another
furrow of the upper soil is thrown upon it, and thus
the operation proceeds; the relative positions of soil
and subsoil being the same, the only change effected
being the loosening of the latter. The subsoil being
thus loosened, a considerable portion of the soluble
matter of the soil is gradually deposited in it, and
heuce the change in the subsoil after being loosened,
by which it is assimilated in its properties to the
upper sod. Unless in very peculiar cases, the sub-
soil, when first loosened, is inimical to vegetation,
when applied to the roots of plants in considerable
quantity; but aft6r a time it improves, and suc-
cessive portions of it are incorporated with the soil
with decided advantage.

In trenching by the spade, the line of the trench
should be at right angles to that of the drains, for the
reasons already stated. The workmen commence at
one end, usually the bottom of the field, and lemove
the surface off their first line of trenching, which

they throw behind them on the untrenched ground,
and scatter it over the surface ; or it may be token
to the head of the plot to be trenched, to be used in
completing and levelling the ground, when the ope-
ration is finished. The same is to be done with the
subsoil of the first line of the trenching, an open
space of about two feet wide being thus left along
the whole breadth of the field. The surface soil is
now to be removed from another line of trenching,
and also laid aside, after which the subsoil is re-
moved from this cut, and placed in that first made,
which is again to be covered with the surface soil of
the third cut. The operation thus proceeds until all
is finished ; the perfection of trenching consistingin
making each cut of a uniform depth, as the slightest
inequality in the bottom of the trench will retain the
water, which it is at once the object of draining and
deepening the soil to get rid of. When the bottom
of the trench is level, or lowered slightly on each
side of the drain, a ready egress is afforded to the
water, and the soil is afterwards clay at all seasons
of the year. As in the case of subsoil ploughing,
the soil is merely loosened, without being brought
to the surface, that being a work of after labour.

The system of trenching, explained by your cor-
respondent, " J.D." though, perhaps, expeditious
and efficient in the situation referred to, that of the
(ilasnevin Model Farm, where a great number of
hands are employed, is, I fear, not suited to other
and dissimilar cases. According to this plan, a great
number of trenches must be opened at the com-
mencement, to keep a pair of horses employed in
removing the surface, and even the opening of these
trenches, and ths removal of the excavated matter to
fill up hollow places, are necessarily the most
tedious parts of the operation. Nor can the surface
be thus removed by the plough, and placed upon the
lop of the last trench, with anything approaching to
the regularity of the spade. Keeping economy of
labour in view, the system is impracticable, unless
where a great number of hands can be set to work;
and even then, it is doubtful whether it is deserving
of imitation. VVheie the principles on which the
operation should be conducted are understood, there
cannot, however, be much drfficulty in carrying
them into practice ; and the farmer, having tho-
roughly satisfied himself of the object in view, will
have little difficulty in devising a plan for his
guidance.

As to the treatment of the land, after the operation
of subsoil ploughing or trenching, there seems to
be some diversity of opinion. Your correspondent
" J. D." states, that " experience has taught us,
that merely stirring or loosening the subsoil, although
it may be productive of good results for a short
period, will fail ultimately in producing these de-
sirable ends, as the subsoil will eventually subside
and consolidale, unless it be brought to the surface
and blended with the active soil. It is doubtful
whether this opinion is founded upon experience.
The improved practice, in such cases, is to bring
small portions of the subsoil gradually to the sur-
face, in which case, did the opinion just quoted hold
good, much of the subsoil would be consolidated
before its incorporation with the surface soil; and
thus the advantage of loosening would be in some
degree lost. Mr. Smith, of Deanston, the inventor
of the subsoil plough, and perhaps one of the most
ingenious and scientific gentlemen engaged in the
practice of agriculture, states, in his evideuce before
the Select Committee of the House of Commons, in
1836, that, in liia experience, he did not find such to
he the case : —

L 2

148

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

" After getting upon iaatl that has been subsoil
ploughed, and then ploughing it up again, do you
find that the subsoil continues friablo ? — I do, to the
bottom.

" With stony, tenacious soil, do you not find that
it runs together again? — No.

" After breaking up the subsoil, but wilhout turn-
ing it up to the top, suppose the farmer was to con-
tinue to plough it seven or eight inches ; in that case,
how long do you think the operation in the subsoil
would remain effectual, or how soon do you suppose
it would run together again? — I think it would never
come together in a solid form, because, when it has
been turned up, there is a constant circulation of the
water and air, which prevents running together
again."*

After subsoiling, in all cases, successive portions
of the subsoil are to be brought to the surface, the
quantity being regulated by the nature of the subsoil
itself. When it contains injurious substances, cau-
tion is to be used. When the soil and subsoil, in-
deed, are thoroughly mixed, and well worked toge-
ther, no doubt, after some time, a permanent and
valuable improvement would be effected in the soil 3
but this would beat the expense of the intermediate
crops; and, when the same object can be effected
gradually, there is no good reason why such a sacri-
fice should bo made. The exposure of fresh soil
should, in all cases, take place at a time when its
injurious effects can be neutralized by the addition
of other substances — just before preparing the land
for green-crop is the proper period. A liberal ap-
plication of manure should then take place; and,
above all, lime, the great corrector and neutralizer of
injurious substances in the soil, should be applied.
The quantity will depend on the nature of the soil,
varying from forty to sixty barrels. On adhesive
clay soils, especially after a portion of the subsoil
being brought to the surface, no fears need be enter-
tained as to the effects of a considerable application
of lime.

In the preceding remarks 1 have confined myself
to practical details. I offer iheni as merely supple-
mentary to the articles I have referred to, and shall
be happy in affording any further information in my
power. I remain, yours, &c,

Casttederg, Dec. 28, 1841. J. Sproule.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

SULPHURIC ACID.

Sir— -I think it would be useful if your correspon-
dent T. G. T. (in your number for this month, p. 69)
would in your next number say the strength in
which the diluted sulphuric acid should be used, for
the purpose mentioned by him — that is, what quan-
tity of water would admit of one pound of the acid
to make the required strength? I am, Sir, your well-
wisher, and a constant reader of your useful Maga-
zine, T>

Tamworth, Jan. 6, 1842.

CULTIVATION OF BEANS.
Sir, — There is a good deal of heavy and deep land
in Cornwall well adapted to grow beans, but
nobody that I have met with, knows how to cul-
tivate them. If this should meet the eye of any

* Third report, p.p. 294-295,

one acquainted with this subject, I for one would be
much obliged by full information.

Your insertion of this at your earliest convenience
will greatly oblige, Sir, your obedient servant,

Dec. 26, 1841. An Old Farmer.

ON CULTIVATION OF TURNIPS.

Mr. Editor, — I shall feel obliged by one of the
members of the " Shropshire Agricultural Society"
informing me if Mr. Moire, in his new method of
growing turnips on strong land, ploughed and har-
rowed the land in the summer previous to sowing
with turnips, the same as if it had not been manured
in the autumn 1 and was the land free from twitch
previous to the manuring ? Mr. Moire says he
ridged it up, should therefore suppose it bad been
ploughed and worked in the autumn.

Shall also thank Mr. Yates, of Colton, (o stale
what quantity of gas lime he spreads on an acre of
land, to prevent the turnip fly.

I remain, yours, obediently,

A Yorkshire Farmeu.

ITALIAN RYE-GRASS.
A *' Yorkshire Farmer'' says, I shall be glad if
any of your readers can inform me whether a good
sward can be produced from Italian grass alone.
If there can, what quantity of seed will serve to the
acre ; what land it is most adapted for; and how long
it will stand.

ON THE EFFECT OF FEEDING HORSES ON
CARROTS.

A farmer wishes to know, if any of his brother
farmers who have been in the habit of giving their
farm horses carrots, if they have thought they had
any effect on the horses' eyes. The eyes of the
enquirer's horses have been so much affected as to
apprehend leading to total blindness, and his horse-
keeper attributes it to their having, with their other
food, many carrots.

Jan. 7th, 1812.

TO THE GROWERS OF SPRING-WHEAT.
Sir, — Perhaps one of your Yorkshire or other
correspondents will do me the favour to answer the
following queries, if you will be so good as insert
them, viz. : —

1. What is the best time to sow spring-wheat?

2. What manure is best adapted to the rich loamy
soil in which the wheat will be sown, Swedes
being just laised from the land ?

3. What is the best preparation to steep the seed-
wheat in — that of lime, or one of urine? and how
should either be used? or whether one of spring-
water is to be preferred ?

I ask this information because last year I sowed
spring-wheat on seven ncres, four acies of which
produced me forty bushels an acre ; the other three
acres produced only twelve bushels an acre, and
was much damaged by grubs and wire-worm ; for
prevention of which also I should feel much indebted
to any of your correspondents for a remedy.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
A Norfolk Farmer

Jan. 20. In the Walsham Hundred.

CHALK.
A correspondent asks, is chalk drawn from the
pit, through a turnpike to a kiln for the purpose of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

149

being burnt into lime, and used as dressing for
land, " liable to toll or not ?"

The solution of this, query may be as valuable to
many of your readers as it will be to

Sir, your most obedient servant,

Acricola.

MUSTARD-SEED.

Sir, — I have a piece of ten acres of newly broken up
ground of good quality, and too strong for grain crop, to
produce a good quality ; just the kind of land suitable to
the growth of Mustard seed. 2. I shall feel oblifredif any
of your readers will inform me the best time of sowing
the seed, whether early or late, aud whether it is af-
fected by the spring- frosts if sown early. 3. The quan-
tity of seed requisite for an acre, and which is best,
sown broadcast or drilled. 4. Which seed, the white
or brown, is likely to give the greatest return, and
whether any objection's to cither variety, on account
of the one being more hazardous than the other, as
there appears to be a great difference of price in the
two varieties ; and lastly, whether there is a ready sale
for any quantity in the London markets.
T remain, Sir,

Yo ur's respectfully,

Essex, Dec. 30. C. S.

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE FARM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Noticing in your paper on 3rd of January a
paragraph passing great eulogiumon the manager of
Earl Ducie's farm at Whitfield, in which the writer
states there is a total extinction of old grass lands,
aud an annihilation of hay from artificial grasses, I
shall feel obliged if the writer would inform me what
the horses and other stock are kept on during win-
ter, with a general rotation of the cropping.

Agricola.

• WHITFIELD EXAMPLE FARM.

Sir, — In your paper of the 3rd inst., there appears
a letter headed "The Whitfield Example Farm,"
signed " Cultor," in which the following passage oc-
curs:— " One very remarkable feature consists in the
total absence of old grass lands, and of any hay de-
rived therefrom, or from artificial grasses." But vour
correspondent forgets to explain what is substituted
in lieu of bay. Being of opinion that the less grass
made into hay the better, I shall be much obliged by
his giving, through the medium of vour paper, an
answer to the above query.

I am, Sir, yours, &c,

Jan. 11. An Agriculturist.

Sir, — Observing that you insert questions on dif-
ferent agricultural subjects, I should feel obliged if
you would give a place to the following, and I trust
»ome of your readers will have the kindness to reply
to it. If two fields of average grazing land of equal
value, were stocked, the one with cows or oxen, the
other with horses, and an equal number of sheep in
each, for, say five years in succession, would there
be any difference in the value of the two fields at the
end of that period? — I am, Sir, your obedient ser-
vant, " A Subscriber."

" A Subscriber" wishes to be informed where he can
obtain a machine for converting Swedish turnips, &c.
into pulp, and which has, we b lieve, been invented by
a Mr. Moody, of some place in Wilts.

"A Westmoreland Farmer" wishes to be informed
where he can obtain a machine lor sowing soot, and
the cost, especially of one invented by Mr. Mains, fac-
tor to the Earl Dalhousie ; a description of which ap-
peared in the journal of the Highland Agricultural
Society for March, 1839.

ANSWER TO AGRICULTURAL
QUERY.

Sir, — In reply to the query of " A Constant
Reader," in your paper of the 27th inst., as to the
best mode of improving an old sheep common,
lately awarded to him, I would take the liberty of
suggesting' that before he either pans or ploughs,
he should thoroughly under- drain every wet portion
of the ground ; and indeed he would find it to be to
his ultimate advantage to drain the whole, whether
apparently wet or dry. The operation of draining
will be much more efficiently performed before the
old turf is broken up. And I would farther advise
a "Constant Reader" to purchase, and attentively
study, Mr. Smith's, of Deanston, little pamphlet on
thorough draining, which can be procured from al-
most any bookseller, price 6d. ; and I have the
honour to be, Sir, yours, most obedient,

J. N.V.

A Leicestershire correspondent wishes to know,
where the best invented cyder mill can be obtained,
and the price ; whether anything of the kind is port-
able or not.

EXEMPTION FROM TOLL.— Several cases have
lately been brought before the magistrates in Petty
Sessions in different parts of the country, of paities
(farmers and others) claiming exemption from toll
for a thrashing machine ; the exemption has been
allowed in some cases, and in others refused. The point
whether they are or are not liable, will perhaps remain
unsettled until it has received the decision of one of the
superior courts of law ; but in the meantime we are
eaabled with great satisfaction to give an extract from
an opinion of the present learned Attorney-General on
the point. In a late case at our City Petty Sessions,
where the magistrates considered a thrashing machine
to be exempted from toll, another point was also raised,
viz., supposing that athrashing mnchine is exempt from
toll, what is a Jading with some other thing which will
take it out of such exemption? By the 32nd i-eetion
of the General Turnpike .Act, 3 Geo. 4, chap 116, the
exemption is for — " For any horse, &c, or carriage,
employed in, or having been employed on the same day
in carrying or conveying any dung, &c. (except lime)
for improving lands, or any ploughs, harrows, or imple-
ments of husbandry (unless laden with some other
thing not thereby exempted from toll), or any hay,
straw, &c. which has grown on land in the occupation
of the owner of such hay, straw, &c, and which has
not been bought, sold, or disposed of, or for any horses,
&c. employed in husbandry, going to or returning from
plough or harrow, or to or from pasture or wateiing
place, or from beiDg shoed, such horses not going or
returning- on those occasions more than two miles on
the turnpike road on which the exemption shall be
claimed." The following is the extract (ram the opinion
referred to : —

"I am of opinion that a thrashing machine is not
exempt from toll, to whomsoev< r the horses may belong
that draw it. lu my opinion it is not an " implement of
husbandry ;" husbandry means " tillage,'" and those
tools or implements alone are, in my opinion, "imple-
ments of husbandry'' which are employed in tillage;
such as ploughs, harrows, spades, &c. (perhaps also
sowing machines or instruments for drilling), but a
''thrashing machine" is not used in tilling, but in
preparing' the produce for the market. Every firming
implement i-i not exempted, such as a chaff-cutting
machine, and many others. — Frederick Pollock.''
— Worcester Chronicle.

150

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
JANUARY.

On n comparison of seasons, the weather expe-
rienced during this month, as a whole, h;is heen
by no means so severe as we have frequently had
occasion to notice in many previous Januarics ;
indeed, it has partaken of the character of "change"
in a greater degree than was the ease in Decem-
ber! Vet it must be observed that the fine frosts
have had the two-fold effect of bringing the soil
into a good mellow condition for the spring seed-
ing, and also of checking the so-much-compla ned-
of ravages of the insect : while the numerous falls
of snow formed a good protection for the young
wheat plants in most of our grain districts. With
the exception of the latter part of this period, the
gales of wind were not very boisterous, and no
damage, worthy of particular notice, have
come within the scope of our observations. From
the 1st, until quite the 20th, out door farm labours
were completely in abeyance— it being impossible,
from the frozen state of the land, to recommence
ploughing in any quarter. This was the more to
be regretted, from the circumstance of their being
unusually backward ; so much so, indeed, that
many farmers had not sown a moiety of their heavy
wheats, even on the driest situations : and fearful
forebodings were entertained regarding the ulti-
mate result. This does not refer to anyone parti-
cular county, or even to any given number of
counties, but to almost every quarter of England.
Since the date last above mentioned, till about
the 26th, the substance of the communications
transmitted to us from our numerous agricultural
correspondents, was decidedly more cheering.
Several extensive growers in Kent, Essex, Suffolk,
Norfolk, &c., having had the plough again brought
into requisition, and no inconsiderable progress
was made in rural economy, much to the satisfac-
tion of those who were thus occupied; and some
large breadths of light land were sown under fa-
vourable auspices, while hopes were entertained
of arriving to a steady and successful conclusion
in good time ; but the further change in the at-
mosphere again caused a temporary rest from field
work, and, another return to the barns. As is al-
most invariably the case in all years, numerous
contradictory rumours have been afloat regarding
the prospects of the agricultural body; notwith-
standing which, we are decidedly of opinion that
the tide of affairs is turning in their favour, ft
has been stated that the produce of the wheat
crop this year— owing to the humidity of the at-
mosphere having prevented the necessary opera-
tions from being carried into effect in the process
of cropping— must exhibit a great falling off; but,
in our humble judgment, such a supposition, for it
is nothing more, is not based on tenable grounds.
That an increased growth of bread corn is a con-
summation devoutly to be wished, no reasonable
person can deny ; and when it is considered that
that "golden crop'' is one far above all others to
us as a nation, as well as to those who bestow
their talents, energy, care, risk, and last, though
not least, a large amount of capital to arrive at
that desirable end, we certainly think that such
gloomy forebodings do not carry with them any-
thing either just in principle, or show, in the

slightest degree accuracy of judgment. Whatever
may be said to the contrary, we hold it to be a good
maxim that he who thus forsakes the laud and its
products is a debtor to his country. But we have
no fear of any thus influenced being found amongst
the British yeomen — who will, it may be safe-ly
asserted, stedfastly continue their united exer-
tions, which in time will render us wholly indepen-
dent of the foreigner for any supplies of the staff
of life. From all that we can learn, the stocks of
most kinds of grain of home growth are still
tolerably good, while most of the heated stacks
having been thrashed out, the general quality of them
are certainly better than we have heretofore noticed.
This is certainly important, and must necessarily
tend to keep the future prices more steady than oc-
curred in the autumn of last year. Further im-
portations of wheat may be required in the summer
months, but not to any extent ; and we have little
hesitation in asserting that the forthcoming harvest,
even with the aid of a fine temperature, will be a
late one, and some falling off may take place in the
yield of the heaviest wheats, as it is a well-attested
fact, that in order to ensure a good return for them,
sowing in September and October is indispensable,
while that corn is much longer coming to maturity
than almost any other. Thus far, therefore, we must
be prepared, while let us hope that the sickle will be
required to be placed in requisition somewhat earlier
than we feel ourselves warranted in anticipating.
As to the winter wheats already sown, we are happy
to state that they are looking remarkably strong and
healthy, and the snow appears to have well sheltered
them from the cold north and north easterly \jiuds,
as also to have been of service in improving the
soil upon which they are growing. Where the land
has been much saturated with moisture, the grub has
committed serious depredations; still we know of
scarcelv any instances in which the crop has been
so deteriorated as to render re- ploughing and sowing
a matter of necessity. This is, of course, an ex-
pensive procedure, and we would advise all those who
may have their plants appear thus damaged not to
resort to this system in a hurry, as it has been often
ascertained that time and general chmges have
worked wonders for them, and that, though their tops
may be much eaten away, that portion of them buried
may have remained uninjured.

Considerable bustle and activity has been apparent
in the barns, and immense quantities of corn and
pulse have heen got ready for the various markets
in the best possible order. There is one circum-
stance connected with thrashing which calls for
particular observation — namely, the limited quantity
of wheat submitted to this process, and the improved
weight of nr.my of the samples. To this may he at-
tributed the steadiness in the prices which has been
obserred during the whole of the month ; and it may
be fairly hinted that the future currencies will not be
much higher — unless any extraordinary unforeseen
circumstances may arise — than they are at this time.
The average of the last four weeks, as compared
with the same period last year, have heen only about
2s. per qr. higher ; so that, allowing for the actval
deficiency in the growth, the figures realized r.re by
no means too high to be remunerative. As to bailey,
this still turns out extremely abundant ; but at least
a moiety of it is of very middling condition ; hence

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 151

a scarcity of malting descriptions will doubtless be Bristol, Liverpool, and London, in order to make
felt in the coming season. Willi regaid to oats, no good the apparent deficiency. Both ploughing and
reasonable complaints can be made, either as to sowing are extremely backward, and much time must
quality or quantity; and the same observations may necessarily intervene ere they can be brought season-
be equally applied to the early stacked beans ably forward. Potatoes turn out well, as also do
and peas. ' beans and peas. The corn trade in all its branches

By accounts received from most of the northern has ruled dull, without much variation in prices,

corn-shipping ports in Europe, we learn that The following is our usual monihly statement of

scarcely any speculation is going forwards on Eng- the supplies and prices of fat stock, exhibited and

lish account, with large time-of-year slocks in ware- sold in Smithfield Cattle Market in the course of

bouse; this is, in a great measure, on account of the month. The former have amounted to 10,020

further shipments hither till the Spring being now heasts; 94,202 sheep ; 529 calves ; and 3 380 pigs :

precluded 'by the frozen state of the rivers, and an the latter having ruled as follows :-Beef, from ,,s.

active demand appears to be looked forward to in 4d- to 4s. lOd. ; mutton, os. od. to 5s. ; veal, 4s.

May and Tune cd- to 5s. 6d. ; and pork, 4s. 4d. to 5s. 4d. per 81bs.

At Mark Lane, as well as in most of our pro- to sink the offals. But a small number of milch

vincial corn markets, the supplies of wheat have cows with their small calves had been brought ior-

been moderate, but fully adequate to the demand on ™rd. and the figures realised for which have been

the part of the millers and others. In some few from 16/. to 21/. 10s. each. Suckling calves have

cases, ihe finest red and white has sold on full terms • sold slowly at from 28s. to 40s. ; and quarter old

but all other sorts have been called from 2s. to 3s. st°™ pigs, 16s. to 23s. each. On each market day

per qr. cheaper. Foreign wheat, of which a fair the receipts of stock have been on a moderate scale,

quantity has been brought forward, both free and vet the demand, from the scanty attendance of coun-

inbond", a limited amountof business has been doing, "7 buyers, has ruled dull, at drooping quotations,

and the prices have declined, hut not to the same especially for the inferior beasts and sheep,

amount as those of English. Barley has proved a A STATEMENT and COMPARISON of the SUP.

mere drug, and might have been again purchased on PLIES and PRICES of FAT STOCK, exhibited

easier terms; while malt has proved a more drug, and sold iu Smithfield Cattle Market, on

and old parcels have gone off at very low figures. Monday, January 25, 1841, and Monday, January 24,

Oats have been extremely dull, and turned out un- 1842.

profitable; while the light kinds have seldom been AtperSlbs. to sink the offals.

so low. Beans and peas have commanded little Jan. 25, 1841. Jan. 24, 1842.

attention, and sold on lower terms. _ „. , , ' . '' „, , ; I' ?\ I' A

In most of our flock and grazing districts, the Coarse & inferior Beasts 3 2to3 4 .. 3 6 to 3 8

„ • , . -in u.j- Second quality do 3 6 3 10 .. 3 10 4 0

epidemic appears to have considerably abated in Prinie , ' e Oxen 4 0 4 8.. 4 2 4 4

violence, and fewer casualties have occurred during Prime Scots &c. .4 10 50.. 46 48

this month than for a very lengthened period. The Coarse & inferior Sheep 3 6 3 10 V. 3 6 3 8

chief losses have been sustained in Lincolnshire, Second quality do 4 0 4 2 . 3 10 4 0

Leicestershire, Norfolk, and Suffolk; but many Prime coarse woolled do. 4 4 4 G .. 4 2 46

graziers appear to be of opinion that the remedies Prime Southdown do.. 48 50.48 4 10

latelv offered by several eminent men, through the Large coar3e Calves .. 50 56.. 48 4 10

medium of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- Prime small ditto 58 60.. 50 56

land, have been productive, when resorted to, of a Large Hogs... 4 2 4 6.. 4 1 6 4 10

great amount of benefit. _ Neat small Porkers .. 4 8 5 0.. 5 0 5 2

There has been a large supply of food for supplies.

stock, but it has turned out — we mean as regards Jan. 25, 1841. Jan. 24, 1842.

the hay crop only — of very middling and interior Beasts ..... 2,502 2,55/

quality. Turnips' have been more than usually Sheep ^'no 21'4fio

abundant, which has, in some measure, made up for Calves

the bad hay on hand. Altogether, both beasts and "'os

sheep, whether in the homestead on in the pastures, From Scotland, and various distant parts of Eng-

have fared remarkably well. land, inland, and by water carriage, the arrivals of

As to the early lambing season, this has gone o , slaughtered meat up to Newgate and Leaderil.all

as yet, remarkably well, but not without the grea - markets have been limited, viz., — about 190 carcases

est' care and attention on the part of those to whose of beef; 1,200 ditto of mutton ; 120 ditto of veal ;

care the ewes have been confided. and 1,950 ditto of pork; but the supplies of meat

Our Scotch letters inform us that field work is in killed in the metropolis have been large and of fair

a very backward state in all parts of Scotland. average quality. Trade has ruled dull at the an-

Scarcely any wheat has been sown, with the excep- ™Xed rates :-Beef from os. 2d. to 3s. ,_10d. ; mut-

tion of some parts of Perthshire and Banffshire, ton, 3s. 8d. to4s.6d.; Veal 4s. 8d. to os. 2d. ; and

The crops of potatoes have turned out equally pwk, 4s. 4d. to os. 2d. per 81bs. by the carcase,
abundant as in England, and of very superior qua-
lity. In the various markets the supplies of most
kinds of corn and pulse have been moderately good;

for the best of which, full prices have been' mostly CORN RETURNS BY WHICH THE COM-

oaid- but other sorts have had a downward tendency MUTATION OF TITHES IS REGULATED BY

paid, but other soitbhaiehad a ao«n^aidtenaencj. COMMISSIONERS FOR THE SEVEN

A ery few instances of rot in sheep have been no- Y»ARS LAST ^Returns, stating what has been,

! and as a whole, we have to report more fa- du . geven enJi oa lhe Thursday nexl before

vourably of farming in general than last month. Christmas Day, 1841, the average price of an imperial

A great scarcity of good wheat and oats is much bushel of British wheat, barley, and oats, computed

complained of throughout Ireland, and large impor- from the weekly averages of the corn returns :— Wheat,

lations in the principal ports have taken place from 7». 3jd., Bailey, 4s. 2d., Oats, 2s. I l|d. per bushel.

152

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE
FOR FEBRUARY.

After floods of rain wbich continued till De-
cember 16, 1841, tbe weatber settled, became tran-
quil and mild for the season, and so very equable,
that the temperature varied, during one entire month,
little more than 7 degrees at the minimum, the
thermometer receding only to 25°. Thus, though
the season was frosty on the whole, the wind at
N. N.E. produced no asperity, while at S. and S.W.
it brought little amelioration. These phenomena,
when compared with the strong contrasts which we
have formerly experienced, offer proof, almost
demonstrative, that our atmospheric, meteorological
mutations are dependent upon local electric dis-
turbances. Thus, our bewildering theories which
keep the mind in a state of perplexity, ought to be
rejected as worse than useless. While we are
writing, we find the ground in a condition which
prohibits exertion ; yet every day witnesses increase
of solar altitude; and February, if the weather be
propitious, will find the gardener abundance of em-
ployment. We will, however, reverse our order, and
commence with the glass and forcing departments.

FRUITS.

Peach-house. — The forward trees are advancing, and
great watchfulness is demanded to prevent, or repel
the approaches of the aphis and red spider ; 50° to
/>6° is sufficient by artificial agents, whether they be
fire, hot-water, or fermenting nrinure. The peach-pit
for a later crop should be protected by a stout
canvas roller over the glasses on every frosty
night. Tobacco-smoke will destroy the aphis;
Sulphur, copiously applied over the pipes or flues,
the red spider ; and the same dusted over infected
leaves will speedily check the mildew fungus.
Pine-stove. — The fruiting house will require high
temperature, with little moisture. The succession
plants are grown rapidly, and in high perfection in
narrow pits, lined all round with hot manure. The
best pits we ever saw are pigeon-holed, a foot high,
the inside being flued so as to exclude the steam of
the dung, and yet admit its heat ; littery manure is
added to that height, and in it the pots are plunged.
The linings enclose the entire brick-work up to the
frame, and thus a moist vaporous atmosphere is
maintained without actual bottom beat. Hie early
vinery is most likely in bloom ; cease to sprinkle or
steam till the berries set; admit no currents of air,
and paint all the flues or pipes with sulphur, made
into a cream with air-slaked lime and water. In-
crease fire-heat to 66 or 70°, allowing an abatement
of 3° or 4° by night. Excite the second riiwrii
gradually at first, as before directed. The berry-
bearing fruit shrubs car. now be pruned in succession,
raspberries to tbe best upper bud, below the usual
curvature of the rod. Each bush should have a
stake or two, which may slope an angle of twenty
degrees from the perpendicular north, thus leaving
free space to the new-coming shoots. Gooseberries. —
Some old bearers ought to be cut quite out
to give freedom to the newer wood. Currants
ought to be closely spurred to the fruit buds ;
and the wood shoots at the summits of each
branch should he pruned within three to six buds of
the former year's wood. After pruning, every bush
should be dusted with powdered lime; this will
destroy mosses and lichens. If the ground be
tractable, turn the surface two inches deep, leaving
the plots and spaces neat. Over the inverted earth

a very slight sprinkling of nitrate of soda may be
given ; it will be an experiment, not primarily
detrimental, but from which some useful hints may
be derived.

Begin and follow up, at every convenient interval,
the pruning and training of apricot, peach, nectarine,
plum, and cherry trees. Regulate the espalier and
dwarf-trees, and, if mossy, wash the stems with
strong lime water.

FLOWER DEPARTMENTS.

Plant-stove. — Increase heat slightly, as the sun
acquires altitude, and watch the commencement of
growth, giving water according to the plant : air
must be admitted to prevent what is called " draw-
ing," which is an undue elongation of sboot,
dependent on want of light and too much moisture.
The knowledge of these causes will indicate the
folly of keeping high temperature during the hours
of darkness.

Greenhouse. — A dry atmosphere, little water, and
free air, are still required ; when the natural agents
excite growth, it will be time enough to supply
moisture to tbe soil. Fumigate tbe house if the
green fly appear, which it frequently does suddenly,
and in multitudes, on the cinerarias, calceolarias,
and some pelargonia.

Cold-pits atid frames must have all the dry air thai
the season will authorize, covering the grasses
during frosty nights with mats and boards.
During settled frost and snow, keep the plants in
darkness, never removing the coverings till a thaw
be established, and have remained some days.

In the open garden begin in earnest to dress, and
lightly dig between flowering plants, working in
some light vegetable earth, decayed cow manure,
and the leaves which have lain on the surface, and
are now partly reduced.

In Shrubberies, though some object to dig tbe
surface, we cannot help liking the contrast to
verdure of foliage, which neatly digged mould
produces : as a perpetually green carpet we recom-
mend the dwarf periwinkle (vinca minor) ; it suits
any ground.

VEGETABLE DEPARTMENT.

Force asparagus, seakale, and dwarf rhubarb.
Excite some of tbe earliest potatoes in a vinery.
One sort mentioned before, called in Lancashire
the " leman kidney,'" is so early, that now we have
tubers, though grown in an external vinery border,
and kept all winter in a barn, have shoots above an
inch long. In this state, planted in a warm border, we
should expect delicious potatoes in May, provided
the shoots were protected by mulch, &c, during the
early spring months.

Peas and Beans — Excite a few in boxes, pots, &c,
and transplant in open weather.

Cucumbers and Melons. — Sow some seeds in pots,
either in a hot-bed or in the stove : use rich light
earth, and when the plants rise, sow successions.
Subsequently when the plants have been up three or
four days, remove them to single pots of dry rich
earth, warmed in the frame or house ; shade and
nurse them till they take to the soil ; and when
established, give a little tepid water, and by every
possible means promote growth, and guard against
any check ; for plants in tender infancy, so succulent,
as is the melon and cucumber, can rarely recover, if
they be injured at all.

Sow succession Kidney-beans (the dun yellow is
fine) for forcing. Introduce more strawberry plants

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

153

for a later table supply ; but, if possible, adopt the
frame culture of this plant. In such situations, the
quantity of fruit is exceedingly increased, perhaps
five times more so than in ordinary pot-culture.

Celery. — Sow some seed in heat : the plants always
are hetter so raised.

Cauliflowers in frames must have air in mild
days, and at the end of the month a few strong plants
may be removed to the open giound. Thin out
weaker plants under the hand-glasses, to give room
and strength to the best which are to remain.

Transplant into rich generous ground, the best
cabbage plants of the August sowing; manure this
land well, because it will thus be prepared for a
potato crop.

Sow Cabbages and Savoys 4for summer, also red
cabbage for the winter.

Sow also the salad plant, mustard and cress,
radishes, the short-top and salmon. Lettuce, the
white and green cos ; all at several different times
for succession, and according to the weather and
state of the ground. Lettuce cannot in spring bear
removal from the seed-bed, for the plants run to
flower ; therefore, the soil ought to be rich in decayed
manure and vegetable earth ; we believe the nitrate
of soda is very applicable to this vegetable.

Carrots, the early horn. — Parsnip, tbe hollow crown
— Beet, the true purple — may all be sown. The
ground should be free from stones and from all manure,
excepting at the bottom ; trench it a foot deep, and
screen tbe earth, incorporating much sand. A sandy
soil is the chief cause of Surrey producing such fine
carrots. Parsnips, it is true, will prosper in stiffer
land ; but in such a staple, it will be wise to make
holes with a crow-bar, a foot deep and eight to ten
inches asunder; then to till the holes with very
light sandy earth, prior to sowing a few seeds within
an inch of the top of every hole.

Onions and Leeks are sown about the third week ;
as the former are not to be transplanted, the ground
ought to be digged, and be well manured at the
bottom of each spit. Beat the surface hard with a
turf-beater; scratch drills four or five inches apart,
and trickle the seed along the shallow grooves ; then
sprinkle light manure, blended with a little soot, over
the bed, and flat the surface with the spade.

Plant also early small bulbs of the large Reading, or
Spanish onions for a summer crop.

.Sou; broad Beans, long pods and Windsor : if the
seed of each be sown in a row alternately, a variety,
by impregnation, may be expected, which we have
found to partake of the qualities of each, rich and
productive.

Sow Peas twice — the Imperial, and Knight's green
dwarfs, Prussian, &c, &c. Earth up every advancing
crop, and attend to all routine operations.

Sow Parsley. Plant a few early potatoes, and
make horseradish beds.

In thus giving diiections general and seasonable,
we follow the custom of the times ; but this implies
a confession, that gardening is still an emperical
practice: it lacks principles, and these can be at-
tained by no other means, that we can suggest, than
by a strict chemical analysis of the ashes of every
vegetable, repeated frequently, till the products be
determined.

When the mineral, that is, the inorganic products
of a plant are ascertained, we can hope to apply
salts, metals, earths appropriately. Now, we

apply these substances but at random, and the
results are obtained as detached fragments.

If Dr. Liebig has " done the state some service"
— essential if not vital — it is by impressing the
necessity of rigid chemical analysis ; and he has
done this in a way which cannot be mistaken ; his
Organic Chemistry, as a rudiment al introduction to
what may be hereafter, should be perused by every
well-wisher to horticultural science.

BRADFORD FARMERS' CLUB.-The. first an-
nual dinner was held at the Black Lion Inn, on the 4th
inst., and was well attended. Alexander Adair, Esq.,
of Heatherton Park, presided, being supported on either
side by the Rev. Edward Burridge and William Blake,
Esq., of Cutsey ; Mr. W. Carpenter, the secretary,
acting es vice-president. After the usual loyal toasts
had been given from the chair and drunk with due
honours, the secretary was desired to state the pro-
ceedings of each monthly meeting during the past year,
the reading of which gave general satisfaction. The
president then adverted to the utility of farmers' clubs,
and expressed a wish that they might become more
general throughout the county of Somerset; and ap-
proved of the resolution adopted, for admitting the sons
of subscribers, under the age of twenty years, free of
the yearly charge of five shillings, who will have the
advantage of reading the works of the most experienced
authors on agricultural subjects— concluding his re-
marks by recommending the improvement of soils by
drainage and green crops, and the more frequent use of
ox team?, as being of greater advantage to the farmer.
After proposing " Prosperity to Farmers' Clubs," the
worthy president sat down amidst the enthusiastic
cheers of all present.— Taunton Courier.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS EXEMPT
FROM TOLL.— At the Cambridge Petty Sessions on
the 10th inst., Mr. Riehaid Jenkins, lessee and col-
lector of the tolls at the Castle End turnpike gate,
appeared to answer an information, laid by James
King, constable of Saxmundham, for having, on the
30th September last, taken toll for a horse drawing two
drills, the property of Thomas Teago, of Peasenhall'
drill maker, and which, it wa* alleged, were exempt
from toll as implements of husbandry. The drills in
question had been sold to Mr. John Hill.ofMoleswortb,
Hunts, and were on their way thither from Peasenhall.
The drills were sold for 20Z. each, and 11. 10s. was
charged and paid for the carriage of each. Mr. Cooper,
for the defendant, contended that as the drills went
more than two miles on the road, they were not exempt,
and that, assuming a drill was an implement of hus-
bandry within the intent of the exempting clause
(which was doubtful), still the exemption must be
necessarily restrained to implements the property of
agriculturists, the object of the legislature being to
benefit the farmer, and not the makers of drills. Mr.
Bays, for the informant, submitted that the clause
confining the exemption to horses, &c, not going two
miles on the road, did not extend to horses drawing
implements of husbandry, and that the exempting
clause ought to receive a liberal construction. The
Mayor decided in favour of the informant, but said
that as the defendant had acted under a belief that he
had a right to the toll, he should fine him but 5s. and
costs. Mr. Cooper said the defendant desired to appeal,
but could not do so unless convicted in a penalty
exceeding 40s. The Mayor said, under those circum-
stances, he would fine the defendant 41s. and the costs,
which latter were fixed at 5/. Notice of appeal has since
been given. — Three other informations were brought
before the Magistrates, at Bottisham, on Wednesday,
which were quashed for informality ; but fresh informa-
tions have been laid, and will be heard on the 26th
inst.— Bury Post.

154

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY.

Since our last publication, the wheat trade has
continued in a state of considerable depression, the
average price has been slightly reduced, and the
duty payable on its importation from foreign nations
for home consumption, has been proportionally in-
creased. The supply from the growers has been
rather more plentiful than the millers required ; and
on the whole, the different large markets of con-
sumption have not exhibited any of the natural ap-
pearances resulting from a late deficient crop. Prices
have remained exceedingly moderate during the
whole of the mouth, indeed too much so for the in-
terests of the farmer, and for the wages of the con-
sumer, depending so materially as they do, on the
general prosperity of agriculture. The year 1842,
consequently, has commenced under far more pro-
pitious circumstances to the people than could have
been anticipated three or four months ugo, and hopes
may therefore be fairly entertained that the present
favourable state of the bread market will not undergo
anv very injurious change, until at all events, we
coine nearer to the time when the gathering of the
next wheat crop may place a bar to the farther entry
of foreign wheat for home consumption. A more
perfect proof of the great improvements which are
now annually occurring in the science of agriculture,
and of the immense advantages which these im-
provements confer on every class within the United
Kingdom, in whatever department of industry the
people may be employed, cannot be adduced than in
the present abuidant manner, and moderate prices
at which all the necessaries of life can now be ob-
tained. The year 1841 was far more unpropitious
to agricultural pursuits than any year which has oc-
curred during the nineteenth century, and yet the
people are bountifully, and we may also say, com-
paratively cheaply supplied with food, for the wages
of labour are at present considerably higher than
they were fifty years ago, and bread now is, at least,
one-half lower in value than it was during several
years between 1798 and 1813. That distress does
prevail in several of the manufacturing districts, is
placed beyond any doubt ; but this is not occasioned
by dear bread, but by the necessity which unfortu-
nately existed during the last three years, of import-
ing grain for our home use, to the value of consi-
derably upwards of twenty millions sterling, which
sum was entirely paid in the precious metals, thereby
rendering money both scarce and dear, s-verely in-
juring money confidence betwixt man and man, li-
miting many operations of enterprise and specu-
lation ; suspending, for a time at all events, many
agricultural and commercial improvements, with-
drawing from all the industrious classes of society a
considerable amount of productive employment, and
proportionally reducing the wages of labour in se-
veral of the manufacturing districts. Had these
twenty millions sterling, on the contrary, been ex-
pended in agricultural produce of home growth,
instead of having been remitted to foreign nations
in exchange for foreign grain, from whence they
never can return, they would now have been in ac-
tive circulation at home. They would have been
employed in railways, in Joint Stock Banks, and in
many other channels in which industry finds her
work and labour rewarded with wages perfectly
adequate to the expences of all the necessaries, and

of many of the luxuries of life, the home consump-
tion of manufactured goods would have been very
materially increased, and the voice of complaint
would not have been heard in any part of the British
Empire. The unfavourable state of the weather
during several years, however, very unfortunately
rendered a large importation of foreign wheat ne-
cessaiy ; and, what is still more unfoitunate, caused
that scarcity of the precious metals in which com-
mercial distress at present has its origin. The vir-
tually free trade in wheat with foreign nations,
which existed during that period, most certainly has
not been attended by any of the numerous commer-
cial benefits and manufacturing advantages, which
the anti-corn law leaguers are continually predicting
to be the consequence of the total repeal of the corn
laws. In every sense of the word they were re-
pealed, or rather they repealed themselves, in Sep-
tember last ; and yet we find no increase, either in
the quantity, or in the value of British manufactured
goods exported to those foreign states, from whence
these lar^e quantities of foreign grain have been im-
ported. The doctrine of a barter trade betwixt
nations, in the present state of civilized society, may
please those philosophers who delight in the visions
of fancy and of theorv, but amongst practical men of
business it is known to be perfectly absurd. Legi-
timate commerce has no such object in view. Our
corn merchants import as much foreign grain as any
deficiency in our home growth may render neces-
sary, and no consumption can be forced beyond this
most natural liuit. The same law of nature applies
to our export commerce, for foreign nations will
only receive from our manufacturers that quantity
of goods which their actual wants require. Beyond
these limits, trade of every description becomes
dangerous speculation, and universally it must end
in ruin and destruction to those merchants who pro-
secute it to this extreme. The export trade of Great
Britain to foreign ports, exclusive of our own colo-
nies and foreign possessions, is chiefly of conse-
quence in as far as it opens a channel for the con-
sumption of articles of manufacture, which from the
change of fashion and other equally trivial causes,
cannot be consumed at home. It certainly takes
away a quantity of goods, of various descriptions,
which are otherwise valueless at home ; but the
whole of it is not equal to one-sixth of the quantity
and value of goods consumed within the United
Kingdom. The corn laws are doubtless necessary
for supporting the home consumption of manufac-
tured goods ; and the productive classes, manufac-
turing labourers, and artizans of every description,
are so perfectly persuaded of the immense advan-
tages which they enjoy from the consumption of their
labour at home, that Ihey desire not the repeal of
that degree of legislative protection which is ex-
tended to the cultivation of the soil, for on the pros-
perity of agriculture they know well that the home
market mainly depends. When money is abundant,
and it must always be so unless when it is ex-
changed for foreign food, there never can be any
want of productive employment in the greatest abuu-
dance being found in the United Kingdom ; and
under due protection by law to agricultural pursuits
and enterprise, we have within ourselves the means
of supporting, in the greatest degree of comfort,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

155

thr_ee times our present population. Capital and
public confidence aie alone necessary to triple the
quantity of food now raised in Great Biitain and in
Ireland ; indeed, in the latter portion of her Ma-
jesty's dominions alone, means exist for the supply
of the people with wheat in the greatest abundance.
In that island twenty millions of acres of the best
tillage lands, either are ai present partially, but yet
imperfectly cultivated ; or may, by the application of
labour and capital, be converted into a state of the
highest cultivation, provided these patriotic pursuits
continue to be adequately protected by the coin
laws. Capital likewise, in Great Britain, has most
ample channels for its employment in agricultural
improvements; but there too, legislative protection
is absolutely necessary. It is surely an anomaly to
talk about a surplus population, as the anti-corn law
advocates do, when it must be obvious even to them
that we have abundance of means at home for feed-
ing, and for productively employing, a much larger
population than we now possess ; and it is cruel in
the extreme to propose the transportation to the co-
lonies of thousands of families annually, for the cul-
tivation there of fields of a for wilder description
than any to bo found within the United Kingdom at
the present moment. The present corn laws confer
numerous benefits on the people at large. They ore
as protective of wages as they are of agricultural
property and of agricultural improvement. The
principle on which they are founded is admirably
adapted to the objects in view, but in the detail cer-
tainly they are open to considerable improvement.
Prices of wheat have continued, ns we have already
said, extremely moderate, notwithstanding the most
unpropitious state of the weather during the greater
part of 18-11, and this circumstance can alone be
attributed to the admirable manner in which the
fields are now cultivated, and to tho activity of the
cultivators, who lose not one favourable opportunity
for forwarding their labours, and who have, acting
on this principle, already given us strong grounds
for expecting that the next crop will he a good one,
for they have availed themselves of a short period of
favourable weather in many districts, to commit to
the ground in tolerable good order, a considerable
quantity of the winter seed wheats since our last
publication. In some places, however, the lands
are still not dry enough for sowing, but we have
perfect confidence that spring wheats now may be
considered, in consequence of the rapid improve-
ments in agricultural knowledge, little inferior to
those sown hefore Christinas day, should the season
prove only to be a favourable one. Those wheats
which weie sown two months ago, are looking fa-
vourably. The young plants are strong on the
ground, and are already assuming a healthy and even
a luxuriant appearance. Excepting in a few spots
of heavy clay lands, we may Bay, that the winter seed
wheat sowing has been brought to a favourable con-
clusion, and should the weather during this season
only be propitious, the crop at next harvest time
will be fully sufficient for all our wants, rendering
farther supplies of foreign grain, after that period
unnecessary, and enabling us to retain within the
Empire, several millions sterling of capital for the
productive employment of the people. There will,
however, before the next harvest, probably be im-
ported, from various foreign districts, as we have
already said, a large quantity both of wheat and
flour. On the 5th of December last, the quantity of
foreign wheat in bond in the United Kingdom, con-
sisted only of 73,920 quarters ; and of flour, the
quantity landed under similar circumstances, was

only 85,382 cwt., to which there has since that date
been added a farther importation, but not of suffi-
cient consequence to have occasioned any alteration
in tho corn markets genei-ally. During the spring
and summer months, however, we have reason to
believe that tho arrivals of wheat from various quar-
ters will be extensive. From the United States of
America, the information received is dated in the
second week of last mouth, and it is not of much pub-
lic interest. The letters received there at that date
from Mark-lane, had rather thrown a damp on grain
and flour speculations, although shipments to Europe
still continued to be made, and prices bad been fairly
supported even in the face of a dull demand. Ex-
pectations continued to be sanguinely entertained
there that the lectures delivered in various parts of
Great Britain by the American gentleman, Mr.
Curtis, and by various British members of the anti-
corn law league, would induce the British legislature
to relax, in a material de»ree, the protection now
given to the cultivation of our own fields, and to
encourage here the consumption of all descriptions
of foreign food, in preference to the growth of our
own soil. The writers of these letters say much
about the theory of reciprocity in trade, but they
seem to be perfectly unwilling to reduce the prin-
ciple to practice. The laws of America impose al-
most prohibitory duties on various descriptions of
British manufactures and of British products, whilst
we receive at a nominal charge, cotton wool, which is
by far the most valuable produce of the fields of
the United States. We receive cheese from the
United States on the payment of one penny nnd a
fraction per pound of duty, whilst our friend Jona-
than, the would-be free trader, charges duty at the
rate of five pence per pound on English cheese im-
ported for consumption into the United States. The
American citizens now desire John Bull to brave all
the dangerous consequences of the scurvy, and to
eat American salted beef for the benefit of American
agriculture, instead of English fresh roasted beef.
Thev ask Englishmen to woik in mines, and to fry
themselves before furnaces, and in exchange for this
duty the free traders promise free born Britons Ame-
rican flour and American salted provisions. Our
workmen have, however, generally, wages quite suffi-
cient for the expences attending the consumption of
wholesome bread, and of fresh provisions pioduced
in the British Empire j and it is not possible to im-
press on them the propriety or the advantage to
themselves of throwing several millions of acres of
land at home out of cultivation, of placing a limit to
agricultural and of commercial improvements in the
United Kingdom, and of reducing their own coun-
trymen, the agricultural labourers, to poverty and
wretchedness for the sole benefit of American agri-
culture, and of American field labourers. A few of
our manufacturers, no doubt, at present desire a re-
peal of the corn laws, for the purpose of reducing
the wages of labour ; but even they would, in a shot t
period indeed, deeply repent their at present short-
sighted policy, for their home trade would be far
more injured than their foreign trade would ba in-
creased by the alteration in the corn laws. From
the Black Sea, and from all the ports of shipment
within the Mediterranean Sea, the information re-
ceived respecting the state of the various corn mar-
kets there, is in due course of post, and possesses
very little interest. The last letters from Mark-lane
received in any of these places, did not hold out any
encouragement for the purchase of wheat at the cur-
rent prices, and consequently the corn trade every
where had become dull and uninteresting, although

156

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

no material reduction in prices had taken place.
From Odessa, we learn that ships continued to be
scarce, and freights to England were consequently
high ; but as the season advanced, it was expected
that shipping would become more abundant, and
freights more reasonable. The price at that time
of the best descriptions of wheat was equal to
about 40s. per quarter free on board, which,
added to the expenses attending its transmission
to Great Britain, is dearer than the same de-
scriptions can be now purchased for in Mark
Lane, even were it admitted into consumption
duty free. From the various ports in the Adriatic
Sea the intelligence lately received corresponds in
many particulars with that from the Black Sea. A
large quantity of wheat had been previously for-
warded to England ; but in consequence of the dull
state of the wheat trade here the demand every-
where there had become extremely limited, and
hopes of more cheering information soon arriving,
alone kept prices much higher than they ought to
be with a view to the British markets. The prices
demanded for the best qualities of soft wheats would
be somewhere about 5lis. per qr. free on board,
which price is much too high, and all the purchases
as yet made could not be sold in England at a profit,
even were the corn laws repealed. In the lower
ports in the Mediterranean Sea, to quote the state of
the wheat trade would only be a repetition of the
information we have now communicated to our
readers. Although freights there were lower, prices
were more than proportionably higher, and the pros-
pects of the trade were daily becoming more gloomy.
In the different ports in the Baltic Sea, the internal
navigation being interrupted at this time of the year,
the wheat trade had excited very little interest, ac-
cording to our advices received in due course of
post. At Dantzig, Konigsberg, and Alhing, wheat
was worth about 62s. per qr., and it was expected
that the Polish Sea merchants would bring down
from Poland large quantities of it as soon as the
rivers became free from ice, but very few purchases
had latterly been made for shipment in the spring-,
for prices were held much above their relative value
in Mark Lane. At Rostock and Stettin the extra-
vagant price of 55s. per quarter free on board was
demanded for the best samples of Silesian wheats,
to be forwarded in the beginning of March, but no
business of any consequence had been effected. At
Hamburg, and all the ports without the Baltic in the
German ocean, the wheat trade had remained very
inanimate at the latest advices, but no decline of any
consequence had taken place in prices. The idea of
a modification, or a repeal of our corn laws, was still
entertained throughout all the corn districts in
Europe, although the writers of several letters
which we have seen express their astonishment that
such an evtnt can be contemplated as being favour-
able to their interests by any class of society within
the United Kingdom. Still, however, the value of
wheat was maintained almost every where, at prices
too high for the English market, even was the corn
law actually repealed already ; and much money
must be lost by the speculators, should some at
present unlooked-for improvement in wheat prices
here not occur during the summer months.

In Holland and Belgium the home consumption
has tf.ken off the great proportion of the wheat sup-
plies during the present season, and no speculative
purchases to any extent have been made on the
chance of the corn laws being repealed, or the ad-
mission of grain at a fixed duty into consumption in
this country being permitted after the meeting of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom. In Fiance, as
in Great. Britain and Ireland, the last wheat crop
was considered deficient in quantity, and certainly
of very inferior quality. This opinion has continued
to prevail there until the present time ; has caused
prices to be maintained perhaps higher than the in-
trinsic value of wheat ought to be in that kingdom;
and it certainly has, in some measure, affected prices
at Genoa, Leghorn, and generally in all the lower
ports of Italy. The miserable wages paid through-
out France for labour of all descriptions, in compa-
rison with those paid in the United Kingdom, causes
the effect of a short growth of grain to be much more
severely felt by Frenchmen than by Englishmen,
and the distress consequently now generally existing
in France, is far more serious than it is in Great
Britain at the present moment. In a few months
now, the prospects of the manufacturing, and of the
commeicial interests in the British Empire will, in
every probability become more cheering, particularly
should the appearance of the coming wheat crop be
favourable, for then the home consumption of goods
will be materially increased, and our colonies and
foreign possessions will easily take away the re-
mainder.

The barley trade, since our last publication, has
continued in a state of unusual depression, and
prices have been regularly on the decline. The last
crop of this article was a large one in quantity, but
very deficient in quality. The depressed state of
the market for secondary qualities, which has pre-
vailed during the present season, ought to have, in a
very material degree, improved the trade and the pros-
pects of the great national interest of the distiller ;
but, notwithstanding the advantages which have
latterly been placed before him by the moderate rate
at which distilling barley can at the present lime be
obtained, oppiessive legal restrictions, aud absurd
fiscal regulations, prevent him from availing himself
of the benefits which the last large crop of certain
descriptions of barley have this season placed within
his reach. The value of home-made spirits is much
depressed, and no profit adequate to the capital em-
barked in this department of British industry, and
to the science and talent engaged in these highly im-
portant pursuits can at present he obtained. The
smuggler stands in the way of prosperity to the pro-
fession of home distillation, and he defrauds the
public revenue annually of large sums of money.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer for the time past
and present, has been, and continues to be, the best
friend and chief patron of the smuggler, and on him
depends the arrival of the time when society shall
be purified from the many abominations which have
their foundation in the illicit importation of spirits,
extracted from foreign grain, and manufactured on
the worst principles by foreign distillers. Heavy
taxation universally is injurious to the purposes for
which it is intended ; and the duty charged on
spirits manufactured in England, is so outrageously
high, that it fully establishes the evil consequences
to the public revenue of over taxation. In this in-
stance it restricts the consumption of wholesome
home-made spirits, and consequently opens widely
the door of profitable trade to the illegal importation
of foreign spirits of the most deleterious quality,
equally destructive to the health and to the morality
of the English people. In Ireland and in Scotland
the duties charged on home made spirits are mode-
rate, consequently the consumption in these two im-
portant portions of the British Empire is confined
to wholesome duty-paid spirits, and smuggling is
nearly extinguished. The Lords of the Treasury

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

157

should take some compassion on Englishmen, and
open to them the same channels for the con-
sumption of wholesome home-made spirits, which
they have already placed before the, in this
respect, more favoured people of Ireland and of
Scotland. Under the existing system in England,
at least one-half of the spirits consumed is fur-
nished by the smuggler. These spirits are gene-
rally extracted from the refuse of wines, from bad
and low descriptions of fruits, and from other in-
ferior articles, and are distilled on the worst
principles practised in that art. We are persuaded
that a great portion of the present very unsatis-
factory state of existence amongst certain classes
of the people in England, has its origin solely in
these circumstances, and therefore common hu-
manity requires the removal of the cause of evils
so very detrimental to society, as drunkenness,
tee-totalism, and the partial absence of temper-
ance, most undoubtedly are at the present moment.
To reduce the duty now charged in England on
home-made spirits to 5s. per gallon, and to raise
the duties now chargeable in Scotland and in Ire-
land to the same figure, would, in a short period,
entirely suppress smuggling, with all its enormi-
ties, would restore prosperity to the important
interest of home distillation, would cause an in-
creased consumption of at least half a million of
quarters of home-produced grain, would retain
within the British Empire large sums of money
now annually remitted to foreign nations in pay-
ment for foreign spirits, and would very mate-
rially increase the public revenue. In short, to
equalize the duties now payable on home-made
and on colonial spirits (for the interests of the
mother country and of the colonies are essentially
always the same), would eventually be attended
by many important advantages to the inhabitants
of the United Kingdom. The home distillers like-
wise suffer much in their interests by the truly
absurd regulations under which the British recti-
tifier is placed. Whiskey, colonial and foreign
spirits, are most properly permitted by the excise
into consumption, at those strengths which suit
best the palates of the consumers and the pockets
of the sellers, whilst British rectified spirits can-
not be admitted into use amongst the people
until their strengths be reduced to eighteen under
proof. Now it is impossible, under these uncalled-
for because unnecessary Excise restrictions, for the
British gin manufacturer to compete in quality
with the Dutch Geneva manufacturer, nor can
the British brandy maker contend in flavour with
the best brandies manufactured in the southern
provinces of France. In wholesomeness our rec-
tified spirits are much superior to any description
of foreign manufacture now imported, and in
flavour we would also soon excel them, did the
excise regulations only permit the application of
science and of talent to the art of distillation.
John Barleycorn, under the greatest disadvan-
tages, contributes little short of one quarter of the
public expenditure, and surely therefore her Ma-
jesty's ministers should extend the greatest de-
gree of leniency within their power towards a
character so important to the public revenue, and
so necessary to the best interests and comforts of
the inhabitants of the United Kingdom. Their
conduct heretofore, however, has been both cruel
and unkind towards him, for in his conversion
into malt he is much worse used even than when
he is distilled into British spirits. Sir John
wishes to do all the good he can to the British

people, but the laws of the British people very
materially restrict his good intentions. The malt
duty is far too high, and the barley cultivator con-
sequently cannot this season find a ready market
even for the small quantity of malting barley
which was grown last year. The consumption of
wholesome and unadulterated beer is gradually on
the decline, as the malt duty too clearly esta-
blishes in each succeeding year, and this misfor-
tune has its sole foundation in the heavy charge
per quarter now levied on barley when converted
into malt. The quantity of the latter article now
used by the public brewers is reduced already to
something under four millions of quarters an-
nually, and this is certainly a most wretched al-
lowance when divided amongst thirty millions of
human beings. To reduce the malt duty to Is.
on each bushel, would be the greatest benefit
which could be conferred on the British people,
and the minister who will accomplish so much
good will lay open to his name the true road to
immortality. The reduction of the malt and
British spirit duties would be of equal importance
to commerce and to agriculture, nor could the
revenue in any manner suffer by the reduction.
In quantity consumed more duty would be gained
by the Exchequer than would be lost by its reduc-
tion, and the people would obtain pure instead of
spurious beer for their money. Two millions of
acres of light and sandy soils now useless, in ad-
dition to the land at present under barley tillage,
would be required for the growth of the addi-
tional quantity of barley which the reduction of
the malt duty would render necessary, and the
increase which the cultivation of these new lands
would annually add to the internal wealth of the
Empire, would be far greater than could by any
possibility be the expense created by the addi-
tional consumption of beer. One-half of the
people at present have not the means to purchase
beer at all, but to reduce the malt duty would, at
all events, introduce the use of beer amongst
thousands of families who cannot afford it just
now. There is not, in fact, one interest in the Bri-
tish Empire which could, in any manner, be injured
by rendering the malt duty fair and moderate : on
the contrary, it would be an universal benefit,
which the people have a right to expect from a pa-
triotic government. The maltsters are, like the rec-
tifiers, also subjected to several useless regulations
by the Excise officers, and are unable generally to
render their malt so productive as it otherwise
would be, were their operations less restricted by
the rualt laws. We have repeatedly had occasion to
mention that the malt duty could be more accurately
collected by charging it on the raw barley at once,
and allowing the maltster to use his science and
knowledge iu the production of those descriptions of
malt which are best suited to the various purposes
to which it is intended to be applied by the con-
sumers. Uader the existing system, the Excise
rules for malting are nearly the same, whether the
barley be hard or soft, whether it be weighty or
light, whether it be grown in a southern or in a
northern climate. An alteration in this respect would
be a boon to the maltster, would be a considerable
benefit to the barley grower, and would reduce the
expense of the malt duty collection very materially,
without in any manner reducing the amount of malt
duty paid at present into the Treasury. In this un-
natural state of the malt trade, the finer samples of
barley have been nearly as unsaleable during the
last month as have been all secondary qualities

158

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The supplies in fact, though vory moderate, have
been larger than the maltster's demand required, and
prices have proportionally declined to the injury of
the growers.

In the oat markets very little activity or interest
continues to be exhibited, either by the factors or
by the dealers. During the last month the supplies
generally were more limited than is usually the case
at this season of the year, and an improvement in
the value of this important article of agricultural
produce of from Is. to 2s. per qr. naturally occurred
in the course of January. This deficiency in the
supply, however, must be entirely attributed to the
state of the weather, and not to any falling away in
the amount of the deliveries made by the oat farmers.
At the close of last year, throughout Ireland the
farmers' markets were fully as well attended for the
time of the year as they had been during any pre-
ceding seison, and the deliveries, comparatively
speaking, were larger than they were in the same
period in 1810. The want of more extensive arrivals
in London from Ireland during the last month, there-
fore, has not been occasioned by any deficiency in
the oat crop of last year in the sister island, and it
may be reasonably anticipated that the late short
supplies in the London market will be most amply
made good during the present and succeeding
months. We have made particular inquiry into the
state of the last oat crop in Ireland, and, on the
whole, the information is at all events satisfactory.
The breadth under oat tillage in 1841 was consider-
ably larger than it had been in any previous year,
and in abundance it produced more than an acreable
average crop. The unpropitious state of the wea-
ther, however, very materially reduced the quality,
the weight per bushel being from 2 to 31bs. lighter
than is usually the case. The crop, though late, was
secured in tolerably fair condition, and quantity will
do more than make good the deterioration in quality.
In every probability, therefore, the supplies in the
great markets of consumption throughout Great
Britain from Ireland, will be, for months to come,
perfectly sufficient for the demand, and by keeping
prices moderate, will render oat importations
from foreign nations unprofitable. This will be an
important advantage, not only to the agricultural
cultivators of Ireland, but likewise to the productive
labourers in Great Britain, and to the shipping in-
terest generally, which will this season, bad as it
has been, be derived from the corn laws. The con-
sumption of oats will be brought to market from our
own shores, entirely under the British flag; the
money will be paid to the agricultural interest at
home, kept in active circulation amongst the indus-
trious classes of British and Irish society. These
benefits must annually result from the protection
extended by the corn laws to the cultivation of our
own fields; but to agricultural improvements, in
Ireland in particular, the repeal of these protective
laws would bo fatal. We must afterwards receive,
in the British markets, oats of foreign, and not of
Irish, growth. Foreign seamen and foreign flags
alone will be employed in their importation, and
British money must be remitted abroad in payment
for a barter trade ; a payment in British goods, even
in part of the foreign oat supplies, is perfectly absurd,
because it is impracticable. Foreign ships will bo
daily entering our ports loaded with foreign agricul-
tural products, and the same ships will return home
in ballast, the skippers having their freights paid to
them in hard money. These remarks are not made
under the influence of any theory, for they are drawn
from many years' experience in the foreign corn

trade, the rendering of which perfectly free must raise
the value of money here very considerably, must
proportionally reduce the prices of every article of
consumption — must render the collection of taxes
annual!}' to the extent of fifty millions sterling ut-
terly impossible, and consequently must render the
equitable adjustment of the national debt an opera-
tion of absolute necessity.

There is no article of agricultural produce now
of more vital importance to the inhabitants of the
United Kingdom, than is the potato crop; and
nothing has undergone greater improvement in its
production than this most useful root. The breadth
planted latterly with potatoes is on the increase
yearly, and the alteration in quality is fully as bene-
ficial to the community, as is the acreable increase
in quantity, and prices at present are extremely
moderate to the consumers, but still sufficiently re-
munerative to thefarmer. The crop of last year has
turned out most abundant in quantity, and although
it may still be a matter of doubt, whether the season
permitted it to be secured in good order, the quality
at the time this number of the " Farmer's Magazine"
goes to press continues to be unexceptionable, and
the supplies from all quarters more than usually
abundant. Perhaps to this circumstance we are
indebted for the fair and moderate value of house-
hold bread at the present moment. If so, in every
probability the same canse will produce a similar
effect to the close of this season.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

Jan. 24.

Per Qr. Per Qr.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, red 50 60 64 White 64 68 70

Irish 50 54 Do 08 60

Old, red — — Do — ■ —

Rye, old 34 86 New 36 38

Barley, Grinding 25 29 Malting 31 33 Chevalier 32 34
Irish 23 25 Bere .20 21 24

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 61 6(5 Brown.. 50 54

Kingston and Ware 62 C6 Chevalier 66 —

Oats, Yorlish. & Lincolnsh., feed 22 23 25 Potato ..27 28
Youghall and Cork black 19 20 Cork, white 17 3t 22

Dublin 20 21 Wesfport 22 —

Waterford, white 17 18 21 Black.. 19 20

Newry 24 25

Galway 16 18

Scotch feed 20 '.'2 25 Potato.. 27 29

Clonmel 22 24 .Limerick 19 23 25

Londonderry .. 22 23 25 Sligo .. 20 22

Beans, Tick, new 27 32 Old 35 40

Peas, Grey 31 82 Maple.. 3t 34

White 84 35 Boilers. 34 37

Seed, Rape 36*. 40*. Irish. .32*. 34*. per last.

Linseed, Baltic... 48 58 Odessa 00

Flour, Town-made 60 — Suffolk 48 50 pr sk. of 280 lbs,
Stockton and Norfolk, 49 50

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 50 00")

Hamburg 52 54 > nominal.

Rostock 50 5l)

Barley 20 22

Oats, Brew 19 20 Feed... 14 16

Beans 20 24

Peas 26 28

Flour, American, per brl 30 — Baltic.. 29 —

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
.Inn. 21st, 1842.

s. d.

Wheat (12 5

Barlei 29 1

Oats... 20 4

Hye 40 11

Beans 34 11

Peas 33 I

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, Jan. 22nd,
1841.

8. d.

Wheat 60 9

Barley 82 11

Oats 21 4

Rye.., 84 1

Beans 39 7

P£AS 33 10

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

io9

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending
Dec. 10th .. "
17th ..
24th ..
31st ..
Jan. 7th ..
14th ..
A ggregateAverage
of the six weeks
which regulates

the duty

Duties payable in
London till Wed-
nesday nextinclu
sive, and at the
Otttports till the
arrival of the mail
of that day from

London

Do. on grain from
British posses-
sions out of Eu-
rope ,

Wheat.

62 7
62 0

62 10

63 1
63 0
62 5

62 9

24 8

Barley

30 9

30 5

30 2

29 9

29 7

29 1

30 0

16 10

Oats.

22 2

21 5

21 1

20 7

20 7

20 4

21 1

15 3

2 6 2 0

Rye. [Beans.

44 8i39 0

39 537 9

44 8 37 0

43 636 0

39 9 36 0

40 11 34 11

42 2

6 6

36 9

IS 0

3 01 3 0 3 0

Peas.
39 4

39

0

36

G

87

2

35

10

Sf)

I

37 2

14 0

PRICES OF SEEDS.

Jan. 24.
There was a fair inquiry lor Linseerl and Rapeseed,
and their previous value was steadily supported. The
quantity of Canary offering was more than equal to the
demand, and prices had a downward tendency. We
have now a tolerable s'ock of Red Cloverseed here, but
holders show no anxiety to realize, and though the
inquiry continues slow, former terms are fully supported
for fine qualities. In other articles there was little
pissing to-day, and quotations underwent no change.
Linseed, English, sowing 54 59

Baltic — — crushing 48 54 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 50 54
Large, foreign.... — —
Clover, English, red .. .. 70 90 white — — perewt.

Flemish 70 00 do.. — —

New Hamburgh . . 65 85 do . . — —

Old do 60 80 do.. — —

French 75 05 do.. — —

Hempseed, small 40 45 large.. 48 50

Coriander 10 16 old.... 16 18 perewt.

Mustard, brown, new .. 10 14 white. 9 13pr.bush

Trefoil 16 28

Rapeseed, English new.. 36'. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42 Scotch 18 40

Tares, winter — — New.. 6 7s 611

Canary, new 80 90 fine 05 100

Carraway, old 50 52 new 48 49 6C

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, Jan. 24.
The Hop market is in a very quiet state, but the
quotations continue to be firmly supported, especially
for the descriptions which wo specified in our last
week's remarks.

East

Mid.

Weald

Sussex.

Farn-

Kent.

s. s.

Kent.

of Kent,
g. s.

ham.

S. 8.

8. 8.

s.

!Sa?s, 1888

—

—

—

—

—

Pocks. 1838

—

—

—

—

—

Buss 1838

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Norn.

Pocks. 1838

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nom.

Ba-s 1839

—

...

—

—

Pocks. 1839

80.. 05

80 . . 00

76 .. 00

76 . . 00

—

Bags 1810

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

—

Pocks. 1840

100.. 119

110.. 115

90 .. 105

00 .. 105

—

Bugs 1841

140.. 1G0

140 .. 160

to 1G0

—

—

—

Pocks. 1841

135.. 190

140 to 175

120 . . 140

115.. 130

200 230

1170, Devons320, Wisbeach 80, Kent and Esiex 180,
Kent Kidneys 70— total 3465 tons. The above is a much
larger rupply than has arrived of late, but as the wea-
ther is cold and frosty, there is no doubt it will mate-
rially assist sales.

PRESENT PRICES AS ANNEXED.

S. S.

York Reds 70 to 80 per ton

Scotch 70

Devon* — 75

Jersey and Guernsey Blues 50 55

Jersey Whites — 45

Kent and Essex Whites 55 60

Wisbeach Kidneys — 60

Kent Kidneys — 75

WOOL MARKETS.

BRITISH.
Jan. 24.

A fair amount of business has been transacted at laic
prices. Fleeces come in very scantily from the farmers,
who hold tenaciously for an advance, but the dealers
have plenty of stock to enable them to remain inde-
pendent of the farmers for some time.

LEEDS, Jan. 21.— The new year has not yet brought
any increased activity in the sales of English wool.
Prices remain stationary.

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE. Jan. 24.
The following supply of Potatoes has been received
in the London market since our last, viz., from York-
shire 1105 tons, Scotland 540, Jersey and Guernsey

LIVERPOOL, Jan. 22.
Scotch.— The expectations of the holders of Laid
Highland Wool have not been realized, as to an in-
creased demand in the early part of the year, and al-
though the few sales effected are at our quotations,
there is no animation in the trade. White Highland
is not much inquired afier, except such parcels in
which there is a fair proportion of combing. There
continues to be a limited inquiry for good Crossed at
about our quotations. Our remarks respecting Crossed
will alio hold good as regards Cheviots.

8. d. s. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs.. 8 6 to 0 0

White do. do 11 6 12 6

Laid Crossed do. .unwashed.. 8 9 9 6

Do. washed do 10 0 11 6

Do. Cheviot unwashed do 0 6 12 6

Do. washed 13 0 18 0

White Cheviot, washed 21 0 24 0

FOREIGN.
Jan. 24.

Advices from Marseilles state that the wool market
was quiet, but that prices were supported. Good qua-
lities, suited to the Levant, were wanted. Smyrna fine
had been sold at 9 francs (7s. 6d.; per 50 kilogrammes,
or llOlbs. English.

At Bayonne, on the 12th inst., Leonesa wool was
quoted 5.50 to 5.75, and Arragon 3.50 to 4.0. ,

The woollen factories at Aix la Chapelle are stated
to be in very full employment, the foreign orders on
hand being large.

Advices from Brody of the 15th ult., state that 8000
poods of wool were purchased there for account of the
cloth manufacturers of Brunn ; the article being in a
good position. I he sales of manufactures brought
from the Leipzic fair had been very brisk.

At Paris, according to advices of the 17th inst., the
lighter woollen fabric* termed mousselines de laines
had not been in much demand; but the least revival
therein would give a very favourable impulse to the
trade. Raw wool was expected to improve in value,
and some of the speculators were operating upon the
least abundant qualities. The manufacturers, it is
said, would becompellrdto slock themselves before the
new clip becomes available, the sa'es of goods having
been heavy ; and it van also probable th y would have
to pay higher rates. From ali the French manufac-
turing distiicts the accounts were favourable, and in
Germany and Belgium matters were improving; com-
mon and m:d. wools were everywhere in chief request.

160

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PRICES OF SHARES.

No. of
Shares.

6,228

6,228
9,500
9,500
15,000
7,500

3,000
64,000
64,000
18,000
10,918
10,918
10,918
10,000
25,000
25,000
37,500

8,000
36,000
83,000
43,079

11,136
183,0002

24,000
1,600
2,100
5,100

11,475
7,968

36,000

3,600
6,000
25,000
25,000
31,250
25,000
13,000
13,000
19,500
30,000
10,000
10,000
15,000
15,000
22,500
10,250
3,762
1,000

28,000

6,000
6,700

15,000
7,500
10,000
20,000

20,000

2000

4,000

30,000

10,000
72,482
20,000
10,000

7,739

20,000
4,000
6,211

1,549
20,000
12,000

6,000
50,000

IRON RAILWAYS.

Birmingham & Derby June. 100/ sli

Ditto £ shares 25/ sh

Ditto and Gloucester .... 100/ sh
Ditto Quarter Shares 25/sh 12^/ pd
Bristol and Exeter. .100/ sh 70/ pd
Cheltenham & Great West. Union
100/ sh 72JZ pd

Clarence (Durham) 100/ sh

Eastern Counties 25/ sh 23/ pd

Ditto Debentures of .. 8/ 6s 8d..
Edinburgh & Glasgow .... 50/ sh

Grand Junction 100/ sli

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh

Ditto Quarter Shares 25/ sh 1\l pd
Great N. of England 100/ sh 90/ pd

Great Western 100/sh65/pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh

Ditto Fifths 20/ sh 4/ pd

Hull and Selby 50/ sh

London and Brighton 50/ sh

London & Croydon. . Av. 13/ 15s 9d
London and Greenwich 20/ sh Av.
12/ 15s 4d
Ditto New 20/ sh Av. IS/ 17s l£d
Ditto Debentures (various amounts)

London & Blackwall 25/ sli

Leicester and Swannington. .50/sh

Leeds and Selby 100/ sh

Liverpool and Manchester. . 100/ sh
Ditto Quarter Shares .... 25/ sh

Ditto Half Shares 50/sh

London k. S. Western, late London

and Southampton Av. 88/ 17s 9d

Ditto New Shares . .50/ sh 37j/pd

Do. Portsmouth Branch 50/ sli

London & Birmingh. 100/sh90/pd
Ditto Quarter Shares 25/ sh 10/ pd

Ditto 32/ sh

Ditto New 32/ sh 2/ pd

Manchester & Leeds 100/ sh 70/ pd
Ditto Half Shares . . 50/ sh 30/ pd
Ditto Quarter Shares. .25/ sh 2/ pd
Manchester &Birming. 70/ sh 40/ pd

Midland Counties 100/ sh

Ditto J-Shares of 25/ 20/ pd

North Midland 100/ sh

Ditto Half Shares 40/ sh

Ditto \ shares of 32/ 6s 8d 15/ pd
Northern & Eastern 50/ sh 40/ pd
Severn and Wye . . Average 27/ sh
Stockton and Darlington. .Average
106/ 13s 4d
S. Eastern and Dover 50/ sh 48/ pd

Ditto New 5/pd

York& North Midland 50/sh

Ditto Half Shares 25/sh 15/ pd

JOINT STOCK BANKS.
Australasia Bank (Chartered) 40/ sh
Ditto New Shares... 40/ sh 10/ pd
BankofCeylon(Chart.)25/sh 15/pd
Bank of B. N. America (Chart.)
50/ sh 40/ pd
Colonial Bank (Chart.)lOOZ sh 25/ pd
Com.Bk.ofLondonl000/sh200/pd

Ionian State (Chart.) 25/sh

London and Westminster Bank
100/ sh 20/ pd

New Shares 100 sh.15/ pd

London Joint St. Ba. 50/ sh 10/ pd
National Ba.of Ire. .50/ shl7J/ pd
Do. Provincial Bank of England
100/ sh 35/ pd
Do. New 20/ sh issued at 2/ 10s pm
10/ pd
Provinc. Bk. of Ire. 100/sh25/ pd

Ditto New 10/ sh

South Australian Bkg. Company
25/ sh 22.1/ pd

Do. New 25/ sh 17|/ pd

Union Bank of Australia.. 25/ sh
Ditto New 25/ sh 20/ pd

Union Bk. of London 50/sh 10/ pd
West of England and South Wales
District Bank . .20/ sh 12JZ pd

Prict-

Div. per

per

Share

Shares.

Share.

per Ann.

58/aOZ

1,760^
1,482

0/a0Z

720

63/a4Z

1,260

10£/all&

52 per ct

1,005

34/a5Z

4/ per ct

8,800
4,000

15/ a 17/

2/

100,000/

— laOl

600

Si/:t9>

159,631/

I0/Ils8d

5Z per ct

500

— /aOZ

20,000

190a2/

12Zper ct

2,0003

97/ a0/

12/perct

3,575;|

28/ a 0/

1/

1,297

— ZaO/

5/ per et

11,455

37/a8/

3/ per ct

2,8191

602/ali

3/ per ct

1,500

10/ a J/

3/ per ct

120,000/

0/n0/

3,096

37 /a0

600

Iia/al2/

5,000
6,239

GjZaSZ

7s per sh

25,328

18/ a0/

1Z per sh

11,6991

-/aOZ

5/ per ct

2,879*

Il£/aJZ

18?

55/

2JZ

540

5/ per sh

1,897

1971/

10/per ct

70

47/

10/per et

3,000

92/aOZ

lOZperct

2,409
711

58Zai

8/ persh

500

— ZaOZ

7s 6d

247

— ZaOZ

5/ per ct

521

169/a70/

9»Zper ct

1,786

24£/a5/

8j/per ct.

2,400

57Za8Z

S^Zper ct

2,520

28/a9Z

2,000

72/a0/

21,418

30Zal /

3^1 ail

5,669

27/a9/

500

80/a2/

5Z per ct

800

25JZ aGZ

tt

3,600

71/a2/

•21 per ct

700

34£/a5Z

ft

500

16£/al7

300

33/ a£Z

3,647

45/

2Z12spsh

200
533

255/

14Zpersh

1,300

26|/a7j/

4/ per ct

1,150

10aJ pm

2,600

91/a3Z

9Z per ct

8,149

31JZa2|/ 9/ per ct

3,200

531/aJZ

8/ per ct

lOOOsh )
1000 }j ]

15/ aj/

980

6,000

33/a4Z

6Z per ct

27Za8Z

8/ per ct

5,000

150/

905

23/a0/

SlJzafJ

6/ per ct

— ZaOZ

12aZal3Z

6/ per ct

10,000

l7ZaJZ

6/ per ct

10,000
1,080

341/aOZ

6/ per ct

10,000

9J/al0/

6/ per ct

10,000

41/a2/

8/ per ct

15/aiZ

8/ per ct

5,000
20,000

1.32a 0Z

6/ per ct

1,800

30£Zal/

50s pr sh

1,800

23J/a 4/

2,100

9JZ aJZ

5/ per ct

24,800
5,000

ll£Zal2Z

6/ per ct

CANALS. Price.

Ashton and Oldham Av. 97/ 18s sh 100/
Ashby-de-la Zouch Average 113Z sh 72/a0Z

Barnsley 160Zsh 250Z

Basingstoke 100Z sh,5Z

Brecknock & Abergavenny 150Z sh 92/ a0/
Birmingham 1-lGth sh. 8/ 15s .. !l94/a0/
Birm. & Liverpool Junction 100/ sh 21 ZaOZ
Do. do. Debentures (var. amounts)
Bridgewafer and Taunton. .100Z sh 60Z
15s Od Calder and Hebble..lO0Z sh 800/aOZ

Coventry 100/ sh 300/

Danube and Mavne..41/ 13s 4d sh!29Z

Dudley 100/ sh 92/a3/

Ellesmere and Chester Av. 133/ sh — ZaOZ
Forth and Clyde ..Av. 400Z 10s sh

Grand Junction 100/ sh 118/a20/

Grand Union 100/ sh 27/aO/

15/

67/

10/

210/

10/a0Z

22/ aO

18/al9/

27^/aO/

740/

Grand Surrey 100/ sh

Ditto Debentures 100/ sh

Grand Western 100/ sh

Glamorgansh. Av. cost 172/ 13s 4d
Gloucester and Berkley . . 100Z sh
Iluddersfield . . Aver. 57/ Cs 6d sh
Kennet & Avon Av. 39/ lfis 10(1 sh
Lancaster. . . .Average 47/ 6s 8d sh

Leeds and Liverpool 100/ sh

Ditto (New) 80/ sh

Leicester 140/ sh 155/

Leicester & Northamp. Av. 83/ 10s 71/a0Z

Loughborough Av. 142/ 17s sh 1570/

Macclesfield 100/ sh 20/ a2/

Monmouthshire 100/ sh 200Z

Montgomery (East. Branch) 100Z sh 100Z

Mersey and Irwell 545Z

Neath 100Z sh 365/

Oakham. .Average cost about 130/ — ZaOZ

Oxford 100/ sh570ZaO/

Peak Forest Average about 78/ sh 73/
Portsmouth and Arundel . . 50/ sh

Ditto New 25/ sh

Regent's (or London) Average

33/ 17s 2d sh 10/ a*

Rochdale Average 85/ sh 85/

Shropshire 100/ sh 188/

Somerset Coal 150/ sh 170/

Ditto Lock Fund 12/ 10s sh 11J/

Stafford and Worcester 140/ shJ020/

Shrewsbury 125/ sh'280/

Stourbridge 145/ sh 396/

Stratford-on-Avon Av. 79/9s8d sh'32/a3Z

Stroudwater 150/ sh — /

Swansea 100/ sh232/aOZ

Thames and Severn, black 100/ sh 36/
Ditto ditto red.. 100/ sh 38/

Trent and Mersey J sh 50/ 5.00/

Thames and Medway, Average J

19/ 5s 8d slV2Z
Ulster 50/sh pd,

Warwick and Birmingham 100/ sh 200/ alO/

Warwick and Napton.... 100/ sh 117/aOZ
Worcester and Birmingham, Av.

78/8ssh.. 54Za5Z
Wilts and Berks, Av.67/ 10s 8d sh'[28/a0/
Wey and Arun 110/ sh — I

MISCELLANEOUS.

Anti Dry Rot Company . . 181/ sh 0/
Assam Tea Company 50/sh 12JZ pd

Auction Mart 50/ sh 2(

Australian (Agricultural) 100/ sh

28/2spd37/a8/
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100/ sh 321/ pd 29/a30/
Droitwich Patent Salt .... 25/ sh 14/aOZ
General Steam Navigation Com

pany 15/ sh 14/ pd 23j/a4/
Ditto Cemetery (Chartered) 25/ sh
Ditto New (Chartered) 25/ sh

Hungerford Market 100/ pd 82/

Ditto Debentures (var. amounts)..
London Cemetery (Chartered)
20/ sh

Dividend

6/
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Ml

61
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3/

18Z
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5/

42

35Z

72

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4Z per ct

13Z12s8d

2/

1/lOs

1/ 10s

342

16/

121/

5/

84/

Hi

10/

5/

25/

20/

>/

80/

42

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8/
12/

(6/ per ct
|36!
15/
-20/
2/

29.1/
|15/
2/
2/
32/ 10s

14/
10Z

4/

1216s

1/

5s per sh

20s pr sh

35s pr sh

6/ per ct
16s

l/8sprsli
6/ per et
6/ per ct
80s pr sh
5/ per ct

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk- street, Strand, London.

.

Sr

•

*

■

S

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MARCH, .1842.

No. 3.— Vol. V.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

The subject of our first Plate is a Short-horned Cow, five years and two months old,
bred and fed by Mr. R. Wright, of Spilsby, Lincolnshire ; and exhibited at the Show
of the Smithfield Club, in December, 1841, and to which the first Prize of Twenty
Sovereigns was awarded, as also a Silver Medal as breeder, and the Gold Medal "as the
best beast in the yard." This class Avas the most remarkable ever seen at the Smithfield
Show, from the number of extraordinary animals exhibited in it.

PLATE II.

GONE AWAY.

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF
THE GLOUCESTER FARMER'S
CLUB.

ELEVENTH MEETING, DECEMBER 4th.

Subject, " Chemical Effects of particular Manures
on particular Crops.'*

Mr. H apologized for appearing before the

meeting with so much chemical apparatus, ami so
much in the character of a professional lecturer,
to perform the duties of which he professed him-
self quite incapable ; but he was happy to be able
to say, that his friend, Mr. Gyde, had kindly
undertaken to perform the necessary experiments,
and that, if they were amused, they would have to
thank Mr. Gyde, and not himself. Mr. H. then
proceeded as follows : —

Soon after I noticed to you, last year, tLe effect
of nitrate of soda on a wheat crop of mine, it
struck me that the increased quantity of the crop,
viz., ten bushels per acre, and the difference of
sample were so remarkable, that it might be worth
while to compare, by chemical analysis, the ni-
trated and unnitrated flour. My friend, Mr. Gyde,
was kind enough to analyze them. The result

'"The subject treated is scarcely that which the
t'tle indicates. Whenundertaken.it was intended
to be a continuation of the subject introduced by the
writer last year — " The Results of Experiments in
the Use of Nitrate of Soda as a Manure" — experi-
ments which would have been repeated and extended
with reference to the chemical effects on particular
crops, but thitt he was disappointed of his nitrate,
and is therefore compelled to treat his subject less
practically than lie could have wished.

OLD SERIES.]

was curious, and its accuracy was confirmed in a
marked manner by similar experiments performed
about the same time by Dr. Daubeny, the Professor
of Rural Economy at Oxford. Both his own
results and those of Mr. Gyde he has published in
his late " Lectures on Agriculture."

These analyses present matter far more interest-
ing than the mere explanation of a fact bearing on
the use of the nitrates alone. They dropped in
singularly enough to strengthen a general position
lately taken up on the Chemical Action of Manures,
viz., that nitrogen, not long ago thought to be an
element comparatively small and unimportant in
the composition of vegetables, is derived much
more generally and directly from manures than
was supposed ; in fact, that they afford crops botli
abundant and nutritious in proportion to its pre-
sence.

The following observations are intended to bear
on this point, and will be illustrated more par-
ticularly by the effect of this element on wheat.
Their scope requires that I should detect it in
various manures — that, tracing its identity, I
should show immediately its fertilizing effects on
the plant — and, eventually, its fattening effects on
the animal — whence it again returns to the manui c
— in each passing on in something like the propor-
tion in which it entered, and, in all, one of the
most important agents in the renovation of or-
ganic matter.

Before coming to this particular point, it is
clear that we must have some general insight into
the composition cf plants, which naturally divides
the subject into two parts: —

1st. A sketch of the chemical composition of
plants generally, which, I hope, will not be alto-

M [No, 3,-VOL. XVI.

162

THE FARMER'S [MAGAZINE.

gethcr useless, and which, at all events, 1 trust,
our experimental illustrations will render amusing;
and,

2ndly. The particular application of the point in
question, which I shall hope to have made more
clear by the previous disquisition.

1st, Then, as regards the chemical composition
of the plant. Nothing will illustrate this so well
as the actual analysis of part of some plant under
your eyes. Wheat flour serves our purpose best.
The process is simple and intelligible, and while a
knowledge of the practical mode in which it is
pei formed maybe useful, its exhibition will afford
a good idea of what chemical analysis really is.
We will now then proceed with our analysis of
of wheat flour.

I should observe, that it is composed of five
ingredients — starch, gluten, albumen, water, and
a little extract. These arc its subordinate vege-
table principles, sometimes called primary or
proximate, i. e., nearest compound-, — Compounds,
because they are all again subdivisible into certain
ultimate elements, which are so called, because, as
yet, they have never been decomposed. Those
elements arc carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and ni-
trogen, together with comparatively small pro-
portions of other elementary bodies, as metals,
earths, &c., &c. Thus there are necessarily two
stages in this analysis. The first, that which is
going on upon my left hand — the separation of
wheat flour into its vegetable principles of gluten,
starch, &c, &c. ; and the second, that which Mr.
Gyde is performing, the separation of gluten for
instance into its elements of hydrogen, nitrogen,
&c.

Now the first stage of the analysis of wheat is
practical enough. Its first step consists in wash-
ing and kneading the flour in a cloth, constantly
pouring on it cold water, till the latter comes over
clear— all its ingredients are carried off by the
water except one, which being insoluble in water,
and, as you see, of a thick gluey character, re-
mains in the cloth. This is gluten ; and as it is
the only ingredient we want to operate upon, an
explanation of the mode in which the others are
obtained) without actually producing them, will
be sufficient for our purpose.

Starch is the next which would be obtained.
It is held by the water in mechanical solution, or
rather mixture, for it is not actually dissolved,
and may be obtained by allowing it to subside,
pouring off the water, and drying it.

The third ingredient, Albumen, almost identical
with white of egg, is held in chemical solution by
the water, or, in other words, is so intimately dis-
solved by it as not to separate of its own accord.
Another process therefore, is necessary : albumen
is soluble in cold water only. When heated, it
consolidates like wdiite of egg when boiled, and
precipitates, that is, falls to the bottom exactly as
the starch did before. The two other components
of wheat flour, vizi, water and extract, are small
in quantity ; the Steps by which they arc obtained,
it is not necessary to describe, the process above
noticed being sufficient to give a good practical
idea of the way in which chemists work out their
analysis.

This process, you see is, as I told you, simple
and practical; such, indeed, a:; any of you who
will to ascertain the qnantby of glutens which
millers call the ' proof in your Hour, may eaaily
perform. It is, indeed, the practical operation of
manufacturing starch, and not a whit less mecha-

nical than the processes of analysis which the
corn has already undergone at your hands, when
it was separated first from the ear, by threshing,
and then from the chaff by winnowing, and not
quite so scientific as the treatment it received from
the miller when he separated the dust or smut
from the grain, and the flour fiom the bran. So
that when you hear us talk of analyzing wheat,
you must recollect that it does not necessaiily take
a conjuror to do it, nor require any very profound
chemical education to understand some of the
simpler processes of chemical analysis. Thus we
have completed what is called the proximate
analysis of wheat, for we have separated its proxi-
mate, principles.

Our next step is the ultimate, or elementary
analysis. That is, the division of the above-named
principles into their ultimate elements. This,
however, is a very different operation from that
which I have before explained. It requires a
variety of treatment and apparatus, for which the
skill and laboratory of the experienced chemist
are necessary. The principle of the two processes,
however, is exactly the same, that of detaching
first one, and then another, of the elements of
which the compound is made up. Mr. Gyde is
now doing this with gluten : he is separating its
nitrogen. Gluten and albumen are the only proxi-
mate principles in wheat which contain nitrogen.
Now nitrogen is a gas, or impalpable air ; one of
the chief properties by which it maybe distin-
guished is, that it will not support combustion.
We will now try by that test whether this is ni-
trogen wdiich has been obtained from gluten. We
may as well try at the same time whether the
gases obtained from manure, and from animal
substance, arc of the same character, and weshall
then have completed one chain of our demonstra-
tion by identifying nitrogen in the manure, in the
plant, and the animal. You sec bow the gas is
collected under these three glass hells — In one
from the gluten, in the second from beef, and in
the third from manure — and that a lighted candle
is instantaneously extinguished oil being put into
any of them. Wc have thus procured nitrogen
from the manure — the gluten of the plant— and
flcdi of the animal, which is enough for our pre-
sent purpose, without describing particularly each
process. But I may as well bete enumerate all
the component parts, and their proportions, not
only in gluten, but in the other vegetable princi-
ples of wheat.

i Carbon.

Thus 100 pints of Parts.

Starch contain . . 4n

Gluten i 54.78

Mlmmcii .... ;3-2.8

Extract not

Water ;

Oxygen, fiydroge

Parts.
53.38
20.08
28.8
deter-
1.

Part)

8.67

7.08

7.5

mined.

Nitrogen.

Parts.

o
18.12
10.7

Now while the proportions in which each of
these vegetable principles make up wheat flour are
infinitely variable by climate, season, or manure,
the proportions in which these elements make up
the several principles respectively are as unvary-
ing and definite ; thus, wheat flour may hold from
;; pi r cent, to .'}"> per cent, of gluten ; but loo parts
of pure gluten will always contain neither more
nor less than its 20 parts of oxygen and its 18 of
nitrogen. When these proportions are altered it
cea es to be gluten, and may become some other
compound, having perhaps the most different
properties and external appearance*

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

163

Thus 40 parts of carbon, 53 odd of oxygen, (J
odd of hydrogen, form starch. Change the W
parts of carbon into 43, and you have no longer
starch, but sugar. This, however, is a process
which requires the laboratory of nature.

It is probably this very change that explains the
fact noticed at one of our meetings by Mr. Wal-
ters, of the different effects of beetroot on cattle
in the early and later period of the year. By the
end of the season the beetroot has either ac-
quired, from the atmosphere, the small quantity
of carbon necessary to convert the starch into
sugar, or, which is more probable, has given off
by evaporation small -quantities of oxygen and
hydrogen — which amounts to the same thing, for
it has relatively increased the carbon. When the
exact* cause of this change is learnt, it may guide
us to the best mode of storing, if not of preparing
roots for the food of cattle.

We may now be said to have completed the
second stage of our analysis, and to have done for
the present with wheat Hour.

As it is with wheat Hour, so it is with all other
vegetables. They arc composed, first, of their
subordinate principles, or primary compounds,
varying almost infinitely, as well in character
as in proportions, in different plant*, and even in
their different parts. Thus the stems of trees
abound in woody fibre; the fruit in sugar; the
Oak has its tannin ; the fir its resins ; the poppy
its narcotic ; the seed of the castor oil plant its
cathartic ; and the root of the ipecacuanha its
emetic principle. All these, like the gluten and
starch of wheat, arc compounded of the same
ultinia'c elements, just as words are made up of
syllables, and syllables of letters. Groat as are
the varieties of the vegetable creation, and of the
principles ! of which they are composed, these
principles in their subdivision are, for the most
part, resolvable at last into the four simple ele-
ments which I named before, viz., carbon, oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen. The last three of these
substances are gases, in fact, so much air, not dis-
tinguishable from each other except by certain
physical differences which it is the province of the
chemist to detect and explain. The first, cat bon,
or pure charcoal, is a solid, but, in connection
with oxygen, it forms also a gas— carbonic acid.
And it is in this shape that, chiefly, if not entirely,
it enters into the substance of the plant, These
four gases make up by their combinations, odd as
it may seem, the principal part of the solid sub-
stance of all vegetable matter. The vast appa-
rent differences of vegetable life arc the result of
the difference in the proportions in which these
four elements combine. While the great and
knotted oak, which endures for centuries, no less
than the most delicate flower which withers in a
week — and, indeed, I may continue the applica-
tion to the higher gradations of animated life, and
add, that while the body of man, no less than that
of the most microscopic insect, is indebted for its
constituent parts to these four elements, the great
varieties In the subordinate principles of all or-

* May not temperature be an influential agent in
this change 1 In the north of the state of Ohio 32
gallons of liquid from the maple-tree, when tapped
immediately after a severe frost, give from 9 to 1 1
pounds of moist sugar ; hut when the frost has been
slight, the same number of gallons give only from 5
to 6 pounds, and that of an inferior quality. The
tree also gives less juice.

ganic or living things, are produced by the multi-
plicity of the proportions in which these four
simple bodies combine. Thus the same three of
these elements, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen,
which, when combined in one proportion, form
starch ; in another, form brandy; and in a third,
vinegar.

Now it is probably not a very easy thing for
those previously unacquainted with the elements
of chemistry to understand how solids arc thus
produced out of gases; how these impalpable,
aeriform fluids, which seem to be nothing more
than the air by which we are surrounded, can con-
solidate and make up the principal part of all vege-
table, and, as I have said, of all animal matter:
for the flesh, and fat, and muscles, we would put
on our sheep and oxen, and even upon ourselves,
are just as much carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and
nitrogen, onlv in different proportions, and there-
fore other forms, as are the gluten and starch of
wheat, or sugar of beetroot.

But to understand more clearly how solids aie
formed from gases, I will first illustrate the point
bv a few familiar instances. There are two modes
of doing this— first, by taking gases and actually
manufacturing a solid ; and next, by taking a
solid, and resolving it into its gases. The first
process is called Synthesis, or the act of joining
together; the second Analysis, or that of sepa-
rating. We shall do both.

Mr. Gyde will first bring two gases into contact,
and you shall see a cloudy smoke, as it were,
forming itself, which, If we could carry our expe-
riment far enough, would fall in solid flakes like-
snow. The two gases now brought together arc
muriatic acid gas and ammoniacal gas, and the re-
sult of their union is the same solid substance as
that 1 hold in my hand, a muriate of ammonia. It
is true the quantity we can make just now is very
small, but you should recollect that there is sonic
difference between Mr. Gyde's and Nature's ap-
paratus. That retort, or that receiver, may be
one thing, but the globe or the firmament is an-
other. In passing, let me remark that the sub-
stance we have chosen to illustrate the position
that solids arc actually made up of gases, is a
compound of which nitrogen itself affords very
important proportions, and without which this
solid substantial body would not exist. Now,
doubtless, those who thought of this clement;
merely as a gas, would naturally smile when I
imputed to it a relation* to vegetable life some-
what similar to that which beef bears to human
existence; but the parallel is moie literal than
you may suppose, for the nitrogen which is so im-
portant as an ingredient and component of mu-
riate of ammonia, is no less important as a compo-
nent of beef, of cheese, of bread, and o^ beer.
There is, however, another familiar illustration of
forming a solid, though not exactly accurate.
Take steam — it is not exactly a gas — but take

* In fact, not long since, much of the muriate of
ammonia of commerce was actually manufactured
from camel's dung, and imported into this country
from Egypt. It IS highly probable that this sub-
stance, if it can be rendered cheap enough, would
be even more valuable as a manure than eiiher the
nitrates of soda or potash. The sulphate of com-
merce is cheaper and might do as well, but the ni-
trate, though deliquescent and difficult to preserve,
would probably be the best of all.

M 2

164

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

steam and cool it, you have water; freeze it, and
yon have a solid.

Though wc have but imperfectly shown it, I
hope you understand how solids may be formed
out of gases.

But let us try the truth of the position by the
opposite process. Let us take solids and reduce
them to gases. Every one of the experiments
going on now, by which a gas is formed, is an in-
stance of this fact. Thus, the oxygen gas, which,
imperceptible as it is, you shall presently see to be
contained in that jar, is obtained from the oxide
of a metal, leaving a residuum diminished by the
quantity of one of its component parts, oxygen,
of which wc have deprived it. That carbonic
acid gas, also in the other jar, impalpable as it is,
is nothing but one of the component parts of a
piece of our Painswick-hill stone, or a carbonate
of lime, the gas being obtained by the chemical
decomposition of the stone. But to be more fa-
miliar yet, imagine the explosion of gunpowder ;
it is, in fact, nothing but the resolution of its solid
substance into so much gas.

So all combustion and all decay are chemical
operations which reduce solid substances into
their ultimate component gases ; the ashes, or
other remains, being the whole amount of earthy
or metallic substance necessary for the formation
of the respective compounds.

Having now endeavoured to explain the general
fact of the composition of solids from gases, let
us consider, very hastily, the nature and proper-
ties of those four particular gases, of which so
much of the substance of vegetable matter is
made up. In going into this part of the subject,
I shall exhibit the physical differences of-these
gases, because, when we have once seen a fact
with reference to oxygen, for instance, we have a
peg, as it were, in our minds, on which to hang all
future ideas as to oxygen. We are then enabled
to separate and classify, and associate all future
information on the subject in question — a process
which forms the essence of all useful knowledge.
Loose ideas, when unarranged, like loose papers,
when not tied up nor docketted they, are tossed
into a box, even if they arc not forgotten alto-
gether, are sure never to be found at the right
moment.

To begin with

OXYGEN.

This name is composed of two Greek words,
meaning the generator of acids, for it is the prin-
ciple which, in combination with other bodies,
forms acids. With nitrogen and carbonic acid it
forms rather more than one-fifth of the air we
breathe, nitrogen making less than four-fifths,
leaving considerably less than one part in the
hundred to be supplied by carbonic acid. It forms
one-third of water, while hydrogen forms the
other two-thirds. With metals it forms what are
called oxides. Rust of iron is an oxide of iron
formed by the combination of iron with oxygen
drawn from water or air. Oxygen is generally
obtained by decomposing one of the oxides, and
collecting the gas through water under ajar. The
process has been going on yonder. Its distin-
guishing properties are, that it supports combus-
tion in an eminent degree. A candle, as you see,
on being blown out and quickly immersed in this
jar of oxygen, lights as it were spontaneously.
You sec, too, the extreme brilliancy with which
phosphorus and charcoal burn in it. As it contri-
butes to combustion, so without it combustion

will not go on. It supports respiration in the
same manner, and is as necessary to it as com-
bustion. The burning the charcoal in that re-
ceiver has converted the oxygen into carbonic
acid gas, which will be used presently in order to
show you some of its peculiar effects when we
treat of that gas. Oxygen is said to be necessary
to the germination of seeds, and hence the neces-
sity of loosening soil where they are sown. With-
out it putrefaction will not proceed. Thus, when
we wish our dungheaps to rot more quickly, they
are turned and exposed to the air, and laid lightly
together, and when we want to check decomposi-
tion, they are pressed and covered with earth.
Oxygen, both alone and in combination with hy-
drogen as water, and with a variety of other sub-
stances, forms a large portion of the food of
plants.

CARBONIC ACID GAS
Is next to be noticed. Carbon, or pure charcoal,
is, as you know, a solid ; it combines readily with
oxygen, and forms carbonic acid gas, which, in
fact, it did when we burned, just now, the char-
coal in the jar containing oxygen. It is extremely
heavy- — eight times heavier than atmospheric air,
and twelve heavier than hydrogen. It does not
support respiration. If we put this chicken into
this glass vase, and pour the gas into it, the gas
sinks to the bottom like water, and, as you see by
its gasping, suffocates the chicken. This shows
two things — the weight of the gas and its inca-
pacity of supporting animal life. The gas just
poured over the chicken was that formed by the
combustion of the charcoal in the oxygen. The
oxygen so necessary to respiration, combined
with the charcoal, and is no longer present in its
necessary form. Now that we know the cause
which appears to have killed the chicken, let us
try whether it can be revived. The usual remedy
under these circumstances is to lay the animal on
its back, and dash a little cold water over it. You
see it revives gradually ; but let us try a quicker
remedy, and supply the deficiency of oxygen by
putting this receiver containing that gas over him.
He now appears quite recovered. I have shown
you this experiment, which Mr. Gyde has per-
formed with much dexterity and success, in order
that you may remember, at the moment, the
proper treatment when any one is suffocated by
carbonic acid. A few minutes loss of time, and it
is too late. It is true oxygen gas is scarcely ever
to be had; but the sufferer should be immediately
carried into the freshest air, laid on his back, and
have a little cold water dashed over his face. The
accident is one of the most frequent occurrence,
and its cause not always understood ; I may there-
fore be excused for pointing out some of the in-
stances in which it happens. It is exactly what
we did to the chicken, which has killed a vast
many human beings. We burnt charcoal in the
glass, formed carbonic acid, and poured it over
the chicken. So in close rooms, where charcoal
is burnt, it combines with the oxygen of the air.
Carbonic acid is formed by exactly the same pro-
cess, and when persons sleep in the same apart-
ment, especially if they sleep on the floor, death i3
almost sure to ensue. The same thing too takes
place in the " Grotto del Cane," the Grotto of the
Dog, at Naples, in the neighbourhood of Vesu-
vius. The carbonic acid gas which is evolved
from the crevices of rocks near all active volca-
noes, fills this grotto about a foot high. If a man
walk in, his mouth being higher than that level,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

165

he escapes unhurt, but if a dog follow him, whose
mouth is below it, he is immediately suffocated.
So, in wells, carbonic acid gas is the foul air which
has killed so many persons, who have descended
into them without first ascertaining whether they
are safe. Now this gas does not support combustion
any better than respiration. By pouring it over
a candle in a glass, exactly as it was poured over
the chicken, you see the candle goes out. The
experiment on the chicken shows the danger of
inspiring the foul air in wells ; that on the candle
shows how we may avoid it. Let a candle down
into the well, and if it goes out you may be sure
that any one who goes down while it is in such a
state would be suffocated. This also is the foul
air of brewer's vats.

While on this point I may as well observe, that
some think leaving the well open gets rid of the
foul air. This you will at once see to be impos-
sible. Carbonic acid gas is so heavy that it will
do more rise above the atmospheric air than water
will above oil in a glass. A sure mode of getting
rid of it is to dash down buckets full of water,
with a little quicklime in it, which rapidly com-
bines with the carbonic acid, forms a carbonate of
lime, which is harmless, and leaves the well safe.
In the absence of lime, a good many buckets-full
of water alone may do. But whatever you do, no
one should be suffered to go down till the candle
burns at the bottom.

You have seen that oxygen supports combus-
tion, and how combustion transmutes it into car-
bonic acid which no longer supports combustion.
So it is exactly with respiration. In breathing, a
part of the oxygen in the air is absorbed by the
blood in the lungs which supports animal life.
The rest is given off, together with an excess of
carbon derived from the food— uniting, they form
carbonic acid, which, as you have seen in the
case of the chicken, destroys life. This is exactly
what happened to the 145 persons inclosed in the
black hole at Calcutta. Their respiration trans-
muted the oxygen of the air into carbonic acid,
and before morning 125 of the number were dead.

A single human being inspires 45,000 cubic
inches of oxygen gas in one day, or hib',075 cubic
feet in a year, and expires carbonic acid. What
must then be the consumption of oxygen by the
whole human race— what that of all the lower
animals, added to the enormous quantities lost by
combustion !

Now, were all the combustion and respiration of
the habitable globe to go on without some counter-
acting or compensating process, in course of time
the atmospheric air must become so impure as to
render combustion and respiration no longer possible,
and animal life would cease. The mode in which
this is prevented exhibits one of the most beautiful
arrangements of Providence. The air which has
served its purpose to animal life, and is now become
prejudicial to it, is exactly that which is necessary
for the aupport of vegetable existence ; and, accord-
ingly, we find that the leaves of all vegetables inhale
the carbonic acid gas, exhaled from the lungs of all
animals. This is again decomposed, and the solid
carbon is deposited as a part of the substance of the
plant, while the oxygen is returned pure — again to
support artificial fire, without whichhuman existence,
in some parts of the world, would cease altogether,
and, in all parts, would be deprived of much of the
health and comfort with which it is blest — and again,
to afford the pure breath of life, without which the
whole animal creation would be at an end.

There is another admirable provision which I do

not remember to have seen noticed elsewhere. The
great weight of carbonic acid always keeps it where
it should be, in contact with vegetation on the
surface of the earth. Were it light as hydrogen, it
would ascend in the upper regions, or were it no
heavier than the air it would mix and dilute, and its
office of renovating vegetable life would be less
perfectly performed. Thus, carbon constitutes
much the largest proportion of vegetable matter. It
was heretofore supposed, not only to be absorbed by
the leaves as stated above, but to be taken up by the
roots of the plant : — it has lalely been maintained
by a learned German, that the latter process of as-
similation is not supported by the fact — a position,
somewhat novel and startling — but which, though
his arguments are ingenious and strong, he does not
seem to have fully established. I have dwelt longer
on carbonic acid than I should have done, because
some of you may not be aware that it was the cause
of the various accidents to which I have alluded ;
and when once that cause is generally understood, it
is certain that the frequency of such accidents will
be diminished. We now come to

HYDROGEN.

Hydrogen is also derived from two Greek words,
signifying the generator of water, of which it
forms two parts, while oxygen forms one. It is
inflammable, as you shall see. During its combus-
tion it unites with the oxygen of the air, and forms,
as you may see on the glass 1 hold over the flame,
water hanging in drops. There is by accident also,
on this gl.iss, a shining metallic substance left by the
flame. This is arsenic* The zinc, or the sulphuric
acid, with which the hydrogen happened to be made,
must have contained it. This is the test for that
poison used in the late trial in France of Madame
Laffarge.

In combination with carbon it forms the gas we
burn in the streets. In combination with atmos-
pheric air, and oxygen, in certain proportions, it
explodes, and is dangerous in inexperienced hands.
Itisalso extremely light — eight times lighter than the
air we breathe, and twelve times lighter than car-
bonic acid gas. This is best shown by filling this
small balloon with it, which you see rises im-
mediately. Hydrogen introduced into plants as
watet is also one of the necessaries of vegetable life
— and as one of the component elements of the
proximate pinciples, contributes largely to their
existence.

NITROGEN
you have already seen. It is sometimes called azote.
Both words are derived from the Greek. Nitrogen
means the generator of nitre ; azote the depriver of
life— beaiuse, like carbonic acid gas, when breathed,
it destroys all animals ; norwill it, as you have seen,
support combustion. It is certainly rather singular
that it should have received the name of azote, or life
destroyer ; for, although it is quite true, that when
breathed by animals it kills, we shall find, I think,
that it ranks amongst the most nutritive component
parts of the food of plants and animals. With
hydrogen, in equal parts, it forms ammonia, the
cause of that pungent smell iu ill-ventilated stables,
and which rises so often from rapidly decaying duDg-
heaps. This is the ingredient to which manuresowe
most of their richness, so much of which is carried
off, before it is appropriated by the soil. This is
owing to its then being in combination with carbonic
acid, in the shape of a carbonate of ammonia — a very

♦ Arsenic is often found in the zinc of commerce, nor is it
unrommon in sulphuric acid, manufactured, as it frequently
is, from pyrites.

16G

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

volatile salt : hundreds of pounds of which are lost
by evaporation to many of us every year, and which
might be saved by sprinkling every morning a little
powdered gypsum in our stables, or behind our
cattle sheds, or a very small quantity of dilute
sulphuric, or perhaps better still, of muriatic acid,
at the same time that we should improve the health
of the animals exposed to the influence of so dele-
terious an exhalation. Nitrogen forms 79 per cent.
of the atmosphere ; but it is not proved to be drawn
from that source by plants.

I now come to the second and more practical part
of my subject ; viz., the effect of nitrogen in
manure on vegetables — and in vegetables on
animals.

We all know the extraordinary fertility produced
by animal manures, — that our dungbeaps are in
proportion to the quantity of solid exciement, and
still more of the urine which they contain, — that
human faeces and urine are richer even than that of
other animals, — that woollen rags, blood, flesh, fish,
bones, oil-cake, and malt-dust, all produce a very
marked effect, while the remarkable chemical feature
which they present is, that they contain, and durirg
decomposition give oft' in abundance, ammonia, and
ammonia, as we have seen, is a compoundofone part
of nitrogen and another of hydrogen. Now, taking
these two facts together, their effect and their
ammonia, it is a fair inference that ammonia or its
nitrogen is the fertilizing cause, and if it should be
found, as seems more than probable, that fertility
bears almost a constant ratio to the quantity of this
ingredient in the manure, our inference amounts
almost to a certainty. It is not, however, clear, not-
withstanding the positive assertion of Dr. Liebig,
that it is to the compound ammonia that either the
quantitv or nutritious quality of a crop produced by
these manures is due. The r.itrates, which do not
hold their nitrogen as ammonia in combination witli
hydrogen, produce abundant crops. In this case,
therefore, the increased quantity may perhaps be
traced to the simple element, nitrogen.

On this point, Mr. Pusey says in his paper on the
use of Nitrates in the Journal of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society for January 1341, p. 123—" But
the investigation of the effects of nitrate of soda is, I
think, as likely to advance scientific as practical
farming. Hitherto manures have been classed rather
loosely as real or nutritious manures, such as dung,
and stimulating manures, such as lime and other
minerals ; which last are supposed not to support
the plant directly by affording it food, but indirectly,
by exciting other substances, that are thus rendered
capable of giving nourishment to it. German
writers, however, now maintain that dung itself acts
not by any power which it possesses as having
formerly been a part of living bodies, animal or
vegetable, but as uniting those chemical elements,
some of them mineral, which constitute the food of
plants ; and that a compound of these elements, ar-
tificially brought together, would act precisely in
the same manner as dung. Dr. Liebig, who is re-
garded as the first living authority on organic
chemistry, maintains this view in the important
work he has just published on * Chemistry in its ap-
plication to Agriculture,' and goes far to prove it.
This is, in fact, the great question, if it still be a
question, in agricultural chemistry. Cut the sub-
stance we are considering throws, I think, some
light on this point and on the operation of other
manures. It is now admitted that the most active
principle of farm-yard dung is the urine that is
mixed in if. When this urine, which is the liquid-
manure of the Flemings, is applied to growing crops
as a top-dressing, it gives a dark colour to the grasses

(including those grasses which bear grain, that is,
common corn) ; it has a tendency to lengthen, but
weaken the straw, — to increase the bulk, but
diminish (ho weight, of the grain. I need not
remind you that this liquid, when pulrified, contains
much ammonia : soot, I believe, acts in the s.ime
manner, and also contains much ammonia. The refuse
liquorof gas-works wasmentionedin the first number
of our journal as producing the same dark colour
and active growth in barley. 1 have tried it this
year in consequence, and found it to act in the
same manner on carrots. The chief ingredient
of this liquor is also ammonia, as may be per-
ceived by its pungent smell. It appears clear,
therefore, that one active principle of these three
very different manures is that substance in which
they agree, namely, ammonia. But the nitrate of
soda enables us, I think, to go a step further.
Ammonia is a combination of nitrogen with
hydrogen : either of these might be the source of
its power over vegetation ; but we have seen that
saltpetre, or nitrate of potash, and cubic saltpetre,
or nitrate of soda, act upon crops in the same pe-
culiar manner with fermented urine, with soot,
and with gas-liquor. These last, however, do not
contain hydrogen, and so differ from the other
three, hut they agree with them in containing ni-
trogen in the form of nitric acid. Nitrogen ap-
pears, then, to be the active principle of the five
substances. Dr. Liebig, in proving the efficacy of
ammonia as a manure, has shown the necessity of
nitrogen for forming the most nutritious part of
our vegetable food, such as gluten, which nitrogen
again appears as a most essential element of all
animal frames." The similarity of the peculiar
effects of the nitrates on growing crops and their
quantities, and of those produced by these other
manures, is strikingly enough pointed out. Bat I
think neither Mr. Pusey nor Dr. Liebig seem to
have been aware of the additional fact which the
analysis of nitrated wheat has established, viz.,
that the gluten of wheat, which alone contains
nitrogen, was positively increased by the nitrates
at the same time'with the quantity of the crop. For
while the excess in quantity on the wheat crop of
mine, where the nitrate of soda was used, was ten
bushels per acre, Mr. Gyde's analysis of the two
samples ascertained that there was one-fourth
more gluten and albumen in the nitrated than the
unnitrated samples — a result confirmed by Dr.
Daubeny's similar experiments.

These two concurrent results have long been re-
marked in the warm climates of the south, where
the crops arc most abundant, for Sir II. Davy tells
us, that the wheat there, from containing much
gluten, was peculiarly fitted for making prepara-
tions of wheat flour, in which a glutinous quality
is considered an excellence : an observation which
induced me, in the Journal of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society for January, to venture a guess, that
(he coincidence would be curious if the excellence
of Neapolitan macaroni, made from wheat grow-
ing in a volcanic soil, were to be traced to nitrates
found in the soil. The guess was not altogether
a bad one, for Dr. Daubeny, in his subsequent
lectures, has traced it, not exactly (o nitrates, but
to ammoniacal gases which are evolved from, and
ammoniacal salts that arc contained in all vol-
canic Boils. It is true, that it admits of some doubt
whether these effects of the nitrate arc due to the
nitrogen alone when disengaged by The decompo-
sition of the nitric acid — to the same nitrogen
uniting with hydrogen, and forming ammonia — or
lastly, to ammonia given oil' by the more rapid de-
composition of vegetable matter in the soil, caused

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

1G7

Parts.

Parts.

35 . 1

39.1

54.2

41.3

JJ, 1

41.4

22 . 9

42.8

12.2

63 . 2

12. 0

62.3

9 . 6

53 . 9

9.2

66.7

by thealkai; still the fact remains the same, that
nitrogen, cither in a simple or compound form,
must in these instances have added both to the
quantity and nutritious quality of the crop.*

Dr. Daubeny, in his lectures, also gives a
curious table of similar effects of gluten, increased
hy different manures, and it is remarkable, that
the order in which each of these manures, with
one exception, gave the greatest quantity of gluten
is exactly that in which they contain the greatest
quantities of ammonia or nitrogen.

" 100 parts of wheat on soil manured with

Gluten. Starch.

Human urine (dried) gave..

Bullock's blood (dried)

Human feces (dried)

Sheep's dung

Pigeon's dung t

Cow's duns:

Vegetable humus

Same soil not manured

* It would he disingenuous not to observe here
tLat 1 was yesterday made acquainted with a result
which may seem at variance with the views by
which this argument is supported. Mr. A. Bubb
used the nitrate of soda last year on a wheat crop,
and found that it gave hirn an increase of 16 bushel,
per nete, as compared with the crop on part of the
held not nitrated, and that the sample was better and
heavier. He has been kind enough to allow i\lr.
Gyde to compare it by analysis. In this case the
result differs from that, obtained by Dr. Daubeny
and myself; (he excess of gluten in the nitrated
sample being only just perceptible. It must be ad-
mitted that it is not easy to explain these anomalies.
The facts are, that his soil was a stiff clay on a subsoil
of blue clay — mine, the stone brash, close on the
upper oolite. His nitrated sample was superior —
mine inferior— differences sufficiently material, and
which, when dulv weighed, may throw much light
on tho modus operandi of these manures, without
perhaps affecting the general tenor of the present
argument, f have also obtained another anomalous
result {myself, which may do the same. I had a
small quantity of the nitrate remaining from lie yaar
before last, and used it on a lug of barley. As far
as the extent of the experiment permits me to judge,
it did not answer ; the nitrated sample giving at
the rate of a bushel and a half per acre and 2lhs.
weight per bushel less; the straw, however, was
much increased. This result surprises me-'a g~od
deal, for, from the fact that barley holds nitrate of
soda in an undecotnposed state in its grain it was a
priori to have been expected, to be more benefitted
by its application than wheat or other vegetables
not containing that salt. Barley, however, contains
gluten in comparatively small quantities, from about
3 to 6 percent, only. Tho sample was not analysed.

This was one of the special points which 1 wished
to verify. Had I obtained nitrate of soda enough
for my intended experiment, I should have tried it
on a variety of crops, comparing its effects with their
chemical composition, and this was what I meant
by " Chemical effects of pakticui.au manures on
l'Aimcui.Art crops." As it is, the illustration of my
subject is necessarily confined to the effect of am-
monia and nitrates on wheat and its corresponding
ingredient gluten, which is the particular crop over
which it seems to exercise the greatest influence.

Now these facts show that the manures enume-
rated give a vast excess of gluten, and that in
the order (with the exception of pigeon's dung,
which is perhaps a mistake) in which they are
known to contain ammonia. Now, if the effect
produced by nitrates on my wheat, viz., while it
increased gluten, it increased also quantity, is com-
mon to those manures, which can scarcely he
doubted ; we have the very proof, which 1 ob-
served just now would render our inference cer-
tain, namely, the quantity and nutritious quality
of the crop was in proportion to the nitrogen af-
forded by the several manures ; and thus it be-
comes a matter of much importance to ascertain
what proportions of nitrogen are contained by a
variety of substances which may be used as ma-
nures. I am fortunately in the position to be
able to give you the result of some most extensive
investigations which have lately been carried on
in France by two of the first chemists of the pre-
sent day, (vide Annates de Chimie for September,
1841,) and which exhibit by figures the relative
values of 96 different substances which in that
country are sometimes used as manure. But of
these presently.

There is still one link in the chain of our argu-
ment to bo supplied, viz., that plants arc nutritious
to animals exactly in the proportion to their glu-
tinous or nitrogenous contents. There is a table
given at page 59, of Daubeny's lectures, which ex-
hibits this in a strong point of view. Von Thaer,
a great German Experimenter on animals, is said
to have fed several on different foods, and to have
published the effects actually produced on these
animals, and this with no reference to any pre-
conceived opinion. He found that taking lOOlbs.
of ordinary bay, as producing a certain effect, the
quantities of other foods required to produce an
equal effect were, as shown in the first column of
the following table. A subsequent analysis, by
different parties, shows that the order in which
these food-; gave nourishment is, with one excep-
tion, exactly the same as the order in which they
contain nitrogen, as seen in the second column.
Table, comparing the actual nutritive powers of cer-
tain Vegetable* with the quantity of Nitrogen they
contain. The Equivalents in Column 1 represent
the number of founds weight of the sereral sub-
stances which gave equal nourishment to animals,
according to the actual experience of Von Thaer,
taking lOOlbs. of ordinary Hay an the standard. The •
figures in Column 2, give the proportions of Nitro-
gen in 10,000 parts of each of the same substances,
according to the Analysis of Boussingaulf.

Wheat

Barley

Maize

Beans

Clover (red)

Hay (ordinary)

Potatoes

Beet

Wheat Straw

Col. 1.

Col. 2.

Proportions

Equivalents.

of Nitrogen in

10,000 parts.

27

213

54

176

59

164

83

141

90

176

100

118

200

37

397

26

400

20

dung-

t It seems extraordinary, that pigeon's .
should stand lower in the scale than that of sheep."
— V. Daubeny's Lectures, p. 105.

168

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

Thus it is shown that the degrees of nourish-
ment are in the same order as the quantities of
nitrogen, with one exception,* clover, which ap-
pears not so nutritious as its quantity of nitrogen
would indicate.

It seems also, from M. Majendie's experiments
on animals, that they do well when limited in their
food to gluten ; but, on the other hand, when fed
only on starch, which contains no nitrogen, they
die in a few weeks. It should be noticed, however,
that animal matter, such as gelatine, fibrin, or
albumen, although containing nitrogen, when used
alone as food, have each of them the same injur-
ious effects as starch.

Now, experience has taught us, that well-fed
animals produce manure, and in their own decay
afford manure rich in the proportion in which they
are richly nourished. Thus, man, and all carni-
vorous animals feeding on a substance rich in ni-
trogen, afford a manure also rich in nitrogen.
This completes the round which we purposed to
ourselves at the commencement. We have traced
this element in the manure fertilising the plant,
and in the plant fattening the animal, to be again
restored to the soil — in every case producing
(fleets nearly proportional to the quantity commu-
nicated.

If its value to the farmer be established, the next
enquiry is, how and where is he to get it 1 The
following tables, published in last September, in a
French periodical, show the quantities in pounds
weight of the different substances enumerated,
which gave a quantity of nitrogen equal to that
which 1000 pounds of farm-yard manure render.
The farm-yard manure, which was taken as the
standard, is described as being half rotten, the
straw not being quite decomposed, but moist and
stringy.

I have omitted some of the articles enumerated,
as not being known in this country, and have
given only one of the two columns in the original,
viz> — that which gives the result of the analysis
in what is said to be their moist or ordinary
state ; rejecting that which exhibits them as dried
by artificial heat, as of less use, and creating con-
fusion. Before reading this table I should premise
that many of the substances enumerated will pro-
bably appear to you very odd to have been thought
of as manures ; but the fact is, that in France and
Italy their vineyards, and olives, and mulberry
ti-ees for the silkworm, require any sort of manure
that can be picked up. Accordingly, when near the
sea, rivers, towns, or particular manufactories, any
article that the locality affords has been appropri-
ated, and it is with this view I produce these tables
— some one or other of us may be so situated as to
make it worth while to try the refuse of our gas
works, or the dressings from our clothing mills :
oil-cake maybe within reach of one, and bone-dust
of another, &c. ; and it may be worth his while
to have a rough idea of how far many of these
would go as compared with farm-yard manure or
•with each other. Several, it is true, will rarely
be found but in small quantities. Still they may
be useful for garden purposes.

Table of Equivalents of various Substances when
used as Manures with reference to their Nitrogen,
according to the Analysis ofM. M. Boussingaidt
and Payen,in theAnnales de Chimie et de Phy-
sique for September, 1841. Taking for a Stan-

* May; not this be accounted for by its laxative
CQuateracting its nutritive effects ?

dard \000lbs. tceight of Farm-yard Manure, the
figures below indicate the number of Pounds re-
spectively of the several substances enumerated,
which, in their moist or ordinary state, yield the
same quantity of Nitrogen.

lb?.

1 Woollen rags 22

2 Salt fish (cod, damaged, washed, and

pressed 2.3

3 Feathers 26

Blood, dry, (insoluble) 26

Horn raspings 27

4 Cow hair 29

Muscular flesh 30

Blood, dry, (soluble) 32

Graves 33

Pigeon dung 48

Bones, boiled 57

Salt fish (cod damaged, but not washed

and piessed as above) 59

Bones, fat, (exposed to air) 64

5 Bones, moist 75

Linseed cake 76

Rape cake SI

Blood (coagulated and pressed,) 88

6 Malt dust (the rootlets of barlcyj 88

7 Bclloni'spoudrette 103

Glue dross 108

8 Grains of white lupin Ill

9 Cockchafers 127

Blood liquid 140

Urine of the horse 153

Urine and dung of goat, mixed 185

Pea straw 223

10 Grape refuse from the wine press. .. . 225

1 Collected in all large towns in France on pur-
pose.

2 Frequent in Roman Catholic Countries.

3 All such as are unfit for beds or pens are col-
lected.

4 From the tan pits.

5 It will be seen that "boiled" give more nitrogen
than " moist" or " fat bones." This refers to equal
weights. With equal measure the result would pro-
bably be the reverse. Should we not buy our bones
by weight rather than measure ?

6 This does not exactly mean malt dust, but the
sprouts of the barley as soon as it shoots before bein.^
kiln-dried. In the dry state we get it, it is shown,
in the column which 1 had omitted, as much less
rich; its nitrogen being as 397 to 1000 of farm-yard
dung DRIED.

7 Poudrette is slowly dried and old night soil.

8 These are absolutely grown for manure on the
Tuscan Apennines, whence more bulky crops are not
easily transported. Gathered when nearly ripe,
their seeds contain nearly all the azotised principle
of the plant. They are boiled or baked to destroy
vegetation.

9 In the south, where these flies abound, they are
collected to prevent the damage done to crops by
the grub, in smb quantities as to render them avail-
able for manure. Acres of pasture on the Cotswolds
have literally been rooted up by grubs, chiefly, I be-
lieve, by that of the June beetle, but that of the cock-
chafer or May beetle, has not been idle. Might it
not be worth our while to collect them when they
fall in such quantities from our beech trees in sum-
mer evenings, at least for cottage gardens? They
are so tenacious of life that to destroy it the French
place them in large vessels, and pour in quick lime
and water.

10 This and the primings of the vine have been

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

169

Leaves of Heath 229

1 1 Starch refuse, (exposed to air) 245

Buried root of clover 248

Mauntfaucon's poudrette 256

Fiicus saccharin us (a sea weed) 28!)

Soot from coal . . . 296'

Wheat straw, upper parts, ^rd of whole

length, including the threshed-out ear 300
" Annualized charcoal," i. e., earthy
charcoal, recently prepared with night-
soil, from the barracks near Pari';, a
substitute for " sugar-refiners' refuse."

(Sec below.) 322

Broom 327

Soot from wood 347

Pulp of beetroot, refuse from sugar press,

(dried in air) , 350

Urine and dung of sheep mixed 360

Earihy charcoal with nightsoil, prepared

1 1 months, as ahove 366

Sugar-refiners' refuse, i. e., charcoal from
bones mixed with blood, through which

the itigar is filtered 377

Vetch straw 396'

Fucus digitatus (n sea weed) 44;;

Wheat chaff 470

Carrot tops 470

Uiine ami dung of horse mixed 540

Ditto ditto of pig (old) 634

I lunghill drainir.gs G77

Potato haulm 727

Fucus scccharinns (a sea-weed fresh) . .. 740

Saw-dust (oak) 740

Glue refuse 757

Potato pulp 760

12 Marl, a peculiar sea-sand 781

Tops of green heetroot 800

Saint foiu straw 833

Urine of the cow 909

13 Wheat straw, lower parts, 2-3rd of whole

length 975

found most beneficial when returned as manure to
the tree itself. Dr. Liebig cites a cose of a poor
man's vineyard manured with nothing else but tlie
latter, which throve well. The refuse cane, from
which sugar has been extracted, serves the same
put pose in the: West ladies. Might not the " muss''
or " must" of cider, when properly prepared, be ap-
plied to the apple tree with similar effect? The old
custom of pouring a " libation'' round the best tree
probably assisted in preserving it as the best. In
each case it would seem, that the exact ingredients
required for the nourishment of the plant are thus
given to it.

1 1 This is the pulp of the potato, from whence
the starch has been obtained, which, when pressed
and before putrefaction, is used in France as the
food of animals ; but if putrefaction has ensued, then
only for manure.

12 Marl, in French merl,a sand collected at the
mouths of the rivers in Brittany, and used in great
quantities as manure. Its calcareous concretions are
said to contain organic matter, rich in a/.ote, and to
be otherwise beneficial on some soils. Messrs. P.
and P. say that sea sand, used in Cornwall, is of the
same nature. It would probably be advantageous to
some of our farms on the banks of the Severn, to try
its deposits. Surely the rich alluvial soil, to be
found at places in its bed, would benefit the cold
s iff clays of Hardwicke and Longney.

13 Of wheat straw the upper parts are as 300,

Urine and dung of cow mixed 975

Farm-yard Manure 1000

Sea-weed, burnt 1052

Pulp of beetroot, fresh from sugar-press 1058

Staich refuse 1111

Cow-dung 1250

Oyster shells 1250

Oat straw 1428

Saw-dust (Acacia) 1559

Wheat straw 1 660

Barley straw ] 739

Liquid Flemish manure 1960

Saw-dust, fir (exposed to air) 21 19

Pvye straw 2352

14 Water from staich factories, 4 volumes

water 57 14

Ditto ditto, 5 volumes water 6451

Horse-dung 727

It must not be supposed that this list indicates,
under all circumstances, the value of these ma-
nures, even with reference alone to their nitrogen.
It is only the analysis of each in certain states,
and those states vary materially. Still it affords
a good gencial criterion of comparative value, and
may now and then be of some use to the farmer
under certain circumstances. When his own
farm-yard dung is deficient, and hauling is incon-
venient or distant, he may live within reach of a
starch, or glue, or sugar manufactory, and having
learnt something near the value of their respective
refuse as regards its most important ingredient,
he may find it worth his while to verify the accu-
racy of these figures by an experiment, and to as-
certain what it would answer to give, or how far
to go for any of it; and as the advantage would
be great if they even approximate to the truth, to
test by trial whether, on his farm, 40 loads of
farm-yard dung can, as these tables indicate, be
profitably superseded by one load of old woollen
rags properly treated, by two of boiled bones, by
three of oil cake, by four of glue-dross, or by the
intimated quantities of any other of the above
substances, some of which (odd and unusual as
many of them appear) may come within the reach
of one or other of us. In fact, at this moment it
has been intimated to me that the alkali works at
Droitwich have a refuse peculiarly likely to be
most beneficial as a manure. But in thus recom-
mending a trial of some of these, I should he very
sorry to be misunderstood. It must he admitted,

while the lower parts are as 1660. Thus the ear
and upper parts being more than five times richer
than the lower, might be used as food, and are far
belter for manure, while thelower part being so
poor in nitrogen, is just as well adapted for thatch,
for it lasts for this very reason so much the longer.
Whether it would be ever worth while to separate
them is a matter of economy. The same remark ap-
plies to straws of different grain.

The Oat -> is the order in which they contain ni-
Wheat trogen : the cat being fittest for

Barley f food or manure, and the rye for

llye J thatching.

14 If this water is allowed to stand long the ex-
halations are of a very offen ive character. M.
Dailly, a starch manufacturer in France, having a
knowledge of chemistry, first thought of applying it
as well as the "starch refuse" mentioned above f r
manure. He is now stated to realize 1600 francs, or
about £70 per annum from this source, besides get-
ting rid of the nuisance of the stench.

170

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

indeed it is necessary to point out, that these re-
sults are only results on paper ; the Inference that
they roust answer in practice has, in many of the
instances, never been tested by practical applica-
tion, and at all events their effects are sure to
vary in degree on different soils. I beg, therefore,
distinctly to state, that I recommend no one to
take them for granted, hut to feel his way in each
case, and to act according to his own gradually
acquired experience of their utility,

But if any one should be placed in circum-
stances to try them, there is one result which
may needlessly discourage him, which it is neces-
sary to notice ; the fertilizing properties of the
particular substance may not immediately answer
his expectations, for the following reason — that it
gives out its nitrogen too slowly. Thus, woollen
rags, which, though before they become rags
have been worn by the dirtiest of people, and have
absorbed great quantities of ammoniacal per.-pira-
tion, do not give out their nitrogen rapidly enough
— that is, they do not decompose as fast as the
development of the plant asks fur nitrogen, lint
then, on the other hand, if their effects are slow
they are sure, for they are found to last from four
to eight years. On the other hand, many of these
substances give off their ammonia too fast, as in
the instance of urine, to which 1 alluded be-
fore ; the remedy for this clearly is to check de-
composition in these and to hasten it in those in-
stances. Thus quick lime hastens decomposition,
and added to woollen rags in small quantities they
decay and give off their nitrogen more quickly.*
Indeed, this is one of the effects of quicklime
when used as a manure, that it causes all the ve-
getable matter in the soil to decompose, and sup-
ply its nitrogen more quickly. On the other hand,
if rapid fermentation is to be checked, blood, flesh,
and all the excrement of carnivorous animals may-
be mixed with wood ashes or charcoal, which has
a very remarkable power of retarding decay; or
saw-dust, which, though comparatively so defi-
cient in nitrogen as to he by itself of very little if
any value, also decomposes slowly, and checks
decay in the substance with which it is mixed,
while it adds, at the janie time, abundance of car-
bon and some of the other ingredients in which
many of these manures rich in nitrogen are par-
ticularly deficient. Thus, not only may we, by a
judicious mixture of manures, economize much of
this valuable element, but we may prevent a posi-
tively injurious effect not unlikely to he produced
by its excess at one time ; for I believe that too
much nitrogen will give a quantity of gluten to
wheat which will injure it. thus in this, as in all
other cases, it is the happy mean which we have
to hit.

I must here observe, that in attaching so much
value as I have done to nitrogen, I by no means
intend to undervalue those effects which the other
elements clearly produce. Without a due propor-
tion, above all of carbon, of hydrogen, and of oxy-
gen, to say nothing of the smaller quantities of
lime, silex, and alumine, and of the salts and
metals, which go to the composition of every
healthy plant, I know that abundance and quality
cannot be expected in any crop ; and hence the

* Decomposition is also hastened by minute sub-
division of the particles of those manures which co-
here too strongly— and retarded by giving- to those
which are too soft or friable a greater hardness or
consistence.

real advantage of farm-yard dung — it contains in
some proportion, at least, a little of all the plant
requires. Our object, however, is to supply the
deficiency of this valuable substance, and in this
point of view, the advantage to be derived from
the mixture of these manures is considerable, and
these tables curiously illustrate this position in
general, as well as the advantage of the particular
mixtures which I have just pointed out. One of
the chemists, to whom we are indebted for the
above laborious researches, ascertained that the
refuse of sugar refiners, i. e. the bone-charcoal
and blood, through which the syrup is filtered,
produced extraordinary effects as a manure, and
*et about to discover the cause. He explained it
on the principles 1 have mentioned, viz., that the
charcoal delayed the rapid decomposition of the
blood and caused it to give out its nitrogen at the
rate the development of the plant required ; and
that the blood so mixed produced from five to six
times the effect which it did when unmixed. The
value of this refuse was thus measured and ascer-
tained. Ten millions of kilogrammes, or nearly
10,000 tons, are now used every year in France,
and the sugar refiner sells it for more than the
original materials cost him ; and what iscurious, so
long as our own sugar refiners used the bones and
blood in the same manner, with the exception of
a very small quantity retained for our hop gar-
dens in Kent, it was all, as I am informed, ex-
ported for manure to France.* The discovery of
the cause of the fertility so produced lias led to
other curious results. An artificial manure, called
" annualized charcoal,'' has been manufactured in
France thus : — A calcareous earth, containing much
vegetable matter, is burnt in close vessels, and an
earthy charcoal formed ; this is mixed with night-
soil, and while the offensive and unhealthy ariiuvia
is destroyed, — while it is, as the French express
it, disinfected, a manure is obtained which pro-
duces even a greater effect than the sugar re-
finers' refuse. t In fact, these, tables present

* France imports it from London, Hamburgh, Am-
sterdam, Cologne, and Genoa, and generally from
Russia and Austria.

t In several of the large towns, but in Paris espe-
cially, the nightsoil is collected for this purpose;
the "noir animahze lies camps," the annualized char-
cod formed from the recent nightsoil of the camps
and barracks round Paris, is noticed in the list of
M. Bousingault as containing more nitrogen than
the other animalized charcoals — 322lbs. of the-
former, and 366lbs., of the hitter, containing equal
quantities; and it is added, that tbe actual effect
which these animalized charcoals produce is five-
fold that which their equivalents of nitrogen indicate,
which seems to be owing to the modifying and re-
ciprocal effect of each component part on the other.
Now that the value of these disinfected manures
seems to be so well ascertained in Fiance, it becomes
a matter of more regret that there seem to be no
means of carrying out the scheme of Mr. Martin,
which combines so many advantages. He proposes
that a common sewer should bo carried by the side
of the Thames through the whole of London, which
would convey the whole drainage to some given
point below upon tbe bnnlcs of the river. The con-
venience of water carriage would bring the charcoal
necessary to disinfect, and take away the prepared
manure. The increase of fertility to the country
would be incalculable, while the health of the
million and a half who inhabit London, and tbe

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

171

matter of interest at every step, which I wish I
had time to detail, but I have already detained
yon much too long.

There is, however, one speculation to which
our subject points, and to which I shall venture
to direct your attention. Wc have seen that ve-
getable matter, on which all animal life directly or
indirectly depends, owes the large proportion of
its solid substance to the four elements of carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. As regards the
ordinary operations of nature, no maxim is more
literally true than the old Latin adage — Er nihilo
nihil fit — out of nothing, nothing can be pro-
duced. The human race, however, are multiply-
ing fast, and require for their support an increased
vegetation. Whence, then, the new elements ne-
cessary to the production of that vegetation ? In
the course of this lecture I have noticed inci-
dentally, but not without an ulterior object, the two
facts, that both carbonic acid and ammoniacal
gases are evolved from volcanic soils ; in fact
they are both given out by volcanoes in enormous
quantities. Now it is somewhat singular that,
while carbonic acid gas is a compound of oxygen
and carbon, the ammoniacal gas is a compound of
hydrogen and nitrogen, and thus in these two
forms we have constantly poured out from the
interior of the earth all the four elements, so im-
portant to the composition of vegetable and animal
matter, which, passing in increased quantities
through vegetables to the lower animals, may ulti-
mately supply the matter* necessary to meet the

purity of its water, would be so much improved — to
say nothing of the convenience and architectural
beauty of a row of terrace quays carried over this
Cloaca Maxima, and running the whole length of
the metropolis.

* For the conjecture clearly and beautifully illus-
trated, that the carbon and nitrogen necessary to tie
increase of organic matter, is evolved fiom volcanoes,
the writer is indebted to Dr. D&ubeny's very inter-
esting " lectuie." — Since the delivery of this lecture,
it has struck the writer that there are, besides volca-
noes, other sources in. the interior of the earth from
whence these same elements are poured forth, in com-
paratively smaller qualities probably, but still more
than may be imagined, and often in certain and defi-
nite proportions. Thus, most of the minerals ex-
tracted by the hand of man, supply some one or
more of them. All neutral salts formed from oxygen
acids, when decomposed, and all metallic ores found
in nature as oxides, when sineltpd, yield oxygen.
Iron ore is sometimes found as a perhydrate, and
then gives off also hydrogen ; hut, the ore from which
we obtain nearly, if not all, the iron of this country
is a carbonate. In 1828, 703,184 tons were manu-
factured. The present annual produce probably
much exceeds a million ; to obtain which, 3,250,000
tons of the ore are " roasted," a process which
drives off the carbonic acid and reduces the weight
to 2,2.50,000 tons. Thus nearly a million tons of
carbon with oxygen are manufactured annually in
the iron works of Britain alone, a quantity which,
were it all assimilated by vegetables so to become
directly or indirectly the food and ultimately the
flesh of man, would, exclusive of all the other ele-
ments of his composition, afford, according to the
average weight of man given by Quetelet, matter
sufficient forthe composition of more thou 22,000,000
of human bodies, or considerably more than the
population of the islanJ; and this, be it observed,
in one year from the manufacture of ono metal.

multiplication of the human species. I alluded be-
fore to that simple and beautiful contrivance by
\\ hich the respiration of plants and animals recipro-
cally contributes to the support of either. May not
this be another of those admirable arrangements
by which Providence orders her ways ? One of
those eternal and beneficent laws of nature which
were established in the beginning, when it was
ordained that the human race should "increase
and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue
it," when God said, " Let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after his kind," " and gave every
herb for meat." May it not be another of those
sublime laws of nature, without which human,
indeed all animal, life would fail to fulfil the ends
of its creation — without which nature in her pre-
sent state could not exist— for " if" (and the
beauty will excuse the length of the quotation),
" If Nature should intermit her course, and leave
alloc/ether, though it were out for a while, the obser-
i a/ion of Iter own laics ; if those principal and
mother elements of the world, ivhereof all things in
this lower world are made, should lose the qualities
which now ihey have; if the frame of that heavenly
arch erected over our heads, shou'd loosen and
dissolve itself; if celestial spheres should forget
their wonted motions, and by irregular volubility
turn themselves any way as it might happen ; if
the Prince of the Lights of Heaven, which now
as a Giant doth run his unwearied course, should
as it were, through a languishing faintness, begin
to stand, and to rest himself; if the moon should
wander from her beaten way, the times and
seasons of the year blend themselves, by disor-
dered and confused mixture, the winds breathe
out their last gasp, the clouds yield no rain, the
earth be defeated of heavenly influence, the fruits of
the eai/li pine away, as children at the withered
breasts of their mother, no longer able to yield
them relief; what would, become of man himself,
whom these things do now all serve ? See wc not
plainly that obedience of creatures unto the law
of nature is the stay of the whole world ?"*

The duties of your Committee are now per-
formed, and it only remains for them to resign

Without supposing it to be taken up bv plants, it is
not easy to account for the consumption of so large
a quantity. Our rivers doubtless absorb a good deal,
but it is not lost. Sea- water would seem to be
already saturated ; still there must remain a large
excess for vegetable nutrition.

But, alter all, the million tons of these elements,
afforded by the manufacture of our iron, is but a
trifle of the produce of the country. In 1828, it was
calculated that more than twenty million tons of coal
were raised annually. Now coal, under combustion,
gives off all four of the above elements, and in
quantities nearly equal to its weight, the only im-
portant deduction being the weight of residuary
ash. Thus we have, in this country alone, from a
second source, an annual produce of nearly twenty
millions of tons of that matter, of which the chief
mass of vegetable substance is composed. Is it too
much to infer, that after undergoing the changes
known in nature to be common to these elements,
they are directly destined by a beneficent Creator for
the production of the food necessary to the ordained
multiplication of the human race 1 If it is not so as-
similated or laid up on the surface of the earth for
future assimilation, what becomes of it"?

* Hooker's Ecc. Pol.

172

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

their offices, which for tlie last two years have
been entrusted to them : they feel assured that
the work in which they have h'een engaged is one
ol real usefulness, and they sincerely hope that
all posMble success may attend the future opera-
tions of this club. For the Committee,

Lloyd B. Walkond,
Honorary Secretary.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAR-
MERS' MAGAZINE.

Sin, — I believe it will bo allowed that of the various
means made use of to bring about an improved cul-
ture of the soil, agricultural associations will be found
neitberlast nor least. Whatever contributes to the
exercise of the mental powers, when the subject is a
legitimate one, is sure to be productive of good ;
and in these societies, when practical subjects are
discussed by practical men, directly interested in
finding out a better way than their own, anxious to
adopt it should it he proved, and only rejecting
what is deemed not sufficiently evident, there is the
surest guarantee that the plough will "speed" surely
and safely, though not perhaps with the rnpiditv de-
: ired by some of its most ardent partizans.

The efficiency of any one association of this kind,
however, depends much upon the nature of its com-
position, for it may he formed of most incongruous
materials ; there may be present the landlord, atten-
ding ns a farmer for the occasion, willing to patro-
nize the society generally, but whose presence is an
effectual bar to the discussion of some subjects, and
a great stimulant to the organ of caution in those
members who are directly connected with him in the
treatment of all others, save those of an unimportant
kind ; there is also the agent with his (in bis own
opinion) treasure of covenants, full of absurd re-
strictions manufactured two centuries ago, who at-
tends not for the purpose of bringing them forward
to the scrutiny with a view to amendment, but as
resolute in defending every jot and tittle of them, as
the guards were in maintaining their position
at Ilougoumont. There is the sensible, intel-
ligent farmer, actively disposed to lay hold of
everything which shall increase his" produce,
and, consequently, his profits ; and there is also the
cultivator with limited mind and means, who im-
proves but little, thinks less, and is generally dis-
posed to dissent from every thing which shall infringe
upon the beaten track pursued by himself and fore-
fathers in bygone years; and in proportion as the
active or dormant and repressive principle is in the
ascendant, is the progress towards a better state of
things rapid or slow.

The Harleston Farmers' Club deserves the thanks
of every farmer in the kingdom for bringing the sub-
ject of leases under discussion, as reported in the
magazine for January. It is mere moonshine enter-
taining the idea of improved management on an ex-
tended scale, if that important matter is to remain
untouched. Many of the cultivation clauses of a
lease are a disgrace to those who enforce them, and
most humiliating to those who, in order to obtain
possession of a farm, are compelled to accept them.
There has hitherto been an assumption that the terms
and Stipulations of a lease are a sort of sanctum suiic-
torum, into which the plebeian cultivator has nori»ht
to intrude in the shape of remonstrance or objection ;
but that all which he has to do in the matter is to
take them as they are and be thankful. One compels

his tenantry to keep their manure till it is a twelve •
month old, regardless of the fitness for use in which
it may have been the year previous ; a second binds
the occupier to plough his land so many times a
year, under all circumstances, whether it be really
required or not ; indeed, the general principle of too
many landowners and landletters appears to be that
the tenant, if not tied hand and foot, will do bis best
to exhaust his farm as soon as possible, then throw
it up, and take another to play the same game upon
and leave in its turn, like a Tartar shifting his pas-
turage. One would suppose, from the pains taken
to prevent the farmer from exercising any part of
his own judgment, that the land was some gentle
maiden, passing fair, whom the tenant had sworn to
despoil of her innocence ; and that the agent was a
kind of Knight Templar, who with his many bossed
shield of restrictions, formed her only protection.
In the enforcement of certain clauses, which a jury
of intelligent farmers from each county in the king-
dom would unanimously condemn as most injurious
to the occupier, though at the same time of no bene-
fit to the landlord; the agent in fact says — "Thus
saith such a clause in thy covenant entered into with
me:— thou shalt plough thy land four times a
year; thy acres may be clean, and not really require
it — Ducie, Finlavson, and Biddell may invent in-
struments calculated to economise thy labour one-
ball", but their discoveries shall not avail thee ; thou
shalt walk in the path into which I have set thy feet
— turning neither to the right nor left, and though
upon thy due submission to me in all things, I may
occasionally 'relax the screw' and permit thee to
follow thine own inclination, it shall be but momen-
tary ;,and upon the least sign of thy disobedience,
or lessening humility, 1 shall compel thee to return,
that thou mayest feel that I am thy lord and master,
that thou art my servant — and thus to cause thee to
continue in my fear all the days of thy lease.''

Whilst sitting by the lire these long evenings,
pondering on the subject, a doubt has at times passed
across my mind whether you, Mr. Editor, and all
those who are supposed to ho in the van as agricul-
tural improvers, are not actually in the rear ; that
the stand-still repressing clauses of the agents are
just and right after all, they being founded on the
wisdom of our ancestors ; and that the march towards
perfection should be not forward, but backuard —
even till we arrive at that stage when horses were
yoked by the tail ; when fallow, wheat, and beans —
and fallow, barley, beans, and wheat, were the only
known courses of cropping; when sheep pastured
those fallows during the greater part of the summei ;
when theie was only one village in ray neighbourhood
supposed to becapable of growing turnips, and they
were hawked about in a cart for eight miles round
for culinary purposes ; and when, upon potatoes
being brought into another village by a cottager's
son, to be set in the garden, the father grumblingly
observed, ''that if they once got into the land, it
would never be clear of them." The old man was
right in one sense — they have kept possession of it
ever since, and are likely to do so in future. At
all events, the determined opposition of the dictating
agents to all innovation on their plans, gives some
colour to the idea, and I record it in order that if it
should actually be the case, the different sections of
owners and occupiers may act thereupon ; and by
doing so, get into the " right system" much sooner
than they are likely at present by pulling opposite
ways.

At the time when the Catholic Relief Bill was in
progress, the situation of affairs was represented by

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

173

the pro-catholic party by the sketch of a wain drawn
forwards by fourteen black horses, at the back of
winch were yoked six grey ones, pulling in the op-
posite direction with all their might ; and the effect
of passing the bill was stated to be like loosing the
greys from behind, and attaching them to the front,
thus transforming the hindrance into a help. Whe-
ther experience has shown the change to have been
advantageous I need not stay to examine ; but the
car of agriculture in different parts of the country
may be described in. a not altogether dissimilar man-
ner, supposing the enterprising farmers to be repre-
sented by the fourteen, and the repressing agents by
the six. In some portions, the Lotbians for instance,
we have the two colours drawing one way, and the
progress has been most satisfactory ; in others, the
greys have drawn back so strongly ( those who place
themselves in the front are the exceptions) that the
wain has gone forward but little, or remained sta-
tionary ; and, strange to say, they attach the greatest
credit to themselves on account of the mere fact of
their drawing — refusing to investigate whether it be
in the right direction or not; but instead thereof,
support the position that whatever part they choose
to attach themselves unto, is the front, no matter how
opposite it may appear to all others.

There is an anomaly in the management of estates
which has no parallel in any other profession or
calling whatever. Those who are entrusted with au-
thority in professional or mercantile concerns, gene-
rally begin at the beginning — serve an apprentice-
ship, if I may so style it, and obtain their knowledge
in that best of all schools — experience. But in the
appointment of a land steward, this is one of the last
' things thought of. It may be a fact that certain
superhuman gifts and graces infallibly accompany
the laying on of right reverend hands on the heads
of all appointed to a spiritual charge, and that they
are thereby adapted for an office to which they may
have been but the moment belore notoriously unfit ;
but no such influence attends the induction to a tem-
poral stewardship, though by the hand of a prince.
The du'ies of an agent, I conceive, ought to be to see
that no real injury be done to the estate ; to lead,
not drive or depress the tenantry ; to make them ac-
quainted with any improvement of which they are
ignorant ; and to excite a spirit of emulation amongst
them, which would be far more advantageous to all
parties, than all the stringent rules ever invented and
enforced.

It is sometimes assumed that the interests of land-
lord and tenant are opposite, and that to thwart the
latter as much as possible is the surest way to serve
the former ; this is the key to the construction of
most of the objectionable clauses in my opinion. I3ut
to ensure the well working of a farm, make it worth
the tenant's while to retain it; and if he have security
of possession, and be untrammelled, he will take
care that its condition be kept up; and that farm
will not suffer by the comparison with any other on
which the screw is put on never so tight. The lash
may be proper to be exercised on pointers, horses,
and mayhap soldiers, but to hold it in terrorem
over the cultivator, to be used upon any deviation
from the prescribed form.howevercontrary that form
may be to experience and common sense, can have
no effect (^unless the individual have in possession
a large share of that virtue which " endureth all
things, and is not provoked") save calling up the
worst and lowest feelings of human nature, and de-
pressing all those which are of any value either to
himself or society. This mistaken surveillance, if
fully and universally carried out, would sink the

yeoman into the serf, and reduce all the enterprising
spirits to whom agriculture owes so much, to one
common level with the rest, and that a low one.
The homage, too, which a slavish fear would offer to
a dictator, would be but a sorry exchange for that
deference and respect which a tenant rightly treated
will ever be ready to accord to his landlord — a re-
gard equally honourable to the giver and receiver;
and I do not believe there are half-a-dozen landlords
in the kingdom who would not look upon the latter
as the only personal tribute worth their acceptance.
" Greek may meet Greek," and contest most valiantly
the respective merits of Southdowns and Leicester^
and Devons and Herefords, and leave the question
as undetermined as when they commenced ; but
when rules and practices are enjoined and enforced,
which all practical farmers unanimously condemn, it
cannot be doubted who is in the wrong. Let those
entrusted with the care of an estate, follow the exam-
ple set by Earl Ducie, and show in a tangible,
practical form, whether their system be the right one
or not ; inviting the tenantry to judge for themselves
by the result, and I will answer for it that there will
not be lacking amongst them those who will not bo
slow in following it, should the experiment prove
satisfactory. The whole subject demands a far more
able pen than mine to do justice to it ; but I trust,
now that it has been publicly brought forward, there
is sufficient talent and spirit in those who have been
hitherto aggrieved, as will continue the agitation till
a settlement be obtained more consonant with jus-
tice, reason, experience, and common sense.

Apropos on Whitfield Farm : — Giving duo credit
to Lord Ducie and Mr. Morton for the improvement
effected thereupon, I deem it hardly fair to contrast
the present condition of the farm with the past, to
the disadvantage of the late tenant, unless it be
shown that he had the power of acting in a similar
manner, out would not use it. Any person view-
ing the miserable shape and size of the fields, as
shown on the plan accompanying the report, and
then perusing that portion wherein Mr. M. states
that the land was wet, that the whole farm looked
at a distance like a wood — that in several fields the
tops of the trees covered half of the land ; that their
large roots had filled up the ditches; and that so
long as they remained standing, it was impossible to
drain it — must be convinced there was quite sufli-
cient to paralyse the energies of any occupier what-
ever, however active he might have been at the com-
mencement, and render any common attempt to im-
prove it as futile as a trial to row up the falls of Niagara.
In addition to the rent paid by Mr. Thomas, it must
be remembered that the farm within the last seventy
years produced to the landlord between three and
four thousand pounds worth of timber, (at an expen-e
in loss of produce to the tenants of twice that amount
by-tbe-bye,) which, invested in the land from which
it was taken, has raised its value some two hundred
pounds per year; and I would respectfully suggest
to Mr. Morton, and through him to Lord IJucie, the
propriety of inspecting the whole estate; and, if the
former state of Whitfield farm be a sample of the
rest, either clear the land for the tenants, or permit
them to do it for themselves ; and allow twenty
years for them to be reimbursed for the outlay, and
meet them fairly in the drainage of their land after
it has become capable of being thus treated, other-
wise it will be absolutely impossible for them to be
any the better for what bis lordship has hitherto ac-
complished. Your's truly,

B. H.
Burton-on-Stoather, North Lincolnshire,

174

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

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170

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE ADVANTAGES OF
DIBBLING CORN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Having seen in a number of the Farmer's
Magazine for June 1841, some remarks on the sub-
ject of dibbling wheat, by Mr. W. Lucas, wherein
is stated that the greater the number of corns dropped
into each hole, the less the produce ; that one grain
invariably produced more ears than two ; two more
than three; three more than four, up to eight ;
which number produced no more than one stalk or
ear of corn, and that often of an inferior quality :
average from one grain is fifteen ears.

Having had some experience in dibbling one corn
inahole^I can vouch for the truth of this statement.
I have specimens by me of 84 stalks of barley, and
55 of wheat, each from one grain ; each stalk bore a
perfect ear.

As I occupy but a small quantity of land, I am
anxious to make the most of it ; and the system I
have hitherto pursued is spade husbandry and artifi-
cial manures. In 1840 I dibbled 10<> poles of land
with 7 gallons of beans, making the holes 4- inches
apart, in rows at 18-incbes distance, dropping one
bean in each hole ; immediately the beans were
planted and covered in, the land was manured with
one sack of salt ; the produce when thrashed was
10 sacks 1£ bushels of Berkshire ticks, of a supe-
rior quality, not having any refuse whatever :
whilst growing, they were declared to be the finest
crop ever seen in the neighbourhood.

After a good crop of potatoes in 1840, which were
manured with gypsum when the stalks were about
six inches high— a manure not beneficial to cereal
crops, consequently not likely to influence the quan-
tity produced by the process adopted — early in
March 1841, 2 roods and 21 poles of this potato
land were dibbled with 1!J lbs. of barley (to which
my neighbours have given the name of Bartlett's
American, from its superior quality) ; the rows were
9-inches apart, and the barley deposited in holes 4-
inches from each other, at the depth of 3 inches,
and covered in with the feet, after the manner
adopted in planting beans, and the land sown with
ashes (made bv burning the weeds dug out in clean-
ing the land, and others growing round the borders
of my little field, with fresh lime from the kiln, by
placing the weeds and lime in alternate layers and
in the proportion of 200 bushels to the acre. The crop
suffering them to remain till combustion is complete),
was particularly fine, more than four feet high, and
the number of corns in the ear varying from 27 to
37, some few had 39. The whole produce when
thrashed was 7 sacks 3 bushels, besides 1§ bushel
of tailing. The weight per sack is 212 lbs., giving
an increase of 117 lbs. for every pound dibbled.

In dibbling I employ men to make the holes with
a dibble, which makes five holes at once, and
children to drop the corn into the holes; the ex-
pence v.iries from 9s. to 10s. the acre, according to
the fitness of the land for the work.*
» Besides the great saving of seed, the greater pro-
duce per acre, and its superior quality, considerable
a I vantage would arise to the public at large, by
giving employment to a greater number of persons
(who are, through want of work, in absolute want
of food) if dibbling was more generally adopted.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

William Bartleit, Surgeon.

Great Bedwyn, Wills, Feb.7, 1842.

CLOVER SEEDS, &c.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE KILKENNY MODERATOR.

Sir — I have this day read, in the Carhuu Sentinel ot
the 15lh instant, a most valuable letter on the subject ot
coloured and bleached Clover and Trefoil seeds copied
from your paper of the 31st ult,; and now on the eve of
Parliament meeting1, it is greatly to be desired that a
Bill may be brought forward for the protection of all
classes of agriculturists, not only with respect to
Clover seed, but all manner of farming' and garden
seeds.

Perhaps the writer of the letter above alluded to, may
not be aware that there is a special Act of Parliament
for the protection of all growers of Flax, by which they
have a common remedy at law for all losses they may
sustain, against the seller of the seed, in the event
of the seed proving bad ; and I believe by the same
Act every seller of such seed (if required) is bound
to give to each purchaser a warranty of its age and
quality, and that it is sound, unmixed, and fit for
seed.

Some such protection should now be given to all
classes of farmers, in our much-advancing state of
agriculture in this country.

I believe the disappointments the farmers yearly re-
ceive in Turnip seed, from being old and bid, mixed,
and of different kinds from what they required and
expected, has in a great measure retarded the growth
of this most valuable erop ; and the same may be said
of every other seed the small farmer purchases. He is,
by the frauds of the seller, who mixes old and new
seed, and frequently various kinds together, and who,
rather than lose the sale of perhaps 6d. worth of seed,
will defraud the ignorant purchaser, and give him
Rape seed by way of Turnip seed, and assure bin: it is
this, that, or whatever kind of seed the purchaser names.
— thus, the small farmer is so disappointed and annoyed
that he gives up the idea of improvement.

As to Garden seeds. I believe there is not a gentleman
or gardener in Ireland who has not yearly to complain
of some of the seeds he purchases being totally bad,
and the others mixed and of a different kind from
what he ordered and expected. The disappointment
in this instance is not to be compared with the far-
mer's seeds ; yet it is a very serious loss to many, and
particularly to tho>e who grow for market. Hoping
some of our worthy members may be induced to con-
sider the subject, and remedy the evil as far as an Act
of Parliament can,

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,

A Small Farmer.

nth Jan., 1842.

* After the land is prepared for the seed.

UNITED STATES. — IMPORTS INTO
GREAT BRITAIN AND COLONIES.-In the
yearending the last of September, 18-10, the domestic
exports from the United Stales to Great Britain and her
dominions, exceeded 64,000,000 dollars. In that
amount the following agricultural productions are in-
cluded : —

Dollars.
1,717,01.0 bushels of wheat, valued at .. 1 ,030,37 1

1,317,229 barrels of (lour b',925,637

38H,ti 1 1 bushels of corn 229,807

132,099 barrels of corn meal 41o\t'l

49,193 barrels of rye flour 15<>,9I3

Rye, oats, peas, and beans ... 76,604

74,876 barrels of shin bread "1 om .,,,

15,466 kegs ditto / 292,167

32,122 bogheads of tobacco 3,77b',770

495,366,332 pounds of cotton ... 41,983,922

24,039 tierces of rice 418,577

42,402,499

55,937,232

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

177

ON AGRICULTURAL
TRY.

CHEMLS-

(tONTlNUED FROM OUR LAST.)

52. Lime. — There is no substance used by the
practical agriculturist more largely or more bene-
ficially for the purpose of enriching and improving
the soil than calcareous matter, which gives their
principal value to marbles, and is the essential in-
gredient of chalk and limestones. There is no
subject of chemical investigation more profitable
or more easily understood. Therefore, keeping
our carbon and carbonic acid still in view, and for
the purpose indeed of placing these in a clearer
light, we will now advert to some properties of
lime.

53. Marble, limestone, chalk, &c, are largely
and widely distributed over the face of the globe,
and constitute many geological formations, inter-
esting in their origin, and highly valuable in their
application to the arts. " Now it is remarkable
that all the great geological formations, which con-
tain carbonate of lime, are found to consist of the
aggregated skeletons (shells) of myriads of the
tribes of invertebrated animals which have ex-
isted at some former period of the world's history.
From the densest and hardest limestone to the soft-
est chalk, the entire mass resolves itself ultimately
into a congeries of animal remains, and here the
great supply of lime in a mineral state arises
from the destruction of its animal resources."
(Kane, 561.)

54. Chalk, marble, or limestone, exposed to a
full red heat in an open fire loses nearly half its
weight, and becomes quicklime. Until a recent
period, lime (i. e. quicklime) was considered to be
an elementary substance, one that could not be
decomposed. Sir H. Davy showed lime to be the
oxide of a metal which he called calcium ; calx
being the Latin name for lime, whence the epithet
calcareous has been applied, as before stated, (52)
to stones and marbles containing lime. Calcium is
described by those who have seen it as a white
metal like silver. One equivalent, or eight parts
of oxygen, unite with 20.5 of calcium. The equiva-
lent number of lime therefore is 28.5.

55. If water be sprinkled upon quicklime it be-
comes very hot, and falls to a fine powder. In this
state it is slaked lime or hydrate of lime, so called
because water seems to combine with it chemically.
The number of water (S. 21.) is nine, which added
to that of lime, (S. 28.5.) makes the equivalent of
hydrate of lime 37.5.

56. If more water is added to the lime, a milky
fluid is formed, sometimes called cream of lime;
this consists merely of water holding some of the
lime suspended, and a very small quantity dissolved.
This cream of lime being set aside in a well stopped
bottle, the suspended lime falls to the bottom in a
few hours, and clear lime water may he decanted
off. Water only dissolves very little lime, and,
what is very remarkable, boiling water only dis-
solves half as much as very cold water. A. gallon of
lime water does not contain a quarter of an ounce
of lime; so that when we have decanted the clear
water off, as above, we may fill the bottle again
with cold water, and obtain another supply just as
good as the first, indeed purer.

57. Small however as the quantity of lime may
be that is dissolved in water, we can soon make
it very apparent by passing through it a few bub-

bles of carbonic acid gas. Quicklime and carbonic
acid have a great attraction the one for the other,
a powerful chemical affinity; they find each other
out in a very surprising way. The chemist avails
himself of this ; when he suspects the presence of
quicklime in a fluid, he shakes it up with some
carbonic acid gas ; to detect carbonic acid gas he
uses lime water.

58. Fill a phial or a goblet with clear lime water.
It is perfectly limpid, and would remain so for
years if the air were excluded. Hold the end of a
quill, or gla-s tube, an inch or two below the sur-
face and breathe through it two or three times. You
will see a cloud, a vapour formed in the lime water
by millions of minute particles of chalk, yet to
form every one of these almost invisible particles
of chalk, there goes exactly one chemical atom of
lime with one atom of carbonic acid, neither more
nor less. There is no such thing as strong carbo-
nic acid or weak carbonic acid, strong lime or
weak lime. When lime combines with an acid,
as carbonic acid, to form chalk or marble, sul-
phuric acid to form gvpsum, (which is sulphate of
lime) phosphoric acid to form phosphate of lime,
or the earth of bones ; in all these cases a definite
quantity or equivalent — a chemical atom of the
lime unites with an equally definite quantity of the
acid ; there may be an excess of acid or of base,
i. e. lime, but the one takes neither more nor less
than its equivalent of the other, and the com-
pound is invariably the same in every minutest
portion.

59. Limestone, chalk, carbonate of lime, free
from the admixture of foreign matters, contains
precisely 44 per cent, of carbonic acid gas. It ought
therefore, to lose just this weight by being burnt ;
a piece of limestone might be weighed, heated in
a furnace for sometime, and weighed again, if a
person wanted to know the quantity of carbonic
acid in a given piece of marble. But the march
of intellect has not halted here ; the agriculturist
has been taught a better method of proceeding —
one requiring no fire and not much trouble, yet far
more precise, founded upon that system of chemi-
cal equivalents which has been so repeatedly no-
ticed.

CO. When we drop some strong acid upon a
limestone, the stronger acid takes possession of
the lime, and the carbonic acid gas flies off. This
is often found by the agriculturist to be a sufficient
guide when his object is merely to ascertain whe-
ther a sand or a clay contain calcareous matter
(S. 54.) or not. He pours a few drops of aqua
fortis, or of spirit of salt (nitric or muriatic acid)
upon it, and if it effervesce he knows it to be cal-
careous. Many salts in a chemist's laboratory would
effervesce with acids ; but the soil— the laborary of
the Great Chemist— affords, at least in this coun-
try, very rarely anything of the kind except cal-
careous matter, in the form of carbonate of lime.
The existence of barytes and strontian in a form
of carbonate, needs not to be more than mentioned
here, magnesia is more frequent, but effervesces
very feebly with acids, and dissolves slowly — as it
exists in rocks. The degree of effervescence will
show to a practised eye the proportion of calca-
reous matter in the soil ; at least it will enable the
inquirer to judge between two or three different
specimens subjected to the same experiment. But,
after all, it is not the quantity of calcareous matter,
or indeed of anything else, which renders a soil
valuable. More depends upon the state of di-
vision, and the presence of many other ingredients.

N

178

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

In fact, an individual agriculturist is not well em-
ployed in mere chemical experiments. Agricultural
experiments, guided by chemical knowledge (or
rather guarded by chemical principles from gross
and random blundering), and faithfully recorded,
will most profit the individual and the community.

61. The following are some of the processes em-
ployed by the practised chymist to ascertain cor-
rectly the proportion of carbonate of lime in a
given piece of stone, &c. 1. Having weighed the
mineral to be examined, he again balances it, along
with a small bottle of acid ; then he drops it slowly
into the bottle, and waits until it is dissolved. He
weighs the whole again, and after the carbonic
acid has been allowed to escape ; the loss of weight
shows how much gas has gone off, and from this
the quantity of calcareous matter can be calculated;
every 22 grains of loss in weight indicate 50 grains
of carbonate of lime. 2. Sir H. Davy devised an
elegant apparatus by which the carbonic aci 1 could
be collected and measured in the state of gas. 3.
Sometimes a dilute acid, the strength of which
has been previously ascertained, is added by slow
degrees so long as the gas continues to be given
off. The quantity of acid required gives a good
approximation to the quantity of calcareous matter.
4. The most satisfactory mode of all is to pour
weak acid on the marie, &c, to collect and filtrate
the solution then to throw down the dissolved car-
bonate of lime by an alkaline carbonate, to collect
and weigh it.

62. We have been told (S. 39.) that the air al-
ways contains a very small quantity of carbonic
acid. This is easily proved by pouring some lime
water into a China saucer, or any broad and shal-
low glass vessel. The lime in the water, though
no more than one part in about 800_, is almost in-
stantly put in communication with the gas in the
air, though the latter exists only in the proportion
of one part in 5000 (S. 39.), and a visible film of
carbonate of lime makes its appearance on the
surface, just where the air touches the water, and
in a day or two at the longest every atom of lime
in the water will have met with its atom of carbo-
nic acid in the air ; chalk, or carbonate of lime,
will subside to the bottom of the vessel, and the
water will not contain a trace of lime.

63. From the first moment when a load of lime
is rolled out from its cart upon an open field, and
exposed to the weather, it begins to undergo
changes visible to the eye, such as have been just
described. It is slaked by the first rain ; hydrate of
lime passes towards the state of carbonate ; every
subsequent shower washes it away, partly sus-
pended, partly dissolved in water; every blast of air
that passes by, serves to advance the change from
caustic lime to its carbonate. '1 his change may
be finally desirable, and in some degree inevitable ;
the slaked, battered, debilitated stuff may answer
some purpose, but careful management would ac-
complish much more good by a smaller expendi-
ture. Lime undergoes very little change so long
as it is kept dry ; one lesson to be learnt from
chemistry is, to keep lime under cover until it is
required for use. How it is to be used will be con-
sidered hereafter.

64. We have learnt that by simply breathing
through a portion of lime water, a white cloud is
formed, consisting of carbonate of lime (S. 57.)
An experiment still more instructive is the passing
of a continued stream of carbonic acid gas through
lime water a little diluted. I he firstbubbles of
the gas cause some carbonate of lime to manifest

itself in the form of a white cloud ; this becomes
more and more opaque and milky, until the whole
of the carbonate separates, and some of it begins
to subside ; let the stream of carbonic acid gas
continue to flow through- the liquid, and by slow
degrees the cloudiness will pass away, the water
becoming bright and clear as before. It possesses
no longer the properties of lime-water, but consi-ts
now of water holding carbonate of lime, or solu-
tion, by means of carbonic acid, (S. 42.) This pro-
perty of carbonic acid, its enabling water to act
upon some salts of lime, and other matters insolu-
ble in pure water, is one deserving the agricultu-
rist's profound attention, and will be adverted to
hereafter. " How truly wonderful and utterly be-
yond our comprehension are the .properties and
adaptations displayed in the processes of organi-
zation. To enable ourselves to form some con-
ception of these processes, by bringing to a level
with our understandings those things which they
accomplish, let us propose to ourselves the ques-
tion— what ought to be the inherent properties
and constitution of an elementary principle, which
should not only be capable of being formed into
the hardest and softest bodies in nature, but which
should also be capable of entering as an essential
ingredient into substances so very unlike, as sugar,
vinegar, wood, oil, albumen, and many others in
all their countless forms and varieties ? Do we
not feel all our fancied knowledge annihilated by
such a question ? Nay, what is more, even when
the question is answered for us, and when with
the utmost care we have studied the properties of
carbon, the substance by which the conditions in
question are fulfilled, how totally unable are we
to explain these properties, or even to trace them
through their simplest modifications. Why, for in-
stance, is the diamond capable of assuming the
form of charcoal, and why is charcoal capable of
assuming the form of diamond 1 And how can
these properties be modified and altered in all
the numerous states of combination into which
we know carbon enters. On what property or
quality, not possessed by other elements, do all
these astonishing capabilities of change depend,
which are inherent in this element carbon ? And
why has carbon been chosen for forming organ-
ized beings in preference to silex or iron, or any
other element? To us all these things are abso-
lutely unknown; but what a conception do they
give us of that inscrutable agency by which the
elements are governed ; of the powers of that Al-
mighty mind who is conversant with them all, by
whom thev were first designed, and by whom they
have all been created. How infinitely must His
knowledge surpass whatever we can imagine ;
how far is His power beyond our utmost calcula-
tion !" — (Prout's Bridgewater Treatise, 443.)

65, The attraction of quick lime, hydrate of lime,
&c., for carbonic acid beingso powerful, thetendency
of lime to pass rapidly into the state of carbonate or
mere chalk, being so strong, it is natural to enquire
what is the use of burning lime at all for the
purposes of agriculture: Carbonic ocid beingso
eminently subservient to the feeding of plants, why
need we expel it by fire from its domicile in the lime-
stone ? To these interesting questions, we can only
obtain satisfactory replies by a continued inquiry
into the properties of caustic lime, i. e. lime which,
though slaked, (55) still retaius its avidity for
carbonic acid.

6(5. The direct influence of causiic lime upon
organic matters, does not seem to be ascertained

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

179

with precision ; lime is generally considered to be
of itself a powerful agent in piomoting the decom-
position of dead animal and vegetable matter; on
the other hand, some experiments of Dr. John Davy
are adverse to the received opinion. But the process
of decomposition itself must be investigated before
we can safely draw a general conclusion ; and then
it will appear probable, that caustic lime does not
produce so much effect upon organic matter by any
action of its own, as by promoting the agency of
potash, soda, and ammonia.

67. The manufacturer of soap mixes together
caustic lime and barilla. The principal ingredient
of barilla is carbonate of soda. When water is added
in sufficient quantity to a mixture of barilla and
quicklimp, the latter lakes carbonic acid from the
carbonate of soda contained in the former, and
becomes carbonate of lime, and the soda in turn,
losing its carbonic acid, becomes caustic soda or soap-
lye. If pearlasliorpotasb.be thus mixed in with
caustic lime and enough of water, caustic potash is
the result. The carbonate of lime subsides, and the
water dissolves a lye of potash. With a carbonate
of ammonia, caustic ammonia is produced in like
manner. Caustic soda, caustic potash, caustic
ammonia act witli far greater energy upon organic
matters than the carbonate of soda, of potash, or
ammonia can do. These caustic alkalies are more
easily soluble in water than their carbonates ; tbev
also enable water to dissolve many substances, and
to decompose many others, which would not be in-
fluenced so much, if at all, by water itself, or by
water only holding mild alkali, i. e. a carbonate in
solution.

6". Caustic lime abstracts not merely the car-
bonic acid from ammonia, but separates that alkali
from its combination with other acids, as will appear
hereafter. Caustic ammonia thus separated by lime
being extremely volatile, Sir II. Pavy showed that
an addition of lime to animal matters in a state of
decomposition, must have the effect of driving away
their most valuable ingredient.

69. Lime in its caustic state, contributes power-
fully lo render some salts of iron favourable to
vegetation, that would otherwise be injurious.

70. It is important therefore, to form a clear idea
of the distinction between the effects of lime in its
caustic state and in the state of carbonate. Its use
in the former state would seem to be exclusively ap-
plicable to soils containing an excess of unprofitable
and insoluble vegetable matter — as peat moss, the
earth of old fences, &c. In the state of carbonate,
lima forms an essential ingredient of every good
soil ; indeed it is considered by some to be a sort of
connecting link in the chain uniting the organic
with the inorganic kingdom, and it is ultimately in
the stste of carbonate, finely pulverized, that by
much the most considerable portion of all the lime
that is burnt for agricultural purposes becomes
available to tbe use of the farmer. We have seen
the effect of carbonic acid upon finely divided
carbonate of lime. (S. 64). The same effect is
finally, though very slowly, produced by the agency
of the weather upon tbe hardest marbles and lime-
stone rocks. " Whoever examines the marble
statues in the British Museum, which have been
removed from the Parthenon, will be convinced that
they have suffered from this agency ; and an effect
distinct iu tbe pure atmosphere and temperate climate
of Athens must be upon a higher scale in the vicinity
of other great European cities, where tbe con-
sumption of fuel produces carbonic acid in great
quantities." — (Davy). Marble monuments, erected

in our church-yards, m?nifest signs of the influence
of the skies upon them in the course of years. Slow
as such influence appears to be, it is constant; and
this may tend to explain why limestone gravel has
in some instances been considered a beneficial ap-
plication to peaty soils. Chalk, however, in many
districts, and in this district marl, containing
carbonate of lime in a state of finer division, are still
more generally and more beneficially employed. It
is evident, however, that the calcareous portion of
marl must constantly diminish in quantity, and it
may consequently happen, that where the other in-
gredients of a marly clay are of indifferent quality,
tbe land may be left in a few years less fertile than
it was before the marl was first applied, and every
renewed application of marl must tend finally to
deteriorate the soil. Iu these cases the application
of lime itself is obviously requisite.

71. Hydrate of lime, made into a paste with
water, constitutes the substance generally known
and employed-as mortar. If lime he allowed to
pass into the state of mortar on the field, it continues
lo retain its caustic state in some degree for a con-
siderable time. It is about three months before
slaked lime regains more than four- fifths of its
carbonic acid. This may seem at variance with
some facts stated before (S. 62, 63,) but the truth is,
that when air and moisture obtain access to lime, it
rapidly passes into tbe state of carbonate; if either
of these be excluded, it retains its caustic state for a
longer or shorter period, according to circum-
stances.

72. With regard to the burning of lime, a process
so essential to the prosperity of agriculture, it is
desirable that the best method should be pursued,
and in every district experience teaches the most
economical application of the material employed.
It is often stated that the steam of water, passed
through a lime-kiln, conduces powerfully to the
success of the process. (Sue Graham's Chemistry,
189). " By heating carbonate of lime to redness, it
is resolved into lime and carbonic acid ; but if the
carbonic acid be not removed, tbe decomposition
would immediately cease, and tbe carbonate of lime
might be melted without being decomposed. The
removal of tbe carbonic acid is accomplished, in
burning lime on the large scale, by the limestone
being heated in a kiln through which there is a con-
tinuous draught, by which the carbonic acid is
carried off according as it is formed. The necessity
of removing the carbonic acid may be shown by
placing bits of white marble in a porcelain tube,
heated to redness in a furnace, connected with a
pneumatic trough, and fitted to a retort at the other
end, by which steam may be passed into the tube ;
at first scarcely any carbonic acid is set free, but by
keeping up a supply of steam the gas is rapidly pro-
duced, and the lime becomes very soon completely
caustic." (Kane's Chemistry, 274).

73. When lime is burnt, its carbonic acid gas is
expelled, as has been stated, and the quicklime
remains. But iron filings, or charcoal powder, when
mixed with chalk and subjected to heat, cause the
disengagement of another gas, called carbonic oxide,
possessing some properties interesting to the chemist,
but none recommending it to the notice of the
practical agriculturist. One equivalent of carbon
weighing six, and one equivalent of oxygen weigh-
ing eight, constitute carbonic oxide, whose equiva-
lent, therefore, is 14. Carbonic acid consists of
carbon, one equivalent, six, united to two equiva-
lents of oxygen, or 16; therefore the equivalent of
carbonic acid is 22.

N 2

180

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

74. Perhaps this is tbe best place for introducing
a few words on magnesian limestone. This is dis-
tinguisbed from common limestone by dissolving
more slowly in acids, as before stated. (S. 60).
"When burnt to lime, it absorbs carbonic acid gns
from tbe air more slowly than common lime, and
ibis is one reason why magnesian limestone, when
burnt or calcined, has been supposed prejudicial to
vegetation. But neither the fact nor the explanation
seems very conclusively established. For magnesia
burnt to lime is merely calcined magnesia — bland,
tasteless, insoluble powder — very unlikely to injure
vegetation. Magnesia is much more soluble than
linr.e in excess of carbonic acid ; whether in this state
it is capable of acting1 in one way or another does
not seem to be generally known.

(To be continued.)

ON THE HOPETOUN WHEAT, AND
ON COMPARATIVE TRIALS OF
WHEAT.

DY PATRICK SM1RREFF.

{From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England).

TO PH. PUSEY, ES<J.

Sir, — When calling upon a friend in the autumn
of 1832 I was struck with an car of wheat which
had been culled from one of his fields on the farm
of Drew, East Lothian, and resolved to propagate
from its seeds. Before coming into my possession
3 corns appeared to have been lost from the apex,
and with the point of a pin I pricked out 99 corns
without ruffling the chaff; and the ear may still
be seen in the Agricultural Museum at Stirling.

The produce from the ear proved a new variety,
which has been named Hopetoun wheat, and
which was sold for the first time in 1839. After
numerous trials in East Lothian for two seasons,
this variety is rising in public esteem, and has
been successfully grown in many parts of Scot-
land as well as in Gloucestershire, Kent, and
Buckinghamshire. Everywhere this variety has
put forth ears of large size, supported on tall
and strong straw, and yielded grain of fine quality ;
and in England it is represented to have been
much less affected this season with red gum,
blight, and mildew, than other varieties growing
contiguous. Last year a comparative trial was
made by Mr. George Bell on the farm of Inch-
michael, Perthshire, with Chevalier and Hope-
toun wheat, the crop of the latter being repre-
sented as too thickly planted. Both kinds yielded
36 bushels per acre ; but the grain of Hopetoun
wheat was best in quality, and weighed 21bs. per
bushel heavier. Another comparative trial was
instituted in East Lothian by Mr. Alexander
Begbic, on the farm of Seggarsdcan, with Hunter,
Chidham, and Hopetoun wheat, the latter being
thinnest in plant, and the yield was found to be
34, 30, and 37 bushels respectively. These trials
appear to me to show the yield of Hopetoun
wheat to have been increased in the one case and
diminished in the other by the state of the plant,
and tend to illustrate the difficulty of making
trials from which sound deductions can be derived

regarding the respective merits of varieties.
There is, however, no way of estimating wheats
but by comparative trials ; and the importance of
the subject will, I trust, excuse the following
remarks : —

In making a comparative trial with varieties of
wheat it is necessary to select a portion of land
uniform in texture, subsoil, and exposure, and
which for a series of years has been cropped,
manured, and laboured in all respects alike. The
previous crop shouldif possible have been potatoes,
as after this preparation insects scarcely ever in-
jure the plant of wheat-crops.* The extent of
ground occupied by each variety should not be
less than one acre ; and after a careful measure-
ment the lines of separation ought to be well
defined to guard against the intermingling of
varieties, in the operations of sowing and har-
vesting. I recommend the seed to be deposited
by a drill across the ridges, with a vacancy of 2
or 3 feet intervening between the varieties, and
the seeding of all the laud to be executed on the
same day.

Respecting the quantity of seed I can testify
from experience and observation that, even with
the same variety of wheat, any material difference
in the state of the plant, all other circumstances
being alike, influences the size of ear, length of
straw, time of ripening, and the quantity and
quality of produce, as well as the effects of red
gum and mildew. To particularize some of these
effects, it may be stated that a thin " plant," that
is to say, a small nnmber of the young plants of
wheat standing upon a given space of ground,
generally enlarges the ears and corns, retards the
ripening, and aggravates the effects of red gum
and mildew, while the straw is shortened both by
a very thick and a very thin plant. In some
seasons a moderately thin plant is found to be
advantages both to quantity and quality of grain,
and in others highly injurious. It is therefore desir-
able in comparative trials to have all the varieties
of the same thickness of " plant." This, however,
cannot always be attained by sowing the same
quantities of each kind of wheat, because the
seed may vary in size, and perhaps 3 corns of the
Bellevue Talavera will be found to occupy more
space than 1 corns of Chidham wheat. Another
source of error may lie in the different propensity
of different wheats to tiller or send out side- shoots.
I therefore recommend, first, that the trial-wheats
be sown, not by equal measures, but by measures
calculated to contain an equal number of seeds ;
and, secondly, that the seeds be sown so thickly
as not to call forth the tillering property.

1 have found portions of wheat-crops, consisting
of the same variety and growing on the same
field, under a parity of circumstances, except
as to time of sowing, differ in quantity of grain
produce from 20 to 50 per cent., the quality being
nearly alike. These defalcations principally arose
from the wheat-fly, a minute short-lived insect
seldom noticed by farmers, that generally confines
its attacks to ears escaping from the sheath, and
they were the result of the ears of such portions
having appeared at the very time when the fly
was depositing its eggs. Wheats, however, sown

* Although it is not uncommon in Scotland to
sow wheat after potatoes, in many parts of England
potatoes are a very bad preparation for wheat, as
exhausting the soil and in some way affecting the
wheat. — C. E. Lefiioy.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

181

at the same time, are found to come into ear at
different periods, and thus, in a comparative trial,
when soil, time of sowing, and state of the plant are
nlike, it may so happen that some varieties may
be injured by the fly and others escape. I there-
fore recommend that journals of comparative
trials be kept embracing the appearance of the
crops at all the different stages of growth, with the
state of the wcaiher, and other influential agency
which may intervene. Without such a document
it will not be possible to determine whether dif-
ferences of produce can be ascribed to peculiarities
inherent in varieties of wheat or to some natural
contingency.

Many agiicultuiists are of opinion that wheats
transmit the influences of soil and climate to suc-
ceeding crops, and in consequence advocate
changes of seed. I am well aware of the corns
of wheat possessing different powers of vitality,
but I have never witnessed in the case of this
grain the advantages which are said to arise from
a change of seed. Leaving, however, this point
undecided, I recommend the seeds of all varieties
used in comparative trials to have been grown
under a perfect parity of soil and climate, and,
when this has not been the case, advise a repeti-
tion of the trial, and conclusions to be drawn
from the results of the second year.

Comparative trials with different varieties of
wheat may justly be considered experiments in
the laboratory of nature. The farmer, like the
chemist, ought to pay strict attention to all the
disturbing causes in the workroom affecting his
investigations, for without careful execution and
accurate observation, comparative trials will lead
' to error. Repeated trials by the same individual
may not end in uniformity of result, but by ex-
perience an approximation to truth will be attained
sufficient to guide practical agriculture.
Prcstonkirk, 2nd October, 1841.

PIG POPULATION.

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE LABOURERS FRIEND
SOCIETY.

Dear Sir, — Now that the day- dreams of the
Malthusians are drawing near to a close, and the
clearer lights of truth and nature are usurping
their place, permit me to occupy a small portion
of your pages on the subject of pigs, their pro-
creation, and use.

I am indebted to a worthy and sensible friend,
and a friend also of the poor, for the following
estimate of what I shall term pig population, and
set it in array against the increasing demands
of the home population, which goes on at the
rate of not quite one-and-a-half per cent, per
annum, nay, little more than one-and-aquarter,
by the last ten years' census. I think, with
the assistance of my above-mentioned friend,
I can feed the supernumeraries well, and in
this way, at all events, save their bacon. Would
you credit the assertion, that in ten years,
ten short years, and from two breeding sows,
many millions can be produced 1 Would you
suppose — for I certainly had no conception of the
fact — that more than the present, or even antici-
pated population of the country for ten years to
come, is not equal to the number of pigs to be

thus born and bred in the same period, if we
choose ? But I shall proceed to the proof, and
give the figures, which are unanswerable argu-
ments when well founded. His calculation, then,
is as follows — viz., That in one year two sows
(one year old) will breed ten each, of which we
shall assume that one half are females, and so
proceed on that assumed equality.

The first year there will be males

and females 20

From which take the males 10

And we have the result as breeders 10

At the second year, then, we may

fairly take the same ratio of ten

to each— viz., 10

2) 100

50

And it gives us a hundred males
and females, leaving conse-
quently, for the third year, fifty
breeders 50

I shall now drop the text, and
merely give the figures, the same
principle applying throughout —
viz 10

Third year 2) 500

250
10

Fourth year 2) 2500

1250
10

Fifth year 2) 12,500

6,250
10

Sixth year 2) 62,500

31,250
10

Seventh year 2)312,500

156,250
10

Eighth year 2) 1,562,500

781,250
10

Ninth year , 2)7,812,500

3,906,250
10

Tenth year, males and females. . . . 39,062,500

I hope my friend has brought his pigs to a good
market ; but to equalize the supply I shall for the
present purposes, take only the male half of the
pig population for food, leaving the breeders to go
on. In this way, then, we can kill and eat ten the
first year — no bad increase from two sows, recol-
lect—the second year 50; the third, 250; the

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

fourth 1,250; the fifth, 6,250 ; the sixth, 31,250,
(pork in abundance now) ; the seventh, 156,250,
(still more abundant !) the eights, 781,250 ; the
ninth, 3,906,250 ; and the tenth, when divided in
like manner, the enormous quantity of 19,531,250
for food, without interfering with the breeders,
who, I presume, by this time, will probably re-
quire killing also. Now I am not aware that much
commentary is required on this prolific subject.
Every man who reads this short paper, will at once
draw his own conclusion from the facts. They
are, however, of a very cheering description, and
drawn from the breeding of one domestic animal
only, and amply prove what abundant stores
nature, and the God of nature, have provided for
human subsistence. I shall close this paper with
the sensible practical observation of my friend, in
reference to this subject, as, after all, it is in prac-
tice only that the benefits open to all are to be re-
ceived by any. In the county of Kent, he in-
forms me, there are 31,000 agricultural families or
farmers. It is a very easy matter for each to keep
two breeding sows, which in three years would
produce, in round numbers, fifteen millions of pigs.
In the fifty-two counties of England, he also
adds, the number of agricultural families is
760,000; so that by the same mode of calculation
as for Kent, of every farmer keeping two sows,
the produce would be, in the like period, three
hundred and eighty millions of pigs. One good
breeding sow to each, would consequently produce
fifteen millions. As I have said, and say again, — ■
is this all true 1 for if so, what prevents the im-
mediate use of the same beneficial proceeding to
every one, not even omitting the allotment tenant ?
What more easy and practicable than to breed on
a small scale, or to join two or three families to-
gether, and thus diminish expense and increase
profits ? I throw out the hint, and hope that good
may arise from a due consideration of the promi-
nent facts already stated. J. J. B.

AGRICULTURE OF CUMBER-
LAND.

At a recent meeting of a local agricultural so-
ciety at Penrith, the chairman, John Hill, Esq.,
of Bank Foot, stated some curious particulars re-
lative to the progress of agriculture in the county
of Cumberland. — " Edward the Second, in the
twelfth year of his reign, in 1319, sent word to
the bailiffs of Penrith that a petition had been sent
to him by the tenants of his domain lands there,
that they, the bailiffs, had advanced the rent of
his land from twtlvepence per acre to twenty-
pence, and on that account his lands were un-
tenanted. He gave orders, therefore, that the
said lands be immediately re-let at the old rent of
twelvepence per acre. Now, making due allow-
ance for the depression of money, I think you
will not find this a high price for lands which now
let for 5/. and 6/. per acre. At that period the
Forest of Inglewood extended from Penrith to
Carlisle, embracing a large tract of country.
Ralph, Baron of Greystoke, was forester, and
William Dacre senechal or steward of the same ;
John Rafton kept the mews for the king's hawks!
and Robert de Tympou took indgistment and at-
tended to the pannage, or in other words superin-
tended the acorns, which were the natural food of
the wild swine, for his master the king." * *
" And in what space of time have

these improvements for the most part been ef-
fected ? Why about 75 years, or little more than
the natural term assigned to the life of man ; for
if you inquire into these affairs, I think you will
find that 7-10ths of the inclosure acts not only
within the Forest of Inglewood, but also when in
Cumberland, have been obtained since the fourth
year of the reign or George the Third, 1764. So
much for the reclaiming of waste lands. I shall
now, in a cursory manner, glance at the great
agricultural improvements in this county. The
country is greatly indebted to a number of noble-
men and gentlemen, who, at the close of the last
century, formed themselves into a society for the
advancement of agriculture — this was the " Board
of Agriculture." Able men were employed under
them, to make a report of the state of agriculture
in many counties, and, among the rest, we have a
statistical account of all that belongs to farming
in this county, by 1'ailcy and Culley. The report
was published in 1794, and republished in 1805.
Now let us hear what they say : we will begin with
corn. Wheat, they inform us, " is a modern pro-
duction here." Then, as to rotation crops, " The
most prevalent system through a great part of the
country is to have a whole crop every year, while
in ploughing such cultivators make no fallows,
except ploughing twice, and manuring for barley,
can be deemed such." Our two inspectors having
asked a farmer at Uldale, why he sowed no clover
or grass seeds, he replied, " We have no occa-
sion, sir, whatever, 't land is naturally girs proud "
and when you consider from six to twelve whole
crops taken off land in succession, it would hardly
be anything else but girs proud. There was plenty
of grass, but not such as any good farmer would
like to see on his estate. Next come the turnips,
the introduction of which has created quite a
revolution in the farming world. " Turnips were
first cultivated for the use of cattle by Philip
Howard, Esq., of Corby, in the year 1755. It was
eight or ten years before any one followed the ex-
ample ; at last Mr. Collins, of Wetheral, made a
trial, and succeeded : others soon followed." Next
come the seeds : — " We were informed that in 1752
no person in the country had thought of sowing
a Held down with clover, or even had seeds, and
that Philip Howard, Esq., of Corby, was the first
who sowed a field with clover, and taught his coun-
trymen the use of artificial grasses ; yet they are
but few who have benefitted by his laudable exer-
tions." Now for the cattle : — " The cattle are a
small breed of long-horns, with a few exceptions
of the Galloway breed. This breed of long-horns
is not distinguished by any peculiar good qualities,
which is not to be wondered at, when it is to be
considered that probably at this time there is not
one person in the country who pays the least at-
tention to improvement. About twenty years ago
Mr. Hazell, of Dalemain, had succeeded in ac-
quiring a useful breed of long-horns, hut his suc-
cessors neglected them, and the labours of the
good old man are entirely lost." Fat sheep next
come under our notice : — " The sheep bred in this
county are only of two hinds. These appear to
have been the Hcrdweeks, and a mongrel breed of
the black-faced kind. At Penruddock we observed
some singularly rough-legged, ill-formed sheep.
On asking an old farmer where they got the breed,
and where their tups came from, he said, ' Lord,
sir, they're sic as God set on the land ; we never
change them.' We wish we could say the practice
at Penruddock was not prevalent in every part of
the county.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

183

ON THE USE OF EXCITANTS AND
ALTERATIVES IN THE CURE
OF ROT IN SHEEP AND OTHER
CATTLE.

BY JOHN FOSBROOKE, M-D.

ON THE CURE OF SHEEP BY ALTERATIVES
AND RESTORATIVES.

ALTERATIVE AND RESTORATIVE PLAN.

The writer tried remedies on this principle, the
result of which also militates against the resem-
blance or identity of hydatids and tubercles in ani-
mals and those in men. When the sheep is
affected with foot-rot, it exhibits the appearance
described about the liver and lungs ; the liver of
the sheep is what the farmers call "rotten." It is
changed to a blackish colour, and softened as in
ramollisement. The biliary tubes are much dilated,
and filled with a green and fiothy mucus, and are
generally occupied by flukes, possessing the pro-
perties of life and motion, and resembling flounders
in miniature. The mucous membrane is all dis-
eased, and the sheep is affected with a green and
slimy diarrhoea, which is called the " scour." Hip-
pocrates, who knew little or nothing of anatomy,
mistook the flukes for hydatids. Its origin is at-
tributed to the deposit of an insect of a particular
variety of herb. They are found constantly in the
lungs and livers of sheep which are pastured
where the said herb flourishes, in moist
lands, over all the world, and are quite in-
dependent of the morbid changes described. This
is the prevailing opinion ; but the conveyance of
the germs and rudiments of insects down the wind-
pipe and digestive canal, which arc not continuous
systems, not to be reached without being exposed
to digestion, is certainly improbable and question-
able. They rarely appear unassociated with mor-
bid alterations ; and I suspect that they accompany,
like worms in the human bowels, those changes-
which dispose the mucous membranes to form a
fit colony and habitation for them. The fluke,
however, is more a live worm, resides in the bil-
iary ducts, and is found in the rotten-livered sheep.
I saw that the "scour" and diseased state of the
mucous membrane of the sheep's bowels, and all
accidental complications, were rendered worse by
the vesicular and dropsical condition of the sheep's
belly. I conceived that the disease of the mucous
membrane, "the scour," might resemble some-
what those accumulations of inspissated mucus of
slimy and morbid qualities and irregular colours,
in fact, perverted secretions of various consistency,
which occur to old dyspeptics more especially,
distress the nervous system in every part of the
body, and wear out life by habitual continuance
without destroying it. In animals these accumu-
lations appear to clog up the alimentary tube, the
digestive passages, and to obstruct the action of
the exhalcnt capillaries and absorbents; and lead
to disease of the principal viscera, viz., liver and
lungs, to which organs the greatest quantity of
blood is most and first distributed. Entertaining
these views, I put the remainder of the flock on
alterative diet by removing them to a dry herbage ;
I administered the Sp. Tereb. Rect. in the morning,
and Mur. Soda in the evening. The improvement
was so sudden and complete, that the whole of
the seven remaining sheep came under the butcher

in six weeks, out of which four only presented re-
mains of vesicular bodies. The turpentine has a
counter-stimulant as well as an emetic and pur-
gative action on the mucous membrane of these
animals. I have also tried partially squills, tartar
emetic, and infusion of foxglove ; which last is a
good excitant to the absorbent system in cancer
and other moibid growths of men and animals. The
muriate of soda is an established and universal re-
medy, very much praised in Mr. Youatt's work.
Mr. Thomas Woodhall, of the Bollen, at YValford,
an extensive agriculturist, bought some years ago,
a number of fine Merino sheep, which were found
by the butcher, Mr. Blewitt, of Ross, to be rotten
throughout. He consulted an old and respectable
farmer, the late Mr. Jones, of Poussin, who was
what is called " a great sheep-man." Mr. J. ob-
served, that according to his experience, the dis-
ease commenced with a general deep chill of the
sheep's system.

The late Sir Astley Paston Cooper was of opinion
that in muriate of lime, a capital alterative, the
muriatic acid is that component which remedies
oppressed and disordered states of absorption.
The late Lieutenant Baynton, of Clifton, used it
extensively in scrofulous, glandular, and malignant
diseases, with much confidence in its powers ; and
he thought it possessed peculiar properties in its
action on the animal economy, independently of
the pre-suppo:<ed actions of its separate component
parts. But the laws of vitality, which regulate
the chemistry of the stomach in a manner unknown
to us, and the chemical action and combinations
of remedies when in the stomach, and submitted
to digestion, are unexplained and perhaps inex-
plicable. The utility of a prescription does not
depend upon whether it be chemical or unchemi-
cal, as we see every day ; the objection is the ab-
surd and unphilosophical quirk of a shallow and
superficial mind. Soda or lime may absorb super-
fluous moisture ; muriatic acid may stimulate and
invigorate the absorbents. Muriate of soda, or
salt brine, is the stated basis of the Leamington
and Gloucester spas by Short, Guodot, and Bent-
ley. They are raking, irritating, and scouring
purgatives, and, according to those high autho-
rities, were anciently resorted to for the cure of
mangy dogs, but now only are taken by the
fashionable world. I am of opinion that the pre-
parations of iodine, particularly the sulphuret and
hydriodate of potass, which have been known
within the last twenty years, deserve to be tried
in these and similar diseases of animals. The old
materials, by instertial and modelling absorption,
were soon worked up to form new. For instance,
a young sheep, in the most rotten condition, be-
longing to a cow-leech, was so distended in the
abdomen with vesicles or cysts, that it was hardly
able to walk along, and the fluctuating fluid con-
tents made an audible weltering. It was foddered,
a table-spoonful of table salt was given daily, and
the rapidity of its recovery was matter of astonish-
ment. The scour, and a diseased state of the mu-
cous membranes of the sheep's bowels, and all
incidental, are rendered worse by the vesicular
and dropsical disease; and they are cured by those
remedies which restore the natural and healthy
functions of the lining membrane of the alimentary
tube. Accumulations of inspissated mucus or
slime, of morbid qualities and irregular colour —
in fact, perverted secretions of various colour and
consistency — form a by no means uncommon dis-
ease both of man and animals. My brother has

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described the mucous irritation and diarrhoea in
men in his " Pathology of the Kidneys," and in
the ' ' Medical Topography of Cheltenham," pub-
lished in 1826. In animals these appear to clog
up the diathesis, and even congenitally, for infants
of from six months to three or four years, die of
large tubercular cavities in their lungs, as tbe mu-
seums of morbid anatomy demonstrate. Why is
not the blood of the tuberculated minutely and
correctly analysed by the adepts in animal chemis-
try ? Why are notall their secretions and excre-
tions submitted to them ? Why do they not,
Majendieaud Ancell, shew the difference between
blood in scrofula and tubercle, and malignant dis-
ease ? Others contend that it is not in the blood.

The cow of a blacksmith died a natural death in
bad condition; the heart was enormously large,
and, as well as the lungs, was studded with vesi-
cular and cartalaginous bodies. The liver was in
part destroyed by ulceration, and elsewhere full of
abscesses of an unnaturally dark colour.

The pig is more prone than the sheep to the
growth of these vesicular bodies and the subse-
quent transformations, particularly if forced to
gain a predatory existence by wild food in the or-
chard or under the oak and beech. The self-
provident pig of the cottager is liable to the same
disease as the wild hog of the east. He follows
his nose in quest of food; he is far from being
dainty or epicurean in his choice ; he gets it from
nature, but not in superfluity, and comes home
with mesentery, liver, and lungs loaded with these
morbid growths. Cobbett says " a lean pig is
worse than the devil." Not uncommonly his
respiration is somewhat impeded — his joints form
synorial effusions — and the sturdy gentleman puts
a lame foot foremost. A species of louse ploughs
up the cuticle on his back, and in a fit of plurigo,
the irritated epicurist calmly expatiates in the mud
to destroy the offending vermin, and the next mo-
ment sootheshis body by a siesta in the glorious
sun. Henry Barnet, Esq., a surgeon in the land
service of the E. I. Company, for many years as
such, was an indigo planter in India, told me that
the Mahomedan aversion to pork, so strongly en-
joined in the Koran, or in the Hebrew laws, arose
naturally from Indian pigs being what is figura-
tively called " measly;" while the fact is that the
disease is not measles, but every tissue is covered
with vesicles, or "watery bladders," in common
parlance called " hydatids," and actually in-
edible.

My brother has examined two vesicular pigs ;
the mesentery of the one presented large watery
vesicles adhering in a pendulous manner to depres-
sions of the liver ; also in one of the lobes a pale
penetrating cartalaginous body ; one part appeared
to have been consolidated some time. The animals
thrive and fatten as well as if their lungs were
sound. I once found the lungs of a young colt that
died, generally affected with tubercles, in what I
called the second stage. The appearance was just
that of the lungs when destroyed by consumption.

There is this difference in the origin of quadru-
pedal and human tubercles. The quadrupedal
spring from moisture (Mr. Youatt,) in anition ;
previous disease of biliary organs and mucous mem-
brane ; effusions and spontaneous degeneracy of
the animal from change of climate, &c. A man who
has an eye for sheep will see how they will con-
duct themselves in the choice of ground to fatten
upon, on a part of which the upland is sandy, dry,
sunny, or wooded ; while in another part where

the eye detects, by the more shaky tread of the
ground, and the height and tint of the clover or
grass, and other appearances known to the prac-
tical agriculturist, the moister parts of the field
from the drier. Now what do the sheep do ? So
soon as they get into the ground they invariably
go to the higher and drier parts, and shun the
moister. Tubercles are connected in the biped
with original family degeneracy of the blood, in
which is the life, and from which this taint is not
to be eradicated, with even the last grains of the
grit on the enclosed and shrivelled capsule appeared
to be under the devouring power of the lymphatics.
Beasts even repay attention to the alimentary ca-
nal; keep the main works of that machinery clean,
and all their functions will go ou together with
vigour.

Animals in which these appearances are found. —
The horse, cow, and pig are as liable to vesicles as
the sheep. According- to some little farmers in the
Forest of Dean, the hide-bound, coarse-haired horses
of that rough tract exist in almost the wild state,
scantily on the unenclosed wastes. The skin becomes
glued to the vertebra; and ribs, and becomes loaded
with vesicular bodies, especially those enclosed in
cartaliginous cysts, occupying the viscera exter-
nally and internally.

HEDGE FENCES.

The whitethorn is by far the best plant for
fences, in land which it likes ; but it does not
always answer the expectation of its planters. It
will grow freely in any land that is not very poor
or wet. It does not dislike heavy clay, and it
succeeds admirably in rich light soils ; but in
marshy situations, or in sterile sands and heathy
land it is not worth planting.

The mode of multiplying it is by sowing the
stones found in the haws, the preparation of which
is the first subject to be considered. The haws
may be gathered at any time after they are ripe.
They should be beaten to pieces, and mixed with
twice their quantity of sand ; after which they
should be formed into a cone, 3 feet or 4 feet high,
and wall covered over with a thick layer of soil ;
this must be made in a dry place. In March
they may be unpacked, sifted from the sand, and
sown broadcast in beds 4 feet wide, being covered
about an inch with light soil. Further care they
require none. Some of them will come up the
first year, some the second, many the third, and
some the fourth ; so that the seeds need not be
sown very thin ; for the successive thinnings, as
the plants are removed, will form room for the
new seedlings, or " layer" as it is technically
called.

The layer should be used when two years old,
at which time, if well managed, it will be nine
inches high. It is customary to pull it up with
the hands, guarded by stout leathern gloves,
and to shorten the roots be removing all the tap-
root up to the bunch of fibres which springs from
the crown. In this state it is fit for planting.

Many persons prefer to use transplanted quick
in hedge-making ; but we doubt whether anything
is really gained by doing so ; and for large opera-
tions the latter is too expensive. If, however, it
is wished to prepare quick for such a purpose, it
is only necessary to plant the layer, root-pruned
as above described, in rows a foot apart, and to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

185

lift it partially every year, by introducing the
spade on one side, until the plants arc as large as
is required. They must he lifted annually, or they
will form coarse roots without fibres, and it will
become difficult to transplant them with any cer-
tainty.

When the quick is ready for making a hedge, it
is either planted on the ground level (in which
case it must be guarded by hurdles), or upon the
top of a bank. The latter is a bad plan, because
in the summer the hank becomes very dry, and
the young quick being deprived of the moisture
required for its nourishment, becomes stunted and
stops growing. It is far better to plant it on the
level of the ground. But the necessity of ditching
estates, and the convenience of banks as separa-
tions of fields, will probably always cause the pre-
ference to be given to planting upon them. In
this case the quick should be placed on the top,
and on no account at the sides, as is commonly
practised in some of our counties.

The best way of planting is to put in the layer
12 inches apart, in double rows, a foot asunder,
taking care that the plants in one row alternate
with those in the other. They should not be cut
back when planted, but left at full length.

The second year after planting, one row should
be cut down to within five or six inches of the
ground, and the other row left untouched. The
next year the latter should be cut down in like
manner. After this the hedge will require no
other care than to cut back the leading shoots
every year whenever they are becoming too strong,
so as to keep the mass a compact thicket of en-
tangled branches.

These are, in our opinion, the essential points
to observe. In addition it should be borne in
mind that the whitethorn is greedy of manure,
and that the better the soil the sooner a fence will
be made. The plants, of course, should be kept
quite clean by frequent hoeing and loosening the
surface soil.

We know that many persons will prefer layers
more than two years old. We doubt, however,
whether the advantage of employing large quicks
is equal to the great additional expense ; at least
there is no doubt that if the whitethorn is not al-
lowed to become dry, but is root-pruned and
planted in the autumn immediately after being
taken out of the ground, a very respectable fence
will be formed in four years. — Gardeners' Chronicle.

MANURE.

On this most important subject we extract the
following from an able letter in the Essex Herald,
upon " the influence which manure applied to
pasture land, has on the cattle fed thereon."
Milk contains all the earths and salts which are
found in the animal body ; it contains sugar, and
fat in the form of butter, and it also contains those
nitrogenized principles necessary for the forma-
tion of flesh, hair, wool, &c. Grass, wheats, all
cereal grains, contain very nearly the same sub-
stances as milk — I mean the same in chemical
composition ; and though they are diluted in plants,
the effects on animals are the same, yet perhaps in
a less manifest degree; and the more similar grass
is in composition to milk, the greater will be its
nutritious powers. In mature life, when we wish
the body, already partially or nearly fully deve-

loped, to increase in weight and flesh, we must
supply it with food containing, in a state fit for
assimilation, those substances which the fully per-
fected body contains, and of which its various
parts are composed. But there arc other substances
required in the animal economy, not absolutely
for the increase of flesh, but for putting the body
in that condition in which it is in the greatest state
of activity, means, in fact, of assisting those che-
mical changes which are always going on. Most
men have observed animals lean and meagre return
from salt marshes fat and in good condition. My
occupations have in some degree kept me from
those situations where 1 could personally observe
this, but I think most men have seen and know it
to be the case. Salted hay, and other food con-
taining salt, are excellent for cattle. Indeed, no ani-
mal can exist in a healthy state, for a long period,
without common salt. 1 myself have seen on the
east cost of Scotland, six miles from the sea, in
the Pentland Hills, the walls of stone and the
twigs of the hedges, covered with a white bloom,
and this bloom the sheep very eagerly licked, and
which consisted of salt carried up from the sea
by east winds which had prevailed ; nay, 1 would
almost go so far as to say that one of the chief
uses of sea breezes is to carry the salt from the
sea, and spread it over the land. If you manure a
meadow with salt, the grass will contain salt ; and
1 have no doubt that if you manure particular
kinds of grasses with bone-dust and gypsum, they
will in like manner contain the salts of the bone-
dust and the gypsum.

ON THE BEST MANNER OF
TREATING LIGHT OR BLOW-
AWAY SAND LANDS.

Sir, — Not having seen anything in your Jour-
nal bearing upon this head, I take the liberty of
stating what I know and what I want to know
with regard to the treatment of such lands. Feel-
ing convinced that a great deal of valuable manure
is often thrown away, and consequently profit
lost to the occupier, I feel the more reconciled to
stating my humble opinion, in order to call the
attention of some of our leading and scientific
agriculturists to this subject.

first, then, I think it of the greatest imporlance
to procure a good crop of turnips, looking upon
this as being the foundation of future corn crops;
and the question is, what is the best, and at the same
time the most economical, mode of obtaining
such"? If farm-yard manure is used, which is the
best time and state to apply it ? I am of opinion,
that if it is allowed to ferment, as it frequently is,
until it becomes so rotten as to be easily cut with
a spade, it loses the greater part of its good quali-
ties, and, being so easily soluble in water, is
speedily carried down by the heavy rains below
the reach of the roots of plants. I have seen it
applied in October or November, in its raw state,
out of the fold-yard, and worked with the land
during the fallowing process in spring ; and I am
inclined to think that this is the best method of
applying it, only I like it to ferment about three
weeks before it is spread upon the land. But I
have found it an excellent plan, and theone which
has produced the most lasting effect, to collect

186

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

from ditches and road-sides all the ruhbish I can
procure, and throw it into a heap with a good
proportion of crich or some other Derbyshire
lime, in its caustic state, to destroy any seeds the
heap may contain, and allow it to remain one
year or more, turning it over once, and by so
doing mixing it thoroughly together. I have
often been recommended by my neighbours to
mix a portion of manure, but have always de-
sisted, thinking that I should lose all its benefit
by so doing, as the action of the lime would expel
all the useful gases.

This I spread on the land at the rate of from
thirty to forty loads per acre before ploughing for
fallow, so that it may get thoroughly mixed with
the land, and render it more retentive ; the whole
cost of this compost I reckon at about 41. 10s. per
acre.

The turnips arc sown on ridges, in order to
afford them as much soil as possible, with a drill
machine, which deposits bone-dust and the seed
directly upon it. On ground thus treated we
have almost always good crops, if the season has
not been very adverse. I have seen common salt
tried as a top-dressing for clover, and attended
with little or no beneficial effect. Nitrate of soda
has also been tried for clovers and wheats, and
the result was invariably a considerable increase
in the produce.

I should feel much obliged if any one who has
tried Guano manure would state the result and
manner of applying it, as 1 think it is very likely
to be a valuable manure on these light soils.

I have already trespassed too long on your va-
luahle pages, and in conclusion can only say that
if any one, on reading the above remarks, thinks
the view I take is wrong, and will tell me what is
right through the same medium, they will confer a
great obligation on their obedient servant,

January 24th, 18-12. Alpha.

ON GAYTING CLOVER.

Sir, — Properly securing the clover crop and
other artificial grasses is a very important agri-
cultural operation, particularly to those farmers
who may reside in a humid climate. Observing
what I consider very erroneous opinions abroad
respecting the best method to be employed for Its
proper security, I would respectfully offer a few
brief remarks on a short practice in this operation.

On leaving a clay land farm a few years ago, in
an exposed and arid situation, where there was
no difficulty in ordinarily favourable seasons in
securing these crops in fair condition, and remov-
ing to a turnip soil, producing heavy crops of
seeds, in a close situation and moist atmosphere,
the seasons also being very wet and unfavourable,
I had for the first three years a very great waste
in this description of hay. The fourth year (1839)
1 had a beautiful crop of red clover, with a little
rye-grass ; and being again a very unfavourable
season, I was determined to take every precaution
to secure it without injury. I was advised to
gayte or ruckle it (an operation which I will pre-
sently describe), as is sometimes practised hy the
hest farmers in this neighbourhood, and I believe
in some parts of this riding of Yorkshire very ge-
nerally. The work is performed chiefly hy
women, after the crop has been severed and laid
a day or two to dry on the top : the operator be-

ginning at that end of the swathe which was first
cut, proceeds to roll it up by the hands till a suffi-
cient sized sheaf is formed ; then pulling from the
top end a small band, which is tied round the top
part of the sheaf so high as to admit the bottom
part being spread out and firmly placed on the
ground, In which direction it is left as perpendi-
cular as may be, which concludes the operation.
The gaytes should be placed in a straight line be-
tween the swathes, which gives it a neat appear-
ance, as well as being placed on the driest ground.
If possible, it is better done when the grass is
dry on the top, but in precarious seasons I would
not hesitate to put it together wet, as it will take
far less harm in this way than being left on the
ground. The mowers should lay the swathes as
straight as possible, which greatly facilitates the
operation.

The advantages attending this method are, first,
it requires no more labour till it is fit to carry, ex-
cept, perhaps, an occasional righting up, and at
the time of carting a woman or boy to pitch it
into heaps for lo;iding, the rakers following ;
secondly, it effectually secures all the leaves and
seeds, scarcely a particle being lost, as happens in
wet seasons by repeatedly turning it ; and
thirdly, there is no season, however wet, in which
it will not retain its quality ; so much so, indeed,
that in 1839 my seeds stood in gaytes for three
weeks of almost incessant rain, yet they were at
last secured so green and fine, it would have been
difficult to say, when using them, they had been
at all exposed. It is also the cheapest method, as
a woman or strong lad will do an acre a day com-
pletely, even if the crop be huge.

From the report of the Farmers' Magazine, the
members of the Framlingham Farmers' Club will
discuss this question again on the 24th May, and
if any one of them will give this method only a
partial trial, I think he will recommend it to his
neighbours as worthy an extended practice, being
the most economical, and securing both quality
and quantity.

Should you deem these remarks worthy a place
in the Farmers' Magazine, I should be obliged by
their insertion.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

Anti-Haycock.

Hall Garth Farm, Kildale, Jan. 26, IS 12.

DEBENIIAM FARMERS' CLUB. -Presides,
Mr. Thorn is Pettit ; Vice-President, Mr. George YVoodt
ward ; Treasurer and Librarian, Mr. C. A. Preston ;
Secretary, Mr. William Green. Meetings and subject*
for discussion for the current year : —
March 24— Raw or unfennented manure*, or fermented

and mixed manures.
April 22 — The best mode of making summer fallows,

and on sub-soiling ; also, on summer-feeding cart

horses.
May 20— On the best variety of turnip, mangel, &c. ;

also, the best mode of preventing the fly.
June 17— On draining wet lands.
July 15 — Mowing or reaping wheat and harvesting

corn.
August— No meeting.
Sept. 9 — The comparative advantage of thrashing corn

and seed with the flail or by machinery.
Oct. 14 — The best mode of storeing mangel, Swedes,

&c, to preserve their nutritious qualities— and ar-
ranging lor general meeting.
Nov. 18— General meeting, show of roots, &c, for

sweepstakes.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

187

ON GROWING POTATOES AND
TURNIPS IN ALTERNATE
ROWS.

TO TIIF. EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Having found from two years' experi-
mental trials considerable advantage to result
from the method of growing in the same field po-
tatoes and turnips on alternate drills, and it
having occurred to me that it might be very ap-
plicable to those farmers who are in the practice
of eating off the turnips on the ground with
sheep, as the potatoes would be all dug up and
the ground clear before it was necessary to put
them on, I shall shortly state the result of my trials,
so as any one may judge for themselves whether it
may not be worth a further trial on a more ex-
tended scale. Having had a few potatoes of a
particular kind sent me, which I was desirous of
propagating for seed, and as the turnip sowing
was going on at the time, I had them cut and
planted in one of the ridges. The potatoes occu-
pied 53 yards in length of a drill. When they
were sufficiently advanced, I applied nitrate of
soda around the stems, at the rate of 1 2 to 2 cwt.
per Scotch acre. In a very short time the nitrate
had the usual effect on the potatoes. But during
the course of the summer 1 was very much struck
with the superior appearance of the turnip-drills
growing on each side of them, and which 1 could
only account for by the nourishment derived, or
gases given out from the potato-shaws (in conse-
quence of the nitrate application^), and inhaled by
the turnip-leaves, as none of the nitrate could
reach the root of the turnip, from the careful
manner in which it was applied ; or it may have
been partly owing to the shelter afforded to the
young turnip plants by the potatoes. But I have
no doubt some of your chemical readers will give
a satisfactory reason for it.

I also this last season, in a small field of Swedes,
planted three drills of potatoes, and nitrated them
as before. The turnips again assumed the most
vigorous appearance — fully more so than any
other part of the field (though growing on farm-
yard manure only), while other part9 of the field
had the addition of sulphate of ammonia and
other new manures, which I have found to be
very beneficial in giving great additional weight.

It may be remarked of this last result, that the
crop is nearly double the first, on account of the
ground being richer (yielding a crop of 38 tons
per Scotch acre), while the other was a hill-field
and not in such order, and consequently showing
a greater difference in a given length of ground.
I have also to state, the potato crop will he found
superior in consequence of the land being gene-
rally much better wrought and cleaned, and will
amply repay the expense of the nitrate.

It may be considered inconvenient having al-
ternate drills, I should therefore recommend two
of each (or even three), which will enable the
carts to lead off the potatoes without injuring the
turnip, and be still better for the sheep. Hoping
the result may not be much different in conse-
quence,

I remain, Sir, your very obedient servant,

A DUMBARTONSHIRE FARMER.

2§th January, 1842.

RESULT OF FIRST EXPERIMENT.

lbs.

Dec. 18th, 1840.— Lifted the 53 yards
of turnip-drill growing on each side of
the potatoes, 106' yards in all. Exact
weight 478

Lifted 106 yards immediately adjoining

on each side. Weight 398

Gain 80
At this rate, the increase would be about 2| to
3 tons per acre.

RESULT OF SECOND EXPERIMENT.

Dec, 1841. — Weighed four drills Swedish lbs.
turnips, two of them with potatoes on
each side, two with potatoes on one
side only, in all 466 yards 4172

Weighed also four drills, two on each

side of the above 466 yards 3892

Gain 280
The above put into the ground on the 15th May.

ON THE COMPARATIVE FEED-
ING PROPERTIES OF MAN-
GOLD WURZEL AND SWEDISH
TURNIPS.

BY THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER.

(From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England).

TO PH. PUSEY, ESQ., MP.

My Dear Sir, — You expressed a wish that I
should again publish the results of an experiment
which I made fifteen or sixteen years ago on the
comparative feeding properties of Swedish turnips
and mangold wurzel. It was published in the
Farmer's Journal of that day, but I believe it is
now very little if at all remembered ; and I agree
with you in thinking that it may be more inter-
esting now, when men's minds are more turned to
this sort of investigations.

The mode of ascertaining the nutritious pro-
perties of dilTerent kinds of vegetable food by
chemical analysis, which was adopted by Sinclair
and other scientific men, gives a reasonable pro-
bability of their relative value ; but we know so
little of the processes of nature in converting food
into the flesh of the animal that consumes it, that
this mode has never appeared to me quite satis-
factory. Although, therefore, I believed that
mangold wurzel contained more saccharine matter
than Swedish turnips, and ought consequently to
be the more nourishing root of the two, I deter-
mined to try practically whether an ox fed upon
mangold wurzel increased in weight more than
one fed upon Swedish turnips, in proportion to
the quantity of each consumed. In order to have
rendered my experiment perfectly accurate, I
ought to have ascertained the weight of hay con-
sumed, by each beast during the progress of the
trial ; but I did not do this, although I am pretty
confident that the quantity consumed by each was
nearly the same. I selected two steers, tolerably
and at least equally well-bred : No. 1 calved
March 29, 1823, and No. 2 calved May 6 of the
same year 3 and on the 24th of December, 1825, I

188

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

put No. 1 to Swedish turnips, and No. 2 to man-
gold wurzel. I ascertained their weight by mea-
surement, and both of them measured the same,
viz. 4ft. lOin. in length by 6ft. f>in. in girth, making
them to weigh 6681bs. each. On the 23rd of Jan-
uary, No. 1 had consumed l,6"24lbs. of Swedish
turnips, and measured 4ft. lOin. in length by 6ft.
7in. in girth, making him to weigh 7031bs., and to
have increased in weight 351bs., or at the rate of
48 Jibs, for every ton of Swedish turnips consumed.
No. 2 had consumed 184Slbs. of mangold-wurzel,
and measured 4ft. lOin. in length by fift.8in. in
girth, making him to weigh ?211bs., and to have
increased in weight 531ba., or at the rate of 65Jlbs.
for every ton of mangold wurzel consumed.

This difference, however, might have arisen
from No. L2 having a greater propensity to feed
than No. 1 ; I therefore now put No. 1 to mangold
wurzel, and No. 2 to Swedish turnips. On the
20th of February, No. 1 had consumed 18841bs. of
mangle wurzel, and measured 4ft. llin. in length
by (ift. 8in. in girth, making him to weigh 7341bs.,
and to have increased in weight this month 3llbs.,
or at the rate of 36f lbs. for every ton of mangold
wurzel consumed. No. 2 had consumed l,8801bs.
of Swedish turnips, and measured 4ft. llin. in
length by (ift. 8in. in girth, making him to weigh
also 7341bs., and to have increased in weight
during this month 131bs., or at the rate of 15|lbs.
for every ton of Swedish turnips consumed. I
then put both to mangold wurzel, and divided the
food equally between them. On the 19th of
March, they had each consumed l,7921bs. of
mangold wurzel ; No. 1 measured oft. in length by
(ift. lOin. in girth, making him to weigh 7841bs.,
and to have increased in weight 501bs. ; No. 2 mea-
sured 5ft. in length by 6ft. 9in. in girth, making
him to weigh 7(>51bs., and to have increased in
weight 311bs.

It would appear, therefore, as if the propensity
to feed of No. 1 was greater than that of No. 2 in
the proportion of 50 to 31 ; but, notwithstanding
this, in the first month, when No. 1 was upon
Swedish turnips, and No. 2 upon mangold wurzel,
No. 2 beat No. 1 in the proportion above stated of
65§ to 48£. It appears as if there could be no
great inaccuracy in estimating the relative weight
of the animals, as soon after the experiment was
concluded I sold No. 2 to a butcher in the country
for 24^, 3s., and No. 2 at Smithfield for 2il.

It will be for practical men to decide upon the
value of this trial ; what appears to me to be the
most conclusive part of it is, that No. 2, who had
during the first month, when he was feeding upon
mangold wurzel, increased in girth 3in. ; in the
next month, when his food was changed to Swedish
turnips, did not increase in girth at all ; and when
in the third month he was feeding again upon
mangold wurzel, he again began to increase in
girth, because it is very well known that, if an
animal is changed from more to less nutritious
food, the probable consequence will be that his
growth will be stopped. The result appeared to
me so decisive, that I have not tried the experi-
ment with the same accuracy since ; but I did try
the following year the feeding a cow alternately
on Swedish turnips and mangold wurzel, and
though I have not by me the details of the trial,
I remember that the result confirmed the experi-
ment of the previous year.

Believe me, my dear Sir,

Yours most truly,
Philip Pmey, Esq. Spencer.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

No. II.
Dear Herald, — In my last, I showed from
Liebig that alkaline bases are found in all plants ;
that these bases exist most copiously in the leaves,
and in them during the earlier stages of vegeta-
tion ; that they are combined chiefly with organic
acids, which are formed by the plants for their
nourishment ; and that, as the bases are drawn
from the soil, and can combine only with the
definite proportions of acids, therefore a definite
proportion of bases is necessary to a definite
amount of growth in each variety of plants.
Some, as peas, tares, &c, require much less of
bases than corn plants need. Hence several fal-
low crops are viewed as enriching the soil. If it
is in fair condition at the commencement of fal-
lowing, the fallow labour, and the exposure of the
soil to the sun, will liberate more bases than the
fallow crop will require ; so that, with a moderate
allowance of manure, a supply of alkaline bases
will be afforded sufficient for the other crops of
the rotation.

I shall now add a few more quotations from
"the highest living authority on Organic Che-
mistry."

" None of our grasses or corn plants can ripen,
or bear perfect seeds, without a large supply of
phosphate of magnesia and ammonia. This com-
pound is invariably found in the seeds of all kinds
of grasses. It is contained in the outer horny
husk, and is introduced into bread along with the
flour, and also into beer. The bran of flour con-
tains the greatest quantity of it. It is this salt
which forms large crystalline concretions, often
amounting to several pounds in weight, in the
ccecuin- of horses belonging to millers and carriers ;
and when ammonia is mixed with beer, the same
salt separates as a white precipitate." (Note. —
This contains a hint to those who are very liberal
in giving corn and bran to their horses). "Twenty-
nine of these stones were taken, after death, from
the rectum of a horse, weighing in all 31hs.

" The soil furnishes phosphoric acid to plants,
and these in turn yield it to animals, to be used in
the formation of their bones, and of those con-
stituents of the brain which contain phosphorus.
Much more phosphorus is thus afforded to the
body than it requires, when flesh, bread, fruit,
and husks of grain are used for food, and this
excess is given off in the urine and the solid ex-
crements.

" Phosphoric acid is a constituent of all land
capable of cultivation, and has been detected in
all mineral waters in which its presence has been
tested. Clay-slate is covered in many places with
phosphate of alumina; all its fractured surfaces
are overlaid with it."

Yet, where much corn is grown, the natural
supply of phosphates is inadequate to the demand
of the crops ; and the deficiency must be supplied
by excrementitious manure, by crushed bones,
or by some other manure containing phosphates.
Phosphate of lime constitutes about 86 per cent,
of bones (Paris). It is also found in milk, and
in other animal matters. Entire mountains in
Spain are formed of this salt. It exists in the
farina of wheat. While it is always found in the
urine of adults, that of infants contain none of it.
The rapid formation of the bones, in the first
periods of life, takes up all the phosphoric salts
(Parker). If the leg of a hen be broken, she

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

189

•will lay her eggs without shells till the fracture
is repaired; all the lime being required for re-
uniting the bones (Paris). Phosphoric acid, com-
bined with magnesia, ammonia, and water, forms
one variety of urinary concretions (Turner). The
above remarks are enough to show the import-
ance of the phosphates to vegetables and animals,
and the danger of their excess to the latter.

" Thousands of years have been necessary to
convert stones and rocks into the soil of arable land
and thousands of years more will be necessary
for their complete reduction, that is, for the com-
plete exhaustion of their alkalies. We see from
the composition of water in rivers, streamlets,
and springs, how little rain-water is able to extract
alkali from a soil, even after a term of years.

" Water, impregnated with carbonic acid, de-
composes rocks which contain alkalies, and then
dissolves a part of the alkaline carbonates. Plants
also, by producing carbonic acid during their
decay, and by means of the acids which exude
from their roots in the living state, contribute no
less powerfully to destroy the cohesion of rocks.
Next to the action of air, water, and change of
temperature, plants themselves are the most
powerful agents in effecting the disintegration of
rocks. A soil exposed for centuries to these in-
fluences, but from which the alkalies have not
been removed (by cropping) , will be able to
nourish vegetables for many years ; but it will
be gradually exhausted, if the alkalies are not re-
placed. A period will arrive when it will be ne-
cessary to expose it, from time to time, to a fur-
ther disintegration, in order to obtain a new
supply of soluble alkalies."

This is almost the whole secret of fallowing,
and it cannot be too prominent in the farmer's view.

"The first colonists of Virginia found a country,
the soil of which was similar to that mentioned
above ; harvests of wheat and tobacco were ob-
tained for a century from the same field without
the aid of manure ; but now whole districts are
converted into unfruitful pasture land, which,
without manure produces neither wheat nor to-
bacco. From every (Scotch) acre of this land
there were removed, in the space of 100 years,
about 2,(J401bs. alkalies in leaves, grain, and straw ;
it became unfruitful therefore, because it was
deprived of every particle of alkali which had
been reduced to a soluble state, and because that
which was rendered soluble in the space of one
year was not sufficient to supply the wants of the
plants. Almost all the cultivated land in Europe
is in this condition."

Liebig's volume contains a mass of valuable
facts, but the arrangement is little better than that
of the " father of history" (Herodotus). The
same fact is often repeated in different parts of
the work, and as I have not time to glean over
the whole volume, you will excuse me if I am
guilty of any repetitions.

" Why is it that neither sandy nor calcareous
(limey) soils, if unmixed with clay, arc suited
to the growth of wheat ? It is because these soils
do not contain enough of alkalies to supply the
wheat plants."

I suspect this is not the whole cause, for rye is
esteemed a very scourging crop, perhaps second
only to wheat, yet rye seems to thrive best in
sandy soils. How can rye obtain alkalies where
wheat cannot find them i

" It is not mere accident that only trees of the
fir tribe grow on the sandstone and limestone of

the Carpathian mountains and the Jura, whilst we
find on soils of gneiss, mica- slate, and granite in
Bavaria, of clinkstone on the llhone, of basalt in
Vogelsberge, and of clay-slate on the Rhine and
Eifel, the finest forests of other trees which cannot
be produced on the sandy or calcareous soils upon
which pines thrive. It is explained by the fact,
that trees, the leaves of which are renewed an-
nually, require for their leaves six to ten times
more alkalies than the fir or pine ; and hence,
when placed in soils in which alkalies are contained
in very small quantity, they do not attain maturity.

" 1000 parts of the dry leaves of oaks yielded
55 parts of ashes, of which 21 parts consisted
of alkalies soluble in water ; the same quantity of
pine leaves gave only 29 parts of ashes, which
contain but about 4j parts of soluble salts.

" Wheat will not grow on a soil which has pro-
duced wormwood ; and wormwood does not thrive
where wheat was grown, because they are mutu-
ally prejudicial by appropriating the alkalies of
the soil.

" 1000 parts of the stalks of wheat yield 155
parts of ashes, the same quantity of the stalks of
barley yield 85 parts, and the same quantity of
oat stalks yield otdy 44 parts ; the ashes of all
these are of the same composition. Hence the
field which can support only one crop of wheat
will support two crops of barley, or three crops of
oats."

He means that one crop of wheat will take up
as much alkaline matter from the soil as two of
barley, or three of oats. But this proceeds on
the supposition that the weights of the wheat,
barley, and oat crops are all equal. This is not so
far from the truth as might at first be supposed ;
for if we state the weight of the straw of each
crop to be twice the weight of the grain, we have
only to estimate the grain of each crop; and if
we suppose the oats to be o'O bushels of lOlbs.
the barley 48 bushels of 501bs., and the wheat 40
bushels of (>01bs., per bushel, then the weight of
each crop will be exactly equal ; and I conceive
the above is not far from a fair estimate of a good
crop of each grain. Of course a heavy crop of
either must more impoverish the soil than a light
crop.

The extract which I intended to give next has
involved me in calculations which I have not time
to finish to-night, and the clock has just struck in
the New Year. So, dear Mr. Herald, adieu.

Kepiias Bar Gamma.

Nettle-hall, 1st January, 1842.

COMMUTATION OF TITHES. — The following
table will shew the increased value of the Rent-charge,
according to the average price of grain for the last
seven years, as published by authority in the Gazette of
January 7, 1842 :—

The price of Wheat is 7s. 3^1. "1 The decimal value of
Barley is 4s. 2d. ;- a pound sterling is

n*tc i'c oo ni

1. )

>

1.054

)E.

104, &c.
R.C. V

R.C,

VALUE.

R.C.

\Ll

ALUE.

£

£

s.

d.

£

£

S.

d.

s.

S. ().

100

105

8

2

9

9

9

8

10

10 6

90

94

17

4

8

8

8

8

9

9 5

SO

84

6

6

7

7

7

6.

8

8 5

70

73

15

3

6

6

6

5

7

7 4

60

63

4

11

5

5

5

5

6

6 4

50

52

14

1

4

4

4

4

5

5 3

40

42

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

4 2

SO

31

12

5

2

2

2

2

3

3 2

20

21

1

7

1

1

1

1

2

2 1

10

10

10

10

1

1 0

190

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FURTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO
OUR RESOURCES IN MANURE.

STEKCORISED BAKK 10R NITHOCEN AND PHOSrHATF.S.

To the Editor of the Cornwall Royal Gazette.

Sir,— Independent of theoretical or chemical
considerations, plain reasoning will indicate that
the excrements of animals should return to the
soil the refuse of their food ; and consequently that
as cattle dung is an excellent manure for grass, so
night soil should be the most appropriate for corn.
Ami the fact long known and acted upon by the
Chinese and Belgians, is becoming more and more
appreciated and employed in this country, though
its value is yet imperfectly understood. It appears
from Liebig, that the annual evacuations of one
man (l£lb. per day liquid and solid— 5471bs.) are
sufficient manure for an acre of wheat, and that
every pound of urine is equivalent to a pound of
wheat, estimating the produce per acre at four
quarters (not too high for fair situations thus
manured), and the animal consumption at one
quarter per man (an over estimate): it results,
that the excretions of one individual will supply
manure for the consumption of four ; so much of
the nourishment of the corn is derived from the
air. And hence some estimate may be formed of
the great increase of produce to be obtained by
due attention to the preservation of this article,
now drained to waste in such profusion into rivers
and the sea. And even in the modes of preserving
and using it, by the aid of lime, much of its am-
monia is wasted ; and it has before been shown,
that to the ammonia the corn owes its nitrogen,
the element on which we have most to depend for
improvement, both in quality and quantity. Lime
should no more be mixed with night soil, than with
gas liquor; on the contrary, the mutters added to
absorb the liquid, should have an acid tendency.
Gypsum does very well by double decomposition.
Peat earth is acidulous enough to fix the ammo-
nia, where at hand ; but in large towns, this earth
often requires pretty distant carriage. Refuse
bark is, however, generally produced 'in populous
places, and is an incumbrance to the tanner, from
which he is obliged to contrive various methods for
relieving himself; amongst the rest burning, to the
gmit annoyance and suffering of the neighbourhood.

But tanners' refuse bark has also enough acidu-
lous quality to fix the ammonia in night soils ;
and being so generally at hand in populous towns
may be employed for the purpose extensively.

Three parts of tanners' bark to one of night-
soil (urine included, which is as valuable as any
part), will make a stronger manure than stable-
dung; and with this further advantage, that the
stable-dung requires to be rotted, to reduce the
long straws, and kill the undigested seeds it con-
tains; whilst the bark being already short, and
the night soil containing no seeds, it may becarted
to the field at once; thus saving the heavy waste
in rotting.

In the tan -yard, the bark may be stercorised, by
having a privy or two, and suitable corners for
the workpeople,- all made to drain upon che heap ;
calculating say lib. of evacuations liquid and solid
from each individual, per day, and proportioning
the bark to it; what is above that quantity being
disposed of to other persons, for the same purpose.
All the hide wool and glue washings and house
drawings should run into the same, which should

be roofed over, to keep oft' the rain, but with open
sides to encourage evaporation of the moisture.
All the ashes of fires, whether of the woiks or
house, should be added, to help the absorption, and
destroy the smell ; and by this means a tanner
employing 25 hands may turn out 25x3 bark, and
say x 2 for ashes and drains; 25x75 x5O=1501bs.
of manure per day, richer than stable-dung,
much better for corn, and losing nothing in rotting
as not required.

In other places, as private gardens, school
grounds, &c, the bark may be procured from the
tanner, and added to the privy sink, in rather
larger proportions, reckoning the evacuations at
l^lb. per entire day of 24 hours. Much less bark
will do, say half as much as the night soil, mak-
ing up the quantity with garden mould ; but the
bark is so much additional vegetable matter, at
little cost. It may be thrown in, a load at a time,
for the excrement to fall upon ; but the ashes
should be added daily, so as to lie on the top, and
absorb the smell. A long and large trunk should
rise from the sink, to encourage evaporation and
carry up, also, the smell still remaining; for al-
though much subdued by ashes, it cannot be alto-
gether destroyed, without careful mixture not
practicable for such a purpose. In this manner
large quantities maybe collected.

Peat earth will do instead of bark, as above
stated, with the precaution not to throw it in inco-
hesive lumps, which will not absorb, but as dry
and crumbly as practicable. The ashes are equally
useful in either case. I am, Sir, &c,

J. PniDEAUX.

IRRIGATION.

[We make no apology for copying at full length
this excellent article on Irrigation from Mr.
Johnson's valuable " Farmer's Encyclopaedia."]

In agriculture, the watering of the earth, to
increase its productiveness. The term, however,
is confined to that species of flooding which con-
sists of spreading a sheet of water over a field or
meadow, in such a manner that it can be easily
withdrawn.

Irrigation, or the artificial watering of the earth,
chiefly to produce increase crops of grass, has
been in use from a very early period. In Oriental
countries, in fact, the heat of the climate is such,
that, in many situations, the now productive soil
would be absolutely sterile, were it not that the
cultivator enriches his ground with a copious sup-
ply of water. The simile employed by Isaiah
(i. 30.), to indicate barenness and desolation, is
"a garden that hath no water." And that, in pa-
triarchal times, they laboured hard to supply their
grounds with water, by means of various hydrau-
lic machines, some of which resembled the water-
wheels of the fen districts of England, and were
worked by the feet of men, something after the
style of the modern tread-mill, is certain. Moses
alluded to this practice when he reminded the
Israelites of their sowing their corn in Egypt, and
watering it with their feet (Dent. xi. 10; 2 Kings,
xix. 24), and in the sandy soils of Arabia the
same system is still continued (Niebuhr, vol. i.
p. 121). According to Dr. Shaw, the following is
the modern mode of raising and using the water
of the Nile for the purpose of irrigation in Egypt :

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

191

" Such vegetable productions as require more
moisture than what is occasioned by the annual
inundation of the Nile, arc refreshed by water
that is drawn at certain times out of the river,
and lodged in large cisterns made for that pur-
pose.- The screw of Archimedes seems to have
been the instrument formerly made use of for that
purpose, though at present the inhabitants either
supply themselves with various kinds of leathern
buckets, or else with asakiah, as they call the Persian
wheel, which is the most useful and generally em-
ployed machine. Engines and contrivances of
both these kinds are placed all along the banks of
the Nile, from the sea to the cataracts, their situ-
ations beinghigher, and consequently the difficulty
of raising the water being greater, as we advance
up the river. When their pulse, saffron, melons,
sugar-canes, &c. (all of which are commonly
planted in rills), require to be refreshed, they take
out a plug from the bottom of the cistern, and
then the water gushing out, is conducted from
one rill to another by the gardener, who is always
ready, as occasion requires, to stop and divert the
current." In Egypt at the present day, according to
Dr. Clarke, the water is sometimes raised, for the
purposes of irrigation, by means of a wicker
basket, lined with leather, which is held by cords
between two men, who, by this laborious means,
swing it over the banks of the Nile into the canal
which conveys it to the lands intended to be irri-
gated. A machine similar to the Persian wheel is
still employed in China by the cultivators, for the
purposes of irrigation. This use of machinery
for the purposes of watering might in fact, in
, many situations, be advantageously employed in
England, to a much greater extent than is com-
monly believed. It is well known how many
thousand acres of valuable land are profitably
drained by means of the steam-engine. At this
very period a public company is proposing to en-
close and drain an arm of the sea in Lincolnshire,
by the assistance of its gigantic aid. Yet how
rarely, if ever, is that power employed to irrigate
the thirsty lands of England ; lands of all others
the most profitable, the best adapted for the forma-
tion of water meadows ? The tracts to which I
allude are those on a slope, as on a side of a hill ;
but these are rarely found in situations where a
sufficiently copious supply of water can be con-
stantly obtained for the purposes of irrigation.
Yet the quantity thus required is not so large as
to be beyond the power of the steam-engine to
supply ; thus, to sufficiently saturate a square
yard of a calcareous sand soil with water to the
depth of one toot, as in irrigation, requires about
30 gallons of water, equal to about 145,000
gallons per imperial acre. Now, that the steam-
engine could readily and profitably supply this
quantity of water, may be concluded from several
facts; thus, the two engines, one of eighty, the
other of sixty horses power, which keep Deeping
Fen, near Spalding, completely drained, when
working, in 1835, only ninety-six days, of twelve
hours each, raised more than 14,000,000 tons of
water several feet. The district drained by them
contains about 25,000 acres (Brit. Farm. Mag.
N'.S. vol. iii. p. 300), which would otherwise be a
complete swamp. And it has been proved that by
a common condensing steam-engine, one bushel of
coals would raise more than 50,000,0001bs. of
water one foot. In many situations, therefore,
where, for the purposes of irrigation, good river
water can be copiously obtained, and fuel is at

a moderate price, I am confident that great results
are yet to be obtained by the aid of mechanical
power. For, by the steam engine, the soils of all
others the best adapted for irrigation, may be suc-
cessfully brought into cultivation ; for instance,
the poor sands and gravels on the sloping banks
of many of the English and Scottish rivers, many
of whose waters, from being charged with or-
ganic matter, the carbonate and sulphate of lime,
and various earthy substances, are excellent for
the use of water meadows. The early employ-
ment of irrigation by the Egyptians and Chinese
was most likely the result of the good effects
which were observed to be produced by the over-
flowings of the Nile and the Chinese rivers; for
in the " Celestial Empire," irrigation has, it seems
been employed, according to their veracious his-
torians, for a period long before that assigned to
the flood. In Italy, especially on the banks of the
Po, the cultivators of the earth have certainly
employed this process for a period previous to the
days of Virgil (Georg. lib. i. v. 100'-!)) —

Deinde satis fluvium inducit, rivosque sequentes —

and it is still carried on with a zeal and care
worthy of the art they practice. M. P. Cato, the
earliest of the Roman writers upon agriculture
(150 years before Christ), in his ninth chapter,
told the Italian farmers to " make water meadows
if you have water, and if you have no water, have
dry meadows." The directions of Columella
seem to have all the freshness of a modern age
about them. He was the first who noticed the in-
ferior nutrition afforded by the bay from water
meadows. " Land," says he, " that is naturally
rich, and is in good heart, does not need to have
water set over it ; and it is better hay which
nature, of its own accord, produces in a juicy soil,
than what water draws from a soil that is over-
flowed. This, however, is a necessary practice
when the poverty of the soil requires it ; and a
meadow may be formed either upon a stiff or free
soil, though poor when water may be set over it ;
neither a low field with hollows, nor a field
broken with steep rising ground, are proper ; the
first, because it contains too long the water col-
lected in the hollows ; the last, because it makes
the water run too quickly over it. A field, how-
ever, that has a moderate descent may be made a
meadow, whether it be rich, or so situated as to
be watered ; but the best situation is where the
surface is smooth, and the descent so gentle, as
to prevent either showers, or the rivers that
overflow it, remaining too long; and, on the other
hand, to allow the water that comes over it
quietly to glide off ; therefore, if in any part of the
field intended for a meadow, a pool of water should
stand, it must be let off by drains, for the loss
is equal either from too much water or too little
grass" (Col. lib. ii. c. 16). Pliny tells us that
" meadows ought to be watered immediately after
the spring equinox, and the waters restrained
whenever the grass shoots up into stalks" (Nat.
Hist. lib. xviii. c. 27). When,, after the fall of the
Roman Empire, agriculture, in common with all
other sciences, rapidly declined, a very remarkable
exception to this melancholy result of slavery and
despotism was presented in the case of irrigation,
which was carried on and extended through the
long period of the dark ages with equal zeal
and success. This was more especially the case in
Lombardy, where it was certainly prosecuted on a
very bold and profitable scale long before 1037.

192

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The princes of Lombardy patronized and followed
the example of the various religious establishments,
which then monopolised all the wealth and learn-
ing of the land, in extending the employment of
water in all possible directions. The monks of
Chiazevalle, in particular, were so celebrated for
their knowledge of this branch of agriculture, and of
hydraulics in general, that the emperor, Frederick
the First, in the thirteenth century, very gladly
sought their advice and assistance. This system
has ever been zealously and carefully extended
and improved, in every possible way. The waters
of the chief rivers of the north of Italy, such as
the Po, the Adige, the Tagliamento, and of all the
minor streams, are employed in irrigation. There
is no other country which possesses an extent of
rich water meadows equal to that of the Lom-
bards. The entire country from Venice to Turin
may be said to be formed into one great water
meadow : yet the irrigating system is not confined
to grass lands ; the water is conveyed into the
hollows between the ridges in corn lands, into the
low lands where rice is cultivated, and around the
roots of vines. From Italy the practice extended
into the south of France, into Spain, and then into
Britain. In the States of Lombardy, the water of
all the rivers belongs to the state; in those of
Venice, the government extends its claims to that
of the smaller springs, and even to collections of
rain water, so highly, for the use of the cultivator,
is water of every kind valued in the north of Italy.
It is necessary, therefore, in Lombardy, to pur-
chase from the state the water taken from the
river; this may be taken, by means of a canal,
through any person's grounds, the government
merely requiring the payment of the value of the
land to the proprietor, and restraining him
from carrying his canal through a garden, or
within a certain distance of a mansion. The
water is sold by the government at a certain rate
which is regulated by the size of the sluice, and
the time the run of water is used ; this is either
by the hour, half-hour, or quarter, or by so
many days at certain periods of the year ; the
right to these runs of water is regularly sold like
other property. Arthur Young gives an account
of the sale of an hour's run of water through a
sluice near Turin, which produced, in 1778, 1500
livrcs. The rent of the irrigated lands in the
north of Italy is, upon an average, more than one-
third greater than the same description of land
not watered (Com. Board, of Ayr. vol. vii. p.
189).

In Bengal, wells are dug in the highest part of
their fields, and from this, by means of bullocks
and a rope over a pulley, water is raised in buckets
and conveyed in little channels to every part of
the field. No attempts at cultivation are here made
without the assistance of water, obtained by some
mode or other.

The art of irrigation was not confined to the Old
World. The Mexicans practised it long before the
days of Columbus ; they collected the mountain
torrents, and conducted their waters to their lands
in proper channels, with much care and address.
It was only towards the termination of the seven-
teenth Icentury that water-meadows were con-
structed in Britain upon anything like a regular
system. Of these, those in Wiltshire, which are
amongst the most celebrated in England, espe-
cially those in the Wyley Bourn, were made be-
tween 1700 and 1705. Those of Hampshire and
Berkshire were constructed about the same period,

but they were at first formed very inferior to the
modern water-meadow lands of those counties.
Great improvements were made towards the con-
clusion of the eighteenth century, through the
publications of G. Boswell on Meadow Watering
in 1780, and of the Rev. T. Wright, of Auld, in
Northamptonshire, whose writings appeared at in-
tervals from 1789 to 1810. Itis noticeable that the
water employed for these celebrated southern
medes is perhaps the most clear and swift flowing
of all the English rivers : issuing from the chalk-
formation, it is equally copious and transparent.
Some of the chief advantages, therefore, of irri-
gation may evidently be derived from almost any
description of water ; for it is proved by the good
effects produced by the brilliant chalk-waters of
the south of England, and the still greater fertilis-
ing effects of those surcharged with organic
matter, as in the Craigintinny meadows near
Edinburgh, that there is no water too bright or
too full of impurities, to be useless for the pur-
poses of irrigation.

I propose in this paper to investigate the che-
mical properties of river water, and of the effects
produced by it in irrigation, adding a few remarks
upon the practice of the best and most skilful
cultivators of the water-meadows of the south of
England.

L With regard to the composition of river
water, there have been several chemical examina-
tions ; that of the Thames was analyzed by Dr.
liostock, who found, in 10,000 parts after most of
its mechanically suspended matters had subsided,
about If parts of foreign substances, viz. —

Parts.

Organic matters 0-07

Carbonate of lime , 153

Sulphate of lime 0-15

Muriate of soda 0 02

In an equal quantity of the waters of the Clyde,
Dr. Thomson found \\ part of solid substances,
namely, —

Parts.

Common salt 0\569

Muriate of magnesia 0'305

Sulphate of soda 0T14

Carbonate of lime 0394

Silica 0118

The water of the Itchcn in Hampshire is one of
the most celebrated of all the southern steams,
for the use of the irrigator. I found in 10,000
parts of its water, about 2h parts of solid matter,
viz : —

Parts.

Organic matter 0.02

Carbonate of lime 189

Sulphate of lime 0-72

Muriate of soda 001

From an examination of the substances found in
these streams (and they afford a pretty correct
view of the contents of most others), the farmer
will see that they all yield ingredients which are
the food or natural constituents of the grasses.
Thus, sulphate and carbonate of lime are found
in most ot them, and there is no river water which
does notcontain, in some proportion or other, or-
ganic matter. To ascertain, therefore, whether
pure water was alone able to effect all the magic
effects of irrigation, it was necessary to employ
other water than that of rivers, lakes, or even
springs. Pure water, as obtained by distillation,
therefore has been tried as a supporter of vegetation,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

193

but it was found totally inadequate to the support of
plants,— the}' merely vegetated for a time, but they
could not, by any means, be made to perfect their
seeds. In this conclusion, the experiments of
Dr. Thomson, and of MM. Saussure and Hassen-
fratz, entirely agree. Pure water, therefore, not-
withstanding the dreams of the Greek philosophers,
and the celebrated deceptive experiments of Van
Helmont with his willow tree, is not able to sup-
port the growth of the grasses. Van Helmont's tree,
when he planted it in an earthern pot, weighed
five pounds; the earth previously dried in an
oven, weighed 200 pounds; afier five years it
weighed 16'41bs., although it had been watered
during that time with only rain and distilled
water, and the earth had lost only two ounces in
weight. Hence, said Van Helmont and his disci-
ples, water is the sole food of plants. Bergman,
in 1773, first pointed out the source of error. He
showed, from the experiments of Margraff, that
the rain-water contained a sufficient quantity of
earth to account for the increased weight in the
willow, every pint of rain-water containing one
grain of earth. Then, again, the earthen vessel
(which was sunk in the earth) would in this expe-
riment transmit its moisture impregnated with all
kinds of soluble substances. And yet, it has been
shown, that impure water, such as that from a
sewer or from a dunghill, is alone sufficient to sus-
tain vegetation. This was clearly evidenced in
the experiments of M. Lampadius ; for he found,
that plants placed in a pure earth, such as silica
or alumina, although they would not grow when
watered with pure water only, yet, when watered
with the liquid drainage of a dunghill, they
flourished very luxuriantly, and this fact has been
also proved in another way. It has been shown
by chemical analysis, that the quantity of solid or
earthy matters ahsorbed by plants, is in exact pro-
portion to the impurity of the water with which
they are nourished. Thus, equal quantities of
some plants of beans, fed by distilled water,
yielded

Parts.
Of solid matters or ashes . . 3.9

Those fed by rain-water . . 7.5

Those grown in garden mould . 12.0

These facts strongly confirm the conclusions of
some of the most sagacious cultivators, that the
chief advantages of irrigation are attributable to
the foreign substances with which the water is
charged, although, as I have elsewhere observed,
almost every farmer has a mode of accounting for
the highly fertilising effects of irrigation — one
thinks it cools the land, another that it keeps the
grass warm in winter. And this was Davy's opi-
nion. He thought that a winter flooding protected
the grass from the injurious effects of frost. He
says, " Water is of greater specific gravity at 42
deg. than at 32 deg. — the freezing point; and
hence, in a meadow irrigated in winter, the water
immediately in contact with the grass is rarely
below 40 deg., a degree of temperature not at all
prejudicial to the living organs of plants. In 1804,
in the month of March, I examined the tempera-
ture in a water meadow near Hungerford in Berk-
shire, by a very delicate thermometer. The tem-
perature of the air at seven in the morning, was
43 deg. In general, those waters which breed the
best fish are the best fitted for watering meadows,
but most of the benefits of irrigation may be de-
rived from any kind of water."

Such were the opinions of Davy as to the fer-
tilising properties of water. It is to be regretted
that the opportunities for agricultural observations
of this great chemical philosopher were so few,
for his valuable remarks were always cautiously
made. He appears, however, as I have remarked
elsewhere, never to have steadily investigated the
chemical composition of river-water with regard
to its uses in irrigation, and, in consequence, knew
little of the value of some of its impurities to ve-
getation. Thus, if the river-water contains gyp-
sum (sulphate of lime), which it certainly does —
if the water is hard, it must, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, on this account alone be highly fer-
tilising to meadows, since all grasses contain this
salt in very sensible proportions ; for, calculating
that one part of sulphate of lime is-contained in
every two thousand parts of river water, and that
every square yard of dry meadow soil absorbs only
eight gallons of water (and this is a very moderate
allowance, for many soils will absorb three or
four times that quantity,) then it will be found
that, by every flooding, more than one hundred
n eight and a half of gypsum per acre is diffused
through the soil in the water, a quantity equal to
that generally adopted by those who spread gyp-
sum on their clover crops, lucern, and sainfoin,
as a manure, either in the state of powder, or as
it exists in ashes. And if we apply the same cal-
culation to the organic substances ever more or
less contained in flood waters, and allow only 20
parts of animal and vegetable remains to be pre-
sent in a thousand parts of river water, then we
shall find, taking the same data, that every soak-
ing with such water will add to the meadow nearly
two tons per acre of animal and vegetable matters,
which, allowing in the case of water meadows,
five floodings per annum, is equal to a yearly ap-
plication of ten tons of organic matter.

The quantity of foreign substances present in
river water, although commonly less, yet very
often exceeds what I have thus calculated to exist
in it. I have found it impossible, however, to
give, from analysis, the amount which, under or-
dinary circumstances, is present in river waters,
with any tolerable accuracy, since the proportion
not only varies at different seasons of the year, but
a considerable proportion of the merely mechani-
cally suspended matters subside, when the speci-
men water is suffered to rest. In my conclusions
with regard to the theory of irrigation, I have
found many excellent practical farmers concur.
Thus, Mr. Simmons of St. Croix, near Winchester,
considers that the great benefit of winter flooding
for meadows is derived, in the first place, from the
deposits made by the muddy waters on the grass ;
and, secondly, from the winter covering with
water preventing the ill effects to the grass of sud-
den transitions in the temperature of the atmos-
phere. This gentleman is perfectly aware of the
value of the addition of the city drainage of Win-
chester to the fertilising qualities of the Itchen
river water, and of its superiority lor irrigation
after it has flowed past the city, having water mea-
dows both above and below the town ; and he finds
that if the water has been once used for irriga-
tion, that then its fertilising properties are so ma-
terially reduced, that it is of little value for again
passing over the meadows ; and so convinced is
he of this fact by long experience, that, having in
this way long enjoyed the exclusive and valuable
use of a branch of the waters of the Itchen for some

O

194

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

grass land, a neighbour higher up the stream fol-
lowed his example, constructing some water-mea-
dows, and using the water before it arrived at those
of my informant, who, in consequence, found the
water so deteriorated in quality (though not sen-
sibly diminished in quantity), that he had once
thought of disputing the right with his more up-
land neighbour. The experience of other irriga-
tors tends to the same conclusion. In the best
managed water meadows of Hampshire the farmer
does not procure annually more than three crops
of grass ; yet in situations where a richer water
is employed, as near Edinburgh, four or five are
readily obtained. It is evident, therefore, that the
chemical properties of water have a much greater
influence in irrigation than is commonly believed.
The quality of the water, therefore, employed for
the purposes of irrigation, is of the first import-
ance to he well understood by the fanner ; and al-
though many more modern discussions have taken
place upon the subject, yet the definition which
the great Lord Bacon gave, in his Natural History,
of the advantages of "Meadow Watering," has
never been excelled—" that it acts not only by
supplying useful moisture to the grass, but like-
wise by carrying nourishment dissolved in the
water." This nourishment is, generally speaking,
composed almost entirely of the animal and vege-
table matters mechanically suspended or chemi-
cally dissolved in the water; the fouler the water
the more fertilising are its effects. The objection
which has been sometimes urged to this explana-
tion, by instancing the prejudicial effects of some
very thick muddy waters (as those of the Ilumber)
on meadow lands, is very erroneous ; for, in those
cases, the mud deposited on the grass did not con-
sist of animal or vegetable matters, but of fine
earthy particles, such as clay or chalk, substances
of which the alluvial soil, on which the same flood
waters had for ages occasionally deposited their
earths, was in fact entirely composed, and to
which, in consequence, any farther supply was
almost useless, the earthy slime merely covering
the grass with mud, without adding a single fer-
tilising ingredient not already abounding in the
soil. If, however, the soil is naturally deficient in
any of the earthy ingredients contained in the
water, then even such flood waters are ever found
most fertilising. v

"The agency of water in the process of vegeta-
tion," says Mr. Stephens, " has not till of late been
distinctly perceived. Dr. Hales has shown that,
in the summer months, a sunflower, weighing
three pounds avoirdupois, and regularly watered
every day, passed through it or perspired twenty-
two ounces each day, that is, half its weight. Dr.
Woodward found that, in the space of seventy-
seven days, a plant of common spearmint increas-
ed seventeen grains in weight, and yet had no
other food than pure rain water; but then he
found that it increased more in weight when it
lived in spring water, and still more when its food
was Thames water.'' (Practical Irrigator, p. 2).
And when speaking of the fact, that some irriga-
tors think clear spring water equal to any, he adds
(p. 21), "I would recommend to those who are
of the same opinion, to inspect the irrigated mea-
dows which arc watered by the washings of the
city of Edinburgh, where, I trust, they will find
the superiority of muddy water to that of clear
spring water most strikingly manifested."

Edinburgh has nanny advantages over the most
of her sister cities j the large supply of excellent

spring water is one of the greatest blessings to her
numerous inhabitants, both in respect to house-
hold purposes and keeping the streets clean, as
well as irrigating the extensive meadows situated
below the town, by the rich stuff which it carrier
along in a state of semi-solution, where the art of
man, with the common sewer water, has made
sand hillocks produce riches far superior to any-
thing of the kind in the kingdom, or in any other
country.

By this water, about two hundred acres of grass
land, for the most part laid into catch-work mea-
dow, are irrigated ; whereof one hundred and
thiity belong to \V. H. Miller, Esq., of Craigin-
tinny, and the remainder to the Earls of Hadding-
ton and Moray, and other proprietors. The mea-
dows belonging to these noblemen, and part of
the Craigintinnv meadows, or what is called the
old meadows, containing about fifty acres, have
been irrigated for nearly a century. They are by
far the most valuable, on account of the long and
continual accumulation of the lich sediment left
by the water ; indeed the water is so very rich,
that the tenants of the meadows lying neaiest the
town have found it advisable to carry the common
sewer water through deep ponds, into which the
water deposits part of the superfluous manure be-
fore it runs over the ground. Although the for-
mation of these meadows is irregular, and the
management very imperfect, the effects of the
water arc astonishing; they produce crops of grass
not to be equalled, being cut from four to six times
a-year, and the grass given green to milch cows.

The grass is let every year by public sale, in
small patches of a quarter of an acre and upwards,
and generally brings from 24/. to 30/. per acre per
annum. In 1826, part of the Earl of Moray's
meadow fetched 57/. per acre per annum.

About forty acres of the Craigintinny lands were
formed into catch-work water meadow before the
year 1800, which compiises what is called Fillie-
side Bank old meadows, and is generally let at
from 20/. to 30/. per acre per annum. In the
spring of 1821, thirty acres of wasteland, called
the Freegate Whins, and ten acres of poor sandy
soil, were levelled and formed into irrigated mea-
dow, at an expense of 1000/. The pasture of the
Freegate Whins was let, previously to this im-
provement, for 4"/. per annum, and the ten acres
for 60?. They now bring from 151. to 20/. per acre
per annum, but may be much improved by judi-
ciously laying out 200/. more in better levelling
that part next the sea, and carrying a larger sup-
ply of water to it, which might be easily done
without prejudice to the other meadows.

This, perhaps, is one of the most beneficial agri-
cultural improvements ever undertaken ; for the
whole of the Freegate Whins is composed of no-
thing but sand, deposited from time to time by the
action of the waves of the sea. Never was 1000/.
more happily spent in agriculture ; it not only re-
quired a common sewer to bring abnut this great
change, but a resolution in the proprietor to launch
out his capital on an experiment upon a soil of
such a nature.

Since the making of the Freegate Whins into
water meadows, Mr. Miller has levelled and
formed forty acres more of his arable land into
irrigated meadow, worth, before the formation,
!)/. per acre per annum. It will only require a few
years before these meadows will he as productive
as the former ; for it is evident that the longer
water is suffered to run over the surface of grass

THE FARMER'S MACAZINE.

195

land, the greater quantity of fertilising substance
will be collected ; therefore, as the water is so
very superiorin quality to all other water, a speedy
return lor the capital laid out may be expected.
The expense of keeping these meadows in repair
is from 10s. to 15s. per acre per annum, which is
more than double the expense of keeping water
'u ■endows in repair in general.

It by no means, however, follows, as a necessary
result of any contemplated improvement in irriga-
tion, that the water should previously undergo a
chemical examination. There are many other
modes by which the farmer can form a pretty cor-
rect conclusion as to the fertilising properties of
the water he proposes to employ.

The surest proofs, says Mr. Extcr, of the good
quality of water (and the observations of this gen-
tleman will be readily confirmed by the irrigators
of the southern counties), as a manure, are the
verdure of the margin of its streams, and the
growth of strong cresses in the stream itself; and
wherever these appearances arc found, though the
water he perfectly transparent, the occupier of the
soil through which it flows may depend, in gene-
ral, of having a treasure, if he is attentive to it ;
but that this is not invariably the case, and that
there are instances where a good water will not
improve the herbage of certain soils, is proved by
the following account (and there are several other
cases with which I am acquainted) of the meadows
of Mr. Orchard, of Stoke Abbey, Devon. 1 hese
two meadows are situated on the side of a hill,
their aspect nearly south — the superstratum a fine
rich loam, from eight to ten inches deep, on a sub-
stratum of strong yellow clay. No difference what-
ever can be seen by the naked eye, in either the
upper mould or the substratum, or in the herbage
growing on the surface of them ; except that, in
the lower part of one, a few rushes appear, in
consequence of some small springs which rise near
them, but the water from them is not sufficient to
render any part of the land poachy. At the head
of the two meadows is a large pond, formed by the
collecting of some small runs of spring water rising
near it, and which is also improved by the wash
of a sma'l farm-yard adjoining, which, of coarse,
must add to its efficacy as a manure. When this
water is thrown over one of the meadows, it pro-
duces the richest herbage in abundance, and this
field is regularly mowed for hay ; on the other
meadow, though repeatedly tried, it produces no
good whatever. (Ann. of Agr. vol. xxx. p. 206.)

This result is attributable to the superior tena-
cious, retentive quality of the substratum of the
lower field, or of some chemical difference in the
composition of the soil ; and although almost any
description of soil is adapted to the formation of
water meadows, those of a heavy clay description
are generally the most unsuitable, those of a light
or peaty kind are better, and those with a sandy
or very absorbent gravel substratum still more so.
There are some of the most celebrated water mea-
dows on the banks of the Kennet of this descrip-
tion, and many of the best on the banks of the
Wiltshire Avon have a mass of broken, porous
flints for a subsoil. Those near Edinburgh, irri-
gated by the city drainage, rests upon the sands
thrown up by the sea.

It is evident, therefore, that it is as important
an object in the construction of these meadows to
secure a ready and rapid exit for the flood-waters,
as to procure, in the first instance, a copious and
fertilising supply.

The farmer is generally well aware of the inju-
rious effects to his meadows of suffering the water
to remain too long on them. He watches, there-
fore, with much care, for the first indications of
fermentation having commenced, which is evinced
by the rising of a mass of scum to the surface of
the water — putrefaction is now beginning in the
turf, and he knows very well that if the water is
not speedily removed, that his grass will be either
materially injured, or entirely destroyed ; he has-
tens, therefore, to open his water-courses. There
are some soils in the vicinity of Standen in Berk-
shire, however, of so porous a quality, they they
need not any drains to empty the water- co urses ;
and, in fact, in many instances, the farmer docs
not even require them : after a few hours all the
water is absorbed by the soil ; and yet these lands,
with hardly six inches of mould above the gravel,
are amongst the richest of water-meadows; the
roots of the grasses penetrate readily into the
gravel, and the earliest and sweetest grasses arc
produced on them.

Almost any description of glass will flourish
under proper management in water-meadows.
Those whose soils consist of peat resting on sand
or on sandy loam, with a substratum of chalk or
gravel, generally produce the meadow foxtail
(Alopecurits ]iraiensis), the brome-grass (Bromus
arvensh), and the meadow-fescue (Festuca jrraten-
sis), on the tops anil sides of the ridges. The fur-
rows and sides of the drains are usually tenanted
by the creeping-bent, the hard fescue, the rough-
stalked meadow-grass, and the woolly soft-grass.
In those water-meadows whose soil consists of a
sandy loam on a clay subsoil, the chief grasses arc
commonly the creeping-rooted soft-grass, the
crested dog's-tail, the meadow barley, and the
sweet-scented vernal-grass. But some grasses
change their appearance in a very remarkable de-
gree, when exposed under favourable circumstances
to the influence of the flood-waters. This fact
is strikingly exemplified in the case of two small
meadows situated at Orcheston, six miles from
Amesbury in Wiltshire, denominated from their
great produce, " the long grass meads." " These,"
says Davis, "contain together only two acres and
a half, and the crop they produce is so immense,
that the tithe hay pf them was once sold for five
guineas." Much discussion took place amongst
the Wiltshire farmers as to the nature of the crop
of these meads, before it was at last shown that the
greatest part of their herbage consisted of nothing
else than the black-couch, or couchy-bent, the
Ayrosiis stolonifera, one of the worst of the grasses
or weeds which haunt the poor, ill-cultivated
arable soils.

It is a very general, as well as correct conclu-
sion of the English farmers, that the grass and hay
of water-meadows is not so nutritious as that of
the permanent pasture lands. The- difference,
however, is not so great as is commonly supposed.
The late Mr. George Sinclair determined this ex-
perimentally, and he is no mean authority with
regard to all that relates to the grasses.

He obtained from the rye grass {Loliumperenne),
at the time of flowering, taken from a water-mea-
dow that had been fed oft' with sheep till the end
of April, of nutritive matter, seventy-two grains ;
and from the same weight of this grass, taken
from a rich old pasture, which had been shut up
for hay about the same time, ninety-two grains.
From the same grass from the meadow, that had
not been depastured in the spring, one hundred

o 2

196

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

grains. And from the same grass, from the pas-
ture which had not been fed off, one hundred and
twenty grains. A\\ the grasses, in fact, where
their growth is forced by the application of either
liquid or solid manures, are found to contain nu-
tritive matter in diminished quantities — this, too,
was determined by Sinclair. From four ounces of
a very rankly luxuriant patch of rye-grass, on
which a large portion of cow-dung had been de-
posited, he obtained of nutritive matter, seventy-
two grains. From the same quantity of the same
gvass, growing on the soil which surrounded this
luxuriant patch, he obtained one hundred and
twenty-two grains.

And, in a second trial, the same species of grass,
on a soil entirely destitute of manure, afforded, of
nutritive matter, ninety-five grains. On the same
soil, excessively manured, the grass afforded only
fifty grains. In these experiments, the plants
were of the same age, and were examined at the
same stage of their growth. (Hortus Gram.
384).

With regard to the construction and manage-
ment of water meadows, there are many practical
works of the highest authority to which the farmer
has ready access, and, in the following observa-
tions, therefore, I shall merely very briefly para-
phrase the accounts given by i\lr. Davis and
others, of the practice of irrigation in the southern
counties. In this, however, even since the time
that Davis wrote, there has been a great and steady
improvement. The land is better levelled, the
slopes more evenly preserved, the water-way,
aqueducts, and hatches, better constructed, and
in many of the more recent improvements in the
valley of the Itchen in Hampshire, the sliding-
water doors are regulated by a cogged wheel
turned with a moveable winch, so as to render
them safe from alteration during the absence of
the meadow-keeper.

The management of the Wiltshire and Hamp-
shire water-meadows, as well as it can be briefly
described, is as follows :— In the autumn, the
after-grass is eaten off quite bare, when the
manager of the mead (provincially the drowner)
begins to clean out the main drain, and the main
carriage, and to " right up the works," that is,
to make good all the carriages and drains
which the cattle have trodden in, so as to have
one tier or pitch of work ready for drowning.
This is immediately put under water, whilst the
drowner is preparing the next pitch.

In the flowing meadows this work ought to be
done, if possible, early enough in the autumn to
have the whole meadow ready to catch the first
floods after Michaelmas ; the water, being the first
washing of the arable lands on the sides of the
chalk hills, as well as the dirt from roads, is then
thick and good ; and this remark as to the supe-
rior richness of the flood waters, is one that is
commonly made in Berkshire and other parts of
England. The length of the autumnal watering
cannot be precisely stated, as much depends upon
situations and circumstances ; but if water can be
commanded in abundance, the custom is to give
meadows a " thorough good soaking at first,"
perhaps for a fortnight or three weeks, with an
intermission of two or three days during that pe-
riod : and continue for the space of two fortnights,
allowing an interval of a week between them.
The works are then made as dry as possible, to
encourage the growth of the grass. This first
soaking is to make the land sink and pitch close

together, a circumstance of great consequence, not
only to the quantity, but to the quality of the
grass, and particularly to encourage the shooting
of new roots, which the grass is continually form-
ing, to support the forced growth above.

While the gra-s grows freely, a fresh watering
is not wanted; but as soon as it flags, the water
must be repeated for a few days at a time, always
keeping this fundamental rule in view, " to make
the meadows as dry as possihle after every water-
ing, and to takeoff the water the moment any
scum appears upon the land, which shows that it
has already had water enough."

Some meadows that require the water for three
weeks in October, and the two following months,
will not, perhaps, bear it one week in February or
March, and sometimes scarcely two days in Aptil
and May.

In the catch-meadows, which are watered by
springs, the great object is, to keep the works very
dry between the intervals of watering ; and as such
situations are seldom affected by floods, and gene-
rally have too little water, it is necessary to make
the most of the water, by catching and rousing it
as often as possible ; and as the upper works of
every pitch will be liable to get more water than
those lower down, a longer time should be given
to the latter, so as to make them as equal as pos-
sible. (Davis's Agriculture of Wiltshire, p.
125-7).

In Berkshire they first flood their water-mea-
dows ahout Michaelmas ; these are situated prin-
cipally on the banks of the Kennet. The first flood-
ing they deem the richest in quality: this they
keep on the land for about four days, then they
dry them for about a fortnight, and after that the
water is let on for three or four days more ; those
meadows which are the most readily dried arc the
most productive. There are none more so, in fact,
than those which have a porous, gravelly, or
broken flint bottom, from which the flood-water
readily escapes, almost without drains. They be-
gin to feed their meadows with sheep about the
oth of April, and continue feeding till about the
21st of May, when the meadows arc again flooded
for a crop of hay ; the land is then flooded and
dried alternately for three days until hay-time.

The number of acres of land in Wiltshire under
this kind of u ansgement has been computed, and
with a tolerable degree of accuracy, to be between
fifteen and twenty thousand. Some considerable
additions, however, have been made to the water-
meadows of the district since this calculation was
made. (Davis's Wilts., p. 122). About the same
number of acres are formed into water-meadows
in Berkshire, and a still larger number in Hamp-
shire. No one has attended more carefully to his
water-meadows than Lord Western, on some of
those situated on the London clay formation in
the Blackwater Valley in Essex, a soil of all others,
perhaps, from its tenacity, the least adapted to
their successful formation, and his testimony is
very important — " There is an old adage," says his
Lordship, " that water is the best servant in agri-
ture, and the worst master. Water has in itself
intrinsic value — distilled through chalk, lime, or
marl, it acquires a portion of their qualities,
though preserving the most perfect transparency,
and, coming down in torrents and floods, it carries
along the finer particles of earth and manure from
the mountains, or highergrounds, into the valleys;
hence, of course, it is that the valleys derive their
fertility, and the value of the meadow has been

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

197

originally created by an accumulation of wealth
from the hills." (On the Improvement of Grass-
lands, pp.5. 14.23.)

"In descending the Jura mountains, which di-
vide France from Switzerland, the very first pas-
ture you find on the descent evinces the value
placed on the mountain floods by the inhabitants
of those districts; and, accordingly, every stream
is sedulously directed and conducted over the pas-
tures in a most skilful manner. The very washing
of the roads in hasty ruins is also attended to, and
applied to the same purposes." This system of
catching the uncertain flood-waters is known
amongst farmers by the name of catch-work, and
though highly valuable, yet they deem it infinitely
less important to them than irrigation, which is
watering (generally five or six times a-year) from
a certain and ever-accessible head of water, as a
river, &c. And yet Lord Western's testimony is
decisive in favour of even one catch-flooding ; for
he observes, when speaking of the expense of con-
structing the requisite little channels to disperse
the flood- waters over the grass — "In many cases
it will be trifling, in some cases considerable; but
when the farmer reflects that one winter's flooding
will do more in many, I may say in most cases,
than thirty loads an acre of the best rotten dung
manure that can be laid upon his grass lands, he
can hardly shrink from some considerable expen-
diture." If, then, the effects even of a catch-flood-
ing with water are so great, how infinitely superior
are the advantages capable of heing derived from
a regular constant supply of the enriching foul
waters, like those issuing from the drains of a
large city, which is even now most successfully
employed near Edinburgh, but worse than wasted
in the case of London. Whatever may be the
value, in an agricultural pointof view, of the solid
contents of the London sewers, yet, to me, the
absolutely liquid portion, for the purposes of irri-
gation, appear at least equally important.

There is no agricultural question, therefore, of
more consequence in a national [joint of view,
than that of the improvement of the soil by the
practice of irrigation ; for, in its prosecution, all
the rich organic and other matters diffused through
the rivers, which would otherwise be carried into
the sea, are saved to agriculture. This is not,
therefore, a question like that attending most other
modes of fertilising the soil, merely transposing
manure from one field or district to another; but
it is the absolute recorery, as it were, from the
ocean, of a mass of finely divided enriching sub-
stances, constantly draining from the land. It is
the effectual diversion of a stream which is ever
steadily impoverishing all cultivated soils, and
which unnoticed, and in too many instances
deemed worthless, gliding into the ocean, is almost
the only drawback to the steadily increasing fer-
tility of our country.

THE INDUSTRIAL STATE OF
BELGIUM.*

The Belgians, besides a soil made fertile by their
own exertions, possess in their mines of coal and
iron the elements of a great manufacturing power ;
and we have already*found them, by their produc-
tions of cotton and woollen cloths and hardware,
formidable rivals in many foreign maikets. Once

* Bulletin du Musee de ('Industrie. Brussels.

the tame occupants of the battle-field of Europe,
they have now in this age of peace availed them-
selves of their frontier position, to harass the trade
of the surrounding countries; often, it must be
acknowledged, by expedients not the most justifi-
able. The only characteristics which the Belgian
tribes possess in common, the only features of a
national organization, are of a very unpromising
nature ; but it takes time to make a nation, and
give it the high-sonled character of a great com-
munity. We do not complain of the Belgians for
employing English workmen to beat us out of the
market, for that is rather a good accessory of a
disposition to enterprise; but we fear that the
spirit of piracy, which breaks out in their literary
undertakings, is too deeply rooted, and that its
demoralizing influence will long affect them. We
find the Belgian journals ever holding forth to
public attention some promised wonder of native
growth ; but we do not find, on after-inquiry, that
these visions and speculations are ever brought to
any tangible form. The spirit of imitation is a
good one ; but that of piracy is so demoralizing
in its influence on the mind, that we cannot augur
well of future success to Belgian enterprise. It
will take many years before the Gascons of the
north can be sobered down to the business-like
pursuits of a steady people ; and until that takes
place, England has little to fear from their rivalry.
These are remarks which are not unnaturally
suggested to us, when we read the proem of anew
Belgian periodical, devoted to the industrial arts.
"Belgium," says the author, "occupies, without
fear of contradiction, a first-rate position among
manufacturing nations, as the brilliant exhibition
of its productions demonstrates to every eye."
This is an introduction so truly Belgian, that we
shall be prepared for any future escapade of our
new contemporary.

Until the present time, it appears that, with two
exceptions of works produced by the editor of the
one now founded, no periodical devoted to the
mechanical sciences has yet been attempted in Bel-
gium. We arc rather surprised at this, but we
hope that the effort now made may be successful,
Belgium, it is known, has at Brussels a very fine
museum of the industrial arts, which is thrown
open to the public, and is a favourite Sunday
walk of the working classes. The director of this
museum is f\j. Jobard, a gentleman to whom Bel-
gium is m ich indebted for his exertions. The
state of school instruction is very good ; but the
point in which the Belgians are mainly deficient
is in a workmanlike character, which is not to be
created in a moment. The number of patents
issued in Belgium is pretty large, but they form
no criterion, either of the progress of the arts, or
of the ingenuity of the Belgian people. We find
that the numbers are—

1830 5

1831 15

1832 30

1833 42

1834 48

1835 62

1 83(5 76

1837 134

1838 280

1839 269

1840 326

The small number in early years is to be ac-
counted for by the effect of the revolution, and the
embarrassments of the country.

198

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

URINE.

(from souarey's treatise on agricultural
chemistry.)

" When it is considered," says Liebig, " that
with ever}' pint of urine, a pound of wheat might
he produced ; the indifference with which this
liquid excrement has been regarded is quite in-
comprehensible''

We can here only join in expressing our surprise
at such neglect; but we would at the same time
fain hope that such neglect has arisen entirely
from ignorance of its value, and in the zealous
endeavours that are now making by rtgricultilvlsts
at large, and the zeal, energy, and ability that is
now displayed, we may fairly anticipate a jusfer
appreciation of this manure for the future.

That we do not oven-ate the value of this
manure, may be proved from the following results
of the analysis of 100 parts of wheat manured in
different ways, and which places human urine in
the very first place as to value.

We have before stated that the weight and
value of wheat as an article of food, depends on
the quantity of gluten it contains, and this fact
admitted, no other argument is required to con-
vince us of the superiority of urine as a manure :*

Gluten. Starch.
100 parts of wheat manured with

Human urine (dried) yielded. .. . 55.1 39 1

Bullock's blood (dried) 34.2 41.3

Human frcees (dried) 33.1 41.4

Sheep's dung 22.9 42.8

Pigeon's dung * 12.2 fi.3.2

Cow's dung 15.0 63.3

Vegetable humus 9 6 55.9

The same soil not manured 9.2 6G.7

We have elewhere endeavoured to shew, that
all excrement partakes of the nature of the
food ; that if food, consisting almost wholly
of nitrogen, is consumed, that such excrement
will principally consist of the nitrogen not required
to supply the waste of the body. That if food
principally consists of substances in which carhon
predominates, that the matter voided as excrement
neither is not, nor cannot be so rich in nitrogen
as in the preceding case : the rule holds good
throughout all creation ; and therefore, as man is
a carnivorous animal, and lives in great measure
on the flesh of animals, a substance almost entirely
composed of nitrogen, human urine is much
richer in this substance, nitrogen, than in animals
living exclusively on vegetables. The analysis of
these matters accordingly proves that human
urine contains four times more fertilizing matter
than the urine of horses, cows, and sheep.

In all the remarks then that follow, we must be
considered as speaking of human urinu ; but the
same arguments will apply to the urine of all ani-
mals, only in les>er proportion.

And it must be again repeated that the liquid
excrement of all animals is infinitely to be pre-
ferred as a fertilizer to the solid excrement, the
urine in all cases containing all the soluble salts
which are thrown off from the body as waste
matter; such as the ammoniacal salts, the phos-
phates or soda, potash, and magnesia, the suh-
stances which are now recognised as constituting

* Analysis of Jlermbstoedt, quoted by Professor
Dauberry.

the ingredients of all kinds of grain, and which
are essential both to their growth and develop-
ment, and for supplying the nutritive matter of
the grain.

Bcrztlins gives, as the contents of one thou-
sand parts of human urine in his elaborate an-
alysis of the fluids,

Parts.

Urea 30

Lactate of ammonia and animal matter iff

Ui ic acid .. 1

Sulphate of potash 3f

Sulphate of soda 3J

Phosphate of soda 3

Phosphate of ammonia lj

Chloride of sodium 4*

Muriate of ammonia 1£

Phosphate of magnesia and lime 1

Water, mucus, and silex 933

" If, from the above analysis, we take the urea,
lactate of ammonia, uric acid, the phosphate and
muriate of ammonia, one per cent, of solid matter
remains, consisting of ammoniacal salts, which
must possess the same action, whether they are
brought on a field dissolved in water or urine."
Hence the powerful influence of urine must con-
sist in its ammoniacal salts. Now, when urine is
allowed spontaneously to putrefy, one portion of
the ammonia unites with the lactic acid to form
lactate of ammonia, and another becomes volatile
in the state of carbonate of ammonia.

The formation of this carbonate of ammonia en-
tirely alters the state of the urine, rendering it an
alkali, instead of an acid, which it is in its natural
state ; and this explains why putrefied urine is to
be preferred as a manure to urine in its fresh state.
Now the great object is to fix this carbonate of
ammonia, or at all events the ammonia, in the
soil.

If the urine is applied as a manure in this state,
that is, with the lactate and carbonate of am-
monia in solution; the latter salt, from being vo-
latile, will evaporate with the watery parts of the
fluid ; and the loss which would accrue from this
mode of u;dng it, would amount to nearly one- half
of the weight of the urine employed. So that, if by
any means we cau fix the ammonia, that is, de-
prive it of its power to fly off with the evapora-
tion of the watery parts of the urine, we shall in-
crease its action twofold. This object may be
effected in a variety of ways. If a field is strewed
with fresh burnt gypsum (sulphate of lime) and
then the putrefied urine be applied on its surface,
the gypsum will absorb and decompose the carbo-
nate of ammonia, and the carbonic acid gas thus
disengaged, will unite with the lime to form car-
bonate of lime, and the sulphuric acid of the lime
will unite with the ammonia to form sulphate of
ammonia, and this salt will remain in the soil and
not be volatilized,

But a simpler way still is to mix ibe gypsum
with the putrefied urine, and thus effect the double
decomposition above described before distributing
it on the soil.

The quantity necessary will of course depend on
the quantity of carbonate of ammonia the urine may
contain, and this not only varies with every stage
of putrefaction, but depends also on the way id
which it has been kept ; and again, on the qua-
lity of the urine itself, no very definite quantity
therefore can be named. But an easy way of
knowing how much gypsum to put to a certain

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

100

quantity of urine is to add it constantly at inter-
vals of a few hours (taking care to stir the mix-
ture well occasionally) as long as any volatile
smell, similar to hartshorn, escapes, the ab-
sence of which will be a sure test that the ammo-
nia has lost its volatile property, and has become,
to use a chemical and expressive term, fixed.

Chloride of lime may be used for the like pur-
pose, but being more expensive ihag the gypsum,
it would not of course he resorted to.

Dried peat, tanners' bark, sawdust, turf and
other similar substances, maybe also used tor this
purpose, but the gypsum is decidedly preferable.

Sulphuric acid, the oil of vitriol of commerce,
may also be advantageously used to fix this salt,
and to do so nothing more is necessary than to
mix a sufficient quantity of this acid with the
putre6ed mine until almost all effervescence
ceases, keeping it well stirred during the whole of
the time, and taking care not to add an excess of
acid. In this case the ammonia unites at once
with the sulphuric acid to form the sulphate of
ammonia ; and the carbon, being disengaged, es-
capes in the state of a gas.

Other means might be used to' effect the same
results as we have here demonstrated; but it is
needless to specify them, as those we have already
detailed combine great facility as well as extreme
cheapness.

Having thus specified the change that takes
place in the state of urine, the best manner for
converting the ammonia for the purpose of agri-
culture, we shall suggest the best means of prac-
tically using this manure on a farm.

The first thing necessary is to procure a supply
of urine. But if due care is used to save all that
is now wasted, no faun need be in want of it.

The supply being obtained, it should be placed
in large casks or tanks, under cover, until the vo-
latile smell of the ammonia indicates that decom-
position has taken place. When this occurs, it
may be either poured over a heap of compost,
consisting of coal ashes, charcoal, or gypsum, in
any proportions that are the most conveniently
obtained, and then allowed to dry, by frequently
turning the heap. Care being taken, that if any
volatile smell occurs, during this process of drying,
that more gypsum be at once added. The volatile
ammonia will in this operation be absorbed by
the gypsum, and converted into a sulphate of am-
monia, and other parts will be absorbed in the
gaseous state by the charcoal and the ashes ; but
all will at once be yielded up to the first moisture
that may come in contact with the heap ; and,
therefore, it may be very properly classed amongst
those fertilizers which act as a stimulus to the
plant. We would, therefore, reasoning from ana-
logy, suggest the use of this dried compost, as an
excellent substitute for bones in the drill in sowing
turnips. And we are further confirmed in this
opinion, from the fact, that the new manure, the
urate, only lately introduced, and which is pre-
sumed to be prepared somewhat in this way, has
been found to answer admirably for the purpose
intended. The addition, however, of a phosphate
of lime, would increase its va'ne in this respect,
and render it undoubtedly more valuable than
bones for this purpose.

Another compost heap, which would answer ad-
mirably for any purpose almost for which a ma-
nure can be required, that is, either as a stimulant
for turnips, as a pabulum for wheat, or white crops
— or, again, as a top-dressing for either of the

above, or for gr&SS; — may be readily formed by
mixing long stable litter, in which decay ha*-: al-
ready commenced, with the burnt ashes of vege-
tables or wood, in somewhat indefinite portions ;
taking care, however,, that the litter should pre-
dominate, and then pouring over the heap daily a
portion of the putrid urine, and stirring the mass
well up together.

In this heap the ammonia of the urine would be
decomposed ; but the nitrogen, the vivifying prin-
ciple of the ammonia, would unite with the alka-
line matter, the soda or potash of the burnt vege-
table ashes, to form nitrate of potash or soda \ the
hydrogen, the other constituents of ammonia,
being given off.

After what has already been said about the uti-
lity of these salts as fertilizers, it will be needless
to add more here, than earnestly to recommend
every agriculturist to adopt these simple means for
the production of two manures, which in value to
the farmer cannot be surpassed— both for the faci-
lity and economy with which they may be prepared,
and which would by their fertilizing properties
confer a benefit not only on the farmer, but on the
community at large.

It may he urged as an objection, that in many
localities, far distant from towns and cities, that
this manure could not be obtained in sufficient
quantities to supply the place of other substances
more readily obtained. To this objection we
would beg to suggest, that if ever a demand for
this article exists, means will be taken to secure a
supply : and, that in such a case as above sup-
posed, the farmers' waggon would be enabled to
load back from the towns or market where their
produce must eventually be consumed, with this
matter. And further, they may commence with
the supply that is always to be had to some extent
on their own farms, and thus verify the results
here predicted.

We will only add, that the urine of one man,
taken at it? lowest calculation, will produce in one
year, a sufficient supply of nitrogen for the for-
mation of 800 pounds of wheat, or 900 pounds of
bailey ; a fact of sufficient importance, it is hoped,
to induce a trial at least — and this trial fairly
made, we have no doubt of the result.

Indeed, if all the human excrement, now worse
than wasted, were applied to the purposes of agri-
culture, animal manure might be entirelydispensed
with. But if we look at the subject on an ex-
tended scale, and see the thousands of acres now
barely cultivated at all, but all of which only re-
quire manure to be applied to them, to enable
them to yield abundant crops ; and if we reflect on
the benefits all must derive from such an increase
to the real wealth of the country, as the cultiva-
tion of these lands would induce ; and further,
that the increased means thus afforded, would as
certainly induce an increased population, which
again in their turn, acting fully up to this system,
would again prove another source of wealth and
strength to the community, — we may be enabled
to estimate in some slight measure, the order and
airangement that exists in nature, for the support
of all her creatures ; and that it is the neglect of
those means, which piovidence in its wisdom has
placed at the service of man, and not any imper-
fection in the grand scheme of the creation, which
has induced the impious belief by some, that a re-
dundant population may he a curse instead of a
blessing.

But to return more immediately to our subject.

200

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Enough has been said to show that ample means
exist for bringing all the waste lands gradually
into cultivation, that we have the power, if we
have the inclination, to do so. And the circum-
stances of an increase, and rapidly increasing po-
pulation, may compel a much more attentive con-
sideration, than this subject has hitherto received,
and one which eventually must lead to the benefit
of all classes concerned.

So much for human urine. The urine of ani-
mals, as previously stated, from the nature of their
food, contains much less nitrogen than that of
man ; but is equally, and in many cases, much
more rich in the saline properties it contains, such
as the phosphates of magnesia, and the salts of
potash and soda. They are, therefore, by no
means to be neglected, and indeed all the remarks
appended to the subject of human urine apply
here only with lesser force. We would, however,
recommend, that all stables, farm-yards, sheds and
other places where cattle are kept, should be so
arranged, as for the urine to be saved, and applied
in the manner we have before described.

Connected with this subject it may here be
stated, that the strong volatile smell, which is al-
most overpowering, when entering a close confined
stable, where many horses have been shut up for
the night, arise entirely from the volatilizing of
ammonia in the urine.

A very simple, and at the same time a very pro-
fitable way, of correcting this injurious atmos-
phere, is to strew the stable with gypsum, which
would absorb the ammonia at once as it is formed,
and prevent the presence of this gas in the atmos-
phere. Such an arrangement, besides being pro-
fitable, as one source of accumulating ammonia,
would also act beneficially on the horses so con-
fined, as there can be no doubt, but that breathing-
such an atmosphere constantly for some hours to-
gether, induces a highly excited temperament,
which leads to, or at all events very much in-
creases, any local inflammatory action, and renders
the cure of such a malady both difficult and un-
certain.

These remarks, however, do not go to the length
of suggesting the use of gypsum as a cure for such
a stable, it is only a means of absorbing the ob-
noxious principle and turning it to account ; but
ventilation, to a considerable extent, is the only
cure and the best.

Of the relative value of human urine, when
compared with other animal matters, it is calcu-
lated by Macaire, that 100 parts of human urine
are equal, in their fertilizing power, to 1300 parts
of the fresh dung of the horse, or o'OO of those of
the cow. Nothing more therefore can be said in
favour of this manure; it must now be left to
those who have the means of applying and testing
its real value.

In speaking of nitrogen we have fully explained
how ammonia acts as the pabulum of plants, but
we will here again shortly repeat it.

Ammonia is composed of nitrogen and hydrogen.
Now, when the ammonia, in a state of solution, is
absorbed by the spongelets of the roots, decompo-
sition takes place, the nitrogen is assimilated to
form the gluten of the seed, and the hydrogen
either unites with carbon, to form the assential
or fixed oil of the plant, or is evaporated through
the leaves as useless matter.

That such is the effect of ammonia, or nitrogen,
applied under any circumstances, in which the
salt is soluble, can be easily demonstrated, by ap-

plying it to any crop, when it will speedily assume
a dark green colour and luxuriant appearance,
which is the peculiar effect of the nitrogen alone,
and which is forcibly illustrated in the dark green
circles, popularly called fairy rings, which exist on
the downs, and which owe their dark colour en-
tirely to the mu-hroom or fungus spawn, existing
under the surface, and which spawn consists
almost wb.0l3t.0f nitrogen, and communicates its
property to the grass growing above.

The specific action of nitrogen, also, by endow-
ing the plant with greater energy, enables it to
assimilate more carbon from the atmosphere, and
thus the addition of this manure, which is in every
respect an essential to plants, gives it a greater
power of assimilating another substance of almost
equal importance as itself.

In concluding our notice of this manure we can
only repeat that the liquid and solid excrement of
man used together, and prepared in the way we
have described, forms, from its combination of
aminonial salts with the phosphates of magnesia
and soda, the most valuable compound that can be
devised, and its extensive use will confer a double
benefit to the farmer and to the public, as well by
the removal of matter which is now only consi-
dered as a nuisance, as by increasing the produce
of the soil.

THOROUGH DRAINING AND
DEEP PLOUGHING.

BY JAMES SMITH, ESQ., OF DEANSTON WORKS.

The lines of drains having been marked off in
the field, the drainer begins by cutting with a
spade on a line, then removing a first spading
of about 13 or 14 inches wide all along; another
follows with a narrower and tapering spade made
for the purpose, taking out another spading; and
when picking becomes necessary, a third man
follows with a pick, and a fourth with a large
scocp-shovel to cast out the earth — a smaller
scoop-shovel is used to clean out the bottom,
which should be cut as narrow as will allow the
last drainer a footing, generally about 3 or 4 inches.
From 2 to 2J feet from the surface are the best
depths for such drains, the latter always to be pre-
ferred. The bottom should be cut as straight and
uniform as possible, so that the water may flow
freely along at all places, and it is better to cut a
little deeper, where there is any sudden rise of the
surface, than to follow it ; and where sudden hol-
lows occur, the cutting may, on thesame principle,
be less deep ; attention to this also admits of after
straightening or levelling of the surface, without
any injury to the drains. The workmen, in cut-
ting, should throw the earth to the right and left
from each alternate drain, as that allows the
plough to go regularly and fully occupied bout-
ings,* in filling in the earth, whilst each alternate
ridge or space is left for getting in the stones, free
from the earth thrown out. The stones may
either be laid down at intervals by the sides of
the drains to be there broken, or being broken in
masses at some convenient spot, and at some con-
venient season as best suit for the employment of
spare labour, can be brought by the carts ready to
be filled in. No stones should be filled in till the

* A Scotch term for rotation or traverse of the plough.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

201

whole line of drain has been cut out and inspected,
but the sooner drains are completed after having
been cut the better, and they should always be
filled from the higher level downwards. Some-
times, when there is much tendency of the sides
to fall in, it becomes necessary to fill in going
along. Cutting in the summer, when there is
little water in the soil, or in any dry season, saves
much of this. In soft or sandy bottoms, by cut-
ting the drains to half the depth in the first in-
stance, and allowing them to remain so until the
water has been voided from the upper stratum of
the soil, the lower part may then be cut cut with
more safety from falling in. The stones should
not be filled nearer to the surface than 18 inches,
leaving 16 inches free for deep ploughing.

The upper surface of the stones having been
made straight and uniform, the whole should be
neatly and closely covered with a thin thatch or
flautcher divot or turf, cut from the adjoining sur-
face, or brought from some suitable place. Strict
attention to the correct execution of this operation
is of the greatest importance, as many drains are
ruined at once from the running in of the loose
earth. Thick turfs are objectionable, from the
difficulty of getting them to fit close. Straw,
rushes, broom, whins, and other like materials, are
very objectionable, affording no certain or uniform
security, and forming a receptacle for vermin ;
peat moss, in a thin layer, well beaten down may
be used to advantage. When the deepest plough-
ing has been executed, there should always re-
main a firm crust of earth undisturbed over the
stones of the drain ; and no surface water should
ever have access to the free way of a drain by
any direct opening, but should find its way by
percolation or filtration through the subsoil, and
should always enter by the sides of the drains.
It may be of advantage to tramp or beat down
closely the first two inches of soil put over the
turf, in order to form the permanent crust.

The cost of executing such drains varies of
course according to circumstances; the cutting
costing from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per rood of thirty-
six yards, according to the hardness of the sub-
soil ; the stones, if collected on the adjoining
fields, will cost from Is. to Is. 6d. per rood, the
breaking from 9d. to Is. per rood ; about one yard
and a half cubic of broken stones will fill a rood
of a narrow and well-cut drain; the putting in of
the stones may be calculated to cost about 3d. per
rood, and the turfing about Id. ; the filling in of
the earth over the stones with the plough will cost
about Id. per rood. The whole cost per rood of
common drains may be taken at 4s. 8d., or, in-
cluding a charge to cover proportion of main
drains, 5s.

In cases where time or capital are wanting to
complete the drainage at once, each alternate drain
may be executed in the first instance, and the re-
mainder can be done the next time the field is to
be broken up.

After the drainage has been completed, a crop
of oats may be taken from the field ; and imme-
diately after that crop shall have been separated
from the ground, the field shall be gone thoroughly
over with the subsoil plough, crossing the lines of
drains at right angles.

When land has been thoroughly drained, deeply
wrought, and well manured, the most unpro-
mising sterile soil becomes a deep rich loam,
rivalling, in fertility, the best natural land of the
country, and from being fitted for raising only

scanty crops of common oats, will bear good crops
of from 32 to 48 bushels of wheat, 30 to 40 bushels
of beans, 40 to GO bushels of barley, and from 48
to 70 bushels of early oats, per statute acre, be-
sides potatoes, turnips, mangel-wurzel, and car-
rots, as green crops, and which all good agricul-
turists know are the abundant producers of the
best manure. It is hardly possible to estimate all
the advantages of dry and deep land. Every ope-
ration in husbandry is thereby facilitated and
cheapened — less seed and less manure produce a
full effect, the chances of a good and early tid* for
sowing are greatly increased — a matter of great
importance in our precarious climate, and there
can be no doubt that even the climate itself will
be much improved by the general prevalence of
dry land.

Thorough draining is the foundation of all good
husbandry, and when combined with deep plough-
ing, insures a general and uniform fertility ; as-
sisted, no doubt, by the essentials, thorough
working and cleaning, ample manuring, and a
proper rotation of cropping.

THE FARMER.

No. III.

ON HEDGING AND DITCHING.

Piide is a passion that pervades all mankind, and
although its influence is acknowledged with re-
luctance, the flatterer's tongue soon finds out the
hidden principle — see the careful industrious hus-
bandman who keeps his fences in good order, and
you call him a tidy farmer ; he feels a self-exult-
ing pride in being thus noticed, and flattered by
the praise of being considered a better farmer
than his neighbour. But does not this prove that
the generality of farmers are negligent in their
duties, performing their various avocations in a
slovenly and careless manner ? Look at the state
of their fields and their fences, you will seethe
heilge-rows converted into a wilderness of brush-
wood, briers, and weeds, extending some feet, and
not unfrequently some yards, each side of the
original line, thus wasting a great part of the best
soil in the field, for it is well known that in every
field, the soil nearest the hedge is the most fertile,
the protection from the wind causes a warmth
that promotes vegetation, and cattle seek the
hedge for shelter, where their droppings enrich
the soil. The great evil of neglecting the hedges
is much to be deplored, for the farmer who suffers
his hedges to grow wild, not only injures himself
but his neighbour also ; for himself, he loses the
produce of some of the best part of his land, he is
notable to plough his ground nor sow-bis corn as
near the hedge as he ought, and the corn he does
sow, if the soil is damp, is materially injured by
the wet lodging on the seed for want of ditches to
carry off the redundant waters. In a wet season
should the corn be thick, it lodges, and the ob-
struction from the overgrown hedge prevents the
wind shifting and drying the same, consequently
instead of becoming ripe it becomes rotten. In a
showery harvest the corn is often damaged by the
wet from the hedges being blown between showers

* "Tid," a Scotch term for that state of the ploughed soil
which is most suitable for receiving the seed— neither too
moist nor too dry.

202

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

by the wind, which, had the hedges been properly
plashed and taken care of, would have dried it. An
immense quantity of hay is also spoiled every year
owing to wild neglected hedges. By letting the
hedges grow wild they become thin at bottom,
and of course an insecure fence ; and where the
necessary practice of ditching is neglected, brush-
wood and briers will spread, and weeds will grow,
and their seeds become mixed with the corn,
which deteriorates the value of the corn, and if
used as seed it imposes much extra labour in
weeding the corn when growing. Where1 your
fences are faulty, your cattle will stray and commit
trespass ; and when young cattle have acquired the
habit of strolling from field to field, it is no easy
matter to keep them from trespassing ; if the
fences were always well kept, the cattle would be
easier managed, and many a quarrel between
neighbours avoided.

Many of the evils before enumerated are equally
felt by a whole neighbourhood — one negligent
farmer may be considered a great nuisance, if not
a public pest. It is a pity there is no legislative
enactment compelling farmers to keep good fences.
Agricultural societies and associations would do
well to encourage the making and upholding good
fences, as a security for the improved produce to
which they award premiums. Another evil habit
which is too prevalent among farmers, is to allow
their stock to stroll all over their grounds in win-
ter, often taking off the gates, and opening the
gap; to enable the cattle to go where tliey please,
whence they acquire a liberty they are unwilling
to sive up when the gates ike. are closed in the
spring. A much better plan would be to confine
the cattle to one or more separate fields, until they
have eaten all the grass, and then remove them to
others, shutting up those they left; cattle reared
up so, would save much trouble and annoyance.

Having stated the evil of bad fence's, it may not
be amiss to make a few observations by way of
remedy.

Take, for example, a new made hedge and ditch,
there you find the hedge-bank nearly perpendicular,
the wood upright generally, though in some places
slanting, and the ditch clear, so that the ploughman
or mower may appioacb close to the hedge, in pur-
suit of their respective employments : let all old
hedges be made in the same way, but if the ditch
is required to be deep, let the edge next the field
be sloped down gradually, so that if a beast should
fall into it on its back, it may turn round so as to
enable it to rise again. \\ here hedges are over-
grown, the bunks should be well raised each side,
and the hedge plashed carefully, cutting out all
dead wood, and, if brushwood has grown on the
sides they should ho unrooted, reserving the best
hushes to plant in the thin parts of the hedge;
and if the end-land has become higher than the
rest of the field, it should be dug up and carried to
the lowest part of the field for the purpose of
levelling it and refreshing the soil ; both parts of
the field will thus be much benefited, as the action
of the sun and wind upon the fresh ground renders
it more fertile.

The farmer who pays due attention to his hedges
and ditches will soon find the benefit of so doing ;
for, as before observed, be will be enabled to sow
more corn, less liable to weeds, and easier and
safer harvested ; his ground will be drier, and if it
is bay ground, he can mow more hay oft the hedge-
bank than he could if the ditch was level ; and by
uprooting the brushwood and clearing his ground,

he prevents an accumulation of vermin so de-
structive to young lambs and poultry; his stock
being more particularly under his control, and
less liable to trespass ; and not the least desirable
will he his living among his neighbours in friend-
ship, harmony, and peace. Di.i.ta.
Feb. 1842.

PEA-CROP— WHEN ADVANTAGE-
OUS—DRILLING PREFERABLE
TO DIBBLING — CHOICE OF
SEED— HARVESTING.

Having in my last adverted to the pea-crop, hut
rather in terms of reprobation than otherwise, it
behoves me to offer a few words explanatory of
the occasion, when, in my opinion, it may he not
only admissible, but advisable to adopt it ; for I
would by no means be understood as inculcating
the absurd notion that it ought to be banished
from our rotation system altogether. Cases will
occur, as every farmer knows, of the failure of
clover and other layers. Having already adverted
to this subject on former occasions, it is unneces-
sary to recur to it here, further than to notice the
fact, and to state that one of the remedies for such
failures, and perhaps the most successful, especi-
ally on soils of tolerably deep staple, is the break-
ing up the layer, and dibbling or drilling it on one
furrow with peas. I am quite aware, for I have
already said as much, that peas are not so kind a
preparation for wheat as clover, or mixed grasses ;
but, then, I am also aware that a failing layer will
he almost certain to induce a failing crop of wheat,
and it therefore becomes a question of calculation,
whether the disadvantage of a somewhat dimi-
nished quantity per acre of wheat is not more than
counterbalanced by the produce and profit of the
pea- crop. Except on very weak light soils, I am
of opinion it is ; and, therefore, in all such cases I
have invariably endeavoured to secure a pea-crop,
taking my chance of what the wheat-crop may
produce.

One thing in the cultivation of peas ought to be
strictly attended to — so to deposit the crop as to
admit sufficient space between the rows for effi-
cient horse and hand-hoeing. Air. Fowell, of
whom I have already spoken, used to break np
such layers as be intended for peas in December
or January, and drilling, on as a stale furrow as
he could well obtain, with a view to the preven-
tion of poppy or other weeds, in the following
method : — II is drill coulters were so set as to plant
two rows at five-inch intervals, leaving ]<( inches
for working his horse and hand hoes ; and very
good crops he thus obtained. He always reckoned,
and I think with reason, that these intervals were
more favourable to the success of the crop and
the cleansing of the land, than equi distant rows
at twelve inches; though these latter are, in my
opinion, preferable to dibbling two rows, or even
one row on a flag. How can crops thus deposited
be so well cleaned as at wide intervals ? In any
case they ought to be got in as early in the spring
as circumstances will admit.

In the choice of stock much will depend on the
nature of the soil. Grey peas will thrive on
almost any land ; but it makes a material dif-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

203

ference to the grower of white pea*, whether they
shall be good breiikeis as well as handsome to the
eye ; though even in this particular, I cannot help
thinking that much may be effected to remedy the
evil by the aid of chemistry. Some white peas,
we know, will break down freely to a pulp, whilst
others will remain tor hours as hard as when first
put into the boiler. Admitting, as I am quite
willing- to do, that this difference is attributable to
the soil, and not to any difference in the quality of
the peas themselves, 1 have no doubt that this evil,
and a serious evil it is, may be entirely counter-
acted by the addition to the water in which they
are to be boiled, of a small quantity of sub-car-
bonate of soda, just in the same way as hard
water may be rendered soft for the purpose of
better extracting the virtue of the tea-leaf. A
little soda put in the tea-pot will make a strange
alteration in the amount and quality of the ex-
tract. In many districts they adopt the plan of
sowing a mixture of beans with their peas — the
former serving as a sort of natural support to the
latter ; just as rye or oats are used to support
vetches, and prevent them from laying too close
to the ground. Peas are ofcen raised with a view
to setting them in the pod, but this is a system far
too expensive to repay the labour of putting and
getting them to market, unless in certain situa-
tions near large towns ; and after all belongs
rather to garden than fie'd culture. In any case
there is considerable risk attending this crop,
principally from the effects of la'e spring frosts,
which stop the juices of the plant, and produce
swarms of Aphides — vulgarly termed lice — tco
often rendering the crop of little or no use but to
mow as stover, and even that of very inferior
quality.*

Of the grey peas, perhaps the most generally
esteemed is the Sartridgc or Maple Grey, a very
handsome plump variety; but which if kept too
long and too thick on the heap, is apt to turn
black, and in some measure to suffer in quality.

The usual mode of harvesting the seed crop, is
by cutting them up with an old sickle, or hook,
fastened to a foik-shaft, or handle, about four
feet long, called in Norfolk a pea-make ; which
being inserted under the stems of the plants near
the ground, the crop is left in moderate sized locks
or wads, which readily adhere together, and re-
quire no tying. They are loose, and light ; so that
though exposed to the wea'her, they are soon dry
after rain, but require to be occasionally turned,
which is usually done with short forks, and some-
times with pea-makes. About three of these
locks laid together will form a forkfull tolerably
handy to pitch and load ; and the stalks or resps
being intertwined, prevent any scatter, so that the
expense of raking after the waggon is unnecessary.
If the peas shell much when carted, pigs ought to
be forthwith turned in when the field is clear,
otherwise wood-pigeons and other birds will fly
away with much of the shack. — Ipsivich Express.

Ftb. iih, 1842. Aguicola.

* Of the uncertainty of this crop, the writer had
once a striking instance on his own farm. A field of
-^0 acres, so late as the 29lh of June, promistd at
least 10 coombs an acre. Early in the morning of
the 30th, the whole field was white with frost, and
from that time all seemed at a stand. Swarms of
insects appeared soon alter, and the result was, that
instead of 10, I did not get more than 3 coombs an
acre.

EXTRAORDINARY
BARLEY.

PROLIFIC

Silt, — I avail myself of your extensive circula-
tion among my brother agriculturists to dissemi-
nate the knowledge of an extraordinary prolific-
kind of barley which has recent!}' come into my
possession, and of the qualities of which I have
now had the experience of two harvest?. The
great feature of this barley is, that if planted upon
rich, early soil in the bi ginning of spring, it v. ill
yield two separate crop= from the same seed. I
received, Api'il 10th, 1840, in a letter from a friend
who had just returned from abroad. 100 corns of
this barley, with directions as to planting it. My
friend specially urged mG to be careful of every
seed, as, if properly managed, he said the 100
grains were " enough in the course of three years
to plant a whole parish of land." I planted it in
a square plot of ground in my garden, opposite
my parlour window, Each seed had six square
inches to grow in ; it came up beautifully strong,
with a fine blade, and in a short time there ap-
peared, branching out, 20 to 30 stalks from each
corn or blade of barley. I then fjtind I had not
given it sutficient room, as it should have had
double the distance between each plant ; it went
on progressing and formed a fine long ear, contain-
ing from 38 to 42 corns in each. It ripened early
in July : I cut it and hoed between the stalks, and
it again produced fresh shoots equally vigorous ;
hut from my garden being shut out from the
morning sun by the Malvern hills, its produce is
not so early as it would he otherwise, and this
was the cause of my second crop not being ga-
thered till the end of October. This last crop was
not of so fine a quality as the first, but this is
easily accounted for from the situation of my
garden, viz., its not having the sun in that part
the barley was planted above seven hours a day,
there being a row of high elm trees preventing
any sunshine coming upon the garden after one
o'clock, and thus it entirely loses the benefit of the
south aspect.

I planted the last year's produce of my 100
co?-ns on some bean-brush land, which is consi-
dered the worst upon the farm ; it was ploughul
up in November, and intended for oats, but I al-
tered my plan and planted it with wheat in March,
except part of two lands, in which I put the bar-
ley. It was planted by a woman, each seed hav-
ing twelve inches square, as soon as the weather
would permit, which was the 15th of February.
Mv not planting this fine bailey upon belter and
better cultivated 'land arose from two causes. First,
being n practical farmer, I would give it a fair trial,
and not lie led away by theory, as many people have
been — raising vegetable and other crops with extra-
ordinary expensive management , manures, and tl e
highest degree of artificial means to produce it,
which could not he continued in practical use. Sf-
condly, my turnip-land upon my strong wet soils
could not be got ready before the beginning of
April, which would have thrown the time for plant-
ing as late as in 18-10. I unfortunately planted it
only two Innds from a cover, in which it did not ap-
pear to me that there was any game to injure my
crop, but, to my great surprise and sorrow, those
vermin called rabbits (the farmer's curse) came and.
lived upon it ; and, never iuj rimj the wheat on both
sides, destroyed at least a third of my barley — thtre
being yards together eaten off as fast as it appeared.

204

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The gentleman who had the privilege of shooting
over my farm told me there were no rabbits left, but
the stalks of barley will, even at this time, show the
truth of my assertion. The season being a wet one,
I collected my crop whenever I could get a fine
hour ; and, with all my difficulties, I am happy to
say I have raised five bushels of the barley.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

IllCIIAUO WlNNALL.

Croft Farm, Malhon, Worcestershire,
Feb.\, 1842.

BIRMINGHAM, 2nd Month, 2nd.

In presenting a brief review of the corn trade for
the past year, we furnish as usual some statistical
tables, which will probably not be without interest at
a period when the corn laws are attracting so much
attention in the country. The average prices of the
different kinds of grain in the present month, and
coiresponding period last year, were respectively as
follows : —

1st month, 1841, Wheat, 61s. 8d. ; Barley, 33s. 2d. ;
Beans, 40s.; Peas, 39s. lid.; Rye, 33s. lid.;
Oats, 21s. 7d-
1st month, 1842, Wheat, 62s. 3d.; Barley, 29s. 2d. ;
Beans, 34s. lOd. ; Peas, 34s. lid.; Rye, 41s. 2d.;
Oals, 20s. 4d.

To which must be added, in reference to Wheat,
not less than 4s. per qr., for the difference in quality
and weight of the crop of 1841, as compared with
1840, making it now 5s. per qr. dearer than at the
commencement of last year, notwithstanding the
liberation of almost the whole of the quantity of
Wheat and Flour in 1841, mentioned below, took
place since 9th month, 15th, and the increased in-
capacity of the working classes to pay the high prices.
It will be seen tbat the imports of Wheat and Flour
from Ireland continue trifling, while the export of
Wheat from Great Britain to Ireland, although we
have no correct returns, has no doubt much exceeded
our import from the latter country. The quantity of
free foreign Wheat in London is still very con-
siderable, but the stocks in the outports of the
kingdom are small ; yet notwithstanding the
undoubted deficiency of the crop of 1841, the further-
supply required previous to next harvest, and which,
under ordinary circumstances, we should estimate
at two millions of qrs., or more, may from the causes
adverted to, be reduced to less than halfthat amount.
The uncertainty as to the measures that may be
adopted in the ensuing session of Parliament with
regard to the corn laws, has added to the indis-
position to hold grain on the part of our millers and
corn merchants, as well as induced farmers to bring
their Wheat more freely to market; the present con-
tinued flatness in the trade cannot, therefore, be con-
sidered as any indication of how far the stock in the
country is equal to the required supply until another
harvest. Some purchases have been made on
English account in different ports of the Medi-
terranean, but not many in the Baltic, and the in-
vestments, which have been made with considerable
caution, do not probably amount altogether to near a
million of qrs.

We have annexed the recent prices in many of the
principal ports. It will be seen that they range
decidedly higher than twelve months ago. The
average duty paid on 13,626,315 qrs. of Wheat
entered for home consumption since the present corn
law came into operation, is 5s. 3d. per qr., and upon
the 2,306,766 qrs. in 18 11, 3s. 5d. per qr. The duty

has varied during the past year from Is. to 25s. 8d.
per qr., and its present high rate of 24s. 8d. per qr.
is greatly to be attributed to the general inferiority
of the quality of last year's crop of Wheat. Tha
stock of free foreign in Gloucester is reduced to
about 7,000 qrs., and that in bond amounts to
17,478 qrs. English Wheat sells from 7s. to 8s. 8d.
Foreign, 8s. to 9s. per 62lbs. here.

The crop of Barley may, we think, be considered not
much below an averagein quantity, but a great part of
it was of course rendered unfit for malting by the
wetness of the harvest. There has however been no
want of a sufficient supply for the purpose, and
prices of malting, as well as grinding qualities have
been for some time nearly nominal.

The supply of Oats into Gloucester has been less
than in previous years, and the stock is at present
quite light, not exceeding 4,500 qrs., but some
quantity are on the way. The crop in Ireland is we
think beloiv an average in bulk, and two or three lbs.
per bushel lighter than last year, with the consump-
tion in the shape of Oatmeal apparently increased.
Our demand is limited, but quite as good as usual at
this season. Fine Oats scarce, and much enquired
for at our quotations.

Beans were a complete drug during the last two
months, but there are now speculative buyers, at
from 32s. to 36s. per qr., for new English, and the
same remark applies to Peas.

Joseph & Charles Sturge.

Corn, k

eal, and Flour

imported, entered for home con-

sumpt

ion, and paid

duty since 1823 inclusive, the

first year it was leviea

on corn.

Qrs.

Qrs. for

Duty Paid.

Imported.

Home Cons.

£ s. d.

1823

53866

12362

10310 4 3

1824

612594

677195

176383 15 6

IS'25

1060837

t>34425

304919 15 5

1826

22522/1

20989)4

442755 14 9

1S97

2622283

2998866

792934 15 8

1828

1294378

1237494

196834 0 2

1829

2694432

1959355

907320 5 5

1830

2691884

2649348

790877 0 0

1831

3570569

2265392

547-09 0 0

1832

668422

475680

309676 0 0

1S33

481500

112408

36252 0 0

1834

560056

236902

99416 0 0

1-^35

321206

439988

201673 0 0

1S3S

643592

408217

152791 4 0

1837

1325930

842326

589200 0 0

1838

1534730

1960175

183000 0 0

1839

4591099

4657146

1115461 0 0

1810

3990522

3903518

1159000 0 0

1S11

3686982

3375501

549400 0 0

The average Duty paid on the 13,626,315 qis. oi Foreign
Wheat imported and entered for home consumption, since
the present Corn Law came into operation, up to the 5th
ultimo, i* 5s. 3d. por qr.

Grain per quarter

for twenty years, end

Barley. Oats.

verage

Price of

Wales,

Wheat.

s. d.

1822

44 7

1823

53 5

1824

64 0

1825

68 7

1826

58 9

1827

56 9

1828

60 5

1829

66 3

1830

64 3

1831

66 4

1832

58 8

1833

52 11

1834

46 2

1835

39 4

1836

48 9

1837

55 10

1838

64 4

1839

70 6

1H40

66 6

1841

64 5

s.

s. d.

21 11

18 2

31 7

22 11

36 5

24 10

40 1

25 8

34 5

26 9

36 6

27 4

32 10

22 6

32 6

22 9

32 7

24 5

38 0

25 4

33 1

20 5

27 6

18 5

29 0

20 11

29 11

22 0

33 2

23 1

30 4

2:: l

31 5

22 5

39 1

26 6

36 3

25 9

33 0

22 5

in Engi

and and

ing 1841.

Beans.

Peas.

s. d.

s. d.

24 6

26 5

33 1

35 0

40 10

40 8

42 10

45 5

44 3

47 8

47 7

47 7

38 4

40 6

36 8

36 8

36 1

39 2

39 10

41 11

36 5

37 0

35 1

37 0

36 7

33 0

30 0

30 3

38 4

37 3

38 7

37 9

37 4

36 B

41 3

41 1

43 6

42 5

39 1

40 5

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

205

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An Account of the Corn, Grain, and Flour, imported
into Great Britain in each year, from 1st Jan. 1815,
to 1841.

Imported

Imported '

Imported

from

from the

Iroin all

Total

Vrcar.

Ireland.

B. N". A.

Colonies.

other part'.

Imported.

Qrs.

Qrs.

Qrs.

Qrs.

1815

821192

25

333041

1154258

1S1G

873865

3

319203

1193071

1817

699S09

25S77

1775353

2501039

1818

120785)

56618

3474051

4738520

1819

967861

14257

1 693255

2675373

1820

1417120

40897

1300953

2758970

H21

1822816

40916

216738

2080470

1822

1063089

23439

102365

1188893

1823

1528153

209

53432

15S1794

1SC4

1634024

891

609147

2244062

1825

2203962

95059

9S2718

3261739

1826

1693391

30500

2218830

3942721

1827

283 '314

61035

2550310

5441659

1828

2826988

21600

1 272396

4120984

182g

23(17817

7335

2680414

4995566

1830

2215549

79634

2355412

4S50595

1831

2466721

225240

3316760

6008721

1832

3926541

129476

668422

3824439

1833

2700375

117745

336524

3151644

1831

2740098

66829

492071

3294993

1835

2655799

25016

296189

2977004

1836

2847800

1*561

625032

349 i 349

1837

2938519

19060

1 306870

4264449

1838

3150S52

19179

1515250

4685581

1S39

1916043

17438

4573660

6507142

1S40

2030067

178828

3S11694

6020589

1841

1 2411738

308382

3378599

6128724

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CO ^ —

ON LEASES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Having perused with considerable inter-
est various debates of different farmers' clubs, as
detailed in your pages, I beg to say that I hail

206

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

such discussions as an onward movement in the
right direction towards the removal where neces-
sary, in other cases the modification, of many
practices which the advance of agricultural know-
ledge through daily accumulating experience con-
stantly requires. I would now more particularly
refer to a discussion on the subject of leases by
the Harleston Farmers' Club. In the general
principles of their adopted resolution I fully con-
cur, whilst you must allow me to raise a question
as to the policy of retaining the restrictive clause
so strongly insisted on by several members of the
club, which prohibits the tenant from taking two
white straw crops successively. Now, however
such a restriction may be required in some loca-
lities, I see many objections to its universal adop-
tion. On light and hungry soils a heavy applica-
tion of manure may tend to an undue production
of straw and to a deterioration of grain, both in
quantity and quality, whilst such land may be
left in an exhausted state by a single crop. But
sails of strong staple and of retentive nature, by a
liberal supply of manure, may produce a good
yield of wheat and remain in lair condition for the
growth of spring crops. A portion being reserved
for the cultivation of tares and roots, the re-
mainder may, with the barley, &c, be at the same
time sown with grass or clover-seeds to continue
two or three years, according as a four or five
field course be deemed advisable, the capabilities
of the land considered. This is the system usually
prevailing in Wiltshire. On the contrary, the
Dorsetshire farmer is in many cases restricted by
the clauses under consideration ; consequently, if
he fulfil his covenants to the letter, he is prevented
having a two-years' ley on a four-field course,
which would in many cases prove economical as
respects seed and labour, and advantageous as to
produce. At any rate it is decidedly favourable
for the increase of the wheat crop, inasmuch as it
enables the farmer to reserve the greater part of
his resources for the cultivation of this crop, and
wheat, without doubt, is of increasing importance
to our country, whilst, from various causes, other
grain will in all probability depreciatein value. From
these premises, I conclude it is desirable not to
forbid the cultivator taking two straw-crops suc-
cessively, but merely to restrict him from growing
more than a given number of crops in a given
number of years. With these suggestions,
I remain, yours, &c,

W. M. P.

ROSS FARMERS' CLUB.

The first annual meeting of this Society wys held in
their room at the New Inn, Ross, on Thursday, the 27th
of January, on which occasion upwards of fifty of the
leading agricultural gentlemen of the neighbourhood
and several of the respectable inhabitants of the town,
sat down to an excellent dinner provided by the worthy
landlord ( Mr. Lewis) in his best style, which, with wines
of the choicest quality, was much admired. The Chair-
man for the past year, Henry Burgum, Esq. presided,
and Mr. William Price, the Hon. Secretary, acted as
vice-president.

After the usual toast-; of "the Queen," "Prince
Albert," "Prince of Wales," "Queen Dowager and
the rest of the Royal Family," " Lord Lieutenant," and
"Members for the County," had been drunk, the
honorary secretary was called upon to read the Report
of the Committee, which very ably pointed out the great
advautage to be derived from institutions of that nature,

by every class of the community ; but more particularly
by the agricultural world, inasmuch as they tended
"to advance the interests of agriculture in every pos-
sible way, reducing theory to practice, and throwing
the light cf knowledge and science over the most im-
portant and useful of the arts of life," and though last
not the least object within their range, was the reward-
ing of deserving labourers in husbandry ; and thereby
stimulating that very useful class, to acts of industry,
skill, honesty and sobriety— thus tending to raise the
character of the labouring population, and thereby
making them what they ought to be, a bold peasantry,
the pride and glory of their country. — The Committee
stated that such were the aim and objects of the Boss
Farmers' Club, and that when they looked biick with plea-
sure and satisfaction on the past, they could not but with
confidence view in the prospect, a great accession to their
numbers, and an enlarged field of increased usefulness
and extended operation; although they lamented the
prejudice that unfortunately still prevailed in this and
other counties, against the establishment of such so-
cieties.— The Report went fully to show the past pro-
ceedings of the society, and offered useful suggestions for
their consideration in its operations for the ensuing year ;
it congratulated the society on the success that had at-
tended their labours in this the first year of its existence,
particularly considering at its onset, the prejudices and
difficulties they had to contend with. They (the Com-
mittee) were now, however, justified in holding out the
hope, that the succeeding year would be attended with
the gratification of giving to the fullest extent there-
wards to labourers, as originally contemplated by the
society ; and in resigning their duties into the hands of
the members, they earnestly hoped that prosperity
might attend the R.oss Farmers' Club — that every month
might add to its numbers and utility — that prejudices
(which mainly arose from misconception and ignorance)
might be removed : and that the useful influence of
fhe operations of the society might be evidenced by con-
tinual improvements on the farms in the occupations of
its members.

The Report then showed the election by the Commit-
tee of new officers for the ensuing year; and that the
treasurer's accounts had been audited by them and were
approved of.

The Chairman then gave in an able address "Pros-
perity to the Ross Farmers' Club," which was received
with loud cheers ; next followed " the Chairman, Mr.
Burgum, and thanks to him for his valuable services to
the club," who suitably acknowledged the compliment.
" Henry Chillingworth, Esq , the Chairman elect,
Thomas Woodhall, Esq., the Vice-Chairman elect, Mr.
Price, the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, and
thanks to him for the zealous and efficient manner in
which he had discharged his duties to the Society," to
which he gratefully responded, assuring the society that
he had its prosperity at heart, and nothing should be
wanting on his part to promote, its influence and extend
its usefulness. "Mr. Edwards, of Fox Hall, and the
Committee," " Edward Pritchard, Esq., and thanks to
him for his services during the past year." " Lord
Ashburton, and thanks to him for his annual premium
of three pounds to shepherds." " Messrs. Farror and
Dobles, the Librarians to the Society."

The Chairman then in a most appropriate and elo-
quent manner gave " Prosperity to the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England," which was loudly cheered ;
alter which was given " Prosperity to the Herefordshire
Agricultural Society ; the Farmers' Clubs in the County;
Mr. Powell, of the Hill of Eaton, and the Committee
elect; Mr. Richards, of Dumbleton ; the Press ; Mr.
W. Cary Cocks; Thomas Edwards, Esq.; George
Rootes, Esq.; Mr. Powell, of Fawley; Mr. John
Jones; Mr, It, Verry, &o. ; Messrs. Hoskins, Backer-
ville, and Bailey, the County Members, and thanks to
them for the countenance and support they had given,
and promised to afford the Society," which was received
with three times three, and one cheer more.

Several gentlemen here came forward, and offered
premiums to be placed in the hands and at the discretion

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

207

of the committee, as rewards to labourers, &c. at the
next annual meeting1, viz., Henry Chil'ingworth, Esq.,
)/. ; Mr. Wm. Price, the Hon. Sec., 1/.; Mr. Wm.
Carv Cocks, 21. ; Mr. Thos, Woodliall, U. ; Mr. Jas.
Harrett, 1/. ; Mr. Dobles 1/.; Mr. Rogers, II.; Mr.
James Thompson, 1/. ; Mr. John Powell, the Mayor,
]l.— As the above premiums were severally announced,
the Chairman proposed the donor's health, with a hearty
cheer. — Twelve yentlemen were proposed and second-
ed, and elected members of the Society, and were duly
enrolled. — Many other toasts were given and healths
proposed ; several good speeches were delivered, and
some excellent songs were sung ; hilarity, harmony and
good feeling being the order of the evening— all ap-
pearing to enjoy " the feast of reason, with tiie flow of
soul."

It was generally admitted throughout the evening,
that a new era was dawning on the agricultural world ;
and that practical men were turning their attention to
the science of their business— a. business that is more im-
portant in its character, more extensive in its operation,
more beneficial to the human race, and of more con-
sequence to the nation than any other — and in which
are engaged men of property, character and intellect;
and v\ hose duty it now is, to foster the efforts of all who
show a disposition to lend a helping hand in '.he ad-
vancement of so noble a pursuit ; for in no other occu-
pation, it is an ;icknow!edged fact, is there a greater
scope for improvement.

The subject announced for discussion at the next
monthly meeting, the 24th February instant, is " the best
method of draining land ;" and it was arranged that the
next annual ploughing match should lake place in
October next.

' PROBUS FARMERS' CLUB.

The members of this club dined together on the
8th of January, being the third anniversary of the
establishment of their useful and valuable institution.
Mr. Tiesawna, as president, took the chair. The
Queen and her Royal Consort, the Prince of Wales,
aud the Queen Dowager and the rest of the Royal
Family having been drunk, the president ptoposed
the Probus Farmers' Club, on which occasion he
gave a short but interesting statement concerning the
affairs of the club, from which it appeared, that
after expending a large sum of money in books on
agricultural subjects, they bad a balance of £20 re-
maining, which was now available in extending the
society's course of usefulness. The club consists
too of about forty members, and he, the president,
could not refrain from congratulating them on the
progress they had made ; and he looked forward to
a still greater improvement for the future.

The next toast was the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England, which was drunk as the sons of
the soil ever should drink such a toast. — Mr. Tre-
thewy then proposed the health of the president.
He congratulated the club on their re-electing Mr.
Tresawna to that office, and spoke with great feeling
on the services which that gentleman had rendered
them, by his unremitting and assiduous attention to
his duties. He also congratulated the members on
the prospects of their club ; and it was with unfeigned
gratification he observed that the proceedings of
their institution during the past year had been of
such a nature as would redound to its honour and
secure its prosperity.

The President acknowledged with heartfelt thank-
fulness the kind reception which he had experienced
from his friends around him. He was conscious
how very imperfectly he fulfilled the duties of his
office as their president. He bad hoped that they

would have elected some other member who would
have presided over their monthly meetings with
more ability then he could; but it was a source of
great pleasure to him to find that his small exertions
in their behalf were so handsomely appreciated.
He then pointed out, particularly to the junior
members of the club, the immense advantages which
they possessed in having agricultural subjects dis-
cussed at their monthly meetings, and on having
recourse to such an extensive agricultural library •
and he trusted they would profit by such advan-
tages. There was one subject, he said, to which bo
could not help reverting, and that was the total
neglect which they had experienced from the land-
owners. It had become the fashion now, he said,
in other counties, for the principal landowners to
unite with the farmers on these occasions, and both
by their eximple and by their wealth to advance
the interests of the club to which they belonged
(liear, hear). It should be borne in mind that by
the establishment of institutions of this kind, the
land became better cultivated, so that the landowners
would benefit by the improvement as well as them-
selves. He did not want to see those gentlemen
attend at their monthly meetings, as such a practice
might prevent that free and useful interchange of
sentiments which ought to prevail, freedom of
thought and of speech during the discussions being
particularly desirable; but still he thought they
might attend at their anniversary meetings. And
they also might assist them occasionally, as is done
in other counties, by donations of books, which
would be regarded by them, not so much lor their
value in a pecuniary point of view — their funds
being sufficiently ample for every purpose — as to
show that they, the landlords, took an interest in
their welfare and improvement {hear, hear).

The health of the stranger was then proposed,
Mr. Drew returning thanks j after which the com-
pany adjourned to the lecture-room, where a lecture
was delivered by Mr. W. F. Karkeek, on the con-
nection between Geology and Agriculture. —
Mr. K. commenced by paying a well-merited
compliment to Mr. Lancp, who had previously
brought the same subject before them some two
years since ; after which he began his subject by
explaining the manner in which soils have been
formed, commencing from the old crystalline rocks,
and ascending upwards to the newer deposits.
This embraced a description of the agricultural
features which principally characterised the granite
serpentine, hornblende, and diallage soils of this
county ; after which he considered the Grauwacks
system, consisting piincipally of a largely developed
series of slate rocks, and conglomerates, containing
shells and corals. This part of his lecture was
illustrated by a considerable number of beautiful
fossils, found in the county of Cornwall. After this
the siiurian, the old red sandstone, the carboniferous,
and the saliferous or new red sandstone systems,
were passed in review, aud ascending upwards, the
lias, the oolite, the wealden, and the chalk formations,
together with the tertiary system, and the modern
and ancient alluvium, was separately considered and
illustrated by several hundreds of beautiful fossils,
as well as specimens of the rocks and soils of each
formation.

The lecturer's description of those different
strata formed a very interesting history, showing
that there was not a spot on the face of the globe,
either of the dry land or of the sea, as they at pre-
sent exist, which Las not gone repeatedly through

208

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the conditions of being alterna'ely tlie floor of the
waters, and an earthy surface, exposed to the
action of the atmosphere, and occupied by appro-
priate vegetable and animal tribes.

Having succeeded in showing the connection
between the soil and subsoil, and how far the matter
which composes the soil is identified with the geo-
logical formation on which it rests, he classified
those different strata into three general divisions : —
the aluminous soil, in which alumina or clay is the
principal ingredient, and having little or no calcare-
ous matter ; the calcareous soil, in which lime is in
excess, having very little clay, or silicious matters ;
and silicious soils, in which silex is the principal
mineral, having very little clay or calcareous sub
stances of any kind. This part of his lecture was
illustrated by specimens of the rocks and soils, as
well as by analyses of each formation.

The lecturer here plainly showed how each of
those soils might be benefited by the admixture of
others ; and confining his observations particularly
to Cornwall, he showed how the granite soil might
be improved by an admixture of clay from the killas
soil, and vice versa; and in what manner the soil of
Probus and its neighbourhood would be enriched by
the crushed china stone from the clay works of St.
Stephens. It appears that Mr. Karkeek had fre-
quently recommended at the different monthly meet-
ings the application of crushed china stone, as a top
dressing on all slate soils, for corn and grass. He
alluded to the opinions of Professor Johnstone and
Mr. Prideaux on the same subject, and hoped, now
that nearly the same plan had been proposed by
these scientific gentlemen as had been recommended
by him some twelve months since, they would be in-
clined to give the experiment a trial.

After this, Mr. Karkeek considered at some length
the uses of the principal earths — silica, alumina,
and lime — to vegetation, not merely considering
these as it regarded their position as necessary por-
tions of all soils, but as forming the essential con-
stituents of most vegetable substances. This
formed by far the most important as well as most
useful part of the lecture, clearly showing by re-
ference to the analyses of different soils, the peculiar
agricultural feature of each ; and showing also that
the land, whose enrthy matters were mixed in pro-
per proportions, required the least expense in cul-
tivation.

The lecture, which was a very long one, occupy-
ing about two hours, was heard throughout with
the greatest attention, and elicited frequent applause.
A vote of thanks having been carried, the mem-
bers adjourned to the dining-room, and the evening
was spent in the most rational and convivial manner.
The health of the lecturer having been drunk and
acknowledged, Mr. R. Doble proposed the health
of the proprietor of Tiewithen, C. II. T. Hawkins,
Esq. Mr. Trethewy, as steward of the Trewithen
property, returned thanks, and at the same time gave
notice that Mr. Hawkins would be proposed as an
honorary member of the club at the next meeting.
He then particularly addressed the junior members,
enforcing on them the necessity of making them-
selves acquainted beforehand with the subject which
was to be introduced, and recommended that they
should be prepared with questions to put to the
lecturer, or to the meeting, having reference parti-
cularly to the subject of the lecture.

Mr. R. Doblc's health was next proposed, and
drunk as one of the vice-presidents, and most active
member*. Mr, Doble, in acknowledging the com-

pliment which had been paid him, took the opportu-
nity of impressing upon his brother members the
necessity of trying experiments with different
manures, on the same kind of crop, and on the same
field. He also recommended that experiments
should be instituted as to the feeding of sheep and
cattle with different kinds of food. He spoke of
some experiments which he had lately made, and
stated his intention to brinsrthern before the club. It
was by experiments such as these, he said, cautiously
made, that great and important practical benefits
might be obtained, -and that it was absolutely neces-
sary that all these experiments should be made with
reference to weight and measure. He again begged
to return his wannest thanks for the manner in
which they had drunk his health, and he hoped that
they might meet together as harmoniously and as
happily for many years to come. Shortly after-
wards the meeting separated.

WAGGONS AND CARTS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — I was very glad to read in your valuable
journal of this month a sensible enquiry into the
comparative draught of two and four-wheel car-
riages by a farmer, which I hope will be answered
by some mechanical correspondent quite to the
satisfaction of the enquirer and those interested
upon the subject. Should such not be the case, it
\ull prove a very suitable subject for the Royal
Agricultural Associations, as it is well known and
admitted no improvement, generally speaking,
has been made in our waggons and tumbrils with-
in the greatest part of the last century in the
eastern counties, of which alone I am acquainted
with. Almost all other implements of agriculture
have undergone very considerable improvement,
and much skill and talent has been employed upon
them ; but in the waggon and tumbril, so much
in use, the village wheeler and blacksmith alone
are consulted ; and although I cannot impart the
information sought for by my brother farmer, yet
I cannot refrain from giving my small experience,
in having tested the superior advantages of iron
arms on our carriages in lieu of the wood axle-
tree — the former carrying the oil or grease free
from dirt; the latter, instead of supplying the
boxes when required, runs into the cavity of the
nave of the wheel, leaving the wearing parts dry,
and thereby increases horse-labour. But as I hope
to see this subject in abler hands,

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

West Suffolk.

COLOURED AND BLEACHED
CLOVER AND TREFOIL SEEDS.

Sir, — Public attention being occupied with this
subject, I submit to your farming readers

A Test for White Clover and Trefoil seed.— Fill
an ounce phial one-third with the suspected seed,
and add sp. sal ammoniac, until it be two-thirds
full. Cork and shake the phial, and let it stand a
few seconds, not exceeding half a minute ; for, if
it stand longer, the genuine seed will be acted on.
If the liquid be coloured cithei* yellow or yellowish
green, the seed is cither dyed, or its natural
colour has been brought to the surface by bleach-
ing or some other artifice.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Argus.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

209

SHORT-HORNS AND OTHER
BREEDS.

Sir, — So much importance is at present attached
to the controversy between the advocates of the
various breeds of cattle, that any plan by which
their real comparative excellence can be esta-
blished, will confer a great benefit on the farmers
throughout the length and breadth of old England.
Not having sufficient experience of any other
breed, I shall confine what I have to say to the
short-horns, and attempt to show what are the
merits of that most valuable animal. It is cer-
tainly not because the highest prices are given for
animals of this breed, that it can be at once said
to be superior to all others ; it is only a proof that
the short-horns are in high repute among the
wealthier class of farmers and farming landlords,
and the rejection of all of the breed, whose pedi-
grees will not bear aclose examination, throws the
sale of bulls into the hands of a few of the prin-
cipal breeders, who regulate their prices according
to the demand ; and as few breeders are to be
found willing to part with good cows or heifers,
the sales of their stock have fetched enormous
prices. But the intrinsic merit of the breed does
not depend on this or that animal having been
sold for 150/. or 200/., but on their value as a
farmer's stock. And the necessary properties to
constitute a farmer's, and a remunerating, stock,
are eminently possessed by the short-horns ; such
as wehavethem disseminated all over the counties
of Durham and Northumberland, the north of
Yorkshire, and the south of Scotland. These
properties ate, first and foremost, great mellow-
ness of handling, and aptitude to fatten on ordi-
nary keep ; this, I know, some writers deny,
saying that they require forcing from the pail;
but any one conversant with the agriculture of
the border counties, can testify to this fact.
Secondly, the propensity to feed at an early age ;
which enables the farmer to cast nearly double
the quantity of stock than with the slower feeding
breeds he could do. Thirdly, good dairy quality ;
and lastly, but not least in importance, good con-
stitution; many cows having bred on to 20 years
of age. Other breeds, the Hereford, for instance,
are said by their advocates to have all these good
properties in an equal, if not superior degree.
Certain herds may ; but to obtain a fair criterion
we should compare the animals in the markets for
store stock, and also those, where they are sold,
when fit for the butcher. I believe this is the
only way to convince those who erroneously at-
tribute to their own favourites a superiority which
has not been proved. Bulls of the short-horn
breed are frequently so inclined to feed, that
after they reach three years old their owners are
compelled to keep them on straw and water, or
they would get too heavy to do service. Steers
and heifers are very commonly fatter at two years
old, and at that age, with ordinary keep, never
touching cake, or corn, or hay; in fact, fed thus : —
milk for three months, grass till November, a
few turnips and straw during the winter, grass
again up to November, and as many turnips and
as much oats straw as they can consume to
the time of selling, say April or the beginning
of May. I have myself fed two-year-olds in this
way, and sold them from lo7. to 19/., one or two
extra large at 20 guineas. Many of the far-
mers in this district have adopted this system

since the introduction {of bones, and the prices
are commonly about what I have stated.

Their dairy quality is admitted to be good, and
aseach of the farm servants in this district keeps
a cow, generally a short-horn, but not of a high
pedigree, it is easy to ascertain their virtues in
this department. The hind's wife will think her
cow a very poor one if she gives less than ribs, or
81bs. of butter per week for the summer months.
I have known them yield 121bs. and 131bs., and
give from 20 to 26 quarts of milk per day. We
find no fault with the constitution of our short-
horns : our young store beasts, that are not to be
put to fatten until two years old, are frequently
allowed to run out all day, during the whole
winter, and only given a little straw at night, in a
hovel with an open yard. They are subject to tew
diseases — the quarter-ill, or Black -quarter, is the
one most fatal, and attacks yearling stirks when
improperly fed ; but if allowed a field to range in,
and not fed witli turnip-tops, the disease is compa-
ratively rare : some farmers give lib. of cake
per day to their yearlings, as a preventive, which
is said to prove very efficacious. Now, to what I
agree with one of your correspondents, in con-
sidering the only true criterion of the compara-
tive excellence of the different breeds — their
market price as store beasts ; for according to the
pay to be obtained by feeding, so will be the price
of store things. In all our spring markets heifers,
if in clean condition, are most sought after, and
fetch for yearlings, 61. to 8/. a head ; for two year
olds, 10/. to 12/. and 13/.; steers are in proportion,
but generally they are more backward in condi-
tion, and range rather below the average, unless
their superior size makes them more valuable. In.
the autumn markets, steers coming three years,
old, if ready to lay on turnips (and it must be borne
in mind they get nothing but turnips and straw to
prepare them for the knife) fetch from 14/. to 18/.
a head, and heifers from 12/. to lol. according to
size and condition. These steers, after eating
turnips till April or May, will return from //. to
10/. a head for their keep ; the heifers are sooner
ready, and go off about January or February, and
return from 5/. to 8/. a piece.

If this paper provokes an answer from some of
the breeders of other kinds, giving the fair prices
at the different ages, it will answer my object ;
which is, to have some regular and true criterion
for the breeders of the different varieties to de-
cide by. I can scarcely expect those wedded to
one or other breed, to give up their favourites ;
but it may help some who are only beginning, and
may induce others to inquire, without prejudice in
the matter, into the comparative merits of the dif-
ferent breeds, as calculated to remunerate the
tenant farmer. Your obedient servant,

Geo. Darling.
Helton House, Northumberland,
February, 1842.

ON

STATE OF AGRICULTURE
THE CONTINENT.

Sir, — It would be extremely interesting to the
subscribers of the Farmer's Magazine, if at the
present moment, when so serious a reduction in
the duties on foreign grain is contemplated by the
Government, some of your talented correspond-
ents would give us a report of the state of agri-

2iU

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

culture in Prussia, Poland, the countries bordering
the Mediterranean, and any others which have
occasionally supplied England with corn at such
very low prices, and will, of course, be stimulated
(if Sir R. Peel's bill becomes law) to increase their
production for export to our markets. Such par-
ticulars, for instance, as the rent of the land ;
taxes and other burthens ; wages of labour ; mode
of cultivation, whether our rotation of crops on
different soils is followed, or what portion of a
farm is fallowed ; their command of manure ;
average crops of wheat, barley, and oats per
English acre in ordinary seasons ; cost of transit
from the farms to the ports of shipment ; and to
what extent the breeding and feeding of cattle
forms a part of their system in connection with
tillage.

To answer all these questions satisfactorily
would embrace too wide a field for one letter, and
perhaps, also, for the knowledge of any one of
your correspondents ; but if the subject be before
the public, much valuable information would by
degrees be communicated. And I am not aware
that we have any work of the kind in print ex-
cept the valuable treatise of Mr. Rham, on the
agriculture of Belgium, written for the Society
for Diffusing Useful Knowledge, which, however,

has but little reference to our corn laws, as Bel-
gium does not export much grain.

I remember, in reading the evidence taken by
the Parliamentary Committee on the State of
Agriculture, in 1836, that the following question
was put to farmers from different parts of the
country : — " Which should you prefer, that the
price of wheat be 56s. a quarter, with your pre-
sent rent, tithes, and taxes, or 40s. a quarter with
your land -rent, tithe, and tax freel" and I believe
three out of four preferred the former. Now, if
such an answer be the result of enlightened ex-
perience, it is of the last importance that we
should know how it is that corn can be grown so
cheap on the Continent ; for if at 25s. a quarter for
wheat, for instance, as (in average seasons) some
people imagine, it is pretty certain that on any
moderate scale of duties, and where a sufficient
time shall have elapsed to bring the additional
quan'ity of land into tillage, which a steady de-
mand from this country would require, our home
growth of corn would be materially injured. I do
not, however, wish to give an opinion, but to get
information. Your obedient servant,

Leamington, H. M.

16th, February, 1842.

THE FARMER'S CHEMICAL SYNOPSIS.

SHOWING, IN BRIEF OUTLINE, THE HISTORY AND rilOFERTIES OF THE DIFFERENT GASES AND THEIR
COMPOUNDS ; AND ALSO THE COMPONENT TARTS OF THOSE SUBSTANCES MORE ESPECIALLY CONNECTED
WITH AGRICULTURE. ADDED TO WHICH, 13 " THAER's CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWN SOILS."

I have compiled this Synopsis for the use of the Farmer and Agriculturist, with the intention of
forwarding a knowledge of chemistry amongst that class of readers for whose use it is designed.

It has been shown, that since knowledge of chemistry is necessary to the advancement of Agriculture,
the time is not far distant when it will be proved that this knowledge is essentially and intimately
connected with all that is advantageous to the improvement of the soil, when fixed principles will be
the unerring guides, and the iesults will be known and accounted for upon scientific premises.

I think it will be admitted that some such short and abstract form is necessary, to show the nature
of those substances connected with Agriculture, in order that Farmers themselves may notonly reason in
their operations upon something like scientific principles, but that they may also understand the reason-
ings of others. If what I have done shall be deemed pertinent, or at all calculated to effect so much,
I shall indeed realise a solid satisfaction. S. A.

GASES APPERTAINING TO AGRICULTURE.

Chemical Terms.

1. OXYGEN.
Name proposed by La-
vosier ; he considered
it the cause of Acidity

Common Names.

DePH LOGISTIC ATED
AIR.

Priestley.

EMPYREAL AIR.

Scheele.

VITAL AIR.

Condorset.

FIRE AIR.

Historical Outline and Properties.

Discovered by Priestley in 1 774, and by Scheele soon after
without the previous knowledge of Priestley's Discovery.
Oxyyen G<ts] is absorbable by combustible bodies, and con-
verts them into Oxides or Acids — an almost indispensable
condition of combustion ; is highly necessary for the
respiration of animals ; is obtained from Oxide of Manga'
nese, Nitrate of Potass (Salt Petre), and from Oxymuriatc
of Potass in a state of purity. Oxyyen* combined with
Hydrogen2 forms Water. Oxygen is a non-conductor of
Electricity, is heavier than Atmospheric Air. All sub-
stances burn with great brilliancy in Oxygen Gas.

2. HYDROGEN.

Because it forms

Water.

INFLAMMABLE AIR.
PHLOGISTON,

Because formerly sup-
posed to be the matter
of heat.

Its nature and properties first pointed out by Mr.
Cavendish, in 1/66, recently said to be the discovery of
that mighty genius, James VYatt (a). Hydrogen Gas is
the lightest substance in nature. Two parts Hydrogen- to
one of Oxygen,1 united chemically, form Water. Sir I.
Newton conjectured, from its great refracting power, that
water contained a combustible substance. Hydrogen Gas
is easily procured by passing the vapour of Water over
red hot Iron ; or by putting Iron filings or Zinc granules
into a common retort, and pouring upon them a little
Water and Sulphuric Acid.

(«) See " Historical Account of the Discovery of the Composition of Water, by Lord Brougham, in Arago'6 Life of James
Watt. Black, Edinb. 1889."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

211

Chemical Terms. | Common Terms. |

Historical Outtline and Properties.

3. CARBURETTED
HYDROGEN GAS.

INFLAMMABLE AIR OF
MARSHES.

HEAVY INFLAMMABLE
AtU.

FIRE DAMP.

4. NITROGEN.

MEFHITIC AIR.

Rutherford.

AZOTE.

Lavosier.

PHLOCISTICATED AIR.

Priestley.

When mixed with Atmospheric Air occasions dread-
ful explosions; the sol" products of these explosions are
Water and Carbonic Acid. Carburetted Hydrogen Gas
often issues in large quantity from between beds of coal,
and by collecting in mines, owing to deficient ventilation,
mixes with Atmospheric Air and forms an explosive mix-
ture. See Art. " Lamp, Safety," Penny Cyclop. It is this
Carburetted Hydrogen which is used in lighting streets
and thoroughfares.

First shown in 1772 by Dr. Rutherford. Lavosier and
Scheele afterwards proved it to be a constituent part of
the atmosphere, in the proportions of 78 or 79 to 100 ;
i(s great use in which appears to be a diluter of Oxygen.
When united in other proportions, viz., 7 0 in 100, it forms
Nitric Acid, i. e. Aqua Fortis. Nilroyen1 may be obtained
from animal substances, but more generally, for chemi-
cal purposes, is procured in decomposing Atmospheric air
by lighted Phosphorus. It is hurtful to respiration, and
quickly kills animals. It generally occurs in hot springs.
Uniting' with Hydrogen3 under certain conditions forms
Ammonia or Volatile Alkali. " Animals will not live on
food which contains no Azote." (a)

5. CARBON.

PURE CHARCOAL

Pure inflammable principle of Charcoal. — Impure in
Coke. Lavosier first proved the Diamond to contain
Carbon ;5 he fused it by concentrating the sun's rays on
a powerful lens in a vessel of Oxygen Gas. The Dia-
mond and Charcoal are chemically the same substance, (b)
Tainted water and meat are rendered fit for use through
this, in combination with Sulphuric Acid. There arc
three compounds of Oxygen1 with Carbon,'' viz., Carbonic
Oxide, (consisting of (i parts of Carbon and 8 parts of
Oxygen,) Carbonic Acid.6 and Oxalic Acid; in the two
latter, the relative proportions of Oxyyen are increased.

CARBONIC ACID
GAS.

FIXED AIR.

Black.

CHOKE DAMP.
GAS SYLVESTRE.

# "Van Helmont.

AERIAL ACID.

Bergmann.

THEORY OF LATENT HEAT.

WELLS' THEORY OF DEW.

Discovered by Dr. Black, in 1757. — Carbonic Acid Gas6
is separated from Limestone by means of heat. Lavosier
demonstrated its nature and composition. It is formed
during Respiration, Fermentation, and Combustion. Its
relative proportions are 28 parts by weight to 72 of Oxy-
gen. Carbonic Acid gas exceeds in weight almost every
other, and is almost twice as heavy as atmospheric air.
It is unfit for respiration. It is this gas which suffocates
persons who incautiously descend into vaults, wells, or
pits, where a lighted candle will not burn; hence it is
called Choke Damp. It is always present in the atmos-
phere, and plants purify the air by withdrawing Carbonic
Acid" from it, and in return yielding Oxygen.

Heat exists in bodies in two opposite stales — in one it is
supposed to be In chemical combination without its ordi-
nary characters and remaining quiescent ; in the other
it is free and uncombined, pass, jug readily from one sub-
stance to another. Thus heat is always evolved when-
ever a substance without change of form passes from a
rarer into a denser state, and also when a gas becomes
liquid or solid, or a liquid solidifies; because a quantity
of heat previously combined, or latent within it, is then
set free.

The most copious deposit of dew takes place when the
weather is clear and serene; and the substances that arc
covered with it are always colder than the contiguous
strata of air, or than those bodies on which dew is not
deposited. In fact, dew is a deposition of water previ-
ously existing in the air as vapour, and which loses its
gaseous form only in consequence of being chilled by
contact with colder bodies.

(«) Majendie's experiments.

(6) Tennant— Allen— Davy.

p 2

212

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ACIDS AND THEIR SALTS.

Chemical Terms.

Common Names.

Compounds.

with

forms

1.

Sulphuric Acid.

Oil of Vitriol.

Potass

Sulphate of Potass

Polychrest Salt.

2.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Soda

Sulphate of Soda.

Glauber's Salts, (a)

3.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Lime

Sulphate of Lime.

Gypsum ( b ) or Plas •
ter of Paris.

4.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Magnesia

Sulphate of Magnesia.

Epsom Salts.

1.

Nitric Acid.

Aqua Fortis.

Potass

Nitrate of Potass.

Salt Petre. (c)

2.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Soda

Nitrate of Soda, (d)

Manure Salt.

1.

Muriatic Acid.

Spirits of Salts.

Soda

Muriate of Soda.

Common Salt.

2.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Potass

Muriate of Potass, (e)

Explosive Salt.

3.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Lime

Muriate of Lime.

Bleaching Salt.

1.

Carbonic Acid.

Fixed Air.

Potass

Carbonate of Potass

Pearl Ask.

2.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Soda

Carbonate of Soda.

Barilla or Kelp.

3,

Ditto.

Ditto.

Lime

Carbonate of Lime.

Chalk.

4.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Magnesia

Carbonate of Magnesia.

Magnesia.

5.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ammonia (f) Carbonate of Ammon

\dL.Volatite Salts.

AFFINITY or CHEMICAL ATTRACTION

In this table Sulphuric Acid has a greater affinity for
those substances placed in the order they are, and may
unite separately with each.

Ammonia will separate Magnesiu— Lime, Ammonia —
and so on.

is the basis on which the Science of Chemistry is founded,
and is exerted between the minutest particles of different
kinds of matter, so that when they combine, new bodies
are endowed with new properties. By way of illustra-
tion, two or three simple instances will afford a notion of
what it comprehends. Thus, Water and Sulphuric Acid
combine readily, while Oil and Water show but little
disposition to unite. In the first, chemical attraction or
affinity is shown ; in the latter, there is a want of affinity
in the different bodies. Another example is afforded in
Note (d) respecting the decomposition of Sea Salt.
Again we may use for example

POTASS.
SODA.

SULPHURIC ACID •< lime.

AMMONIA.
MAGNESIA.

COMPONENT PARTS OF URINE, (g)

Water 933 in 1000. Sulphate of Potass. Earthy matters

Sulphate of Soda. with Fluate

Phosphate of Soda. of Lime.

Phosphate of Am- Siliceous Earth,

monia. and

Muriate of Soda. Phosphuretted

Muriate of Am- Hydrogen.

monia.

Uric Acid .
Lactic Acid.
Lactate of Ammo

nia.
Animal Matter.
Mucus.

FORMATION OF MANURE AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF HUMUS.

The Temperature most favourable to the
putrefactive process is between 60 deg. and
100 degs., and when the decay of vegetable
matter has proceeded so far as to leave no
traces of the organization of plants behind, a
dark substance, easily rubbed to powder, re-
mains, consisting of Charcoal, with a little
Oryyen and Hydrogen ; this is Humus, which,
with earth, constitutes the soil necessary for
the growth of plants, and when exposed to
air and moisture will dissolve, (h)

(a) This Salt (as well as several of the others) hag, at different times, been used for the purposes of Manure

(&) Gypsum with Urine, forms the Urate used in France, as liquid Manure.

(c) Is generated spontaneously in the soil, and is found in Crystals upon its surface in several parts of the world and
especially in the East Indies, whore the greater part of the Nitre of commerce is derived.

(rf) Nitrate of Soda may be easily mode by adding Nitric Acid to common Sea Salt m;«le hot ; by which the Muriutic Acid
is displaced, the Soda having a greater affinity for that Acid than the Muriatic. Nitrate of Soda will dissolve in twice its
weight of cold water. It is found in the soils of India and Peru.

(c) This Salt will not, perhaps, be of much use for Agricultural purposes on account of the great heat it requires to effect
its decomposition. I have purposely avoided the mention of Chlorine and the other compounds of Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and
Carbon, as they seem not intimately connected with the proposed object of this paper.

(/)The Sal Ammoniac of Commerce, formerly imported from Egvpt, where it had used to be procured by
the soot of Camel s Dung. It is this salt which is contained in the refuse liquor of gas works, and is found ii
state in the condensing pipes of such establishments— it dissolves in three time* its weight of water

(a) Berzelius Prout.

(/() As a general rule, the most favourable temperature for the growth of plants ranges from G0« to 80".

sublimation from
in its chrystallized

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

213

COMPOSITION OF SOILS.

RICH SOIL.

Carbonate of Lime 28 parts.

Siliceous Earth 32 parts.

Alumina 29 parts.

Animal and Vegetable Matter 11 parts.

100 parts.
Explanations. — Carbonate of Lime — Chalk.

LIGHT SANDY SOIL.

Carbonate of Lime 63 parts.

Silica 15 parts.

Alumina 11 parts.

Oxide of Iron 3 parts.

Vegetable and Saline Matter 5 parts.

Water 3 parts.

100 parts.
Siliceous — Quartz Rock Earth.

LOAM.

Argilaceous Sand 57 parts.

Finely divided Clay „ 33 parts.

Siliceous Sand 7.4 parts.

Carbonate of Lime 1.6 parts.

Woody Fibre 5 parts.

Humas (a) and Soluble Matter ...... 5 parts.

100 parts.
Alumina— Clayey or Potter's Earth.

RICH HEATH OR BOG EARTH.

Gritty Silicious Sand 62 parts.

Vegetable Fibres, partly decomposed 20 parts.

Humus 16 parts.

Carbonate of Lime 6 parts .

Soluble Matter 1.4 parts.

100 parts.
Argilaceous — Clay.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS.

*1 First Class of strong Wheat Soils

2 Ditto ditto

3 Ditto ditto

f4 Ditto ditto

}5 Rich light sand, in natural grass
§6 Rich Barley Land

7 Good Wheat Land

8 Wheat Land

||9 Ditto

10 Ditto

11 Ditto

12 Good Barley Land

13 Ditto, second quality

14 Ditto ditto

If 15 Oat Land

16 Ditto

«a

43

0) *j

co *S

.

j2 o

arb.
Lim
Cen

is

CO

t/2 s-

;j '4- u
o ®

<

P.

A

a

A

>

74

10

4*

Hi

100

81

6

4

8

98

79

10

4

6l

96

40

22

36

4r

90

14

49

10

27

>

20

67

3

10

78

58

36

2

4

77

56

30

12

2

75

60

38

+»

2

70

48

50

c3

2

65

68

30

2

60

38

60

c "-3
"33 £

2

60

33

65

2

50

28

70

2

40

23J

75

>,*

1*

30

18A

80

>

H

20

SUPPOSED DEPTH OF SOIL SIX INCHES, SUB-SOIL SOUND.

*1, 2, and 3, are alluvial soils, and from the division and intimate union of the Humus, are not so
heavy and stiff as the quantity of clay would indicate.

f 4, a rich clay loam.

+ 5 is very light and rich, and best adapted for gardens and not for Com, hence its comparative value
can scarcely be given.

§ 6, 7, and 8, are good soils : the quantity of Carbonate of Lime compensates for the smaller portion
of humus.

|| 9 to 14, lime or mail would be the greatest improvement.

If 15 and 16, poor light soils, requiring ciay and much manure.

The last column, of comparative value, is the result of several years' careful valuation of the returns

after labour and seed have been deducted.

JOHN ASHFORD,

Memb. Royal Coll. Surg. Soc. Apolh. fyc. Loud., Memb. Med. Surg, Prov. Assoc.

(a) Humus or Vegetable Mould, a dark unctious substance, is a compound of Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Carbon ;
is the product of living matter, and the source of it.

214

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

BEANS- VARIETIES OF SOWING
—CULTURE— HARVESTING.

Having dispatched the subject of Peas, we now
come to the Bean crop, which is generally thought
to be more applicable to heavy than light land.
Certain it is that on the richer soils of this de-
scription they may be taken to advantage as a
preparation lor Wheat. In one particular district
in Lancashire, called the Fylde country, I remem-
ber the late Dr. Dickson telling me that the prac-
tice had been from time immemorial to grow
Beans, Wheat, Beans, Wheat, alternately. It
tills much for the land, but it also tills much for
the Beans ; for if they had been such exhausters
as some have imagined, it would have been hope-
less to attempt to raise Wheat at such close inter-
vals of time. The truth is, that the mellowness
they impart to a strong soil is a most profitable
substitute for that most unprofitable of all sys-
tems, a naked fallow.

But though Beans are most commonly culti-
vated on strong clays, and deep loams, it by no
means follows that these are their only and ex-
clusive habit at. Occasionally they are to be found
on the lighter description of loams, usually called
good turnip lands, though in truth I confess they
always appear to me rather out of their clement
in such situations, and attended with no incon-
siderable risk; for however high such land may
be in condition, there can be no question but that
a dry summer will affect a Bean crop in a much
greater degree than one of Peas. On the whole,
therefore, it will be desirable not to hazard this
crop on too light a soil, not only for the sake
of the crop itself, but on account of the land. It
is essentially a mellowing pulverizing plant.
Light lands need tio preparation of this kind, but
stiff soils can hardly have too much of it.
Beans, as well as Peas, are sometimes taken when
a layer foils ; in which case they are generally
followed by Wheat; and this perhaps is the best
period to introduce them into the rotation ; except
indeed it is resolved to omit the layer altogether,
and take Beans instead.

No crop is better calculated to cleanse the land,
if drilled at sufficiently wide intervals to admit the
effective application of the horse and hand-hoes.
Indeed this object may be attained by dibbling, if
very carefully performed ; but this unfortunately
is seldom the case ; for, unless the utmost nicetv
is observed in the equi- distance of the rows, the
plants must 6tifter from the operation of the hoes.

In treating of Peas, I adverted to the practice
sometimes resorted to, of mixing these with
Beans, on which I have since noticed Mr. Loudon
thus speaks, under the head Beans, in his Ency-
clopaedia of Agriculture : —

" The drilling of Beans with a small mixture of
Peas is now become a general practice in every
well cultivated district of the north, more parti-
cularly in those where soil and climate permit it
to be successfully executed. In this way not only
are heavy crops raised, but, what is of great im-
portance, the ground is kept constantly in good
order, provided suitable attention is bestowed
upon the cleaning process. This is generally
carried on by horse-hoeing the crop at different
times, so long as the hoe can be used without
doing damage ; and in this way an able aux-
iliary is brought forward to the assistance of sum-
mer fallow, whereby less stress need be laid upon

that radical process than otherwise would be in-
dispensably necessary." — p. 838.

The time of sowing ought to be as soon aa
possible after the danger of frost is past. Of
course this will mainly depend on the season. If
the winter is mild and open, this crop is sometimes
put in as early as January; sometimes as late as
the end of March ; but this is never desirable on
account of the lateness and fickleness of our
climate, which renders the ripening and harvest-
ing not a little precarious. Perhaps, as a general
rule, it is advisable to sow them as soon after
Candlemas as possible.

Ofthe many varieties of the Bean tribe, the com-
mon Ticks are as useful and productive as any ; but
for handsomeness of berry, I know of none to equal
the Heligoland, though my own experience of this
variety, as a bearer, is anything but favourable.
In place of 8 or 10 coombs an acre, I have been
unable to get more than 3. 1 have only to hope
that mine is not a general case. The other sorts
occasionally resorted to, are the Mazagan, the
Windsor, and the long-pods — the two latter, in-
deed, are ra'her a garden than a field-bean, but
nevertheless are not uncommon, especially in the
vicinity of large towns. A variety is in use in
some districts. I remember seeing it in the
neighbourhood of Sevenoaks, Kent — called the
Winter Bean. It is, I understand, usually planted
in October, and comes to harvest in the beginning
of August. According to Mr. Loudon, they were
first introduced into this country from the Conti-
nent in 1825. He mentions seeing a field of these
Beans near Woking, in Surrey, which had been
planted in October, 1829, and were in full bloom
the 12th May following. "This circumstance,"
he justly observes, " after so severe a winter, is a
proof that this is a most valuable variety." — Ency.
of Ay. p. 838. — 'When Beans giow very rank and
tall, it has been recommended to top them, under
the idea, perhaps a just one, that the check thus
given to the steins is calculated to infuse more
vigour into the pods. I am by no means disin-
clined to the practice, particularly where there
is any danger of the plant being attacked by
insects, the tender tops being usually the first to
suffer from this cause. Another material advan-
tage— "This operation, it is said, will occasion
the crop to be ready for reaping a fortnight earlier,
and also, perhaps, a week sooner ready for the
stack-yard after being reaped." — Ency. of Ag. p.
840.

Beans ought to be tolerably ripe before cutting,
or they will suffer much loss by shrivelling. So
late do they usually come to the hook in our East
Anglian district, as seldom or ever to be included
in the general harvest ; but I have often thought
that we are needlessly late with this crop, which
surely ought to have every advantage given it
which early sowing can afford ; or what becomes
of the following wheat crop?

Beans are most commonly cut with a large sort
of reap-hook — not a sickle, as some have called
it, for a sickle-edge is jagged like a saw, — whereas
this is smooth : they are made up into sheaves
which form shocks, and when sufficiently weather-
ed, are carted off to the stack, where, if suffered
to remain the whole of the winter, will be in so
much the better condition, especially if the frost
has been pretty severe.

Bean-stalks, however coarse and unfit they may
appear for cattle, are by no means despisable as
an article of food. They are sometimes cut with

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

215

hay or wheat straw for horses, and I have known
them, when so prepared, eaten very readily by all
kinds of stock.

The quality of the Bean is not anything like so
fattening a* that of the Pea. Nevertheless, for a
short time, it is not a bad preparation for feeding
pigs. Beyond a certain point, however, they will
come to a stand-still, and a change must take
place to Peas or Barley-meal.

For cattle, bean-meal appears better suited than
to pigs : and we all know the great utility of split
beans for horses. Agricola.

Feb. \Wi, 1842.
— Ipswich Express,

HORSE-KEEPING — VARIOUS
METHODS DESCRIBED.

Few subjects have led to more discussion and
difference of opinion, at farmers' clubs, than that
of borse-keeping. Almost every farmer has his
own peculiar system of management in this re-
spect, and not a few manage without any system
at all. It always appears to me that this item of
farm management is too important a one not to
deserve the most weighty and serious considera-
tion of every cultivator who depends on the land
for a maintenance. The articles of farm produce
consumed by the working horses of a farm would,
if purchased at market, amount to a heavy sum
indeed ; but being produced on the spot, are often
given lavishly, and yet appear to cost nothing.
True, the actual market value is not paid down
on the nail for every truss of hay, or every coomb
of oats, consumed by the horses ; but they are
worth a certain market price, and ought to be
reckoned at that price, be it high or be it low, if
a true and correct account is to be kept of the
expenses of tillage. Certain it is, that the farmer
has less both of hay and corn to carry to market,
or to devote to the more profitable purposes of
feeding and rearing cattle or other paying stock,
by all the amount consumed in the cart-horse
stahles ; and therefore, as I before observed, the
charge of horse-keeping becomes a very important
one to the working farmer. Iron-masters, col-
liers, and others employing many horses, but who
are obliged to go to market for their supplies, are
well able to attest the correctness of this remark.
Meantime, I will briefly advert to the different
systems, if systems they may be called, with
which I have happened to come in contact. And
liere I must observe at the outset, that the term
horse-keep is very differently interpreted by diffe-
rent farmers. With some, it means keeping the
animals in such a state of sleekness and condition,
as to make the teams rather a matter of show
than of service ; they are too fat to work. I have
known many euch. /do not complain, if they do
not, for they have certainly a right to do as they
will with their own; only this 1 cannot help hint-
ing in the way of caution, that there is such a
thing as paying too dear for one's whistle. The
antipodes of this class are those who overwork
and underfeed their horses, whose object would
almost seem to be, to go as near the starvation
point as possible, without absolutely endangering
the lives of their cattle. In the following state-
ments, I confine myself principally to the winter
half-year; the summer half is easily provided for
by green-meat of some kind or other, either in

yards, or at large in the fields and meadows ; the
former by far the best plan in my opinion ; but
that is not now the point in question.

There is in horse-keeping, as in most other
matters, a medium course, which, if pursued, will
on the one hand insure to the farmer a just and
fair proportion of the labours of his team, and to
the horses their due share of working condition ;
beyond this all is useless extravagance — I had al-
most said, a criminal waste of money and pro-
vender.

Jt seems to me that a mixture of roots of some
kind with the corn, hay, and chaff given to horses,
is always desirable where they can be obtained.
Such, for instance, as the following : —

FOR ONE HORSE.

s. d.

3$ bushels of carrots 2 4

1 bushel of oats 3 0

1 truss of hay 2 0

7 4 per week.

One friend of mine usually gives to four horses
the following allowance : —

£ s. d.
6 bushels of sprouted barley, 13s. 6d. per

coomb 1 0 3

Hay, 4 cwt., at 4*. per cwt (J 16 0

6 bushels of Swedish turnips, say 0 2 6

Total cost per week, for four horses ..118 9

Or, per horse, per week 0 9 8

Another ! —

I peck of beans, and 1 ,.

1 peck of bran ....} perdiem.

Cost per horse per week 0 9 0

It is by no means a bad plan to give horses
their food by weight. I know one case where the
allowance is as follows : —

£ s. d.
Mixed corn, at Is. per stone, of which

24 stone per week is given to 4 horses 14 0
21 stone of good hay per week, at 4s. 6d.

per cwt 0 12 4

Cost of four horses per week 1 16 4

Or, per horse, per week 0 9 1

Good fresh wheat or oat-straw may be cut with
the hay in the proportion of two to one. The
following I have proved will keep farm -horses in
fair working condition, though I doubt it will be
thought but a meagre allowance by those who
study sight rather than service.

s. d.
Hay 701bs. per week, or lOlbs. per day,

each horse at 4s , 2 6

Straw 1401bs., or 201bs. per do., do. Is. 6d. 1 10£

Cutting the above into 7 sacks, at l£d 0 10£

Oats 1£ per bushel, at 3s 4 fi

Total cost per horse per week 9 9

The following particulars may be depended
upon as exhibiting the rate at which horses are
kept at one of the principal iron-works in South
Wales. It proves, too, the utility of salt for
working horses.

"Those," observes my informant, " who have
never visited these rough and mountainous dis-
tricts, can form but a faint idea of the nature of

216

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the work clone at auch places, and of the hard-
ships and accidents to which horses are exposed,
compared with those met with in the ordinary
business of a farm. The climate is cold and
moist; the roads steep and rough beyond descrip-
tion ; in excavating, sinking, &c, by whins or
gins, much horse-labour is required, and that too
of the best and most powerful horses. This is
amongst the worst work they have to do. Always
drawing in a circle, and that at a very quick rate,
in all weathers, by night as well as by day, used
by a set of colliers, miners, or navigators, who
generally think no more of the poor beast than to
get all the work they can out of him ; after being
heated by this work, to stand, perhaps for hours,
exposed to the fogs and storms during the conti-
nual interruptions to the work below. Those who
work in the levels under-ground are but little
better off as to wet, owing to the almost constant
dripping from the roofs, added to the great differ-
ence of temperature between the close and suffo-
cating atmosphere below, and the rawness of that
above. All these causes combine to render the
life of a horse far more precarious here than in
more favoured situations."

The writer then goes on to state the advantages
of a certain portion of salt mixed with the cut
hay, &c. "The year before last," he says, "no
salt was used. There was great sickness in the
stables from time to time, during the whole year.
In the following year, having some hay in, which
was more than usually dry, it occurred to me that
previous to cutting it, for we gave nothing without
cutting, it would be a good plan to moisten it with
salt and water. The hay, of course, cut the better,
and I am sure was better for the horses ; for we
had no sickness to speak of from the time the salt
was used. A regular diary was kept of the work
done by each horse, and an inspection of that
diary will show that out of 75 horses, on an aver-
age, not more than one a month was idle from
illness, during a year thereafter ; accidents of
course excepted. Our allowance of corn will, by
most farmers perhaps, be thought heavy; but let
them take into account the nature of the work,
roads, &c, as above described, I am sure no prac-
tical man will say it could be materially abridged.
It was as follows: —

Per day, for 75 horses and 2 colts.

13 bushels of oats of 401bs., at 4s 5201bs.

4 ditto of Indian corn of GOlbs., at 5s. . . 2401bs.

.7601bs.
Equal, I verily believe, in nutriment, to 20 bushels
of oats of 401bs. The Indian corn, of which I
think highly, was crushed between rollers, and
the oats ought to have been served the same. At
the above rate, the weekly consumption of each
horse would be seven sacks of mixed corn, and
five sacks of cut hay and straw." At other works
in the same neighbourhood, the food is weighed
out thus: — ten pounds of bay, one peck of oats,
and a small quantity of bran to each horse per
day.

" I cannot," observes the writer," conclude
without recommending in the strongest manner
the practice of cutting hay and other fodder for
horses ; and of all powers, by that of water, wher-
ever practicable. In the situation above alluded
to, T had a twelve-foot wheel put up, over the top
of which the water was carried. It required but a
very slight stream to cut four cwt. of hay in an

hour, a man and woman tending the machine.
This wheel, with the requisite machinery, cost
about 100/. ; and it saved, in hard labour alone,
1.3 guineas a month at the customary rate of
cutting thereabouts.'"'

One other subject connected with horse-keep-
ing I will just advert to, though it must be very
briefly — I mean stabling, or letting the horses run
in and out. My opinion is in favour of the in and
out system, i. e., having the stable doors set open,
so as to allow the horses to lie either in the stable
or in the yard. If kept too much under cover,
they get tender and will not stand the weather
so well as those do which are more exposed to the
variations of climate and temperature. Nor is
this mere matter of individual opinion, for wher-
ever horses have the choice between the stable
and the yard, you will nine times in ten find they
prefer the latter. To obviate the danger of acci-
dents from too many going together, a plan has
been adopted in some cases of keeping horses in
pairs, in sheds that communicate at one end with
a small yard. T.

Feb. 12, 1842.

HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.

THIRD MONTHLY MEETING IN THE MU-
SEUM .

We are happy to observe that the interest of
these meetings is evidently on the increase, On
Wednesday evening last a large audience listened
with great attention to all the papers read. Thos.
Oliver, Esq., Lochend, was in the chair.

The first paper was read by Mr. T. Jameson
Torrie, on the improvement of oats growing on
moss, by Professor Johnston, of the Dublin Uni-
versity. The author began his observations by
stating the well-known fact, that oats grown on
moss produced a badly-filled ear, and much but
soft straw, devoid of that hard shining surface by
which ripe oat straw grown upon sound land is
generally distinguished. He then alluded to the
practice in some parts of the country, and especially
in Dumfriesshire, of covering drained moss with
clay, in order to reduce the moss to a soil which
will grow well-filled oats. The conclusion he
would naturally draw from the effects of the ap-
plication of the clay is, that moss contains no in-
gredient noxious to vegetation, but that it wanted
something necessary for the healthy growth and
maturity of the plant, which the clay was able to
supply. To the chemist this is an enquiry full of
interest ; to the practical man it presents itself
purely in an economical form, as, to grow oats
well on moss, he must expend from 5/. to 15/. an
acre in improving it with clay. In the course of
his inquiries, the author subjected straw, grown
both on sound land and moss, to chemical exa-
mination, and found that the straw of the sound
land yielded 7.2 per cent, of ash, and that of the
moss 6.2 per cent. The difference of the quanti-
ties of ash here stated is not sufficiently great to
account for the difference of the state of the two
kinds of straw. In pursuance of the subject fur-
ther, he subjected the ashes to analysis, and found
that while the ash of the sound land straw yielded

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

217

3.42 per cent, of silica, that of the moss straw
only yielded 1.9 per cent.; or, in other terms,
1,0001b. of the sound straw contained 341b. of si-
lica, whereas the same quantity of the moss straw
only contained 191b. He stated that the smooth,
hard shining surface of the dried straw of the
sound land is chiefly due to the presence of a thin
layer or net-work of silicious matter, which is in-
tended to give strength and solidity to its other-
wise fragile structure. The conclusion from these
results is, that either moss does not contain a
sufficiency of silicious matter, or that it is not
in the state to be available to the growing plant.
The author is of opinion that the latter conclusion
is the correct one, and that, therefore, little chance
of success would be found in the remedy of mix-
ing more silica with the moss. The question then
is, how is the silicious matter to be made available
to the oats in the most economical form ? The
substances which the author is disposed to recom-
mend for application on the moss, in order to im-
part to it silica in an available state for oats, are
— 1. Wood ashes, which contain a considerable
quantity of silica in combination generally with
potash ; 2. Soap-boilers' ash, which occasionally
contains as much as 30 or 40 per cent, of silica,
especially from soap-works in which kelp is used ;
3. Peat ashes, which contain lime and other ingre-
dients as well as silica, the variety called Dutch
ashes, containing half its weight of silica ; 4.
Kelp, which contains, amongst other things, much
silica ; and 5, Slag from the iron furnaces, which
contains silica, lime, and a considerable quantity
of alumina, with very little iron. The scrapings
of roads where the slag is used for metalling,
might he usefully applied. The author acknow-
ledged the difficulty of applying small quantities
of substance in powder on moss, which is of very
porous texture, but as the substance he recom-
mended should be applied only after the crop is
above ground, or placed near the seed by the
drills, they can scarcely get beyond the reach of
the roots of the plant. The practical conclusions
which the author draws from the whole enquiry
are, that the phosphates of lime (earth of bones)
and magnesia are likely to aid the filling of the
ear, and that kelp, or Dutch ashes, or wood ashes,
will probably benefit the straw. On these grounds
he would recommend the following mixtures per
acre of moss, on the supposition that it had been
previously drained and limed, or perhaps partly
slagged, viz. : —

1 cwt. of kelp or Dutch ashes £0 4 0

£ cwt. of nitrate of soda. 0 12 0

| cwt. of sulphate of soda 0 5 0

J cwt. of Epsom salts (sulphate of

magnesia) 0 2 6

5 bushels of bone dust 0 15 6

Total cost £1 19 0

By doubling the bones, the quantity here given
might possibly serve for two acres, which would
reduce the cost to 29s. 6d. per acre. For the Ep-
som salts, bittern (the refuse of the salt-pans)
might be used, or a little magnesian lime ; while,
instead of using sulphate of soda, the bones may
be partially dissolved in sulphuric acid (oil of
vitriol), which acid, and the sulphates, seem to
have a powerful effect upon peaty soils.

Mr. Eliott Lockhart read a statement of experi-
ments made by G. Cambell Smith, Esq., of Corry-

borough, in the parish of Moy, county of Inver-
ness, with a view of^jmproving rough and healthy
pasture, by top-dressing, with an earthy compost
of lime and bones. The ground contained fifty-
four acies, ten of which were old swards some-
what mossy, five acres which had been ploughed
many years ago, ten acres of stunted heath, and
twenty-nine acres consisting of a variety of na-
tural grasses of the coarsest kinds. Two thirds of
the soil were a good deep sandy clay on an open
bottom, and the remaining one-third of superior
black loam, with a few patches of poor thin soil.
Quantities of stones covered the surface, and part
were imbedded in the soil. The first thing done
by Mr. Smith was to clear the surface, drain off
the water, plant belts of wood for shelter, and
fence both the pasture and wood. Such of the
stones as were not used for fencing and draining
were buried on the soil, the earth out of the pits
which contained them being employed to form
composts with the lime and bones. Of this earth
1000 cubic yards were divided into two portions ;
one containing 500 cubic yards were mixed with
60 bushels of lime, brought from a distance often
miles, to every 20 cubic yards of earth. The
other 500 cubic yards were mixed with 10 bushels
of bone-dust and drill-bones, brought 17 miles
from Inverness, to every 20 cubic yards of earth.
All these preliminary operations were performed
in the spring of 1839. After the rushes had been
cut with the scythe, and white and yellow clover,
at the rate of 21b., and rye-grass seeds, at the rate
of two bushels to the acre, had been sown, and
the compost heaps had lain mixed for twelve days,
the compost earth was then spread upon the land,
on the 22nd of August, at the rate of 20 cubic
yards to the acre, the poorer portion of the soil
receiving more, and the better less, the two sorts
of composts being equally divided between each
variety of soil. Sheep went over the ground all
winter, until spring, 1840, when the mole-hills
were levelled, and a great quantity of small stones
carried off. By the end of July the sward was
not long, but very thick ; and in August, 30 acres
were cut for hay, which was made in the English
fashion, that after the lime compost yielding from
150 to 200 stones, and from the bone-dust com-
post scarcely 100 stones the acre, the whole pro-
duce realising 4,600 stones. The expense of clear-
ing, fencing, and draining, and the cost of bone-
dust, lime, and grass-seeds, amounted altogether
to 336/. 15*. 3d., or 6/. 12s. per acre ; but deduct-
ing from this the nctt value of the hay obtained,
128/. 6s. 8d., the nett expense was 207/. 8s. Id., or
41. Is. 4d. per acre. The land was originally
worth 24/. a-year ; after the top-dressing it realised
61/., giving an increase of 37/. a-year, thereby
rendering the property permanently more valua-
ble, at thirty years' purchase, to the amount of
1,110/., at a cost of 207/. 8s. Id. In conclusion,
Mr. Smith suggested that the bone-dust was too
short a time in the compost, it should have been
allowed to have been completely incorporated with
the earth before being applied to the land. The
grass seeds should not have been sown until after
the application of the compost, and there is no
use of sowing rye-grass seed at all, but only some
of the natural grasses, and particularly the cyno-
sarus cristatus, crested dogs-tail ; and the new
grass should be pastured the first year, and not
cut for hay until the second.

Sir James Russell, of Ashestiel, corroborated

218

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

from his own experience the statements and con-
clusions contained in Mr. Smith's report.

A paper was then read liy Mr. Slight, the so-
ciety's curator of models, on " The Advantages of
Wooden Bridges, and that species of suspension
bridge in which the chains are placed under the
roadway of timber, usually named bridge of ten-
sion."

Among the remarks that followed, it was stilted
by Mr. Slight that wooden bridges would not stand
long within tide mark.

The last paper of the evening was read by Mr.
Stephens, on the comparative advantages of raw
and boiled grain as food for farm horses, by Mr.
James Cowie, Halkerston Mains, Kincardineshire.
The author began his experiments by dividing
twelve horses into three sets of four horses each.
Of the first set two were fed on cut barley and
beans mixed, and two on the same ingredients
boiled ; of the second set, two were fed on raw
oats and beans, and two on boiled oats and beans ;
and of the third set two were fed on raw oats,
and two on boiled oats. The cut grain was soaked
in water for twelve hours, and each horse got
16*lb. of grain daily, with oat straw. The weight
of the oats given was 421b., and of the barley
r>01b. the bushel. The author felt a difficulty in
discovering the best plan of ascertaining the true
state of the horses before and after the experi-
ment. The appearance of the animals might be
deceptive, and the measurement round the girth
could give no idea of internal condition. He there-
fore resolved on weighing them in a machine,
which he did on the first of March ; and after the
season of hard work had expired, at the beginning
of May, they were again weighed. The results
were, that the six horses fed on boiled grain lost
8 cwt. 2 qr. 271b. in weight, and each horse, on
the average, lost 421b. ; the four on raw grain,
unbruised, lost 2 cwt. and 1Mb., or 321b. each on
the average ; and of the two that were fed on raw
grain, bruised or cut, one retained his weight,
and the other had gained 101b. The conclusions
which these results suggested to the author were,
that it is matter of indifference whether farm
horses are fed on boiled or unbruised ra.v grain,
and that, as boiling entails an expense of l\A. on
every two feeds for each horse, it is unadvisable
tn employ other than raw grain. Of the two con-
ditions of raw grain, the bruised or cut is to be
preferred to unbruised, inasmuch as the horses
fed on the former gained, or at least did not lose,
weight.

These conclusions tending against the general
opinion, that boiled food is beneficial to horses,
gave rise to remarks from Mr. Eliott Lockhart,
Sir John Robison, Sir James Russell, and Mr.
Oliver, the last of whom mentioned that he fed
his horses partly with boiled and partly with raw
food, and that they were always in excellent
health and condition. It was surmised by Mr.
Lockhart that the experiments of Mr. Cowie had
not been persevered in for a sufficient length of
time to warrant a direct conclusion, and that in
the short period to which the horses had been
subjected to experiment, they hail not had suf-
ficient time to be inured to change of food, as it
was well known that horses accustomed to raw
unprepared food did not at once take to cooked
food. Before a satisfactory conclusion could be
drawn from such experiments, they should be
conducted for a longer period than Mr. Cowie's
experiments received.

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVE-
MENT.

ON THE COST OF BREEDING AND FEED-
ING CATTLE, SHEEP, AND SWINE.

BY W. EVANS.

In my last communication I stated that I would
submit for consideration what I estimated as the
cost to the farmer of breeding, rearing, and fat-
tening animals in this country. I shall begin with
neat cattle.

The value of a calf, immediately at her

birth, 1 set down only at £0 5 0

Milk for three months, in any situation,

should be worth five shillings a month 0 15 0

Pasturage, from the time the calf is able
to eat grass, until the commencement
of the following winter 0 5 0

Hay, roots, or other winter food, for
the first winter, say one hundred and
eighty days 1 0 0

Cost at the end of the first year from

birth 2 5 0

Second year, pasturage for the summer 0 10 0

Keep for second winter 1 5 0

Cost of the animal when two years old 4 0 0
Third year, pasturage for the summer . 0 12 6
Keep for the third winter 110 0

Cost of the animal when three years old 6 2 6
Fourth year, pasturage for the summer 0 15 0

Cost of the animal when three years and

a half old 6 17 6

I have not charged for attendance, as I consider
the manure made by the animal will pay for that.
I would observe, that if the animal is a heifer,
they generally produce a calf at two years old,
when her cost amounts only to four pounds cur-
rency. In any case they do not exceed three-
years old when they produce a calf, and begin to
make some return tor their keep, and the capi-
tal invested in them, in rearing them to that ma-
turity. I do not sec that in any situation in Ca-
nada, however remote from market, if the animal
has to be fed under cover, or in yards during the
winter, that I would estimate their cost at less
than I have set down for the several periods.
Hence it will be perceived that a heifer of two
years old, the earliest possible period that she can
yield any return to the farmer, has cost him four
pounds currency ; and an ox kept to three years
and a half old, the earliest possible period that he
would be fit for the shambles, will have cost the
farmer six pounds, seventeen shillings, and six-
pence currency. In this estimate I have omitted
any allowance for casualties, which would at least
require ten per cent, on agricultural animals. In-
terest on capital should also be allowed. As the
quality of the animals will depend chiefly upon
the breed and keep, I cannot pretend to estimate
accurately their value when at maturity, or at the
several periods above referred to. Under ordi-
nary circumstances in Eastern Canada, I do not
suppose that I could fairly estimate the weight of
an ox of three years and a half old, at more than
from five to six hundred pounds weight, of beef,
hide, and tallow. Hence it will be easy to calcu-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

219

late and ascertain what price beef should bring, to
pay the Canadian farmer the first cost, interest on
capital, and a reasonable profit, ltisperfcctlyclear,
however, that the present prices in our markets
will not refund the farmer his actual expenditure.
In the present state of our agriculture, I doubt
very much if the average weight of Lower Canada
oxen of three and a half years old would exceed
five hundred pounds at the utmost. If cattle are
well kept at all times until at maturity, they may
produce more weight of beef and tallow, but they
will cost the farmer more than I have estimated
for them. No farmer residing within convenient
distance to market, can raise cattle at the estimate
I have laid down for them. If oxen should be
kept the fourth winter, and stall fed, they might
pay better, but the number thus fed should find a
home market, and that would be very limited ;
and in fact it cannot be counted upon with any
degree of certainty under present circumstances.
A farmer may expend a large amount in stall-
feeding a lot of cattle, and when they are ready
for the shambles, a lot of fat cattle are brought in
from the United States, and the price may be re-
duced to what they cost him when put up from
grass, or very nearly so. Hence it is, that none
of our farmers can safely attempt to feed cattle
for Canada markets, as there is no assurance to
him of anything but loss by doing so.

Of the cost of raising horses, it is needless for
me to make any estimate. The sale of horses de-
pends a good deal upon fancy, and other acci-
dental circumstances ; and as the farmer will al-
ways require horses, they have to be raised at
whatever cost.

It is scarcely necessary for me to attempt to es-
timate the cost to the farmer of raising sheep to
maturity. I may observe, however, that it is only
by the most careful management of sheep that
they can pay the farmers in Canada. If a good
produce of lambs are not annually raised in pro-
portion to the number of the flock kept, it is im-
possible the keeping of sheep can remunerate the
farmer. It requires a lamb, and fleece of good
weight, to pay for the keep of an ewe, that is kept
as she should be kept to insure profit. While
thousands of sheep arc constantly coming in from
the United States, sheep never will be generally
and extensively kept in Canada, however neces-
sary and advantageous they would be to Canadian
agriculture. "We have abundant proof that there
is not anything in the climate or soil of Canada,
that would prevent us raising and keeping the best
of sheep, as we have several flocks of the finest
and most valuable description of those animals in
the neighbourhood of Montreal and in many other
parts of the country. The owners of these choice
flocks may, I suppose, even under the present
unfavourable circumstances, find ample remune-
ration, but it is because there are only a few,
comparatively, of such choice flocks in the coun-
try. If good sheep were more generally to be
found, and the free admission of foreign sheep to
continue, no farmer could keep sheep profitably,
of whatever description.

Few experiments have been made in Canada on
the feeding of swine, with a view to ascertain the
actual cost of producing a certain quantity of pork.
Swine, to a certain age, are chiefly fed on the offal
of dairies, the kitchen, and on grass in summer.
It costs something, however, to bring them to an

age that they are fit to put up to fatten. A good
breed of pigs put up^fo fatten in fair condition, if
fed on peas (the very best food for making good
pork) , may increase in weight at the rate of about
one pound, or something over, for every gallon
of peas they consume, and if fattened on other
grain or vegetables, they will be found to increase
in weight very nearly in proportion to the nutri-
tive matters contained in the sort of grain or
vegetables they are fed upon, compared with the
nutriment in peas. In England, or where dairies
are kept, they generally keep one pig for every
four cows, and they expect that each pig will, dur-
ing the summer, fed on the cheese whey and offal
of the dairy, increase in weight about 2001bs., or
about 501bs. for the waste of each cow. 1 suppose
the same result would be obtained in Canada.
From the nearest estimate I can make of the cost
of feeding pork, from the period of putting swine
up to fatten, I believe that every pound weight of
flesh they give will cost the farmer at least three
pence, or at the rate of five dollars the lOOlbs. In
most cases, it will cost much more, when there is
not a good breed of swine, and when they are not
judiciously attended to. Any individual who will
purchase store pigs in our markets, and try the
experiment of buying food for fattening them,
will find that the pork fed will cost him double
what the farmer can sell for, or, I should rather
say, can obtain for it, in our markets. In England
they expect that a bushel of barley will produce
ten pounds of green bacon when first dried, pro-
vided the hogs are of a good breed, easy to
fatten.

It is much to be regretted that we have not the
result of accurate experiments on the feeding of
neat cattle, sheep, and swine in this country. —
When such experiments would be made, they
should be very carefully attended to throughout.
If this was not done, it would only lead us into
error. At the commencement of the experiment
the animals, of whatever kind, should be weighed,
and subsequently every month at least, during the
time of feeding, and finally at the close of the ex-
periment. Also, the food consumed daily, weekly,
and monthly, the sort of food made use of, and
whether raw, boiled, whole or ground. The age
and breed of the animals should be noted, and
whether male or female, or had produced young.
Experiments might also be made on grass-fed
cattle of various breeds. It is by adopting such
measures that farmers will understand their busi-
ness, and the value of various varieties of animals,
and of the food they consume. I have seen many
wonderful statements of what animals have been
brought to, but not a tittle of information of the
cost of bringing them to that great perfection.
The farmers of Canada want profit more than
show, and have not capital to expend, without
some prospect of its being refunded to them.

I am sorry that I could not give more accurate
int'oimation on the cost to the farmer of feeding
pork. If I am found in error in any of my esti-
mates, I shall be glad to be set right. My only
object is to bring the subject fairly before the
public, and, with that view, I have made my esti-
mates as accurately as was in my power, and with-
out any intention to mislead.

Cote, St. Paul, Dec. 31, 1841. Wm. Evans.

— Montreal Gazette.

220

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ENCOURAGEMENT
PLANTERS.

TO

Sir, — It may possibly be an incitement to country
gentlemen to plant wbo otherwise might not be in-
clined, bolding out a hope to tbem of seeing timber
of their own planting become useful and valuable.
Longevity lias been, above every description of men,
the lot of great planters. If in this class of society a
young man, on entering upon his estate, were
systematically to apply but ten acres annually to
this most important work, it would furnish himself
with employment for life, and his younger children
with portions after his decease. But in spite of the
declarations of his gardener, who is fee'd by the
nurseryman, he must begin with the seed bed ; he
is otherwise not the natural father of his future
family. Transplantation next succeeds, which, from
every principle of present economy, as well as
future advantage, ought to be early. Then follows
a long progressive work of thinning and pruning,
both of which demand a skilful and a master's band.
To animate still further the youthful planter, by the
prospect of no remote or chimerical profit from his
labours, a single poplar, of eighteen years' growth,
has been sold for 4/. ; and a single acre, planted ac-
cording to the circumstances of the soil, with that
valuable aquatic, or the equally valuable larch, will,
in favourable situations, and in no longer a period
than twenty years, yield a produce worth ten times
the fee simple of the land ! It is impossible not to
remark that, during a period of activity and improve-
ment in every other department, unequalled in any
former age, the British Sylva, as far as relates to the
introduction of a new species, appears to have been
nearly at a stand. In the common course of garden-
ing it is understood that pruning invigorates the tree ;
that training off judiciously the luxuriant side
branches, makes the upright ones shoot the stronger;
and by cutting out the dead and decayed wood, the
tree is kept alive. This doctrine will apply certainly
to the tribe of firs ; it will undoubtedly substitute
clear wood for knots ; of all this treatment, from
their particular uses, they of all other trees stand in
most need, and will be most improved by it. It is
found, that where trees are tall and clear of boughs
or knots, the whole substance of the wood is better
and of finer grain, and it appears likely that such
will always be the case. As scientific pruning of
forest trees is but little known, such instruction may
be easily had, that any intelligent woodman that
will not have a will of his own, may execute them
with perfect safety, and at a trifling expense, by
which it is hoped the practice will spread through
the district and will never be lost. It is certainly a
fortunate circumstance that there is scarcely any por-
tion of land so poor, barren, rocky, or unproductive,
as not to admit of this species of improvement, pro-
vided trees suited to the quality of the soil and the
nature of the climate are selected, and the proper
modes of treating them (thinning and pruning) are
practiced. In managing plantations, the object is to
give at the same time a due proportion of shelter and
air. There is no mode by which poor soils can be
more advantageously and profitably occupied ; and
stony or rocky laud cannut be so beneficially em-
ployed in any other way. Indeed on land properly
situated for that purpose, no speculation can be more
pleasing, nor, under skilful management, more
lucrative, than that of planting. The only objection
is the length of time required to bring it to per-
fection. On this account it ought to be a favourite

object with the apparent inheritors of estates, to turn
their attention to the planting, thinning, pruning,
and other improvements, of the property they are
likely to possess. But this ought not to have much
weight, as the benefit must accrue either to the
planter or his heirs; and where he has a numerous
family, there is no means by which its younger
branches can be so easily provided for. If it be
profitable, however, to plant new woods, it is
certainly much more so to prelect those that are
already planted, and to restore them from a state of
decay by thinning and pruning. — Yours, &c,

No Thf.oiust.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ABER-
DEEN JOURNAL.

Sir,— A notice respecting a small threshing
machine, constructed by Mr. John M'Kay, tenant
in Strathead, parish of Alford, lately appeared in
the Aberdeen newspapers, and seems to have
been extensively copied into the other Scotch
newspapers. Very many inquiries concerning
this machine have been addressed to Mr. M'Kay
and his neighbours, and, among others, to the wri-
ter of this, all of which it is impossible to answer ;
and it is imagined it may afford a satisfaction to
many of your readers to be put in possession of a
brief description of it, by one who has examined it.

Many persons seem to have imagined, from the
former notice, that there is some new principle
applied in the operation. The writer of this is not
in communication with the writer of the notice,
and does not recollect the terms, if there were any,
which may have given rise to this notice. There
is no new principle of operation; but the machi-
nery, although constructed in the common form,
is not the less worthy of attention, as it combines
the practical principles of efficiency and durability
with cheapness, all in a degree which it is believed
have not formerly been obtained together — cer-
tainly have not been obtained in any machines
which are in common use, and generally known.
There fellinto Mr. M'Kay's hands, at a public sale,
some time ago, a small hand threshing machine,
fitted to be wrought by men's power, of a kind
which it seems has been common in some parts of
the country, but which has not given satisfaction,
as not saving human labour. This machine was
wrought by cranks applied at the ends of an iron
axle placed immediately below the feeding rollers,
and having within the crank, at one end, a cast-
iron wheel, 2 feet 3 inches diameter, with 73 teeth
turning the pinion of the drum, which has 12
teeth ; and at the other end, within the crank also,
a small wheel with 18 teeth, turning the pinion of
of the lower feeding roller, which has 15 teeth.
The drum is 2 feet 4 inches long, and 2 feet diam-
eter over the beaters. The feeding rollers are of
cast-iron, both fluted, of the usual diameter, and
the upper turned by the lower, by pinions of equal
size and teeth, in the usual way. There was no
straw-shaker. Mr. M'Kay, on making experi-
ments on this machine, and discovering that, when
sufficient power was applied to the cranks, as two
men to teach, it performed its work most efficiently ;
and observing that it was well finished, and con-
structed for durability, conceived the idea of ap-
plying a water power to it, adding at the same
time a straw-shaker. For doing this, he had con-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

221

siderable facility in a small stream running near
his steading, and the means of making a small re-
servoir, and obtaining a small waterfall. His
merit consists in carrying this idea into effect in a
satisfactory manner. He has changed no part of
the original hand-machine, but has brought the
water power to bear upon it in a simple and cheap
way. The water-wheel has a wooden axle about
10 inches diameter, with iron gudgeons, and cross
arms tennoned through in the usual way. The
ring is 6 feet diameter, of common bar iron, such
as is used for ringing cart wheels, bolted to the
extremity of the arms. The awes, or water-floats,
15 in number, are 18 inches long, and 8§ inches
broad, rivetted, by flat-headed rivets, to flat-sided
starts of hammered iron, which are screw-bolted
through the iron wheel-ring. To take advantage,
with the small wheel, of as much of the fall of A\
feet as possible, broad boards are bolted flat on
the ring behind the awes, which, with a neatly
fitted waterspout, 18 inches wid?, and 1) inches
deep, gives the effect that buckets would do. A
wooden cylindrical sheave, 3 feet diameter, on the
inside part of the water-wheel axle, turns, by
means of a leathern belt, 3 j inches broad, moving
on it, a like sheave, 18 inches diameter, fitted on
the axis of the wheel of 78 teeth that plays into the
pinion of the drum. The straw-shaker is a light
wooden cylinder, 2 feet 6 inches diameter, with 4
rows of projecting teeth i) inches long, and the
usual riddle of small wooden splits below. It is
turned by an endless chain, moving in a sheave of
2 feet diameter on its own axis, and another sheave
of 1 foot diameter on the axis of the wheel that
plays into the pinion of the drum.

When the machine is at work, the water-wheel
makes 27 revolutions in a minute, and the revo-
lutions of the drum, as will be seen from the above
statements, are 27x2x6°§=351 per minute, and
with 4 beaters on the drum, 1404 beats per mi-
nute. The machine threshes in a very perfect
manner, handfulls of about 3 or 4 in a sheaf of
corn, and completes rather more than 3 sheaves
in a minute; and thus, in 15 or 20 minutes, daily,
threshes all Mr. M'Kay's crop on his little farm of
nearly 30 imperial acres. One man can perform
the whole work, except binding up the straw, as
owing to the smallness of the machine, occupying
little more room than a common winnowing fan,
he can toss away the heap of straw which accu-
mulates behind the shaker, and return imme-
diately to the feeding.

The smallness of the machine is the great ele-
ment of the cheapness ; and no one, perhaps,
would have thought of making one so small with-
out the previous existence of the hand-machine.
Mr. M'Kay got that greatly under the original
cost ; and the expense to him of the whole, with
water-wheel and spouts, has been little more than
71. He says several millwrights have estimated
that they could make the whole new for from 10/. to
12/. — a sum that would not bear hard on the cap-
ital of a small occupier of land ; but this does not
include the labour of constructing the reservoir
and water course. Wood in this district is cheap.

The only imperfection is the employment of the
leathern belt, which is obviously liable to decay.
This had its origin in the desire to preserve the
hand machine unaltered ; but it is obvious that, in
a machine of the same size, wholly constructed
anew, it may be dispensed with, by employing a
wheel, 4 feet 6 inches diameter, with 156 teeth,
on the axis of the water wheel, to play directly

into the drum pinion, and turning the feeding rol-
lers by means of sneaves and an endless chain.
Mr. M'Kay says, were he to make a machine
wholly new, he would enlarge the diameter of the
drum to 2 feet 3 inches.
Vale of Afford, Feb. 3, 1842.

PROPERTIES OF THE SUF-
FOLK BREED OF HORSES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE AYR ADVERTISER.

Sir,— I observe that a proposal was made at
the last meeting of our valuable agricultural asso-
ciation, to take steps for introducing a Suffolk
stallion into the county, with the view of im-
proving the breed of draught horses.

Now, the properties of this breed, I suspect, are
not very generally known among us ; but the
mischief wrought some fifteen years ago, by the
employment of horses from the south, is still
fresh in our memory ; and, as prevention is easier
than cure, 1 beg, through the medium of your
paper, to request, from some of those who may
have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted
with the Suffolk horse, an answer to the following
plain questions : —

What are the properties of this breed ? Is it
preferable to the Clydesdale ? Or is a cross with
it likely to improve the latter ?

I am, &c, A Farmer.

, Feb. 7 th, 1842.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SO-
CIETY OF ENGLAND.

At a Monthly Council held on Wednesday, the
2nd of February, present, Henry Handley, Esq., Pre-
sident, in the Chair, Duke of Richmond, Earl of
Euiton, Sir Robert Price, Bart., M.P., Colonel Austen,
Richard Westwood Baker, Esq., David Barclay, Esq.,
M.P., Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq., French Burke,
Esq., Colonel Chalioner, Colonel Le Couteur, James
Dean, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs.Esq., C.Hillyard, Esq.,
W. Fisher Hobbf, Esq., Samuel Jonas, Esq., George
Kimberley, Esq., John Kinder, Esq., William Miles,
Esq., M.P., W. Woods Page, Esq., Philip Pusey, Esq,,
M.P., Francis Pym, Esq., Rev. W. L. Rham, William
Shaw, Esq., Henry Stephen Thompson, Esq., Henry
Wilson, Esq., and William Youatt, Esq.

FiNAxcrs.
Colonel Chalioner laid before the Council the Report
of the Finance Committee exhibiting the receipts and
expenditure during the past month : and having- an-
nounced the current cash bulancein the Bankers'hands
on Jan. 31st a* 2135/. 8->. 8d., he proceeded, as their
Chairman, to state to the Council the recommendation
of the Committee, that a further investment of capital
should take place in the purchase of 1000/. stock in the
New 3j per Cents. On the motion of the Duke of
Richmond, this report was received and confirmed, and
its recommendation directed to be carried into effect.

Election of Council.
The Duke of Richmond obtained lenve for the post-
ponement of Earl Spencer's motion, to the Monthly
Council on the 2nd of March, in consequence of the
unavoidable absence of bis Lordship on that occasion,
in consequence of an attack of severe indisposition.

Veterinary College.
The President read to the Council Professor Sewell'g
Report on the satisfactory progress of the Cattle Infir-

222

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mary established by him, and adopted by the Veterinary
College, at Islington ; from whfeh it appeared that an
outlay had already been made to the extent of between
500/. and 600?. in placing the institution on a perma-
nent basis, and adapting1 it to the wants of the numerous
pupils who daily attended the cases of Cattle diseases
constantly brought under their notice, and discussed and
explained to them by the resident Veterinary Surgeon of
the establishment.

A lengthened discussion then took place as to the pre-
cise nature and number of the lectures delivered on
these diseases to the pupils in the ordinary routine o-
instruction given to them by the Professors at the Coif
lege, which was concluded by Mr. H. S. Thompson
moving, and the Duke of Richmond seconding, the fol-
lowing Resolution, which was unanimously agreed to
by the Council : —

"That the grant of 200/. be continued to the Veteri-
nary College, and that a Report of the Proceedings of
the College with reference to the number of Cattle Lec-
tures and Demonstrations, and also the number of Pupils
receiving Certificates, be annually submitted to the
Council."

Remuneration of Services.

The return moved lor by the Rev. Mr. Rham, at the
last Monthly Council, of all sums paid to Members of
the Council for any services performed for the Society
since the year 1839, being laid on t lie table, it appeared
that an amount of 93/. had been paid to Members of the
Council during that period.

Mr. Raymond Barker then moved the Resolution, of
which he had given due notice, and it was carried
unanimously, viz.: —

"That an instruction be given to the Bye-Law Com-
mittee to prepare a Bye-law restraining the future pay-
ment of any sum from the Funds of the Society to any
Member of the Council for services of any description,
executed by him in furtherance of the objects of the
Society.''

Meeting at Bristol.

The Duke of Richmond reported the progress of the
arrangements for the Meeting at Bristol, which were
now in so forward a state as to be nearly completed ;
the Committee of the Victoria Rooms having expressed
their willingness to promote the convenience of the
business of the Meeting, and Mr. Dean having pre-
pared and laid before the Committee an admirable
arrangement for the Show-yards and Pavilion on the
grounds adjoining to those rooms ; the List of Pre-
miums had been provisionally arranged for the depart-
ment of Agricultural Implements, and only awaited their
final decision until the Committee had carefully con-
sidered an elaborate report of suggestions, recently re-
ceived, and made to them by the gentlemen who acted
as Judges of Implements at the Liverpool Meeting;
and the General Bristol Committee having unanimously
adopted the Report made to them by Mr. William
Miles, M.P., Chairman of the Bristol Local Committee,
of a recommendation that the field selected for the Trial
of Implements at Bristol should be put into a varied
state of culture, so as to adapt it to the trial of the
different classes of Implements which the Judges may
select for trial.

Annual Country Meeting of 1843.

Numerous memorials, accompanied with plans and
other documents, inviting the Society to hold its An-
nual Country Meeting of 1843 at Leicester, Derby, or
Nottingham, were laid before the Council, when it was
resolved that the final consideration and decision of this
question should be made at the Monthly Council, on
the 4th of May next, and reported to the Anniversary
Meeting to be held on the -23rd of the same month.

Mr. Shaw gave notice, that he should move the adop-
tion of the following resolution at the next Monthly
Council, to be held on the 2nd of March : —

" That a Committee be appointed to consider and
report upon the expediency of this Society's contribut-
ing a sum equal to any sum which may be raised by

subscription in any district in which the Society may
hereafter meet ; such whole sum to be given in prizes
within the district for cattle and implements especially
required in that district, and to promote any other
object consistent with the object of this Society, which
in the opinion of the Council may be calculated to
benefit that particular district.

Upon the propriety of offering a Prize for the best
cultivated Farm in the district in which the Society
may meet, sufficient notice to be given to enable the
competitors to go through their rotation of crops : as,
for example, that, in 1842, a prize be offered for the best
cultivated farm in the district in which the Society
may meet in the year 1846, in 1S43 for 1847, in 1844
for 1S48, and so on. That competitors be required to
give a statement of the course of management and
cropping timing the two years previous to the com-
mencement of the rotation, embracing the period of
competition ; to render a detailed account of the whole
system of management as regards cattle and sheep,
tillage, manure, produce, expences and proceeds during
the rotation, with the value of the land and stock at
the commencement and conclusion of the period of
competition.

Upon the propriety of offering prizes or medals, or
both, for the best ploughing and the best performance
in any other branches of agricultural labour, as sheep-
shearing, hedging and ditching, drilling grain, rick-
making, thatching, &c, improvement in which may be
most needed in any district ; such prizes or medals
to be given in the ; year in which the Society may
meet in that district ; general good conduct to be taken
into consideration in awarding the prizes."

Breeds of Sheep.

Mr. John Oakley, of Frindsbury, near Rochester, in
Kent, addressed the following communication to the
President and Council: —

To this noble Society the farmers of England look for
assistance on points beyond their reach, and also beyond the
means of their local associations, and being aware the
situations you now occupy with the Society are possessed
by you on account of your individual desire to promote the
welfare of the agricultural world, I have ventured to address
you on a subject which concerns every farmer and every
grazier of the United Kingdom, and which I feel sure will
receive the consideration at your hands it deserves.

The following remarks will directly apply to sheep, but the
principle will embrace all animals that convert vegetable into
animal food.

You are well aware that every farmer has his own opinion
as to which description of sheep will produce him the greatest
profit, which must be interpreted here as that sum of money
left after the sheep have paid for their food consumed out of
the amount produced by their wool and mutton. In every
county the farmers using short or long-woolled sheep, as the
case may be, are divided in their opinions as to which are the
best kinds of their respective sorts, and they look to you to
determine the question for them.

It would be presumptuous in me to mark out any course
for your guidance, but I feel I shall stand excused for going
so far into detail, in the endeavour to explain my views, as
will not allow you to suppose I wish to lay down any specific
plan.

Different soils require different descriptions of animals, and
on different soils does this experiment require a trial; also
on different soils in different climates. And as some animals
of the same age and kind consume more food than others of
the same age and kind, the value of the food consumed tested
by weight, compared with the value of the produce realized
tested by the same power, would produce results, if conducted
under your management, that might be depended on by all,
and which would enable the best sorts for the different dis-
tricts to be stated without fear of contradiction, and to the
satisfaction of the most prejudiced.

As this experiment would necessarily embrace numerous
lots of sheep and other animals in many different situations
the attendant expenses could be met by no agricultura
association but the Royal Agricultural Society of England ;
1 have therefore addressed you on the subject, and beg to be
excused for the liberty I have taken."

Comparative Value of Animals.
Mr. Thomas Umbers, of Wappenbury, in Warwick-
shire, addressed the following communication to the
President and Council :—

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

223

" Having been a member of this Society since its formation,
and valuing as I do its great usefulness, I am induced tints
to address you, and I conceive it to be the duty of every
individual who approves of the existence of this Society, to
do every thing in his power to assist to carry out its objects.

I feel convinced that the subjects of discussion brought
before the Society, the various tests that have been made in
reference to soils, grain, roots, and manures, have all been
instrumental in effecting great improvements; as also the
premiums offered for breeding stock by the Society, for the
best animals of each kind.

I believe there is no subject on which there exists so gnat
a difference of opinion as on that of breeding animals.

Tlure are established in almost every county in England,
Agricultural Societies for the exhibition of live stock, audi
believe it is generally admitted, that great good arises from
them. I am disposed to think that as there are great va-
rieties of soil, and variation of climate, so there may be
selected various sorts of animal'! best adapted respectivelv to
them. The Smithtield Club Cattle Show is the grand empo-
rium at Christmas, where meet the best animals of their
respective kinds in competition.

The great and important question to which it is my object
to draw your attention, is a practical test of the comparative
value of animals. It is no unfrequent occurrence amongst
breeders of two or more distinct sorts of animals, to make
matches, and show publicly :— the one defeats the others ; but
who can now tell whether the animals which lose, might not
be the most valuable for general purposes ? Large animals,
be their kind what they may, are generally preferred by the
majority; and provided the weight produced be, greater,
after compensating for the value of food consumed, they are
preferable.

I know persons who occupy similar soils, located within a
few miles, breeding four different kinds of cattle ; and
it is quite clear that these cannot all be the bast calculated
for the situation. Our great aim, if I mistake not, should be
to cause the surface of England to be covered with the best
stock of their kinds, for the purpose of feeding the population
at the cheapest rate.

I look upon this question to be of greater importance to
the breeders and feeders of stock, and to the community at
1 large, than any of those subjects that remain to occupy the
attention of the Royal Agricultural Society. I feel persuaded
that with practical data, based upon such authority as that
of this Society, we should see the weight of shambles' meat
increased, and consequently the price to the consumers re-
duced, at the same time paying the producers better.

However strong may now be the bias of any of us, as
breeders, in favour of the sort of cattle or stock we may keep,
we should from motives peculiar to our individual interest,
abandon those which have been proved inferior, and per-
severe only with those which have been ascertained to be
superior.

I beg most respectfully to tender you my warmest thanks
for the indefatigable exertions you have used in the further-
ance of the improvement of British agriculture, and to apolo-
gise for the liberty I am taking in thus addressing you, and
trust that you will give me credit for not having any other
motive in view, but that of wishing to facilitate improvement
in a branch of industry to which I feel the greatest attach-
ment, and to which I have been brought up from my cradle

Mr. Pusey communicated three Papers for the Jour-
nal, namely, by Karl Spencer, on the Improvements
which have taken place in We-t Norfolk ; by Sir Ro-
bert Peel on Draining, Subsoil Ploughing, and Potato
Culture; and by Colonel Le Couteur on his Jersey
Trench Plough.

General Von Natzmer (of the suite of the King of
Prussia) applied through M. Habeler, the Prussian
Consul, for information respecting the present opera-
tion of General Btatson's system of applying burntclay.

Mr, Kimberley presented specimens of Sunflower
Oil, and a new kind of economical oil-cake for cattle ;
and Mr. S. Brittain, jun. (Hon. Sec. of the Chester
Agricultural Society) a specimen copy of the " Far-
mer's Herald," published by Mr. Evans, of Chester.

Air. Raymond Barker, Mr. W. Grant, and Mr. John
Goodden, each requested their names to be put down
for copies of the cheap reprint of Mr. Main's article on
Cottage Gardening.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
9th of February.

At a Council, held on Wednesday, the 9th of
February, present, Henry Handley, Esq., President, in
the chair, Duke of Richmond, John Benett, Esq.,
M.P., John Walbanke Childers, Esq., M.P., James

Dean, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., William Good-
enough Ilayter, Esq.,M.P„ W. H. Hyett, Esq., Wil-
liam Woods Page, Esq., William Shaw, Esq., and
W. R. Compton Stansfield, Esq., M.P.

MEETING AT BRISTOL.

The Duke of Richmond, chairman of the General
Bristol Committee, laid before the Council the final
report of the Committee on the subject of the General
Regulations for exhibitors at the Show, and the distri-
bution of the Prizes for Agricultural Implements to be
awarded at the meeting at Bristol ; and this report was
unanimously adopted by the Council.

General Regulations.

I. No stock can be admitted for exhibition unless the
necessary Certificates, filled in, on the printed form
preset ibed, and signed by the Exhibitor, (or his
agent), in the manner directed, have been delivered
to the Secretary, or sent (postage free) so as to reach
the Society's Rooms, No. 5, Cavendish Square,
London, on or before the Hth of June next, after
which day no certificates will be accepted;
proper admission - tickets, corresponding to
the certificates, will be sent to the exhibitors,
and be required to be delivered with their animals
on presenting them for admission into the Show
Yard, when the printed Numbers will also be re-
quired to be affixed to each animal respectively
by the persons who are in charge of them.

II. The name and residence of the Breeder of each
anima] exhibited, whenknown, should be stated.

III. Non-Members will be required to pay Five Shil-
lings for every bead or lot of live stock, before ob-
taining tickets of admission to bring their Stock into
the Show Yard ; and this amount must be remitted,
by mean6 of Post Office Order, made payable to the
Secretary, and enclosed with the certificate.

IV. The same Animal cannot be entered for two classes;
and in all cases the age of an animal is to be com-
puted from the day of birth, excepting in the case of
horses, when the year only will be required.

V. No Animal which won a first prize in any cla?s at
the previous meetings of the Society, will be allowed
to compete for a similar prize at the meeting at Bris-
tol.

VI. The Sheep exhibited for any of the prizes must
have been really and fairly shorn between the first of
May and the first of July, 1842, both days inclusive.

VII. Persons intending to exhibit Extra Stock, must
give notice to the Secretary on or before the 14th of
June next.

VIII. Any person who shall have been proved, to the
satisfaction of the Council, to have been excluded
from showing for prizes at the exhibition of any
society, in consequence of having been convicted of
an attempt to obtain a prize by giving a false certifi-
cate, shall not be allowed to compete for any of the
prizes offered by the Royal Agricultural Society of
Entrland.

IX. In case any gentleman, or number of gentlemen,
wish to offer a prize for any class of Stock not dis-
tinctly specified among the prizes offered by the
Society, he or they will be allowed to offer such prize
at the Meeting at Bristol ; and the stock which shall
compete for such prize shall be exhibited subject to
such conditions as shall be decided upon by the
Council, and the prize awarded by such of the Judges
as the Council shall select. Animals exhibited for
such prizes shall not be prevented from competing for
any of the prizes offered by the Society, for which
they are qualified.

X. Stock of every description can only be admitted
into the Show Yard, on presenting them w ith the pro-
per admission tickets, &c, between the hours of
eight in the morning and eight at night, on Tuesday
the 12th of July ; and must remain in the Show Yard
until seven o'clock in the evening of Thursday the
Hth of July ; at /vhich hour, and until ten o'clock
the same nrght, the animals may be removed from

224

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the yard, with the permission in writing of the Stew-
ard* ; the slock remaining in the yard that night not
being1 allowed to be removed until after ten o'clock
the next morning.

N.B. — Stallions only may be removed for the night.
XI.— Persons intending to exhibit Seed Wheat, Imple-
ments, Seeds, Roots, Cheese, &c, must give notice
to the Secretary of the Society in Cavendish Square,
London, on or before the 14th of June ; and lurnish
him with a description (written on one side only ot the
paper) of the articles intended to be shown, and the
probable space which may be required for them
(bearing in mind that the sheds are only 16 fee. wide,),
in order that the Stewards may be enabled properly
to apportion the space allotted for the exhibition of
such articles among the various parties making
application ; and the articles to be exhibited must be
brought to the Show-yard either on Friday the 8th,
or Saturday the 9ih of July, between the hours of
eight in the morning and six in the evening, as none
will be admitted alter those days.

XII. Whenever reference is made to weights and mea-
sures, it is to be considered that the imjeiial weights
and measures only are referred to.

XIII. The Judges of Stock are to have the whole of
Wednesday, the 13th of July, for making their adju-
dication, and signing their award ; and the Stewards
are instructed to take care, that no Governor, or
Member (including the Council), stranger, or com-
petitor, be admitted under any pretence whatever
into the yard on that day, until the Judges have com-
pleted their awards.

XIV". No prize will be given when the Judges shall be
of opinion that there is not sufficient merit in the
stock, implements, &c, to justify an award, especially
in cases where there is no competition.

XV. All persons admitted into the Show Yard shall
be subject to the Rules, Orders, and Regulations of
the Council.

*#* Further information respecting regulations of de-
tail may be obtained from the Secretary, at No. 5,
Cavendish Square, London.

No Certificate will be allowed unless the Printed
Forms (to be obtained of the Secretary) be employed,
and filled in by the Exhibitor, or by his Agent in his
name. -

Instructions to the Judges.

As the object of the Society in giving the prizes for
neat cattle, sheep, ;ind pigs, is to promote improve-
ment in breeding stock, the Judges, in making their
award, are instructed not to take into their considera-
tion the present value to the butcher of animals exhi-
bited, but to decide according to their relative merits
for the purpose of breeding.

In the Class lor Horses, the Judges, in awarding the
prizes, are instructed, in addition to symmetry, to take
activity and strength into their consideration.

In the Class for Implements,the Judges are instructed
not to award any prize for any implement hitherto
exhibited at the Meetings of this Society.

Prizes tor Agricultural Implements and Ma-
chines.

*#* The Judges will be distinctly and specially in-
structed not to award prizes to the exhibitors of any
implements or machines at the Meeting at Bristol,
unless decidedly superior in their principle and con-
struction to any &f their class exhibited at the former
Meetings of the Society.

Subsoil Plough 15sovs.

Double Furrow Plough 10 sovs.

Turnwrest Plough 5 sovs.

VV heel Plough 5 sovs.

Swing Plough.. 5 sovs.

Open-furrow Draining Plough 5 sovs.

Mole Plough 5 sovs.

Set of Draining Tools for Tile or Stone, or

partly one and partly the other 5 sors.

Scarifier, or other Implement for stirring or
cleansing the soil 20 :-ovs.

Drill lor Corn and general purposes 30 sovs.

Turnip and Manure Drill 20 sovs.

Horse Hoe 10 sots.

ChaffCutler 10 sovs.

Corn Cleaner 10 sovs.

Cake Crusher 5 sovs.

Turnip Cutter 5&ovs.

Churn, worked with horse, or other power (not
hand power) 10 sovs.

Churn, worked with hand power 5 sovs.

Cheese Presser 5 sovs.

Haymaking Machine 10 sovs.

Horse Rake 5 sovs.

Harrow (of any construction) 5 sovs.

Amount lor distribution by the Council on the
Report of the Judges 95 sovs.

In addition to these Prizes for Implements, the
Council adopted the suggestion of the Committee, that
the following Prizes, in reference to articles of general
exhibition, should be offered for the best samples of
Cheese at the Meeting at Bristol ; namely,
To the exhibitor of the best hundred weight of

Cheese (of any kind) 10 sovs.

To the exhibitor of the second best do. do 5 sovs.

Cottage Gardening.
Mr. Dean, Mr. Gibbs, Rev. P. H. Palmer, Mr.
Joseph Wilson, and Mr. Braginton requested to be-
come subscribers to the cheap edition of Mr. Main's
Paper on Cottage Gardening ; and the Council decided
that the copies should be supplied at the rale of one
pen:iy each, in order to ensure a wide distribution of
the work among the cottagers throughout the kingdom.

Swedish Agriculture.

Samuel Solly, Esq., F.R.S., expressed his willing-
ness to translate for the Society numerous interesting
extracts on agricultural topics from a Swedish work on
Rural Economy in his possession : a proposition which
the Council acceded to, with their best thanks to Mr.
Solly for his offer.

John Benett, Esq., M.P. and Thomas Ferris, Esq.,
each presented their Report of results obtained on their
farms in Wiltshire, in the model experiment on the
growth of Swedish turnips. Joseph Sybray, Esq., of
Snitterton Hall, near Bakewell, Derbyshire, presented
to the Society the results of his experience in the use of
lime, and his management of farm-horses.

Smut in Wheat.

James Ellis, Esq., of Barming, in Kent, informed
the Council of the invariable prevention of smut in
wheat, which had for thirty years, and on a farm of
from 200 to 350 acres, attended his scalding the blackest
wheat in boiling water, and afterwards drying it with
lime; the wheat placed on a calender, or in a
basket, being immersed in boiling water for a few se-
conds, just long enough to completely wet it, then im-
mediately dipped in cold water ; and afterwards dried
with lime, mixed with the other wheat, and sown. By
this means the wheat was always found to be cured of
smut, while the vegetating principle was uninjured ;
great care being taken that the water was boiling, and
the wheat taken out of the water as soon as completely
wetted.

Mr. Ellis tried an experiment on a bushel of the
blackest wheat he could procure, which he divided into
sixteen equal parts, sowing them all on the same day,
but with different treatment. The result at harvest was,
that the wheat sown without preparation produced thirty-
three black ears out of every 100, while that dipped in
the boiling water aud limed, had not a black ear in
several thousands which were examined.

Communications were received from Mr. Gabell.of
Hollyfield, on the propriety of ringing bulls, with a
yard and a half of chuin attached ; from Mr. Glen-
cross, on sheep-yards ; and from Mr, Fox, transmitting

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

225

the Reports of the Huntingdonshire Agricultural So-
ciety. Mr. Ilyett presented a copy of his Lecture de-
livered before the Painswick Farmer's Club, " On the
Chemic.-il Effects of particular manures on particular
crops ;" and Professor Johnston, a copy of bis Letter
to the Marquis of Northampton, President of the Royal
Society of London, on the question " What can be done
for English Agriculture?"

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next the
16th February.

At a Council held on Wednesday, the 16th of
February, present, his Grace the Duke ol Richmond,
K.G., in the chair, David Barclay, Esq., M.P., Tho-
mas Raymond Barker, Esq., Thomas William Bram-
ston, Esq., M.P., Col. Challoner, John Walbanke
Cliilders, Esq., M.P., James Dean, Esq., Humphrey
Gibb*, Esq., William Mile", Esq.,M.P., Philip Pusey,
Esq., M.P., William Stephenson Scholcy, Esq., and
William Shaw, Esq.

Exhibition of Implements at Bristol.
Mr. Pusey, M.P., gave notice that he should move
at the next monthly council, the adoption of certain
regulations in reference to the paiticular conditions
under which implements and machines should be exhi-
bited at the meeting at Bristol, and be qualified to ob-
tain any prizes which the judges might award to them
on that occasion.

Dinner Pavilion and Show-yards.
Mr. Dean submitted to the Council the various plans
and specifications for the erection of the dining pavilion,
and the enclosure of the show-yards for stock and lm.
plements, at Bristol, prepared, agreeably with the in-
structions of the General Bristol Committee, for the
inspection of builders and such other contractors as
were disposed to tender for the works. The Council
approved these plans and specifications, and directed
that advertisements for public tender should be inserted
in the London agricultural and principal daily papers,
as well as in all the Bristol papers.

Society's House.

The Council directed that the House Committee, ap-
pointed to report on a suitable residence for the Society,
should hold its first meeting on Thursday, the 24th of
February.

Mr. Pusey, M.P., requested to become a subscriber
for 500 copies of the cheap edition of Mr. Main's Paper
on Cottage Gardening ; Mr. Mdes, M.P., Mr. Cliil-
ders, M.P., Mr. Brurnston, M.P., Mr. Raymond
Barker, Mr. Woods Page, and Mr. Leveson Gower,
also became subscribers to the same work.

Mr. Hobbs presented a copy of the Rules and Regu-
lations of the East Essex Agricultural Society; Mr.
Charles Howard, a copy of the fourth number of the
Transactions of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society,
and of the prize Mieet for the meeting of the Society at
York, in August 1842; the Statistical Society, the last,
part of their Journal ; Mr. Cuthbert Johnson, the sixth
part of the Farmer's Encyclopaedia ; and M. Jeppe,
Ins printed Report on the exhibition of Wool at the
Doberan meeting of German agriculturists in Autumn
last.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
23d inst.

NEW MEMBERS.

The following gentlemen have been elected
members of the Society during the month.

Ames, George Henry, Cote House, near Bristol
Assheton, Wm., Downham Hall, Clitheroe, Yorkshire
Bass, William, Sudbury, Suffolk
Bennett, Thomas Oatley, Bruton, Somersetshire
Best, Hon. and Rev. Samuel, Abbots Ann, Andover,

Hampshire
Bevan, George Rees, Brecon, S. W.
Biscoe, Thomas, Oriental Club, London

Bishop, Thomas, Brecon, South Wales

Browne, Thomas Beale, Salperton House, Andovers-

ford, Gloucester
Browne, Rev. Caulfield, Compton Martin, Somerset
Bucke, T. Lewis, jun-, 34, Green-street, Grosvenor-

square, and Moreton, Bideford, Devon.
Bullock, John, Somerby, Melton Mowbray, Leicester-
shire
Bulwer, Joslin, Rasnsden-Bell-House, Wickford, Essex
Bushell, Wm., Poulton, Ashnext, Wingham, Kent
Cambridge, Win., Market-Lavington, Wiltshire
Carter, Joseph, Hardingham, Hingham, Norfolk
Clark, I,,, Hyde Hall, Buntingford, Hertfordshire
Clark, Edwin, Allinthorp Hall,Boroughbridge, York-
shire
Cook, James, junior, West Rudham, Rougham,

Norfolk
Corbett. George, Croft Marsh, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire
Croft, The Yen. James, M.A., Archdeacon of Canter-
bury, Saltwood, Hythe, Kent.
Crow, George, Orhams, Boroughbridge, Yorkshire
Crundle, Edward, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Culverwell, Thomas, Durleigh, Bridgewater, Somer-
setshire
Davies, O., Llan^ottock, Crickhowell, Brecknockshire
Davies, Rev. R. P., Court-y-Gellan, Crickhowel,

Brecknockshire
Dewey, O., Woodcock Lodge, Little Berkhampstead,

Herts
Dickinson, Harvey. Heverswood, Brasted, Kent
Draper, Joseph, Wilu Mills, near Derby
Drew, Samuel, Pengelly, near Exeter.
Drew, John, Peamore Cottage, near Exeter.
Drew, John, jun., Peamore Cottage, near Exeter.
Du Cane, Capt., Charles, Braxted Lodge, Kelvedon,

Essex.
Ellis, William Joyner, Wicksclme, Berkeley, Glou-
cester.
Everard, James, Elsden, Congham, Castle Rising,

Norfolk.
Eustace, Lieutenant-General Sir W., 25, Grosvenor-

place.
Franklin, Thomas, Falcon Inn, Uppingham, Rutland-
shire
Furniss, Lawrence, Birchill Farm, Bakewell, Derby-
shire.
George, James Gilbert, Monmouth
Gillott, Thomas, Stanton-by-Dale, near Derby
Goode, George, Carmarthen
Goode, William, Llangadock, Carmarthenshire.
Gowan, George, 20, Park Crescent, London
Hall, C. M., Pill House, Chepstow, Monmouth.
Harrison, Thomas, Saithaelwyd, Holywell, Flintshire
Harvey, Edward Nourse, Over-Ross, Ross, Hereford-
shire
Hessey, Thomas, Waybrook, Alphington, Exeter.
Hilton, Giles, Lords, Fevcrsham, Kent
Hinchcliffe, Rev. Edward, Barthonley, Cheshire
Hopkins, Thomas, Ridlington, Uppingham, Rutland-
shire
Jennings, David, Snaresbrook, Wanstead, Essex
Jones, Philip, Llanarth Court, near Monmouth
Jones, Edward, Llanarth Court, near Monmouth
Jones, Richard, West Rudham, Rougham, Norfolk
Jones, W., Pyle, Glamorganshire
Knight, Thomas, Bobbing Court, Sittingbourne, Kent
Lantear, Thomas, Avingion, Hungerford, Berks.
Law, John, Uppingham, Rutlandshire
Leach, Frederick, Grove Mill, Watford, Herts.
Lewis, James, Cardiff", Glamorganshire
Llewellin, Daniel, Tremains, Bridgend, Glamorgan-
shire
Llewellyn, Wm., Neath, Glamorganshire
Lovett, John, Gloucester

Lowe, John, Belminsthorpe, Stamford, Lincolnshire
Ludlow, H. G. G , Heywood House, Westbury, Wilts,
Mann, William, Spaldwick, near Huntingdon
Morris, William, Carmarthen
Mortimer, Richard, Silverton, near Exeter.
Myers, Henry, West Rudham, Rougham, Norfolk

Q

2:20

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Notman, Andrew, Painswick, Stroud, Gloucestershire
Page, Robert (Assistant Tithe Commissioner), Charl-
ton Mackerel!, Somcrton
Pain, William, Mitcheldever, Whitchurch, Hauls.
Pain, William, Compton, near Winchester
Parker, Robert Towuley, Cuerden Hall, Preston, Lan-
cashire
Partridge, William, T3endro=e Farm, Amersham, Bucks.
Peddle, John Genge Andrews, Speckington Farm,

•Ilchester, Somersetshire.
Peppercorn, John, Church Farm, Little Gaddesden

Herts.
Peppin, George Hall, Oldshute Heath, Dulverlon

Somersetshire
Phillipps, Robert Biddulph, Long-worth, near Ledbury
Pickering, William, Beaumont Chase, Uppingham,

Rutlandshire
Pigeon, Walter, Long Ashton, near Bristol
Pratt, John, Crickhowell, Brecknockshire
Pride, Thomas, Lianvihcngel, near Chepstow
Rasbotham, Doming, Doddlcspool, Newcastle, Staf-
fordshire
Reeve, Thomas, Uppingham, Rutlandshire
Richardson, John, Heydon, Reepham, Norfolk
Rofley, Richard, Oxney Court, Dover, Kent
Rowbotham, John, Heage, near Derby
Rudd, Rev. G. T., Worsall Hall, Yarm, Yorkshire
Saxon, John, Greens-Combe. Bruton, Somersetshire
Saxon Samuel. Greens- Combe, Bruton, Somersetshire
fccooell, John, Nancealverne, Penzance, Cornwall
Sidlord, John, Bishopstone, Salisbury, Wilts.
Simmonds. P.L., Queen-square, Westminster'
Slater, John Shottle, Belper, Derbyshire.
Smallboncs, George Bromfield, Inspector of the

estates of Prince Esterhazv.in Hungary
Smith, John, Ozeby, Grantham, Lincolnshire
Springall, Isaac, Hainford, near Norwich
Spnngett, Robert, Finchcocks, Goudhurst, Kent
St. Grace, M.D., Downend, near Bristol.'
Stephens, Etan, Berton, St. Mimael's, near Carmar-
then

Stevens, Rev. William Wilkin, Soutl.field, near Soulh-

borou-h, I'onbridge Wells, KeU
Summer, James, New House Farm, Stone, Staffordshire
J ay lor, John, Essex Standard Office, Colchester

Essex '

Tonge, John, junior, Edenbridge, Kent
Turner, Henry James, Richmond, Yorkshire
Wadbam, Thomas, Frenchay, near Bristol
Walker, Delabere, Nelherwood, Tenbury, Worcester-
shire
Ward, John, Repton, near Derby
Ward, \Vm. Frederick, Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire
H aters, V\ m., Rushmore, Caermarthen, S.W
Watkms, Thomas, Ford vaur, Hav, Brecon
\v;itsonL.eut.-Gen Sir Tames, K.C.I3. (Colonel 4th

Keg- Foot), Wendover House, Rucks
Webster, William Bullock, Hounsdown, near South-

ampton
Whiting, William, Monmouth

!l™>%H(\mJ' 44, ^ak,er Street, Portman Square, and

We>t End House, STake-Pocren, Bucks.
Wood, Thomas Grendon, Hati.erstone, Warwickshire
Wood, Arthur Wellington, Littleton, Chertsey, Surrey

and 4, Lavendishsquare, London
Woodley, John, 7, Clutched Friars, London

INTERESTING VETERINARY
OPERATION.

BY MR. GEORGE HOLMES, OF THIRSK.

COMMUNICATED BY MR. M. M.M1LBUHN.

On the .r>th of December, 1841, a valuable tho-
rough-bred horse was attacked with an inflamma-
tion of the lungs, which terminated in hydroihorax,
or water in the chest. The following is a state-
ment of the symptoms and treatment : —

The appearance of the animal on the 5th was
that of a most deadly languidness all over him;
respiration exhilirated ; the congestiva of the
eye seemed vascular; pulse 76, and oppressed ;
a general disinclination for food and moving about
was exhibited ; his motion seemed groggy, as if he
had lost the use of his limbs. Six or seven quarts
of blood were then abstracted, and a fever ball ad-
ministered every three hours- About three or
four boms after bleeding, respiration became more
natural. On the 6th, the pulse was 85, but weak ;
appearance of greater languor than on the pre-
ceding day ; legs very cold ; the congestiva of the
eye had changed from Ps vascular hue to that of
a yellowish one. As the pulse was so weakly and
indistinct, no more blood was abstracted, but the
febrifuge was continued until the bowels were
brought into a laxative case. Symptoms and
treatment continued nearly the same until about
the 12th, excepting that the pulse was more exhi-
larated and indistinct ; the same general disincli-
nation for food of any kind still remained. At
this stage of the case, Mr. Holmes was confident
that effusion to a great extent bad taken place
within the thorax, and, consequently, that recourse
must be had to paracentesis, if life was to be
saved. Accordingly, he proceeded to introduce
the trocar into the near side, carefully endeavour-
ing to prevent the intrusion of the external air
into the cavity of the chest, but found no water.
The off side was then operated upon in a similar
way between the eighth and ninth ribs, when
about six quarts of fluid came away in a full
stream. As soon as the watery fluid had ceased
to flow, the tube of the trocar was withdrawn, and
the orifice covered neatly and securely by a small
pitch plaister. About two hours after the opera-
tion, respiration seemed considerably easier, and
for the first time in the space of seven days, he
ate a little mash with a few carrots. Here, in-
stead of pursuing the ordinary tonic course, he
deviated somewhat in the following manner — viz.
gave 1 dr. hydrar. sub., combined with a diuretic
morning and evening ; the sides were then close
shaven, and 8 oz. of unguent, hydrar. fortis, com-
bined with 2 oz. of hydri. pot. was well rubbed in
until a slight salivation was produced, when the
hydr. sub. was discontinued, and only a gentle
diuretic given. On the 14th, four more quarts
of fluid were abstracted. 18th— Rather more than
three additional quarts were taken away, and then
the draining seemed complete, for no more was to
be found. From the 18th to the 22nd, gentle diu-
retics were given. 23rd— Tmics were now admi-
nistered night and morning for the 9pace of a fort-
night; improvement now progressed rapidly;
great appetite was shown for food of any sort.
Jan. 6,1842 — Medicine totally ceased to be given ;
the animal took gentle exercise, and lay down re-
gularly. Every day seemed, as it were, to bring
improvement. Feb. G— Being now perfectly re-
stored to good health and condition, he took his
exercise with the other horses.

Thorpfield, Tkirsk, Feb, 23, 1842. '

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

227

THE AVERAGES.

Names of the Towns from which it is pro-
posed that Returns shall be made, in
addition to those from which the Averages
are at present made up.

Cheshire.
Congletou
Knutsfonl
Macclesfield
Stockport.

Lancashire.
Ashton-under-Lyoe
Blackburn
Bury
Oldham
Ormskirk
Rochdale.

Derbyshire.
Bakcwell
Chesterfield.

Nottinghamshire.
Mansfield
Retford
Worksop.

Leicestershire,
Loughborough
Hinckley
Lutterworth
Market Harbro'
Melton Mowbray.
Northamptonshire.
Peti rborough
Daventry
Oundle.

Warwickshire.
Caleshill
Duuchurch
SiiMtt'ord-on-Avon
Warwick.

Worcestershire.
Brom^grove
Dioitwich
Dulley

Kidderrni i^ter
Stourbridge
Stourport.

Gloucestershire.
Cheltenham
Dudley
North Leach
Stroud.

Somersetshire.
Bath
Yeovil.

Monmouthshire,
Newport.

Devonshire.
Ashburton
Axminster
South Molton
Oakhampion
Tiverton.

Cornwall.
Falmouth
Penzance.

Dorsetshire.
Poole
Weymouth.

Hampshire.
Christchurch.

Rutlandshire.
Oakham
Uppingham.

Herefordshire.
Hereford
Leominster
Ross.

Shropshire.
Shrewsbury
Bridgenorth

Elmsmere

Ludlow

Newport

Oswestry

Wellington

Winlock

Whitchurch.

Wiltshire.
Bradford
Swindon
Chippenham
Devizes
Salisbury
Marlborough
Trowbridge.

Staffordshire.
Stafford

Burton- on-Trent
Lichfield

Newcastleunder-Lymc
Storre
Tamwoith
Uttoxeter

Walsall

Wolverhampton.
Hertfoudshire.

Bishop Stortford

St. Albau's

Ware
Trig

Watford.

Surrey.

Croydon

Kingston

Rye gate.

Essex.

Chipping Ongar

Eppiog

Maldon

Saffron Walden.
Kent.

Bromley

Chatham, or Rochester

Dorer

Gravesend

Romney

Sevenoaks

Tunbridge (town).
Sussex.

Brighton

Horsham

Petworth.

Bedfordshire.

Biggleswade

Dunstable.

Berkshire,

Abingdon

Farringdon

Maidenhead

Wallingford

Newbury.

Buckinghamshire.

Beaconsfield

Buckingham

High Wycombe

Stoney Stratford.
Oxfordshire.

Banbury

Burford

Henley

Witney.

Cambridgeshire.

Newmarket.

Norfolk.

Swaffham.

Lincolnshire.
Barton-' a-Humber
New Bi.lingbroke
Bourne
Grantham
Grimsby
Horncasile
Market Deeping
Spilsby.

Yorkshire,
Biansley
Bedale
Bradford
Doncaster
Guisborough
Halifax
Huddersfield
Keighley
Knaresborough
Northallerton
Pickering
Pontefruct

Richmond

Ripon

Silsby

Skipton

thirak

Wetherby

Yarm.

Northumberland.
Wooler.

Cumberland.
Wigton.

Westmoreland.
Kirby Lonsdale.

Wales.
Brecon
Mold
Bangor
Cow bridge
Newbridge
Newtown
New Radnor.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE
FOR MARCH.

This is the month for diligent exertion in every
department; it moreover is the season which, if
long continued observation mislead not, affords
the most faithful prognostic of the ensuing sum-
mer. The equinox, when the Sun enters Aiics
and the ascending signs of the Zodiac, falls on
the 20th day at 12 o'clock.

KITCHEN garden.

Sow once or twice, according to the required
supply, almovt all the vegetable esculents ; broad
beans, in the first and third week, making the
ground firm and solid under the seed ; this plant
and the pea-tribe do well after cabbages or po-
tatoes.

Peas— every week, the Prussian, Scimitar, and

1 Knight's dwarf marrow.

Of the Cabbage family, not before the middle ot
the month ; true Brussels sprouts for early supply
in autumn ; Borecole, hearting zabbage, for summer,
to August.

Savon, a small quantity of the green sort.

Cauliflower, in the last week, for August.

Carrots, in unmanured, sandy soil, a full crop ;
part, the tarty horn ; the remainder, the Altring-
ham, or Surry.

Beet-root, the true purple, in similar soil, or one
rather more loamy ; but free from stones or
coarse substances that will interrupt its perpen-
dicular growth, and make it fork.

parsneps, the hollow crown, in generous, rather

strong loam.

Lettuce, the green and white cos, alter the
middle of the month ; dress and clean the surface
of the soil between those lettuces jvbich have
survived the winter.

Sow also Onions of all kinds towards the latter
end, over hard pressed soil, previously made rich
by manure, and deeply trenched.

Asparagus forced in beds, being cut, the plant
should be removed to make room for Strawberries
in pots.

Sea-kale.— Excite the latest forced crop, and
cover with pots, boxes, or long troughs, those
plants intended to be branched only, by exclusion
of light ; and which, if duly covered with sand,
and kept completely dark, afford by far the finest
flavored kale : do this immediately.

Q 2

228

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Plant shallots, garlic, small onions for bulbing ;
Jerusalem artichokes, late in the month ; and ash-
leaved, frame, and other early potatoes. Store
radish beds may now be made in good light loam,
— beyond the precints of the vegetable garden
however.

Transplant aft the cabbage tribe, making it ever a
rule to dig and plant, row by row, as the work
proceeds ; thus avoiding that unsightly re-treading
of the ground, which in itself is useless, and
always produces future labour.

HARDY FRUITS.

Dress all the Straivberries—that is, take off the
leaves by means of a wooden rake ; then scatter
loam and dung, incorporated, sufficient to fill up
the vacancies close up to the collar of each plant,
and roots will then emerge into that new soil ;
avoid coal-soot entirely, for this plant is soon
spoiled by it.

Prune Apricots as soon as possible ; peach and
nectarine trees next ; plum, cherry trees, and
finally, espalier, and dwarf-apple and pear trees,
close home to well-placed blossom buds : cut extra
shoots clear away.

Wash trees liable to be infested with insects
with liquor of sulphuret of lime, made by pouring
a gallon of boiling water upon lib. of hot lime,
first mixed with a few ounces of sulphur. The
yellow supernatant fluid is the wash ; and beside
it, we are not aware of any other which can com-
pete with it, and is so little deleterious to vegeta-
tion.

1'ORCED FRUITS.

Strawberries in pots must be kept wet ; but no
method of forcing equals the culture of Keen's
seedling, in glazed pits, with or without artificial
heat.

Melons. — Sow the seed of sorts approved in a
pan of light rich earth, either in a hot-bed, or in
some warm forcing house. The latter end of the
month will be quite early enough for any of the
Persian melons.

Cucumbers in frames, or in pots in the pine-
stove, must have high temperature, at least 70°,
in the frames 80°, with free admission of air in
fine sunny weather will be better. It is astonish-
ing, however, how durably productive cucumber
plants, grown in large pots, are ; if duly attended
to, and properly stopped, they bear for months.

The fruiting pine-stove should be brought to 75°,
and the plants supplied with moderate waterings ;
air also, in hot sun, is useful.

The first Vinery has perhaps been already
thinned; but in others the berries will requiie
regulation. The shrivelling of grapes we have al-
ways insisted is greatly, if not entirely, caused by
the balance of the vegetating and maturing powers
being deranged, in consequence of leaving too
much fruit on the clusters, individually or col-
lectively. This opinion is borne out by the known
fact, that the number and position of shanked
clusters vary in different places of the same house
and vine. One bunch will escape, another shall
be half shrivelled, a third shall have here and
there a solitary member affected. Now, how could
these phenomena be referred to the roots or
soils ?

It is gratifying to see a letter by Mr. Brewis,
gardener to R. U. Sheridan, Esq., under the head
"Horticulture," No. 267, col. 1, p. 105, of the
Gardeners Gazette. In thinning out the first time
he selected a few of the longest bunches, and com-
pleted the operation at once ,- and at the same time,

shortened the bunch to half its length. No cluster,
so thinned, shrivelled ; all the others presented an
unsightly appearance, just as they had done for
yeais before. In a following year all the crop was
treated in the same way, and the whole was uni-
formly fine. This fact is worthy of great atten-
tion, aQd we hope will be tested by many compa-
rative experiments.

The Peach-house must be kept airy, for the fruit
does not abide heat well. A little fire to maintain
52° to 55° at night is quite sufficient. Early
forced May peaches bring an enormous price, a
fact decisive of the low rate of the produce.

ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT.

Every part of the pleasure grounds must be
regulated. Shrubberies cleared of decaying, dead,
or ill-placed branches, and the surface soil shal-
lowly turned over : it is useless to dig it. A very
pretty ground ornament is the Vinca minor, or
Dwarf Periwinkle ; it may be placed in small
patches, or permitted to creep over the entire
surface ; the azure blue, and sometimes white,
flowers, form a beautiful relief.

Dnss the flower borders with leafy compost,
very old cow-dung, and fresh loam ; then dig
them, changing the situation of herbaceous plants.

Sow every kind of flower seeds ; the tender and
self-hardy with gentle heat, in shallow pans, the
hardy in patches according to fancy. Distances
and dimensions should always be contemplated, in
order to group well. Where parterre planting pre-
vails, it is excellent practice to dig out every plot,
and carry the soil away to the shrubberies, or
elsewhere, as dress ; then to replenish the plots
with fresh soil from cucumber or mushroom
beds, or with soft reduced turfy loam and leaf-
mould. No one but he who has proved, or wit-
nessed the effect of fresh soil, could form an
estimate of the richness in foliage and tinting
produced by it upon the parterre flowers.

In the glass departments. — Gerania, and num-
*• berless plants, must be re-potted and supplied with
appropiiate soils.

Camellias should have plenty of air, but no arti-
ficial heat, and little sun till the flowering season
be passed ; then they may be excited, and have
abundance of water. This plant skilfully treated
will graft perfectly, provided air be entirely ex-
cluded, and early in this month is a good season
to work it.

Tuberoses should be divested of off-sets, and
planted in heat at first; pot them in some rich
compost, as river sand, three year cow-dung, and
very sandy loam — equal parts.

Russellia juncea is a choice, and by no means
tender, stove-plant, requiring aboutoO0 in winter;
but few can grow it, because they try loam. Now,
it will prosper in nothing so well as in pure black
Bagshot-heath mould (miscalled [sandy peat), not
tightly prtssed in the pots. To strike this plant,
take long young shoots, coil one round the rim of
each small pot of white wet sand, over some
heath mould ; press the end into the sand, and
keep the coiled shoot on the surface by small
stones or pegs. Place this pot within another,
two sizes larger, and fill the space between the
two with common sand, both rims level. Plunge
the pot in any warm bed, and place a bell-glass
over the cutting, pressing its edge into the outer
sand. It will be interesting to observe the multi-
tudes of white roots which emerge from every joint.

By this simple method great success in propa-
gation, by cuttings, can be attained.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

220

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
FEBRUARY.

This month has, in almost even respect, proved
by far more favourable to the interests of the
British farmer than we have been called upon to
record since September 1841. Its "•' fill-ditch" pro-
pensities are too often made mention of to need
any particular remark here ; but we have to state
that it has certainly turned out one of the driest
periods recollected for many years past. Had the
weather continued very humid, sure we are that
the worst fears of the agriculturists would have
been accomplished, and almost irreparable mis-
chief been the consequence. As it is, however,
the gloomy forebodings so much indulged in to-
wards the latter end of January, have been dis-
pelled, and future prospects — we mean as regards
the cultivation of the soil, in preparing it for the
reception of the seed- furrow — are certainly bright-
ening. Thus far, therefore, the hope we expressed
in our last report has been realized, and we most
sincerely trust that, independently of other consi-
derations— which, possibly, may not be foreign to
our subject matter as we proceed — all things ap-
pertaining to that admirable science, Agricul-
ture, may be so combined and cemented as to
render the British yeoman prosperous and happy.
From the 1st until about the lOtb, little progress,
notwithstanding we had a tolerably clear atmos-
phere— owing to the saturated state of the land —
was made either in ploughing or sowing, if some
of the best situations in Kent and Devonshire be
excepted ; while the farmers' time was mostly oc-
cupied in attending to barn work and the farm-
yard. An improvement being apparent from the
latter time until nearly the month's conclusion,
general activity commenced, and large quantities
of wheat were sown in admirable order ; while
this remark applies to every corn-growing county
in England where the soil is situate above
swamps, &c. In low situations, but comparatively
little progress has been made, yet it is admitted
that, should scarcely any rain of consequence fall
during the next three weeks, ploughing and sow-
ing will be brought nearly, or quite, sufficiently
forward. Barley is now commanding much atten-
tion, as its seeding ought to be shortly at its height.
Only a few stetches have been finished with thnt
description of corn in our most forward districts ;
and we are certainly of opinion that its conclusion
must inevitably be late. The large number of
samples of stained barley on hand cannot fail, we
should premise, to be of serious inconvenience as
regards selection ; while too much care cannot be
observed in procuring such qualities as will tend
to ensure good crops.

The accounts which have been transmitted to
us in allusion to the young wheat plants, are cer-
tainly more favourable than, under the existing
state of things, we were led to anticipate. In some
parts of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamp-
tonshire, &c, the grub has committed some serious
depredations, while it has greatly baffled the most
skilful to destroy it, from the prevailing mild tem-
perature; yet, with all this, very few instances
have occurred in which it has been deemed requi-
site to re-plough. The fine covering of snow by
which they were so well protected during part of
January has, we feel assured, conduced to render

them so remarkably strong and healthy as is al-
most everywhere observed at this time ; the late-
ral shoots, too, are becoming numerous, and we
find that the roots of the plant are well and firmly
imbedded, while their colour is extremely good,
without having a withered aspect. This, so far,
augurs well for the future; yet we do think that,
unless large supplies of lime and other substances
of a similar nature be used in the cultivation of
the latter wheats, as well as barley and oats, much
mischief must arise from the insect, which is by
far more numerous at this time than we almost
ever before remember. Lime, spread over the
surface of the corn land, before the manure, and
well worked in, will effectually put a stop to the
destruction caused by the slug. This we know
from practical experience and extensive observa-
tion.

Thrashing of wheat, barley, and oats, has not
been carried to any great extent, on account, in
some measure, of the low and drooping currencies
which have been realized for them, and of field-
work commanding increased attention ; yet the
accumulated stocks of those descriptions of corn
lately brought forwards, have proved nearly, or
quite, adequate to meet the existing wants of the
dealers. On an average, we find that the yield
has not fallen off to that extent which many sup-
posed would be the case during the latter end of last
year, and we feel assured that some statements as
to the produce of the harvest of 1841 were put
forward without any positive foundation. Our
estimate of the deficiency was one-tenth, and in
this, it appears, we were not much out in our cal-
culation, since we have heard it asserted, on the
most undoubted testimony, that in many quarters
wheat has been improving, both as to weight and
quality. This, it is true, may be partly accounted
for by the anxiety of the growers to find pur-
chasers for the weathered and otherwise out of-
condition descriptions, from the fear of their be-
coming in a less saleable state. One criterion by
which may be pretty accurately determined the
actual yield of the last wheat harvest, we conceive
to be the ruling prices. Now, it is well known they
have been falling for some time past, and even
further reductions may be looked forward to : and,
supposing we allow, for the sake of argument, the
supply of wheat to have turned out deficient by
one-sixth, still it will be discovered that the un-
usually large importations of that of foreign pro-
duce iu the course of the year just ended— which,
by the way, were released at almost nominal du-
ties— have nearly provided for such an exigence,
when the consumptive demands are fairly consi-
dered. It has been asserted that higher rates of
currency will be procured for wheat in the forth-
coming season ; but those making such an asser-
tion appear to forget the large stocks of free fo-
reign wheat still in warehouse in London and the
various outports, which, on a moderate calcula-
tion, are supposed to amount to nearly 600.0CO
quarters; besides which, there arc 300,000 quar-
ters under lock, and the weekly fresh supplies are,
and will be for some time hence, much on the
increase. That selected runs will find purchasers
at tolerably full quotations, we entertain little
doubt ; but we are firmly of opinion that inferior
wheat, both red and white, will not prove a source

230

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of profit. The orders transmitted abroad, of late,
for the purchase of corn for enrly Shipment hither,
have not been large ; still we find hohiers at Ham-
burgh, Rostock, Dantzig, Stettin, &c , firm to
their prices.

The lambing season 'in our great flock districts
has gone on extremely well, and much smaller
numbers of casualties have occurred than on many
previous occasions, ('win lambs have been scarce,
but the ewes have suffered little from the weather,
which has certainly been as favourable to them as
it could be. In parts of Gloucestershire and some
of the surrounding counties, shearing' has been
commenced, though not to any great extent, and
the sl'.eep have come out of their wool in good
handling condition, while some extremely heavy
fleeces have been obtained. The epidemic has been
again much complained of in the north amongst
the sheep, and several losses have been sustained ;
amongst the beasts it appears to have much abated.
Strange as it may seem — and this has been made
a source of extensive inquiry through the medium
of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England — we have known several instances in
which sheep — manypf which are atthistimesuffer-
ing severely — have been attacked by this disease
three several times, and yet recovered, after great
difficulty. Stock, both in the pastures and the
homestead, have fared well, but not without
heavy demands upon both dry and succulent pabu-
lum, of which a large quantity still remains on
hand, though of bad quality.

In the various provincial corn markets, as well as
at Mark lane, the supplies of English wheat brought
forward have been by no means extensive, and of
very moderate quality. The best runs have sold
at prices about equal to those obtained in January ;
but to effect clearances of other kinds, a fall of
from Is. to 3-*. per qr. has taken place. Foreign
wheat, botli free and in bond, has proved a mere
drug, and the rates have had a downward ten-
dency. There have been immense arrivals of bar-
ley, which article has declined from Is. to 3s. per
qr. The malt trade appears to have been dull, but
without any material variation in prices. Oats
have commanded little inquiry, and been again
noted Is. cheaper. Both beans and peas have
sold on lower terms with a heavy inquiry. Bakers
have purchased sparingly of flour, and the figures
have remained unaltered.

The potato crop appears to be turning out badly,
owing to the wet, and the bulk of the supplies re-
ceived in the Borough and Spitalfields markets
from Scotland, Yorkshire, Devonshire, the Chan-
nel Islands, Kent, &c, have proved so rotten and
decayed, that purchasers have not been found for
them, unless at miserably luw quotations — they
ruling from 40s. to 70s. per ton — tbe latter being
for the best York reds, Scotch only selling at 50s.

Our advices from Scotland are satisfactory, as
we learn that out-door farm labours have gone on
rapidly under favourable auspices, In Perthshire,
Aberdeenshire, and all along the borders, much of
the spring wheat has been got in the gvound, yet
no trifling exertion will be required to arrive at a
completion. Should the weather be fine, a large
quantity of barley will be sown the first and second
weeks in March. Much of last year's wheat ap-
pears to be turning out badly, on being submitted
to the process of threshing ; and the same as re-
spects the quality of barley. Oats are a better
crop. The different markets have been scantily
supplied with grain, while the demand has conti-
nued dull at depressed rates.

In Ireland the strides made in the fields do not
appear to have bcpn so great as in this country,
and the condition of the wheat and oats has turned
out so inferior, that large importations have again
taken place from Liverpool, Bristol, &c. Cattle
is represented as in hail condition, with a large
increase in the consumption of turnips, hay, &c.
The corn trade, in all its branches, has been dull,
and generally depressed ((notations have been sub-
mitted to by the holders in order to conclude
sales.

Here follows our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock exhibited and
sold in Smithfield cattle market. As to the former
they have, compared with those exhibited at the
corresponding period last year, shewn a slight fall-
ing off, as will be seen by the following tabular
statement : —

Feb. 1841. Feb. 1842.

Beasts 11,230 9,412

Sheep and Lambs .. 94,100 84,2ao

Calves 828 819

Tigs 2,180 1,941

Notwithstanding the above deficiency in the re-
turns, the supplies have been found, on account
of the immense receipts of slaughtered meat re-
ceived from Scotland and different parts of York-
shire up to Newgate and Leadenhall markets, by
steam and other modes of conveyance, quite ade-
quate to meet the inquiry on the part of the
butchers and others, who have purchased only to
meet their immediate wants from the mildness of
the season. As to prices, these have had a down-
ward tendency, and clearances of the stock have
not been effected without some difficulty. There
has been a decided improvement in the quality of
both beasts and sheep offering ; indeed, some
extraordinary fine animals have been brought for-
ward on several occasions, yet many have come to
hand in a lame condition. From Scotland, per
steam and sailing packets, somewhat extensive
arrivals of Scots have been named, they having
comprised in the month about 750 ; and we learn
that nearly 5(90 are now on their way to Smithfield
from Aberdeen and Perth. This is somewhat sur-
prising, considering the great losses which many
of the shippers have sustained by them. Nearly
800 lambs, mostly from Essex, Kent, and Surrey,
have been brought forwards, the sale for which
has ruled dull, at from (is. to 7s. per 8 lbs. No ar-
rivals have taken place from the Isle of Wight;
but we learn that, immediately the "season" is
considered as having fairly commenced, large num-
bers will be duly transmitted hither from that
quarter per the Southampton railway. From parts
of Gloucester, nearly 450 shorn sheep have been
received, while the inquiry for them has been dull,
at from .3s. lOd. to 4s. per 81bs. As a whole, we
conceive the past not to have been a very profit-
able month, as regards the figures in Smithfield,
for the grazier. Store stock has commanded
scarcely any attention.

A STATEMENT and COMPARISON of the SOP-
PLIES and PRICES of FAT STOCK, exhibited
and sold iu Smithfiki.ii Cattle Market, on
Mouday, February 22, 1811, and Monday, February
21, 1842.

At per 8lbs. to sink the offals.

Coarse & inferior Beasts 3

Second quality do 3

Prime large Oxen 4

Prime Scots, &c 4

Feb. 22, 1841
s. d. s. d

4 to 3

8 4

2 4

6 4

6

0

6

10

Feb. 21, 1942
s. d. s. d,
6 to 3

10
2
4

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

231

?. (]. S. (1. S. (I. 5. (1.

Coarse & inferioi Sheep 3 6 3 10 .. 3 8 3 10

Second quality do 4 0 4 4 .310 4 2

Primecoitrse woolleddo. 4G 4S..44 46

Prime Southdown do. . 4 10 5 0.43 50

Lambs 60 70.. 6 o 70

Large coarse Calves.. 4 6 5 0 .. 5 0 5 6

Prime small ditto 54 53. .58 60

Large Hogs 40 4 6.. 4 6 4 10

Neat small Porkers ..48 50.. 50 52

SUPPLIES.
Feb. 22, 1841.
2,942
21,120
120
412

Feb. 21
2,602
19,650
61
419

184?

Beasts ..

Sheep and Lambs ,

Calves

Pies

Newgate and Leadenlmll markets have been
largely supplied with both town and country-
killed meat of all descriptions, while the demand
has been dull, at lower rates of currency. Some
of the beasts and sheep from the north have ar-
rived in very bad condition, and sold at extremely
low figures. The following is a monthly compari-
son of the quotations : —

Pot BIBS, bv the cat ease.

Feb. 1841. Feb, 1842.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef, from 3 2 to 4 0 2 8 to 3 G

Mutton 3 6 to 4 0 3 4t)4 4

Lamb 4 10 to 5 10 4 10 to 5 10

Veal 5 4 to 6 0 4 10 to 5 10

Pork 4 Otoo 0 3 10 to 5 2

The annexed statement shows the arrivals of
meat from all quarters up to the above markets,
from the 1st until the 24th.

Scotland ...
Yorkshire ..

Suffolk

Norfolk ...

Essex

Surrey

Devonshire •
Other parts

jillBIVALS.

Beasts.

Sheep.

Calves.

400

2400

— ..

230

11)41

—

40

380

--

40

120

—

00

400

01

450

700

23ri

! _

04

00

G4

Ifio

70

1401

0225

402

Figs.

2210
8200

140
200
312
700
200

248

7207

During the same time in 1841, we received only
1!)0 carcases of beef, 1,300 do. of mutton, 210 do.
of veal, and 2140 do. of pork, fiom every part of
the kingdom.

LEICESTERSHIRE.
In my last report at the beginning of January, 1
stated that the severe weather which commenced
about that time, had a lasting appearance. The se-
quel has proved that I was correct, as the blast con-
tinued till the first week of this month, when a gra-
dual thaw took place, and the snow disappeared by
such gentle degrees, that floods hive not done that
damage which after such a geneial and deep snow
frequently occurs. The beautiful weather which we
have had since is delight, ul to the farmer, and he
has been able to get at work upon bis land much
sooner than appearances at one lime warranted. I
have great pleasure in staling that the severity of
the late frost does not appear to have injured the
wheat plant. In some exposed situations the blade
has assumed a russet hue, but from the fine weather
we have lately experienced, is now rapidly changing
for the lively green which shows that the root is
healthy. The only damage this crop has sustained
from the weather is in some low situations ; the
floods, consequent on the melting of such a large

mass of snow, have swept the soil from the roots, and
considerable injury has ensued. T-be only other
casually which 1 have to notice, and which I hope is
not.of great extent, is from the ravages of the slug,
which in some fields, where no means have been used
to destroy them, have suffered materially, and exhi-
bit D great deficiency of plant; but if the fine wea-
ther continues, these may improve. There is not
much laid to the charge of the wire-worm at present,
and upon the whole 1 may say that the general ap-
pearance of the crops is good, and the above are
only exceptions to the general rule. The searching-
effects of the severe frosts are observable in the
working of the land, and all that was ploughed be-
fore the end of the year show a fine pulverised soil,
and work like a garden even on strong clay soils.
From this cause many farmers who were back-
ward with their seeding in the autumn, are sowing a
considerable quantity of wheat, which goes in ex-
ceedingly well; and the breadth of land now sow-
ing will amply make up for what remained unsown
at the latier end of the year. The preparation of
land for spring cropping is rapidly progressing ; the
ground which has now to be ploughed, turns up fri-
able, being mellowed by the frost, and works well.
We are in the midstof bean sowing, which is sooner
by ten or twelve davs than we were able to get them
in last y ear. From the severity of the winter, fodder
has disappeared very rapidly, and many a farmer
looks with somewhat of dismay at the scanty remains
of hi* hayricks; and regrets the low price of
barley, beans, and oats, to yield him a supply of
cash to purchase a supply for the next two months.
Perhaps with a little management and trouble he
may find a good substitute for bay, if he uses some of
his low-priced grain in feeding his stock. Let him
cut his straw with a small quantity of hay or clover,
and mix therewith new beans, well boiled ; this will
make good food for his cart horses. The same also
mixed with boiled barley, two-thirds barley, and one
of water, boiled two hours, and let stand twelve be-
fore using to absorb the liquor, will keep his cattle
in good condition. If added to the above a solution
of oil-cake, one pound to five gallons of water well
boiled, and a little salt mixed with the whole, will
improve the quality of the food, and make the stock
eat it with avidity. We have had a sharp
time both for cattle and sheep, and it re-
quired much attention to keep them up in
condition ; but, fortunately, we had a good
quantity of keep on the ground at the latter
end of the year, and I hope they have not materially
suffered. The turnips hold out well, and the sheep
enjoy themselves this fine weather both in the pen
and on the pastures, the lair becoming so much im-
proved from the dry week or two we have had.
The young clovers promise well, and Italian rye
grass has this season been much superior to last
year, and we have every appearance of an abundant
crop of that useful grass for early spring keep. The
price both of beef and muttou has undergone but
little variation, being something above 6d. per lb.,
but the markets are now flatter, and show a down-
ward tendency- Store stock and incalved beasts have
fetched high prices, but appear now rather on the
decline. The price of wool iemains unchanged,
farmer's lots making from 26s. to 28s. per tod. The
stocks in the hands of the wool-men and manufac-
turers are light, but with the growers, for the season
of the year, heavy. I am sorry that no improvement
has at present taken place in the Leicester trade, and
some hands are very short of work, and those em-
ployed are earning very little from the low wages.

232

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Our labourers are all employed, and I observe in the
local newspapers advertisements for some who are
good workmen. I regret to observe, that the young
agricultural labourers are not anxious to excel in the
most important kinds of their handicraft, and we are
much in want of good hedge-cutlers, stackers, thatchen,
and drainers. I hope they will see the necessity of
learning and perfecting themselves in these kinds of
work, and thereby get higher wages than at common
day labour. We are giving 12s. per week generally,
and I am surprised at seeing statements made in the
papers that in some districts labourers are only re-
ceiving 6s. or ?s. Contrary to my usual practice, I
am constrained to make a remark or two on the all-
absorbing topic of the government modification of
the corn law, which is such an important matter
with agriculturists. Sir R. Peel's plan has met
with the greatest opposition by the extremes of both
parties, The Anti-corn-law people denounce the
alteration as an insult to the manufacturing and
trading portion of the public ; while, on the other
hand, the agriculturists of the Chandos school dis-
claim against the ruinous effects it will have upon
their interests. Thus far the measure is singularly
unfortunate, but there are many moderate men on
both sides of the question who believe it, if not cal-
culated to remove the evils complained of, is at
least worthy of trial as a concession on the part of
the landed interest to the wants and necessities of
their brethren engaged in trade and commerce.
I do not presume to say which is right in the matter,
but I have an opinion as to the alteration which in
a series of years this measure, if passed into a law,
will have upon the value of wheat, and this will rule
in proportion the price of other grain. The average
price of wheat under the present law for the last
fourteen years has been 59s. per qr., and the duty
upon the same, when at 50s. is 36s. 8d.; the pro-
posed duty when wheat is at 50s. will be 20s., a
difference of 16s. 8d. per qr. I know it is asserted
by the advocates of this duty, that the average will
he from 54s. to 56s. under its operations. I would
prepare the wheat-growers of this country for a
different result; considering the price of wheat on
the continent, and the produce of the home growth,
I believe the average will more likely be from 48s.
to 50s. The taking of averages from an addition of
markets gives no confidence to our farmers, as the
buyer is still to make the return ; and it was con-
fidently expected the seller would have been chosen
for that purpose. The question now arises, who is
to make the sacrifice this measure requires in the
price of corn 1 It would be exceedingly unfair that
the whole should fall upon the occupier, and the
landlords having made the alteration, it is but right
that they should bear a portion of the loss ; therefore
I hope we shall soon hear of them reducing their
rents.— Feb. 22.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Since our last report the weather has been truly
winterly, so that the labours of the husbandman
have been circumscribed ; carting out of manure,
attending to the comforts of cattle, and laying of
hedges, have been chiefly what could be done. Hay
has advanced a shade, in consequence of the bad
state of the weather, the average price being now
4L 10s. per ton. Our straw ricks, too, have dis-
appeared rapidly : the snow falling at intervals, no
sooner was the fold-yard well littered over after
one snow-storm, than another succeeded : and the
article will not consequently be found plentiful for

the remainder of the winter. The turnip-crop is
found to be an extremely light one, particularly in
sandy districts — or, I may add, on all our best
turnip soils ; the effect of which is, fat stock is
brought more freely to market, the owner not
daring to keep it at home. Store slock has fallen
a shade in value, and calving and in-calving cows
are full 11. per head lower in value than they were
at Christmas. The corn markets have of late been
unusually depressed : wheat, though maintaining
its value, the best of all varieties has been falling
gradually in value. Barley has with difficulty been
sold, and only the best varieties could be disposed
of; 23s. to 28s. per qr. of 1G stones to the sack has
been the general run. Oats, from 16s. to 22s. per
qr. of 12 stone to the sack. Old beans, from 36s.
to 40s. per qr. of 19 stone to the sack ; new ones,
from 30s. to 34s. The uncertainty of the continu-
ance of the present corn laws has caused both
maltsters, millers, and factors to purchase sparingly;
and, as soon as it is known what will be done with
those laws, we expect a change in the value of
every variety of grain. The county is generally
in a very agitated state, and the distress is great in
all our manufacturing districts. — Feb. 9.

ADVICE TO YOUNG FARMERS, BY A PRAC-
TICAL MAN.— At the late meeting of the Here-
ford Agricultural Society, Mr, Turner, of Aymes-
tiey, said he believed that he was the oldest
breeder in the room, and therefore begged leave to
respond to the toast which had just been given.
He had seen the stock very much improved in his
time, as were those on his own farm, and which
he found profitable. He (Mr. T.) could assure
them he had found the truth of the adage — " the
longer he lived the more he had to learn." He
would therefore call upon all the young farmers
whom he saw around him, to give their aitention
and exertions to the subject, and he would assure
them they could do still more towards perfecting
the breed of cattle in this country.

BURTON-ON-TRENT FARMER'S CLUB, 1842.

Officers for the Year : —

President. — Charles Arkwiugiit, Esq.
Vice-President, Wii. Worthington, Esq.
Treasurer.— Mr. Wu, Daniel.
Secretary. — Mr. Wm. Greaves.

The Club will meet on the following days at the
Three Queens, Burton, at 5 p.m., when the following
subjects will be proposed for discussion ; —

24th March. — What is the best method of making

Cheese, and what is the best sort of Cow for that

purpose?— Mr. W. Daniel.
21st April.— What is the best and least expensive mode

of keeping Farm horses ? — Mr. J. Hamp.
19th May.— What is the most profitable way of fattening

Cattle?-Mr. C. Arkuright.
16th June. — Which is the best way of sowing Corn by

by the drill or broadcast ? — Mr. W. Greaves.
July and August.— No meeting, on account of the

Harvest,
loth September.— What is the best manner of cultivating

a strong land farm ? — Mr. Hollier.
13th October. — What plough is best suited to the land

in this neighbourhood, and what is the bjst way

of yoking the horses to it?— Mr. Col vile.
17th November.— General Annual Meeting and Dinner-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

233

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

Sir, — I have in my occupation a considerable
breadth of weak sand land (some so light as to
blow at times), near to which clay has recently
been found. I have therefore determined upon
covering therewith a portion of it, as soon as
circumstances will permit. As such should feel
greatly obliged if any of your experienced corres-
pondents would (through that invaluable medium
of agricultural information, the Farmer's Maga-
zine), say the proper quantity per acre, the best
season of the year to do the work, and whether it
ought to he laid on previous to a corn or turnip
crop, likewise the best method of testing the
quality of the clay.

The insertion of the above, together with any
answer that may be kindly forwarded to you,
will much oblige,

Sir, 3'ours respectfully,

An Old Subscriber.

Lincoln, Lindsey, January 25M, 1842.

me, through the medium of your journal, the best
substitute for milk, and what quantity will he suf-
ficient for one day's food.

ON THE ROT IN SHEEP.

Sir, — Since the late frost, many sheep in this
neighbourhood have shown symptoms of the rot,
caused by the extreme wet weather during the
latter half of the past year. Being a conside-
rable loser by this fatal disease, I should feel
obliged if you or any of your numerous corres-
pondents could suggest either a remedy or pallia-
tive. By inserting the above in your valuable
Magazine, you will oblige

A Subscriber.

East Somerset, January 20t/i, 1842.

LIQUID MANURE TANKS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — May I be permitted to enquire, through the
columns of your publication, if " A Friend to Agri-
culture and Trade," whose able letter upon the
waste of manure in farm-yards," appeared in the
Mark Lane Express of the 24th instant, would inform
me if common building bricks and lime will answer
well enough for constructing the sort of tank ho
alludes to ?

The value of liquid manure, I am sorry to say, is
scarcely known in this quarter. Such communica-
tions as the one now referred to will, I trust, soon
make it otherwise.

I am, Sir, yours, very respectfully,

Jan. Tl, 1842. A Young Farmer.

THE WEEVIL.

Mr. Editor, — I am a brewer in this town, and a
subscriber to your paper. 1 am troubled with wee-
vils in my malt stores, and wish to know how to get
rid of them.

If you can find a place for the annexed in your
columns, or in any other way obtain me the informa-
tion I seek, you will very much oblige

Your obedient servant,

South Shields, Feb. 3. W. A. Swinburne.

ON WEANING AND REARING CALVES FOR

STOCK WITHOUT ANY MILK.

A correspondent says — I keep no cow, and wish

to rear five or six calves annually, and shall esteem

it a favour if any of your correspondents will inform

Sir,— I should be glad to obtain information
through the medium of your widely circulated jour^
nal, from any of its readers, what is the most effec-
tual method for curing or improving large patches
of a rough and coarse description of grass in mea-
dows, where no other kind of cattle but horses feed.
I am, Sir, most respectfully yours,

Taunton, Feb. 8. A Subscriber.

Sir, — May I request you or some of your corres-
pondents to inform me if the same wheat, sown in
the same field every fourth year, will cause the
quality to degenerate, it being understood that a
proper course of cropping be pursued during the
intermediate years, viz., turnips, barley, seeds, then
wheat. An answer to the above will oblige your
obedient servant,

Feb. 9. A Young Farmer.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Could you or any of your correspondents
inform me, through the medium of your valuable
paper, whether draining tiles are liable to double
toll or not? if the case has ever been decided 1
and before what bench of magistrates'!

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Jan. 27th, 1842. A Sussex Farmer.

A subscriber enquires — Perhaps some of \ourcor~
respondents would inform me what is the best mode
of stall-feeding cattle with linseed-cake in combina-
tion with turnips ; the quantity to be given per day,
how prepared, &e.

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL
QUERIES.

ON COVERING DRAINS.

Sir, — I shall always very willingly answer any
question arising from what I may have communi-
cated to the agricultural public through your use-
ful paper. The best answer I can give to my
brother " member of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England," is to state, that having made some
drains in a field, and filled them up with loose
porous earth, as is usually recommended, I found
that they frequently were choked, and I was obliged
to open them, and clear them from sediment. An
old experienced drainer, to whom I showed the
field after a heavy rain, noticed the water rapidly
sinking at a point where a deep furrow crossed a
main drain ; with the heel of his shoe he trod the
wet earth firmly down — observing, that the water
should run over the drains, and not into it. This
made me consider his reasons, and I came to the
conclusion, that, in fact, this had been the cause of
former failures. What we ourselves deduce from
experience makes a greater impression than any
theory, or the experience of others; but I am con-
firmed in my opinion of the advantage of an im-
pervious covering over the tiles, by some of the
most scientific and experienced drainers. I have

204

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

made drains occasionally for the last twenty-five
years on a very smal farm, which is chiefly experi-
mental. Tiiose I made at first have frequently
been choked ; those made on the principle stated
in my former letter, are only of four or live yea's
standing; hut, from the appearance of the land
during this very wet season, I feel confident that
there is a sufficient number of horizontal cracks and
channels in the subsoil to secure the percolation of
the superabundant water, and this is all I desire.
I hope this explanation may be satisfactory, and I
remain von;s, &c, W. L. ItHAM.

Winkfield, Feb. 10.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER S MAGAZINE.

Sir,— Iii reply to the query of " An Old Farmer"
in your last month's .magazine, allow me to say
that, from a fifteen years' experience in the culti-
vation of beans on heavy and deep soils in the low
lands of Scotland, I have found the following me-
thod very successful, viz. : shortly after the wl eat
was cut (the crop generallv preceding beans) the
dung was carted out, spread, and immediately
ploughed in with a good strong furrow ; in such a
manner as that the land would lie as dry as possi-
ble through winter.

As early in Febiuary as the state of the ground
and season would permit, I commenced sowing-
operations by running a furrow of two or three
inches deep along one side of the ridge, which
plough was immediately followed by a bean sowing
machine, pushed along by a man or boy ; that again
was followed by another plough, covering the
beans with another furrow of six inches d cp,
leaving tin3 field, when finished, in drills or rows of
about eighteen inches apart. If the manure could
be laid upon the land immediately preceding the
sowing without detriment to the soil (a difficulty,
by science now actively at work, 1 believe soon to
be removed,) it would be preferable.

For the future cultivation of the crop, roll and
harrow the field thoroughly before the plants be so
far sprung upwards as to be injured by that ope-
ration. After the beans are fairly up, and have
two se.ts of leaves, they will not suffer any hurt in

being run over a time or two with alight grass
harrow to destroy annual weeds ; afierwards
hand-hoe so often as is necessary for cleaning the
land. I don't approve of horse-hoeing, or other-
wise working beans deep, as tending to injure the
roots— these running horizontally and close upon
the surface. About 4J bushels of beans to the
statute acre is a proper quantity of seed.

A Cheshire Steward.

A " Constant Reader" enquires whether there
is any work published on the breeds, management,
and the diseases of pigs ; and if more than one,
which is the best, where to be obtained, and at
what price ?

TO AGKICOIA, IS' EXPRESS OF JAN. 24.

Chalk is exempt from toll when going to be used
as manure, or when going to be burnt into lime,
which is to be used as manure. Lime is not exempt
from toll unless made so by a local act. See .5 and 0
It'in. 4, cap. 18, Exemptions from Toll's.

Jan. 25, 1812.

Sin, — In reply to the letter of a " Yorkshire Far-
mer," relative to the quantity of gas lime I spread
upon an acre of land, I beg to inform him that the
quantity sown should be six or 7cvvt. per acre, and
before the turnip makes its appearance out of the
ground. I am, yours respectfully,

Col'.on, Rugeley, Jan. 11. J. Yates.

Sir, — In answer to the" West.noreland Fanner's"
inquiries for a soot-rnachine, I beg to inform him
that I make them, price 11/. 10s., and would de-
liver him one at Carlisle for 12/. 10s. For 20s. it
can be made to sow seed broadcast. The machines
are warranted to perform their work well.
Your most obedient servant,

W. CnossKit r..
Iron-works, Beoerleu, Yorkshire,
Feb. lQth, 1842.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

Since our last review of the actual state and future
prospects of the corn trade in the month of January
last, the supplies of English wheat have been fully
hqual to the demand, and the small variation which
during that period has occurred in its value, has
been against the interests of the British producers.
The duty therefore charged on foreign wheat, When
entered for home consumption, for the protection of
the British agriculturist, and of the wages of the
productive manufacturing British labourers, has in-
creased in proportion to the decline which has
since then occurred in the average prices by which
these duties are at present regulated, and thus are
all the predictions of the Corn-law Leaguers contra-
dicted by actual operations in the wheat tiade itself.
Driven thus regularly from one position to another,
these corn law repealers are now compelled to make

a stand on the equally unfounded and extraordinary
ground of a materially decreased consumption in all
the necessaries of life, and more particularly in
wheat, being the consequence of the present partial
distress, which now unfortunately no doubt prevails
amongst various classes of the communitv. The
experience of facts, however, offers a veiy perfect
refutation to the new doctrine now held forth by
these would-be benefactors of the people ; for the
official returns of wheat and flour sold for baking
purposes during the months of December, 1841, and
of January, 1842, are fully as large as they were
twelve months ago ; and thus this new argument in
favour of the abrogation of the corn laws falls to the
ground, like all its predecessors. Reciprocity jn
trade amongst nations must universally be attended
by an equality in means, else it must be injurious to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

235

the more wealthy community. The wages of la-
bour and the expences of production must be as
nearly the same as possible amongst nations, before
anything resembling- freedom of trade can be esta-
blished ; and the English productive labourer cannot
comprehend the benefit to himself which would re-
sult from the reduction of his wages to n level with
those paid to the serfs of Poland. In what manner
a free trade in wheat with Poland would increase
either the quantity or the value of manufactured
goods now consumed amongst the Polish serfs, it is
impossible to comprehend, for at present they are
chiefly paid by a small portion of agricultural pro-
duce, raised by themselves, and that of the coarsest
description — just about as much as the demands of
nature require, and no more. The truck payment
system prevails there in the greatest perfection, and
it must be introduced here again before a free trade
with that country can be rendered in any degree
mutually profitable. British artisans and commer-
cial labourers, however, are now too much enlight-
ened not to understand their position better than to
be influenced by dogmas so entirely ridiculous as
those are which are now advanced against the
British agricultural interest. Amongst all the pro-
ductive classes of British society, it is now gene-
rally admitted that the universal prosperity mainly
depends on the prosperity of the agricultural inter-
est. This is (he key-stone in British society, and
by far the most important one in the arch of industry.
Deficient crops, occasion* d solely by the elements,
have reduced agricultural profits annually since the
year 1837, and the necessary consequence has been
a very material reduc ion in the quantity, and also
in the value of manufactured goods consumed in the
home market. To this cause, in part, must be at-
tributed no inconsiderable portion of the distress
which now unfortunately partially prevails amongst
the industii.ius classes, but one good corn season
will applv B sufficient reined v to the e1. il. Thegi eater
part, however, of the existing distress has its
origin in the large importations of foreign grain
of all descriptions, which the deficiency iu our home
growth rendered necessary during the last three or
four years. This unfortunate circumstance has
caused, and now tontines to cause, a most destruc-
tive drain on the circulating medium in the United
Kingdom. Within the last three years, we may
fairly estimate the exportation of the precious
metals at upwards of twenty millions sterling in
payment for foreign grain alone, which is the reason
why money has latterly been, and continues to be,
both scarce and dear for temporary loans of it ; and
why, for a season, confidence betwixt man and man
exists not to that extent which is absolutely requi-
site to the restoration of a healthy system of action
in the British empire. Scarcity of money univer-
sally subtracts from the usual quantity of employ-
ment, and places for a time, at all events, a limit to
agricultural and commercial improvements. The
same cause likewise obstructs many works of enter-
prise which, under different circumstances, might at
present be productively employing many thousands
of industtious families. This is a part of the benefits
which the total repeal of the Corn-laws, or the charg-
ing the same amount of duty at all times and under
all circumstances on foreign grain when entered
here for home consumption, would inevitably confer
on all the inhabitants of this country, in whatever
department of industry they might be employed,
until the wealth of the nation was entirely exhausted.
That, under even ordinary circumstances, the United
Kingdom may be rendered perfectly capable of

raising within herself provisions in the greatest
abundance for more than double our present popu-
lation, every person, in the slightest degree versed
id the science of agriculture, must immediately ad-
mit, if the law should mily continue to extend due
protection to capital and talent embarked in agricuL
tural pursuits; and to endanger such mighty advan-
tages to the future well-being of all her Majesty's
subjects of every denomination, by the introduction
of the wild schemes of theory now agitating a por-
tion of the public mind, would be an act of the most
perfect insanity ever perpetrated by any nation,
either modern or ancient. Had unfavourable weather
during the last three or four years not rendered it
necessary to remit such large sums of money to
foreign nations, and had our own growth of grain
during that period been only an average one in
quality and in quantity, no manufacturing distress
would at the present moment have been complained
of. The home markets for the consumption of manu-
factured goods would have been annually increasing',
and notdecreasing.asis nsw unfortunately the case in
almost every department of industry ; the money paid
away to foreigners, in exchange for food, would have
been now in active circulation, either in agricultural
or in commercial improvements; the wages of labour
would have been proportionately improved, and all
the industrious orders in society would have been
moat productively employed. Transportation to the
colonies would not at present have been considered
an)- benefit to thousands of families; but on the con-
trary, under due protection to the improvement and
to the cultivation of our own fields, a year or two
must again lestore prosperity to the British com-
munity, for the weather cannot always be unpropi-
tious to agricultural operations, nor can the produce
of the soil always be as unfavourable to the farmers
as unfortunately it has latterly been. With more
than fifty millions of acres of land, already either
under cultivation of one description or other, or per-
fectly capable of tillage, we are well entitled toasstit
that, under a right system of culture, upwards cf
sixty millions of the human race may be most abun-
dantly maintained within the United Kingdom, with-
out any foreign aid in food being ever found neces-
saiy. Legal protection to capital, talent, and
industry, when embarked in agricultural pursuits,
is alone necessary to change the face of nature her-
self throughout ihe United Kingdom; and to refuse
that degree of legal protection necessary to the pro-
duction of so much good, would be almost an act of
national destruction. Surely, to be great and inde-
pendent within ourselves must produce a far more
happy and more healthy state of society, than the
total conversion of the United Kingdom into a great
workshop for the world ever can do; and yet, from
this change alone, must arise that splendid result
which the Anti-Corn Law Leaguers predicate from
their proposed amendments in theexisting-instiiutions
of the British empire. To put at hazard the property
invested in land, now amounting to upwards of thrte
thousand millions sterling, and also the nine hun-
dred millions sterling embarked in British na-
tional securities, for any advantages which could
result from the increase of our foreign commerce
with those foreign states from whence food may
be imported, is not, in the opinion of these
theorists, of any consequence. To throw out of
employment a great number of British agricultu-
ral labourers, they consider but a small sacrifice
made by the British community, if the extended
cultivation of the corn districts throughout the
European continent and the United^States of

23G

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

America be only thereby established. The plea-
sant and healthy labours of the fields they propose
to transfer to foreigners, and our population is to
be converted chiefly into factory and mining la-
bourers, receiving for their products foreign food.
The schoolmaster and the penny-post have, how-
ever, taught British artisans and manufacturing
labourers a widely different doctrine. Their
wages, under the present system, even now, with
an unfavourable season to contend against, are in
most instances sufficiently high, not only for an
abundant supply of all the necessaries of life, but
likewise for their weekly payments to the fund
for their proper support hereafter in sickness and
in old age. It is in vain therefore, on the part of
the corn law orators, to attempt the conversion of
the great majority of these men into corn law re-
pealers. They do not, we repeat, complain of the
high prices of food, for their wages generally are
fully equal to their expenditure; and those who
are unfortunately labouring under depressed cir-
cumstances attribute not their di?tress to the
dearness of bread, but to the limits, for a time,
which a virtually free foreign corn trade has placed
to productive labour. It is on the home market
that they depend for the consumption of at least
five out of six parts in value and in quantity of
goods manufactured in the United Kingdom, and
good crops of grain at home are alone necessary
for maintaining and increasing the amount and
the value of this home consumption. To supply
themselves with food produced by British farmers
is the only legitimate way for retaining the pre-
cious metals within the British Empire, and by the
abundance of money at home alone can the
amount of productive labour be regulated. When
money is plentiful, agricultural, commercial, and
indeed every description of improvements are
proceeded with, and general prosperity therefore
must be the necessary consequence of abundant
crops of grain being produced at home; whilst
bad crops at home, and foreign importations/^ fo-
reign food for the use of the people, are universally
attended by manufacturing and by commercial dis-
tress, by absence of enterprise amongst the
monied interest, and consequently by want of pro-
ductive labour, and by reduced wages amongst all
the industrious [classes in British society. A
favourable crop or two however will perfectly
remove, as we have already said, the partial evils
under which many industrious individuals are at
present suffering. One-half of the last corn
season has now passed away, and hitherto the
prices of the necessaries of life have been con-
siderably more moderate than could have been ex-
pected, taking into consideration the inferiority
generally of the last crop. That portion of the
winter wheats which was got into the ground in
good order continues to look extremely favour-
able, and is gradually becoming luxuriant. The
wetness of the season however has prevented
operations of this description from being generally
completed in the heavy soils in the south and
west of England, and in the northern counties
field operations have been even more materially
retarded by the same cause. Still agricultural
science is annually progressing so rapidly, that,
with favourable weather, spring sown wheats now
are little, if any, inferior to those planted previous
to Christmas, either in quantity or in quality; and
this is one of the numerous advantages which the
corn laws now confer on the British people, and
of which they would be deprived by the repeal

of these laws. Before the next crop, however, can
be gathered and brought forward into consump-
tion, it is possible, but not probable, that such an
improvement may occur in the value of British
wheat as may admit large quantities of foreign
wheat into home consumption on the payment of
nominal duties shortly, before the next harvest time.
This will be another act, should it unfortunately
occur, of great injustice to the public revenue ;
for the proprietors of foreign wheat admitted into
this country for consumption, should, at all
events, be charged with such an amount of
duty as would be on a par, in a certain
measure, « ith the direct and indirect taxes paid
by our own farmers at home. This is the reason
why the minimum duty should never be under
5s. per qr. en wheat ; a charge which the
original proprietor would most cheerfully pay
for the occasional permission granted to him by
the corn laws, of introducing his produce into
this country for consumption. Surely there must
be some mistake in attributing to the Prime Mi-
nister the assertion that, when grain reaches cer-
tain prices, only nominal duties should be charged
here on its importation from foreign nations. If
this doctrine be true, then certainly, during un-
favourable seasons, all taxes should be remitted to
our home farmers, and to our own grain growers.
But there is no real reason why foreign wheat
should not be charged, even in the dearest times,
with a fair rate of duty when entered for home
consumption ; for this duty would not add one
penny per quarter to the price of corn in this
country. It would never be paid by the British
consumer; but, like freight, sea insurance, and
other charges attending importation, it would be
included by the corn merchant amongst the
charges of importation, and it would be deducted
by him from the cost price of his speculation. In
fact, the duty would be paid by the original
foreign proprietor, and this would place the
foreign grower on an equality with the British
farmer in the tax payment system, at all events.
Bread, as things are, still however continues at a
fair and moderate value, and no complaint can
reasonably be made on this head by the manufac-
turing and working classes generally ;j for good
household bread at G^d. per four pound loaf, is low
in comparison with the general rates of wages re-
ceived by the same persons ; and there exists, at
all events, at present a fair prospect that this
moderation will not be interrupted by any material
deficiency in the wheat supplies, until the garden
produce come generally into consumption. One
or two good crops of grain at home will speedily
afterwards restore commercial prosperity, if agri-
cultural property continue to be effectually pro-
tected by law. We certainly have at present the
prospect of a favourable season hereafter, at all
events for the wheat crop ; and until it be ga-
thered, the quantity of foreign wheat already
taken out of bond, added to the usual supplies of
British and Irish wheats, will be, we trust, perfect-
ly sufficient for the general consumption. Should,
however, the protection now given to agricultural
improvements be in any material manner relaxed,
or should the corn laws he entirely repealed, the
quantities of foreign wheat which will be here-
after imported from all quarters, must have a
most injurious effect on the general prosperity at
home ; for from the Black Sea, and the different
ports in the Mediterranean, the news respecting
the corn trade received since our last publication,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

237

has been and is important in the present state of
the corn trade here. Very large purchases of wheat
had been, and continued at the latest dates, to be
made by foreign and not by British merchants ;
and, having no other channel for its consumption
at present, the shipments making then to Great
Britain continued to be large. The prices paid for
it were too dear, however, even should our corn-
laws be repealed ; and unless some unlooked-for
improvement take place in our prices during the
ensuing spring and summer months, the position
of these speculators will not be very comfortable
when their accounts are balanced. Although, how-
ever, foreign merchants may find their present
wheat speculations not very profitable, still such
large importations as we may expect to receive
from all quarters during the remainder of the pre-
sent corn season, must be, in the extreme, detri-
mental to the best interests of the United King-
dom. They will increase the existing drain on the
circulating medium, will make the money market
even more difficult than it has latterly been, and
will render that system of economy by which the
home consumption of manufactured goods has
for some time past been so very materially cur-
tailed, still more oppressive and necessary than it
has heretofore been. The quality of a part of
these wheats is uncommonly fine, particularly of
some amongst the shipments from the Adriatic
sea, and will injuriously compete in our own mar-
ket with the best wheats grown by our own far-
mers, even in Essex itself. From the exporting
wheat markets within the Baltic sea, the commer-
cial letters received are also as usual, in due course
of post, and the information conveyed by them
does not vary much from that communicated
by us in our last number, from the same quar-
ter. Prices of wheat, which had declined in
the beginning of last month at Dantzic to
about 54s. per quarter, again advanced to their
former rate of 63o;., when the proposed
alteration in our import duties became generally
known there. The internal Polish Jew merchants,
by whom the finest qualities of Polish wheat are
brought down to the ports of exportation in the
Baltic sea, on the receipt of the proposed reduction
in our corn duties, however, increased their prices
even in a greater degree than any alteration in our
import duties can by any possibility authorize; and
at the latest dates the same alterations in wheat
prices bad occurred in all the corn markets in the
Baltic sea, originating in the same cause. Thus, as
we have always said, the foreign wheat proprietors
will reap all the advantages which may arise from
the alteration in our corn laws ; and the people here
will not immediately consume bread cheaper in con-
sequence of this reduction in foreign grain duties,
nor will they receive any additional employment in
repayment for the foreign grain itself consumed by
them. To them eventually, however, the alteration
in the duty must be prejudicial in proportion to the
increased quantity of wheat imported, which it will
be the means of occasioning. From the Baltic Sea
alone one million of quarters of wheat may be re-
ceived during this season, should the duty be much
relaxed, and will be repeated and increased annually
until a portion of our home-grown wheats be driven
out of all our great markets of consumption. Our
fields afterwards will, in a certain degree, remain
uncultivated, wages will decline in a far more
serious manner than will the expences of living,
and the greatest degree of misery and distress must
speedily follow, not amongst the agricultural la-

bourers only, but more particularly amongst the ma-
nufacturing and the productive classes into whatever
channel of industry their labour may be directed. From
Hamburg and all the corn shipping ports without
the Baltic sea, and in the German ocean, the in-
formation received is likewise of the same descrip-
tion as that to which we have now referred. The
news from Mark Lane had created golden dreams
amongst the German land proprietors and the
German corn merchants and ship owners, for they
anticipated in future a greatly increased channel
for the consumption of their agricultural produce,
and for the employment of their ships in the trade
of the British empire. To the foreign wheat pro-
prietor the proposed relaxation in our corn laws
may be considered exceedingly favourable. The
finest Polish wheats, for instance, always sell in
Mark Lane at a price at least 10s. per qr. above the
mean valve of English wheat ; and, therefore, should
the proposed change in the rates of duty be
adopted by the British Legislature, when our
average price is 62s., the duty of 10s. paid on
Polish wheats will be amply repaid by their supe-
rior value in our markets of consumption. Silc-
sian wheats, and indeed the great portion of this
ariicle shipped to Great Britain from the north of
Europe, are also of better quality, and conse-
quently sell in England at higher prices than the
average qualities of British wheats ; and in this
way also will the superior prices obtained for them
here go far towards the payment of the import
duty, and leave the British farmer with little or
rather with no protection whatever for the capital
which he may have embarked in the lease of his
farm. The future increase of our commerce with
the states from which we import supplies of foreign
food must be indeed large and valuable, if it offer
any remuneration to our manufacturers and pro-
ductive labourers generally, for the loss of the
most important and valuable mart for the sale of
their goods ; to which they would assuredly be sub-
jected by the loss of farming capital, and by the
depreciation of farming property necessarily at-
tending any material relaxation in the existing
rates of duty charged on the entry of foreign
wheat for home consumption. The reduction in
the rates of the wheat duty may indeed hereafter
be attended by the same unfortunate consequences
which the reduction of that on foreign rapeseed
several years ago occasioned. For the benefit of
commerce, the duty on rapeseed imported from
forei'gn nations was then rendered only nominal,
and the ruin of its cultivators in Britain and in
Ireland shortly afterwards occurred. The growth
of rapeseed entirely ceased in the British islands,
because its cultivation was not attended by adequate
profit ; and the consequence is, that the makers of
rape oil at present pay more than twice the price
they did when a duty was imposed on foreign
rapeseed, protective of the home grower of that
important article of produce. A free trade with
foreign nations in grain, or any material relaxation
in the rates of duty now chargeable on its entry
for home consumption, must certainly cause many
thousands, we may indeed say millions of acres of
land now in a productive state of tillage to return
into their former state of unproductiveness ; and
it is fair to anticipate that the changes now so
unnaturally called for in the foreign grain trade
by cei tain classes, if granted by the British Legis-
lature, will in less than ten years from this date
be attended by higher prices for all the neces-
saries of life than are now paid on the average

238

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of years under the present system of moderate
protection to British and to Irish agricultural
pursuits.

From the United States of America the letters
received are dated in the second week of last
month, but of course they are only filled with
speculative opinions respecting the future state of
our corn laws, and the many advantages which
the Union must obtain from their material modifi-
cation. Our American brethren are exceedingly
attached to free trade; indeed so much so, that they
insist on payment for their exports, and pay for
as few of their imports as they possibly can help.
Wheat and flour at the latest dates maintained their
prices, and shipments of both continued to be
made in considerable quantities to the United King-
dom. When the present proceedings in the British
Parliament are known, the advance in the rates of
flour and of wheat for shipment will be more than
the decrease in our duties will justify ; but this
will be only a further proof, if anything further
on the subject be now requisite, that the foreign
grain grower, and not the British consumer, will
receive all the profit which will result fro n the
proposed relaxation in the rates of our wheat
duties. In exchange for American food an increased
exportation of manufactured goods will not be re-
quired. The Americans will continue to use our
goods in those quantities which their actual wants
may require ; and the agricultural interest there
will probably require, in exchange for their
agricultural produce, bullion with which they
may extend American agricultural improvements.
Surely her Majesty's subjects are not so perfectly
demented as fco prefer the improvement of count-
less plains on the banks of the Ohio to the culti-
vation of British and Irish fields; nor can they be
so far gone in self-respect as to work in factories,
in mines, and to destroy their constitutions before
furnaces, for the supply of foreign nations with the
different articles of their labour ; and their pay for
these toils to be their food, so long as health per-
mits them to do their work in a satisfactory way to
their taskmasters, and not one day longer. From
the information therefore which we have been
enabled to collect respecting the present state and
future prospects of the wheat trade, we arc induced
to conclude that the quantity of home-grown and
of duty-pdd foreign wheats still remaining uncon-
sumed, will bo found amply sufficient for the de-
mand until the next harvest season arrive; nor
can any material improvement in prices be antici-
pated unless the weather become again unpropi-
tious — a circumstance at present not very likely to
arise, and therefore scarcely to be calculated on
by the present importers of foreign wheat.

The barley trade has continued in a state of
great depression during the whole of last month,
and the necessary depreciation in the value of all
descriptions has been the consequence of this
limitation to the demand. The finest malting sam-
ples have been quoted at from 30s. to 33s. per qr.,
which is a low price indeed when compared with
the unusually small quantity of malting barley
which was secured during the late harvest season.
The malt duty, in fact, is much too high for the
interests of the barley grower : and this circum-
stance alone confines the consumption of beer
within very narrow limits. To remit the half of
it would increase the amount now paid into the
treasury from this source of revenue, for it would
do more than double the consumption of beer
amongst the people. The quantity of malt now

used by the common brewers may easily be raised
to eight or even to ten millions of quarters ; and,
even then, the allowance of beer to each indivi-
dual within the British empire would only be a
scanty one. Under the existing oppressive system
of malt taxation, not one half of the population
can afford the moderate ine of beer unadulterated
— indeed many millions cannot use it all. The
high duty likewise holds out a profitable and there-
fore a wide field for mixing beer with noxious and
deleterious ingredients by very many of the small
retailers, as the numerous convictions in the ex-
cise courts regularly demonstrate ; and this evil,
must continue to prevail until the malt duty be
reduced within moderation. Barley is charged
with nearly one quarter of the public expenditure,
but it may be rendered still more valuable to the
revenue, if safe and certain means were adopted
for increasing the consumption of barley. Two
millions of acres of sandy and poor lands may still
be converted into barley cultivation, and the profit
arising from this increased growth of barley
would do much more than pay the expense of the
increased consumption of beer, which the reduc-
tion of the existing rates of duty eventually would
occasion. If, however, the public charge on malt
be heavy, that in England on home-made spirits is
certainly outrageous. Three hundred per cent, of
duty on the cost price opens widely the door to
smuggling, and accordingly at least one half of the
spiiits consumed in England pays no duty to the
revenue; and the illicit manufacture and importa-
tion of these spirits are injurious to the morality
of all who are in any manner employed in their in-
troduction into consumption. In this illicit traffic
numerous crimes have their origin, and those of
drunkenness and teetotalism can alone be removed
by the equalisation of the home-made spirit duties
throughout the United Kingdom. There exists
no reasonable cause for modulate duties being im-
posed in Scotland and in Ireland, whilst extravagant
rates are charged in England. We are persuaded
that an uniform duty of 4;. or 5a. per gallon would
largely add to the revenue, and would render the
trade of the smuggler not profitable, and consequently
would eventually suppress it — rearing on its ruins
the wholesome virtue of temperance, and every per-
son enjoying in moderation the benefits which Pro-
vidence confers on him. In this channel, likewise,
an additional demand for at least half a million of
quarters of barley may be created, and a large sum
of money now annually remitted for spirits to foreign
nations may be retained within the country, and
embarked in the productive employment oftbe people.
The reduction of the duty in England must also go
far to restore prosperity to the important profession
of the home distiller — for mr.ny years now severely
injured by the transactions of the smuggler ; and at
least one-half of the yearly expenses of the Preventive
Service may be saved to the treasury. TLe fiscal and
legal restrictions also imposed on the rectifier, are
as injurious to the spirit trade as they are perfectly
absurd. Brandy, Hollands, whiskey, and colonial
spirits are permitted into consumption at those
strengths which suit the palate of the consumer and
the convenience of the merchant, whilst rectified
spirits CMt only be retailed when they are reduced to
18 under proof. It is impossible, under such regu-
lations, for the rectifier to produce that flavour which
he certainly could do^ were his operations less re-
stricted, in wholesomeness, home-made spirits nr*
admitted on all hands to he superior to any distilled
either in Holland or in France, and they are perfect-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

239

ly capable of being rendered equal in flavour to
Dutch gin or to French brandy, of the best qualities
imported into this country. On the whole, Sir John
Barleycorn is a very ill-used gentleman by his own
ungrateful countrymen. He intends good, but is
prevented from performing it by the malt and spirit
laws ; and no British minister can confer a greater
favour on the country than by liberating this great
philanthropist from the man)' restrictions which are
at present most unwisely imposed on his benevolent
intentions.

The supplies of oats in all the large markets of
consumption have continued to be fully equal to the
demand, and in their value a depreciation of about
Is. per quarter has occurred since the last publica-
tion of the Farmer's Magazine. The value of this
article is now decidedly low, but yet in Ireland, at
all events, profit still attends its cultivation. As
the inhabitants of England feed horses, and not
themselves, with oats, we cannot easilv comprehend
the reason which has induced her Majesty's minis-
ters to attempt any alteration in the protection by
law which the British oat-grower at present receives
against foreign competition in our markets of con-
sumption ; and it is still more difficult to imagine the
cause which can induce any Irish member in the
British legislature to give his sanction to the pro
posed alteration. To that part of the United King-
dom, any reduction from the duties now chargeable
on the admission of foreign oats into home use, must
be exceedingly prejudicial — indeed, it will miteii-
ally impede the progress of agriculture in that island,
for the best foreign oats bring nearly the same prices
in Mark Lane as the best potato oats of British
growth. At present, for instance, potato oats are
worth about 28s. per quarter, and the average price
at present being under 21s., should the proposed
corn act pass into a law, the protective duty to the
home producer will be only 7s. per quarter, which
will be paid out of the difference in price occa-
sioned by the superiority in quality. Afterpayment
of the duty, therefore, foreign oats, of the best sorts,
will still bring in Mark Lanoas much money as the
average qualities grown in the United Kingdom will
do, and must materially affect the best interests of
the oat cultivators, particularly in Ireland and in
Scotland. From Emden, Bremen, Leer, the Elbe,
and indeed from all the opposite coast of the Euro-
pean continent, freights to London are and will be
lower than from the northern parts of England, and
from the east coast of Scotland, and at least one half
cheaper than from any part of Ireland.

Under that wise protection which the existing
Corn-laws extend to the tillage of oats within the
United Kingdom, a most valuable coasting trade,
entirely under the British flag, and conducted by
British seamen and British capital, is also prosecuted ;
but under the proposed change, a great portion of
this trade will be transferred to foreign ships and to
foreign flags. Whatever may be said in favour of
opening the wheat market to foreign competition
— and the only favourable thing that can be
said for this change, is the reduction in the value
of wheat here which it must for a few years
occasion, the benefit of which, however, will be
instantly counteracted by a much more than cor-
responding reduction in the wages of labour — still
we cannot even fancy any ad vantage which can arise
from the reduction of the duties now levied under
the present corn laws on foreign oats, when con-
sumed within the united kingdom. An increased
and increasi g barter trade cannot arise from the sale
of foreign oats in Mark Lane, for it is as easy to

fancy London dustmen clothed in Genoa velvets as
German oat growers dressed in British manufactured
goods. Payment for the oats so imported will be
made generally in specie, and the foreign ships in
which they are imported, will return home generally
in ballast, the skippers universally carrying back in
their pockets the freights of the oats in hard money
for the payment of foreign, not of British sailors.
To the farmers throughout Scotland and in the north
of England the proposed alteration in the duties, now
payable in oats, w)ll be always, in all times, and
under all circumstances, extremely injurious; and to
agricultural improvements throughout Ireland it must
place an unnatural limit. A considerable portion of
the oats consumed thereafterinGreat Britain will also
give employment to foreign, and not to the agricul-
tural labourers of the United Kingdom, and the sea
carriage of this portion will be transferred from
British to foreign shipping. No benefit can result
to any interest in her Majesty's dominions from any
relaxation in the amount of duties now charged on
foreign oats when entered for home consumption,
and we therefore trust that her Majesty's ministers
will leave well alone, and not persist in the pro-
posed alteration.

The potato crop of last season has, contrary to
the general opinion lately entertained respecting its
quality, stood the winter season extremely well, and
the supply of this most excellent root has, since our
last publication, been most abundant. The quality
was never better in any previous year, and prices are
consequently most moderate. In retail the best
sorts sell at two pounds for one penny, and very
good quality can be purchased at six pounds for
two-pence. In wholesale transactions of course they
can be obtained much below these prices ; and in the
present partially depressed situation ot a part of the
population, the low value of potatoes is a mostfoitu-
nate circumstance. It is to the rapid improvements now
annually making in agriculture, that the people are
indebted for this great benefit ; and these immense
improvements could never be effected unless under
the auspices of the corn laws — a strong reason why
they should not be unnecessarily interfered with.

The weather during the month of February bason
the whole been favourable for putting the fields in
good order for sowing and planting generally the
spring crops. Should it continue so during this
month, in our next number we shall most probably
have the satisfaction of announcing to our readers
that spring labour in the fields has been brought to
a most favourable conclusion, and that the prospect
of good crops and of improved wages is becoming
more bright to our industrious classes of society,
in whatever channel their productive employment
may be directed.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

Feb. 21.

Per Qf. Per Qr.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, red .. 50 CO White.. 64 68

Irish 50 54 Do 58 60

Old, red — — Do — —

Rye, old 34 36 New 36 38

Barley, Grinding 25 29 Malting 31 33 Cheralier 32 34

Irish 23 25 Bere .20 21 24

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk Ql 6i5 Brown.. 50 54

Kingston and Ware .... 62 C6 Chevalier 66 —

Oats, Yorksh. & Lincolnsh., feed 22 23 25 Potato .. 26 27

YoughaH mid Cork black 17 18 Cork, white 17 18

Dublin 17 18 Westport 18 19

Waterford, white 16 17 18 Black.. 17 19

Newry 21 22

Galway 13 14 16

Scotch feed 20 '.'2 25 Potato.. 2« 27

Clonmel 20 2-2 Limerick 16 17 18

Londonderry 22 23 Sligo 16 20 22

240

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Per Qr. Per Qr.

Beans, Tick, new 27 32 Old.... 35 40

Peas, Grey 31 82 Maple.. 31 34

White 84 35 Boilers . 34 37

Seed, Rape 36/. 40/. Irish.. 32/. 34/. per last.

Linseed, Baltic.... 48 56 Odessa CO
Flour, Town-made GO — Suffolk 48 50 pr sk. of 280 lbs •
Stockton and Norfolk, 40 50
FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 56 60 "j

Hamburg 52 54 > nominal.

Rostock 60 54)

Barley 20 22

Oats, Brew 19 20 Feed... 14 16

Beans 20 24

Peas 26 28

Flour, American, per fori 30 — Baltic.. 29 —

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
Feb. 18th, 1842.

s. d.
11
2

4 I
0

9l
P

Wheat 59

Barley 28

Oats 20

Rye 30

Beans 32

Peas 33

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, Feb. 19th,
1841.

s. d.

Wheat 61 10

Barley 32 0

Oats 21 10

Rye 35 7

Beans 39 2

Peas 39 5

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending
Jan. 7th . .
14th ..
21st ..
28th ..
Feb. 4th ..
11th ..
AggrcgateAverage
of the six weeks
which regulates

the duty

Duties payable in
London till Wed
nesday next inclu-
sive, and at the
Ontports till the
arrival of the mail
of that day from

London

Do. on grain from
British posses-
sions out of Eu-
rope

Wheat.

63 0

62 5

61 5

60 7

60 6

59 11

61 4

25 8

5 0

Barley

29 7
29 1
28 10
28 3
28 5
28 2

28 9

19 10

2 6

Oats. I Rye. iBeans

20
20
20
20
20
20

20 3

16 9

39 9i36 0

40 11
43 0
37 4
36 1
36 0

38 10

12 6

84 11
33 9
33 4
33 4
32 9

34 0

13 3

208 01 30 30

Peas.

35 10
35 1

33 10

34 2
33 11
33 9

34 6

18 3

PRICES OF SEEDS.

Fed. 21.
Willi a rstail inquiry lor fine red Cloverseed from the
country former prices are maintained, but the absence
of any thing' like a speculative demand prevents exten-
sive transactions. Canary was difficult of disposal, and
the turn cheaper. Linseed and Rapeseed were held
firmly at previous rates. In other at tides no change
occurred.
Linseed, English, sowing 54 59

Baltic — — crushing 48 51 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 50 54
Large, foreign.... — —
Clover , English, red ... . 70 90 white — — per cwt.

Flemish 70 90 do.. — —

New Hamburgh .. 65 85 do.. — —

Old do 60 80 do.. — —

French 75 95 do.. — —

Hempseed, small 40 45 large.. 48 60

Coriander 10 16 old.... 16 ISpercwt.

Mustard, brown, new .. 10 14 white.. 9 13 pr. bush.

Trefoil 16 28

Rapeseed, English new.. 36/. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42 Scotch 18 40

Tares, winter — — New.. 6 7s 611

Canary, new 80 90 tine 95 100

Carraway.old 50 52 new 48 49 52

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, Feb. 21.
For the last year's growth of Hops the demand con-
tinues good, especially for pockets. There are very
few bags left, the great brewers having taken in their
stocks and cleared them off the market. The old lots
are also scarce, and therefore not much doing in them.

Bags,

Pocks

Bags

PocVs

B.gs

Pocks

Bags

Pocks. 1840

Bags 1841

1838
1838
1838
1838
1839
1839
1840

Pocks. 1841

East
Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

80 . . 00
Nominal
100.. 110
130.. 150

130 . . 180

Mid.
Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

80.. 90
Nominal
100.. 110
130 . . 150

130 to 168

Weald
of Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

74 .. 90
Nominal
90 .. 100

110.. 130

Sussex.

Nom.
Nom.

Nominal
Nominal

70 . . 90
Nominal
90 .. 100

108 .. 120 200 230

Fam-

ham.

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, Feb. 21.
The following supply has been received during the
past week: — From Yorkshire 1,085 tons, Scotland
1,240, Devonshire 355, Jersey and Guernsey 405, Kent
and Essex i90, Wisbeach 310 ; total, 3,585 tons. The
trade being generally in a very depressed state from our
continued large arrivals, and mild state of the weather,
salesmen are obliged to continue storing large quantities
to prevent demands for demurrage. The plentitude of
other kinds of vegetables, as well as the bad condition
of many samples of potatoes, operate prejudicially to
sales.

PRESENT PRICES AS ANNEXED.

S. S.

York Reds 50 to 70 per ton

Scotch , 50 —

Devons 50 55

Jersey and Guernsey Blues 40 45

Kent and Essex Whites 45 50

KentKidneys 60 —

AVisbeach Kidneys 55 —

WOOL MARKETS.

BRITISH.
WAKEFIELD, Feb. 18.— There continues to be
even less doing in all descriptions of both long and
short wools, and prices have suffered a depression of
from 5s. to 10s. per pack.

LIVERPOOL, February 19.
SCOTCH. — We have no alteration to notice in our
demand for Laid Highland Wool, which continues
very dull— only sales of a few bags in hand at our late
rates for immediate use. The same remarks will
equally apply to Crossed and Cheviots, and until ODce
the excitement of Peel's Corn Bill is over, we do not
expect any improvement.

s. d. s. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs.. 8 6 to 9 0

White do. do 11 G 12 6

Laid Crossed do.. un washed. . 8 9 9 G

Do. washed do 10 0 11 6

Do. Cheviot unwashed do 9 6 12 6

Do. washed 13 9 18 0

White Cheviot, washed 21 0 24 0

FOREIGN WOOL.
CITY, Feb. 21. — The advices from the manufac-
turing districts have not been very satisfactory, and
the agitation that prevails on the subject of the corn
laws and the import duties, added to the entire want of
confidence in the United States, operates injuriously
upon every branch of business. That the wool trade
should not be very brisk under such circumstances
will therefore not excite surprise.

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk- street, Strand, London.

'"■

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1842.

No. 4. — Vol. V.] [Second Series.

PLATE I.

The subject of our first Plate is a Suffolk Cart Stallion (Captain), the property of Mr. Thos. Crisp, of
Gedgrave, Suffolk, which obtained the first prize of Thirty Sovereigns, at the Third Meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, held at Liverpool, July, 1841. Also the first Prize of Fifteen Sovereigns
and Silver Medal at the meeting of the East Suffolk Agricultural Association in September, 1841. The
first Prize of Ten Sovereigns at the West Suffolk Agricultural Society, held at Bury St. Edmunds in
September, 1841. The first Prize of Ten Sovereigns at the East Suffolk Agricultural Association in
September, 1839. The first Prize of Three Sovereigns at the North Suffolk and South Norfolk Agricul-
tural Society, held at Eye, in September, 1839. The first Prize of Eight Sovereigns at the West Suffolk
Agricultural Society in September, 1839. And the first Prize of Four Sovereigns for the best three-year
old colt, at a meeting of the East Suffolk Agricultural Association at Wickham Market, September,
1839.

Professor Low, in his " Illustrations of the Breeds of Domestic Animals," speaking of the " Suffolk Punch,"
says, " Besides the heavy black horse, and other larger horses of this country employed in draught, a variety
exists possessed of such peculiarities of form and colour, that it is properly regarded as a family or breed.
It is termed the " Suffolk Punch," from the county of Suffolk, where it has been long reared, and from
the stout or punchy form distinctive of the individuals. It extends from Suffolk throughout the neigh-
bouring counties of Norfolk and Essex, where it is held in estimation for the purposes of common labour.
It is distinguished by its colour, which is of a light dun or sorrel, sometimes deepening into chesnut, with
lighter coloured mane and tail. It was held to be a useful kind of horse, naturally of moderate stature,
and though slow, possessed of good endurance, but for a long period the breed has been largely crossed
with other varieties, so that it is now somewhat difficult to obtain the " Suffolk Punch" in a state of purity.
The olden breed was especially valued for the steadiness of the individuals in draught, and the trueness
with which they performed their work of all kinds. No horses exerted themselves better at a dead pull.
A true Suffolk Punch would draw almost till he dropped down. A team, at a signal given, would, without,
a whip, bend in a moment to their knees and drag everything along. This property was so remarkable
iu the old Suffolk Punches, that cruel wagers used to be laid on their powers of draught, and many fine
horses, it is said, were ruined by their indomitable spirit. They were a docile and hardy race of horses,
capable of subsisting on ordinary food. Their form, however, was peculiarly plain. The heads were large,
the necks short, the muscles coarse, the shoulders low and cloddy ; but the limbs were short, the backs
Straight, the loins wide, and the haunches well developed."

There are few instances in which a single individual has won such a number of prizes in the same space
of time as Mr. Crisp, and for which we think him entitled to the highest credit. As an incentive to others
to follow his example, we have given a list of them in the following page.

PLATE II.

MASON ON GAYLAD.

This well-known horse, the property of Mr. Elmore, of steeple chasing notoriety, was got by Brutan-
dorf, and reared from a foal by Mr. C. Davy, of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. His performances have
been of a somewhat chequered character. In 1840 at Northampton, he started, but was not placed, the
race being won cleverly by Cigar ; and at Louth in the same year, he was defeated by Mr. Walker's Pe-
ter Simple, and Mr. W. Loft's Creeper. In 1841 he came out at Brocklesby, and was beaten by Mr.
Holmes's Croxby ; which horse, however, he managed to defeat and eight others at Horncastle in a
Sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each with oOl. added — distance four miles, time twelve minutes and a half. At
Boston, on the 18th of March, he was again obliged to succumb to Peter Simple; but at Northampton
on the 20th, he took the shine out of his previous conqueror Cigar. At Nottingham he was not placed.
On the 7th of April, at Chelmsford, he won a Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each with 100 added, beating Seliin;
Aggravator, Goblin, Lottery, &c. At Newport Pagnell on the 20th of April, he was defeated by Mr. El-
more's Lottery ; and at the same place, on the 1 9th of November, he was beaten by Luck's-all. In a
match at Finchleyfor 200/. he beat Croxby, in which he is represented by the artist, ridden by Mason.
He has been out since, and won the Liverpool and Oxford steeple-chaces.

OLD SERIES.-] K [No. 4.— VOL. XVI.

242

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

LIST OF PRIZES FOR STOCK,
OBTAINED BY MR. THOMAS
CRISP, OF GEDGRAVE, SUF-
FOLK.

AT THE EAST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

1833, Sept. 12th.— Southdown shearling tup, 41. ;
pen of five Southdown shearling ewes, 41.

1834, Sept. 11th.— Suffolk cart mare, 3/.; Suffolk
bull, 51.; Southdown shearling tup, 41.; two
shear Leicester tup, 41.; pen of five South-
down shearling ewes, 41. ; sweepstakes for the
best two-year old cart filly, beating Rev.
Robt. Wilson, 21.

1835, March 6th — Fat ox, 3/.
Sept. 10th.— Three-year old cart filly, 41. ; Suf-
folk bull, 51. ; sweepstakes, best fat heifer,
beating Lord Huntingfield, 5/.

1836, Sept. 8th.— Suffolk bull, 5/. ; Durham cow,
31. ; two-shear Leicester tup, 41.; five South-
down shearling ewes, 4/. ; sweepstakes, Suf-
folk bull, beating Mr. Diggens, Mr. Thread-
kill, and J. Moseley, Esq., 41. ; sweepstakes,
short-horn cow, beating Mr. II. Edwards and
Mr. G. Cook, 31.

1837, August 22nd.— Match with Mr. J. Cordy to
produce a shearling Southdown tup whose
live weight exceeded that of a Leicester of the
same age without restrictions as to feeding —
weight of Southdown 2131bs., Leicester 205
lbs., 8/.

Sept. 14th.— Cart mare 31.; Suffolk bull, 51. ;
Southdown shearling tup, 41. ; two-shear
Leicester tup, ,41. ; sweepstakes, Suffolk bull,
beating J. Moseley, Esq., 21. ; ditto, year-old
Suffolk bull, beating J. Moseley, Esq., 21.;
ditto, short-horn bull, beating Sir Thomas
Gooch, 21. ; ditto, Southdown tup, beating
Andrew Arcedeckne, Esq., 21.; ditto, shearling
Southdown tup, beating Andrew Arcedeckne,
Esq., 21. ; ditto, bull calf under 12 months old,
beating Sir Robt. Harland, 21.

AT THE WEST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

1837, Sept. 29th.— Suffolk bull, 51. ; short-horn
bull, 31. ; match with Rev. I). Gwiltfor short-
horn bull, 4/.

AT THE EAST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

1838, Sept. 10th.— Suffolk bull, 51. ; short-horn
bull, 51.; two-shear Southdown tup, 4/.;
shearling Leicester tup, 4/.; sweepstakes,
Suffolk bull, beating J. Moseley, Esq., 21. ;
ditto, Suffolk cow, beating Mr. B. Head, Mr.
H. Wright, Mr. N. Crisp, and J. Moseley,
Esq., 5/. ; ditto, short-horn bull, beating Mr.
R. Barker and Mr. Moses Crisp, 3/. ; ditto,
Southdown tup, beating A. Arcedeckne, Esq.,
21. ; ditto, two-shear Southdown tup, beating
Andrew Arcedeckne, Esq., 21. ; ditto, shear-
ling Southdown tup, beating A. Arcedeckne,
Esq., 21.

AT THE WEST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

Sept. 28th. — Two-shear Leicester tup, 3/.; Suf-
folk cart mare, 31.

AT THE VV00DBRIDGE SHEEr SHEARING.

1839, May 22nd.— Southdown hogget tup, 31.

AT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY AT OXFORD.

July 17th— Southdown tup of any age, 30/.

AT THE EAST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

1839, Sept.— Cart stallion, 10/.; Suffolk bull, 5/.;
two-shear Southdown tup, 4/. ; shearling
Southdown tup, 41. ; Leicester shearling tup,
41. ; five Southdown shearling ewes, 41. ; fat
short-horn ox, hi. ; second ditto, 3/. ; sweep-
stakes, year-old cart filly, beating Mr. J . Read,
Mr. Thos. Freeman, Mr. Catlin, and Mr. G.
Cook, 5/. ; ditto, year old cart colt, beating
Mr. J. Newson, Mr. C. George, and Mr. Wm.
Walker, 4/. ; ditto, Suffolk bull, beating Mr.
J. Read and Mr. A. K. Blofield, 3?.; ditto,
shearling Leicester tup, beating Mr. Wm.
Fisher Hobbs and Lord Huntingfield, 3/. ;
five Southdown shearling ewes, beating An-
drew Arcedeckne, Esq., 21.

AT THE NORTH SUFFOLK AND SOUTH NORFOLK
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

1839, Sept. 24th.— Suffolk cart stallion, 31. ; Suf-
folk bull, 3/. ; short-horn bull, 31. ; two-shear
Southdown tup, 21. ; shearling ditto, 21. ; five
Southdown shearling ewes, 21.; Lord Hen-
niker's silv< r cup for shearling Southdown
tup, and five ditto ewes.

AT THE WEST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

Sept. 27th,— Suffolk cart stallion, 8/.; ditto cart
mare, 3/. ; Suffolk bull, 5/.; short-horn cow,
31. ; Southdown tup, 5/.

AT THE SECOND MEETING OF THE ROYAI. AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND AT CAMBRIDGE.

1840, July 15th. — Southdown tup, 30/.; ditto
shearling Southdown tup, second prize, 10/.

AT THE EAST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

1840, Sept.— Suffolk bull, 5/.; second-best ditto,
3/. ; shorthorn cow, hi. ; Southdown tup, 51.;
ditto shearling tup, 5/. ; second shearling do.,
21.; Leicester tup, 5/. ; five Southdown ewes,
5/.; Lord Henniker's silver cup for three
Suffolk cows, 10/. 10s.; sweepstakes, Suffolk
cart stallion, beating Mr. F. Keer, 21.; ditto,
two-year old rait filly, beating Mr. Moses
Crisp and Mr. G. Utting, 3/.; ditto, Suffolk
cow, benting Mr. Read and Mr. J. Read, jun.,
3/. ; ditto, two-shear Southdown tup, beating
Mr. T. N. Catlin, 21. ; ditto, shearling South-
down tup, beating Air. T. N. Catlin and A.
Arcedeckne, Esq., 3/.; ditto, five Southdown
ewes, beating A. Arcedeckne, Esq., 2/.; ditto,
five lambs, beating Mr. R. Rist, 21. ; ditto, ten
Southdown flock ewes, beating Mr. T. N. Cat-
lin and A. Arcedeckne, Esq., 61.; ditto, two-
year old cart filly, beating Mr. J. Garrod, 20/.

AT THE NORTH SUFFOLK AND SOUTH NORFOLK AGRI-
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

1840, Sept. 22nd. — Lord Henniker's silver cup for
the best pen of five Southdown shearling
ewes and shearling tup; Lord Henniker's
silver cup for the best pair of year-old heifers
and bull.

AT THE WEST SUFFOLK AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

Sept. 25th. — Suffolk bull, 5/.; Southdown tup,
5/. ; five Southdown shearling ewes, 51.; three
two-year old heifers, 3/.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

243

AT THE THIRD MEETING OF THE HOVAL
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND AT
LIVERPOOL.

1841, July. — Suffolk cart stallion, 30/. ; three year
old Suffolk cart stallion, at ditto, 20/.

AT THE EAST SUFFOLK AGIUCUI.TUIt A L ASSOCIATION.

Sept. 9th. — Cart stallion, 15/.; Suffolk bull, 5/. ;
silver medal as breeder ; second best Suffolk
bull, 3/.; short-horn bull, SI., silver medal as
breeder; three-year old heifer, 3/., silver me-
dal as breeder; two-year old short-horn
heifer, 3/., silver medal us breeder ; South-
down tup, 5/., silver medal as breeder ;
shearling Southdown tup, hi., silver medal as
breeder ; second shearling Southdown tup,
21. \ five Southdown shearling ewes, 5/., silver
medal as breeder; fat ox, 51., silver
medal as breeder ; second fat ox, 3/.; fat ox,
bred in Suffolk, 5/., silver medal ; second
ditto, bred in Suffolk, 3/.; sweepstakes, Suf-
folk cart stallion, beating Mr. W. Wilson, Mr.
Piist, and Mr. R. Easter, 4/. ; ditto, South-
down shearling tup, beating Mr. N. Crisp, 21.

ROUGH NOTES ON LANDED
PROPERTY IN THE WEST OF
ENGLAND.

BY R-

AN ASSISTANT SURVEYOR.

Having in the former part of my notes classi-
fied the land into their divisions, each differing
widely in character from the others, I may fairly
be asked if there are any existing causes which
have a tendency to produce these different classes.
Some perhaps will say that these depend entirely
on the cultivators, and that they alone can be the
cause of them. True, the cultivators must be the
principal cause of the dissimilarity ; but there are
other causes which act upon the agriculturists,
and by thus acting, produce through them their
varied effects upon the land. Some are easily
discerned, and are openly acknowledged by the
occupier as reasons for pursuing a particular mode
of cultivation ; others act more covertly, and re-
quire to be traced back through the cultivators to
themselves, and this may easily be done by any
one who has opportunities of seeing the land, and
of conversing freely with the farmers.

A few of the causes which appear to affect the
value of landed property, either by influencing the
proprietors in their management, or the occupiers
in their modes of cultivation, are —
The tenure by which it is held.
The size of the property ; if extensive; whether
it be compact or divided ; if divided, how ? whe-
ther into large estates, manors, or bartons, or into
farms and small tenements; and the situation of
these detached parts.

Although the tenures by which lands are held
in this part are various, it will only be necessary
to look at three kinds — fee, leasehold for a term
of years or on lives, and rack rent, either for a
term or from year to year. The other tenures
differ from these in some respects, but appear to
produce like results so far as they affect the man-
agement or cultivation of the property. Land be-
longing to the Duchy of Cornwall may be classified
as fee and leasehold. On some of this land the

Duchy have simply a right to search for minerals ;
the owners in other respects enjoying their pro-
perties as if it were fee land ; experiencing, perhaps,
a little annoyance by being obliged to comply with
a few rather vexatious regulations peculiar to this
kind of property.

Leasehold may truly be termed the curse of
anded property, Leasehold on lives may possibly
be the least injurious, as the lessee has at first an
interest in managing the property well, and the
lives may die whilst he pursues this system, and
so prevent him from changing his management
and injuring the property ; and this almost ideal
chance is the only thing in which leasehold on
lives can be said to be superior to a lease for a
term of years certain. The worst feature of this
tenure is that the holder has power to sell, conse-
quently the proprietor can have no conception into
whose hands the property may get ; he in fact
gives up all power, and the lessee does what he
pleases, generally ruining the property. At the
commencement of these holdings, and so long as
the lessees can calculate that they possess an in-
terest equal to 8 or 10 years value, things appear
to go on tolerable, the land is not much injured,
and the buildings are kept in tenantable repair ;
but when their interest in the property becomes
less, either by the death or illness of the lives, the
system is quickly changed. If the property be at
rent, it is either from year to year, or during the
remainder of the lease; the rent is raised to the
utmost, and as an inducement to the farmer to
give it, he is left at liberty to farm as he pleases,
and the bouses are considered in capital repair if
watertight. It is easy to imagine the state of the
property when restored to the proprietor after a
few years of such management.

Leases for a fixed term of years, with power to
let, are not often found on fee property, but more
generally on lands belonging to public bodies,
deaneries, &c. The lessee holds the property for
a term, and as he is not certain that when the term
expires he shall get a new lease, he endeavours
to make hay whilst the sun shines, and how does
he do this ? by letting from year to year, or for
short terms — 5 or 7 years. A short time since I
valued some property of this description with
another surveyor. He remarked to the farmer that
he thought if the estate were managed differently
it would pay him better and improve the land.
The reply was — " I know it would, but I have not
time ; my landlord will only grant me a 7 years
term, and were I to act as you point out, I should
be out of pocket."

It appears probable in this case, and it is not a
solitary one, that had the holding been different,
the cultivation of the estate would have been
better — benefitting the farmer, and improving the
land. It is time for some steps to be taken to
rescue the splendid properties held by various
public bodies, from being managed on the system
of leases ; surely some plan can be devised so that
the tenantry may get fair holdings, and thus be in-
duced to cultivate the land well. The effect of
leasehold may justly be said to be deteriorating,
and in the case of the farmer referred to, we can
openly trace its effects. The lessee, to be able to
take advantage of any increase in the value of the
property, lets for short terms, and this is avowed
by the farmer as the cause of his bad manage-
ment.

Much has been said in favour of long and shoit
leases for renting. So far as they affect the quality

R 2

244

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the land by influencing the farmer in his man-
agement, long terms are decidedly best.

In the case of the farmer before mentioned, he
positively stated that the shortness of his term
prevented him from practising a better system of
agriculture, which, had the term been longer, he
certainly should have done. A man would deci-
dedly merit the appellation of fool, who would on
a lease of 7 or 10 years expend as much capital as
would be required to farm the estate well ; the
shortness of the lease would prevent him from
realising it again. With a long lease, a farmer
cannot lay out too much capital, provided he does
it judiciously; the greater the amount employed,
the more profit will he get. A few weeks since,
I met with a joung man whose father occupies a
large estate in a part of this country with which lam
not much acquainted. On my asking him how they
managed their land, he replied — " Oh, we cannot
boast ; our landlord will only grant a 7 years term,
we therefore cannot farm well. Should we improve
the estate, be would at the expiration of the 7
years, either greatly increase the rent or turn us
out. My father very much dislikes to be so awk-
wardly situated, liable to have the rent raised or
to be turned out so frequently ; so he intends
giving up the place at the expiration of the present
lease, and taking a farm of some gentleman who
manages differently, and where he may be able to
employ his property with a greater certainty of
being repaid. At present he is always in fear and
uncertainty; but could he get an estate for 21
years, he then might fairly calculate on employing
his capital in safety and with profit."

Here we have a very respectable and wealthy
farmer prevented from employing bis capital, from
farming better than he now does, and driven to
seek a home from another proprietor — by what?
short leases. And thus his present landlord loses
a very desirable tenant, which any thinking pro-
prietor would be glad to have, and many, 1 have
no doubt, would readily make a sacrifice to get.
It does not follow that because short terms pro-
duce bad effects, long terms produce good ones. A
bad farmer, be his term long or short, will farm
badly ; but in the case of a good farmer a short
term prevents him from farming well — a long term
gives him facilities for doing so. And I think it
will generally be found that farms held for short
terms are not so well cultivated as those let for
long periods; such is the casein every neighbour-
hood I have seen.

Many parties advocate letting estates from
year to year, considering it the best plan. The
appearance of the land does not support this view ;
for, with very few exceptions, estates thus let are
not as well cultivated as others in the same neigh-
bourhood which are let for long terms; and those
few exceptions are only seen under very favour-
able circumstances. And most of the farmers I
have conversed with, are averse to this mode of
letting, and assert that no man is justified in lay-
ing out the amount of capital required to farm the
estate well, unless he is protected by a long
lease.

It has been often said that too great an extent
of land is held by many of the proprietors, and
some persons assert that were these large proper-
ties divided into lesser portions, and held by dif-
ferent parties, it would be for the better; others
go further, and would have the land divided so
that every man might have a little. Judging from
appearances, I should say that a proprietor who

manages his land well, cannot have too much.
Wherever I have had an opportunity of comparing
large and small properties, the comparison has been
invariably in favour of the large ones. Small
properties, whether farmed by the owners, or let
to rent, ate generally worse cultivated than the
larger ones.

If let to rent, it is either for short terms or from
yearto year. We have already noticed the preju-
dicial effects of these. Small proprietors have many
reasons for letting for short terms, which do not
nfluence the larger ones. I have known estates
let from year to year, because their owners fancied
they might like at some undefined period to farm
themselves; others, that the proprietors might have
opportunities of raising the rents, should the times
improve; others, because they intend their sons
to be farmers. These causes, and man}' others,
produce short terms, and through them prejudicial
effects on the land.

It is often said that the parties who farm their
own estates are the worst farmers ; in the gene-
rality of cases, this is true. I should think it im-
possible to find land in a worse state of cultivation
than the smallest of these are, and the proprietors
are themselves generally in a most wretched
plight ; their properties frequently mortgaged at
more than their value ; a day labourer in the same
neighbourhood is better circumstanced than they
are. The estates of many who farm largely, are
very far from being well cultivated ; some of these
may easily be distinguished. The house, garden,
and pleasure ground, aic kept in nice order; the
corners of the most conspicuous fields hedged off
and planted ; two or three sporting dogs may be
seen, and a good hack found in the stable. These
and other appearances bespeak a man well to do ;
and if the state of the farm corresponded with
these, it won'd be well; but their sporting dogs
are fatter than the cattle ; the neat appearance of
the garden is not discernible on the farm, and
the substantia] appearance of the dwelling-house is
contrasted by the ruined state ot the farm buildings.
A very slight survey of an estate of this kind,
brings to the mind and convinces you of the truth
of a very common saying — "This man is too fine
a gentleman to be a farmer." But it we look at
the dark, we ought also to look at the bright side ;
and there is a bright side, for among the small
proprietors farming their own estates, are many of
the best farmers ; and to the exertions of a few
of these may be attributed in a great measure the
improvement which has already been effected. I
have been informed, that in the district where the
improvement is the greatest that it was com-
menced about forty years since by a few indi-
viduals of this class, who then introduced various
alterations in their management ; from that time
the improvement has gradually increased, and
within the last four years men of all classes have
united to increase and accelerate it ; and so great
has been their success, that were they not hin-
dered by causes which will require a series of years
to remove, they would soon make the agriculture
in that district equal to that in any other part of
England, and even challenge competition with
their more northern brethren.

Some large properties contiguous to each other,
having the same local advantages and disadvan-
tages, differ widely in appearance. On one may be
seen a tolerable system of agriculture, and fair
proofs that the land if not improving is not dete-
riorating ; on another every thing betokens a rapid

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

24

decrease in its value. The local advantages and
disadvantages being the same, it might be ex-
pected that the appearance of the properties should
be similar, and a stranger would ask, from whence
does this difference arise ? Let him examine the
two very different ways in which these properties
are managed by the owners, and he will get a
plain and direct answer, and will, 1 doubt not,
admit that the two systems are calculated to pro-
duce very opposite effects. I do not intend stating
what I consider to be a good or a bad system of
management, but to give a brief explanation of
two or three systems, each differing widely from
the others, and also the condition of the land as
I have found it under each system.

Many proprietors place almost unlimited power
in the hands of their stewards, simply telling them
that they expect their property to be made the
most of; and as an inducement to the stewards to
exert themselves, instead of paying them fixed
salaries, they have so much per cent, on the rent
roll, and they, knowing that the more cash they
can raise, the better they shall please, and also
get more themselves, employ every means they
can to raise money. The estates are let by tender,
and the highest is generally accepted ; that is, if the
person so tendering is considered able to pay,
or to be made to pay the rent. The leases
are invariably for short periods unless they
can catch a wealthy occupant, then perhaps the
contrary ; or the estates are let from year to year,
and the stewards, having a sort of prescience of the
evil effects of their system, to prevent the land from
being injured, insert in the leases a number of
, restrictive clauses, thus fettering the takers ; and
in some cases the restrictive clauses are so nume-
rous and ridiculous, that it is impossible for a
tenant to farm the estate, and not break his agree-
ment. The farm buildings are hardly kept in a
tenantable state ; and when anew house is wanted,
the job is put off as long as possible, and when done
it is in the cheapest, not the mostsubstantial way.
The state of the lands under such management I
need not describe ; it is sufficient to state that they
belong to the second division, and are rapidly de-
clining. A walk over their properties, and a free
conversation with their tenantry, would alter the
opinions and management of many proprietors;
they would then see that their properties are les-
sening in value, and hear statements, — true state-
ments,— of grievances they now little dream of.
Would they could hear the sullen expressions of
discontent, and the curses — the deep and bitter
curses — which are daily and hourly breathed
upon them and their stewards. I often have
heard such, and at times so embittered and
dreadful have these been, that I have shud-
dered at the sounds. It may be said that it is a
man's own fault if he takes an estate on these terms,
but there are a number of farmers who are com-
pelled by necessity to do so. They possess but
small capital, and when they are obliged to leave
the estates they occupy, they must take others at
any price, and under any conditions. To do
nothingfor twelve months only, would reduce their
properties so much, that then probably they would
be unable to farm the smallest estates ; thus they
are compelled to get estates to prevent themselves
from being ruined. How truly are they to be
pitied !

Some owners take a more active part in the
management of their properties, and their mode is
widely different from the last. The estates are let
by tender, but instead of the amount of rent offered

determining the choice, the stewards have positive
orders to select the best farmer ;-and in some cases
so little attention is paid to the amount tendered,
that I have known instances in which the amount
of rent has been fixed at five and even ten percent,
lower than the sum offered. The leases are gene-
rally drawn for fourteen or twenty one-years, and
the restrictive clauses are only such as will secure
the proprietor, and prevent the estate from being
badly cultivated. Every attention is paid to the
farm buildings, that they may be fully equal to the
wants of the estate, and are built in the firmest
way, and on the best plan ; it is a pleasure to
survey properties that are thus managed. In the
fields you are frequently cheered with beholding
tolerable farming, the land perhaps improving, and
the stock of good quality. Within doors, instead
of sullen discontent, you meet with cheerfulness
and contentment ; and instead of curses heaped on
the proprietor, you hear his praise. I have fre-
quentlyasked"whatsortofbmdlord haveyougot ?"
The reply has often been, " O sir, he is an excellent
landlord ; and so long as we manage the estate
properly, and behave well, we shall never be
turned out. He expects us to be very punctual
with our payments, but should wc at any time
want cash, he very willingly allows us to keep
the rent for a few months : and if we want any
thing done, we have only to name it, and should he
consider it necessary, it is done at once, and done
well." Even others, who do not rent under such
proprietors, testify to their worth. " I wish I
could get a farm under such a person ; if
I could, I should be settled for life. A man
is as well off to rent an estate of his, as if he
had one of his own." These and other similar
expressions may frequently be heard, and generally
coupled with praise of the proprietors.

A few proprietors practise what may be called
a loose system of management. The estates are
frequently let by private contract, rent easy, and
the leases are drawn according to the custom of
the neighbourhood in which the property is situa-
ted, either for 7, 10, 14, or 21 years, the condi-
tions vary also, and these terms are frequently paid
but little attention to, and the proprietor is satisfied
if he gets his rent. Some appear careless if they
get it or not ; they leave some of their tenants to
run on year after year without paying, and at last
lose the major part. The land under this kind
of management varies in condition, according to
its situation ; if in a neighbourhood which is well
cultivated, and if it be farmed by active and up-
right men, it is just as the rest of the land in that
part ; if surrounded by land badly farmed, it is, I
think, worse, as the tenants consider themselves
at perfect liberty to do as they please. When men
of ability and energy rent property thus managed,
they generally farm it well. They know the fa-
vourable situation they occupy, and exert them-
selves to the utmost to deserve it, and to benefit
themselves; and so far its effects are good. But
when it is occupied by men of idle or careless
habit?, its effects are very prejudicial ; relying on
the kindness of their landlords, they trouble them-
selves but little, calculating that they will not he.
too severe, and that the rent may as well be paid
two or three months after as at the proper time.
I have known instances of proprietors from kind-
ness allowing tenants to retain the rent from year to
year, and they, getting every year more in debt,
were at last unable to pay it. It is probable that,
had the owners at the first peremptorily demanded
the rent, and have given the tenants to understand

246

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that they must he punctual for the future, that
they would have exerted themselves, have paid
the rent, and maintained their families in
comfort. Whilst every landlord should he ready
to assist a tenant when circumstances are against
him, either from loss of cattle, bad harvests, family
sickness, or other causes, yet they should by no
means be lenient towards those who are not so
unfortunately situated. Many a man is roused in-
to exertions by a peremptory demand, who would
otherwise sit down in idleness and apathy.

The situations of the different parts of a property
produce their effects, by affecting the management.
On a compact property, no matter how large, an
able steward will quickly make himself thoroughly
acquainted with every tenement under his ma-
nagement; hut if the property he much divided,
he cannot do so without very considerable ex-
pense ; consequently, the more distant parts arc
partially left to the care of the tenants, the steward
visiting it only when compelled by business. On
such estates when new buildings are erected, they
are frequently badly planned and injudiciously
placed. I recollect surveying a small village, the
whole of which, together with the neighbouring
estates, belonged to the same proprietor. The
land adjoining the village was rented by two far-
mers— one occupied about 120 acres, the other
perhaps 40 acres. On the larger estate, in conse-
quence of the old barn being too small, a new one
had been erected ; and when I was there, another
was building on the small estate. Now, the old
barn belonging to the large estate was in very
good repair, and made but little use of by the far-
mer, and situated not thirty feet distant from the
spot on which the new one was building. I think
it extremely probable that had this property been
near the steward, he would have seen that the old
barn was in every respect fit for the small estate,
and accordingly have arranged with its occupier to
give it up, and thus have saved the proprietor the
expense of building the second, amounting pro-
bably to 100/.

Large and small farms, as well as large and
small properties, have each their advocates. 1
have frequently conversed on this subject with
each class of occupiers, and they generally con-
sider large estates to be more desirable than small
ones. The tenants on the latter complain that
their small size prevents them from purchasing
most of the improved implements, as the outlay
required to do so would not be repaid by the estate,
consequently they are unable to cultivate the land
as well as the parties occupying large farms ; also,
that unless they keep more horses than they re-
quire throughout the year, they cannot get their
crops tilled in proper season, and the loss of a
horse or a bullock by death is to a small farmer a
very serious affair, whilst a large occupier scarcely
feels it. Such remarks, if correct, are certainly in
favour of large estates. Again, the situation of
the different enclosures on an estate seriously
affects its value ; but judging from the little atten-
tion paid to this, one would suppose it mattered
not whether a farmer has to cart his manure, &c.
two hundred yards or two miles. Many estates
are so intermingled, that the different farmers have
each to pass through two or three of their neigh-
bour's fields to get at one of their own. I know
many farms on which you can scarcely find more
than two or three fields adjoining each other ; and
on estates of less than 100 acres it is not unusual
to find the fields so much scattered, that the two

ends of the estate are one or two miles apart.
Whilst surveying I remarked to a farmer, that
I thought the enclosures on his estate were much
scattered. He replied, " They are, and so much
so, that althowgh my farm is only 80. acres, I am
obliged to keep one horse more than I should re-
quire if my farm were compact." A horse in that
neighbourhood cannot be kept for less then 25/.
per annum, which sum is rather a serious draw-
back on the value of an estate only 80 acres in
extent. In the same parish, whilst standing in the
farm-yard conversing with the tenant, another
surveyor who was present, said to the farmer,
"Yon have an excellent crop of turnips in the ad-
joining field, and very conveniently situated, as the
gate opens into the yard." " O ! that is not my
field." " Not your field !" 4< No, the land belongs
to the same proprietor that I rent of, but that field

is rented by Mr. ." "Indeed! it certainly

ought to be put with your farm." " Yes, I think
it did ; I could afford to give 10s. per acre more for

it than Mr. does. With a cart and three

horses he can only get four or five loads of dung
into it in a day ; whilst one horse would take
eighteen or twenty loads into it from my yard in
the same time." In both cases we have a great
loss of property.

The numerous restrictive clauses which are in-
serted in the leases in some properties, and which
are intended to prevent the takers fiom farming
the estates badly, and thus lessening their value,
appear to he producing effects directly opposite.
They prevent farmers who possess a fair amount
of capital, from taking estates in properties that
are thus managed; and drive those of the same
class who may already he tenants, from the pro-
perty.

I lately met with a surveyor who is well ac-
quainted with a property, on which very restric-
tive clauses have been introduced during the last
seven or eight years. On my asking him his
opinion of it, he replied, "I think it will mate-
rially injure the property. All the tenants very
much dislike it, and many who possess pretty
good capitals will, I think, leave as soon as their
present holdings cease. They do not like being
compelled to use so much lime, so much sand, to
put so many loads of this, that, or the other per
acre ; nor do they like to be obliged to produce the
bills for these things to the steward at the court. It
is an insult to any respectable man to request him
to do so ; and no independent farmer will take an
estate on that property if he can get one else-
where." This appears to be the general feeling.
The farmers are willing to enter into fair agree-
ments, hut dislike being fettered; and those who
can, purchase estates rather than comply with such
vexatious terms.

Agricultural Societies are spoken against by
many : they appear to produce beneficial effects.
On examining the list of premiums which have
been awarded by a society that has been esta-
blished about ten years, I find that during the first
three or four years, the farmers residing in two
parishes only won the majority of the highest
prizes; since they have not been so successful,
farmers from other districts having successfully
competed with them ; and for the last year or two
the prizes have been more widely distributed. The
stock in the two parishes has certainly not gone
back in quality, consequently the general stock in
that district must be improved.
Transplanting farmers (if I may be allowed the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

247

term), if done judiciously, 'is, I think, one of the
best methods that can be adopted to improve
landed property. A proprietor who lets an estate
to a farmer who has been accustomed to a better
system of agriculture than the one practised in
his neighbourhood, places before his tenantry an
example they would do well to follow. They may
have read of such a system, and its results may
have been accurately stated; but they have no
guarantee that such is the case ; the statement
may be correct or incorrect for what they know,
and they would consider it haphazard work to try
it. But in the case of the farmer they would have
the system placed practically before them ; they
would be able to see the whole of his proceedings,
and to witness their results ; and not only so, but
be enabled to calculate in pounds, shillings, and
pence (and there is no argument so powerful as
this) whether the results were favourable or not.

On comparing the different appearance of the
various properties I have had opportunities of
seeing, with the system of management pursued
on each, I am forced to the conclusion, that the
proprietors are chiefly indebted to themselves for
the increase or decrease in the value of their lands.
They possess powers which they may wield for
their own benefit or injury. Under some systems
of management the land is looking well, under
others bad. Some perhaps may be disposed to
think that the effects produced by different methods
of management are not so dissimilar as I have
stated.

One of the most desirable properties in the
West of England, when under the management
of the late steward, was certainly not improving;
my opinion is, that it was deteriorating. At his
decease a few years since, a gentleman thoroughly
acquainted with the management of landed pro-
perty, and a practical agriculturist, succeeded him,
and the effects of the change are already visible.
The tenants are gradually farming the estates
better, the stock is of better quality, and through-
out the property there are proofs that it is im-
proving. And I have been informed that this uwy
entirely be attributed to the system of manage-
ment adopted by the present steward.

I have stated in a former part of my notes, that
agriculture is retarded in the west by causes
which do not so much affect it in other parts
of Great Britain ; and looking at the great quantity
of land that is divided into very small estates, let
for short terms, with the rents screwed to the
tightest, and so badly managed by its possessors,
I am the more confirmed in my opinion. But
there is another and very powerful cause, viz —
the very few persons who possess considerable
capital that are agriculturists. A man who can
give his son two or five thousand pounds seldom
thinks of his becoming a farmer ; or should he do
so, instead of taking an estate sufficiently large
to employ the major part of his capital, and thus
place him in a situation to farm well, he lays out
the whole amount, perhaps more, to purchase an
estate, and the son then enters on a small farm,
with probably a borrowed capital, and ten to one
but he becomes " too fine a gentleman to he a
farmer."

The great difference in the amount of the rents
onlaige and small farms is an inducement to the
owners to keep their estates small. When a large
farm is to be let the tenders are few, and the rent
offered greatly below the sum the same land wotdd
have let for if divided into two or more parts.

Thus the want of farmers possessing considerable
property prevents the owners from letting their
lands in large bodies ; and from the want of op-
portunity to farm largely, the few parties who
possessjtolerable capitals either bring their sons up
to professions or trades, or they purchase small
estates for them.

A person filling so humble a station as I do,
ought certainly to apologise for presuming to in-
trude on the attention of the public. My notes
are rough and abrupt. I might have been more
prolix, but opinions, even if correct, carry but
litlle weight, unless supported by the name of a
party who stands high in the world's opinion. I
have stated what I have seen, and given a few of
my own opinions, leaving to others to draw what
conclusions they please. The land, with its pro-
prietors and occupiers, offer a wide and interesting
field for observation and enquiry; and I sincerely
hope that ere long this subject will be taken up
by some one who possesses more time and talents
than does the assistant surveyor.

BRAINTREE AND BOOKING
FARMERS' OLUB.

The annual meeting of this Club took place on
Wednesday, March 2nd, at the White Hart Inn,
Bocking, -and was most respectably attended by the
members and the friends of these useful institutions.
At two o'clock the members assembled, when the
following annual report was laid before them and
read : —

" On the arrival of the second auniversary of the
Braintree and Bocking Farmers' Club, the committee
have much pleasure and satisfaction in presenting a
report of its proceedings during the past year, and
cannot but express the gratification they feel, that
the example which has been set by this (the first
club of the kind in Essex), should have been so gene-
rally followed by the formation of similar institu-
tions in this and other counties.

The beneficial and important consequences which
have resulted from the numerous agricultural socie-
ties now in existence are very apparent: their ten-
dency has been to create a laudable spirit of emula-
tion among the cultivators of the soil, by inducing
them to endeavour to improve the breed of stock;
to attend to the employment of the labour, &c, and
by holding out incentives to the peasantry for indus-
try and general good conduct. But these institu-
tions, admirable in themselves, and meriting every
possible encouragement and support, do not meet
the important and interesting objects for which the
Farmers' Club is established.

It must he admitted, that the best information can
be obtained by a mutual interchange .of friendly
opinion ; and doubtless much useful practical know-
ledge nny be had at the meetings of the club, by
those who have been long pursuing an undeviating
system, perhaps ill-adapted for their farm, merely
because such a course has been adopted by their
ancestors, from one generation to another.

Your committee cannot but suppose the present to
be an important period in the history of agriculture ■
long has she been in a state of comparative infancy,
and is now just awaking from her slumbers. The arts
and sciences, the manufactures and commerce, of this
mighty empire, have for a long time" been greatly-
advancing, but not until recently has there been

248

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

much progress made in the improvement of agricul
ture ; but now that important and interesting- occu-
pation sees the necessity of seeking the aid of scien-
tific knowledge to enable her to ascertain what the
soil is capable of producing, and then, how that pro-
duce is to be obtained. The man of science finds
out the chemical properties of the soil, and shows
the principles upon which his scientific researohes
are founded; these are tested by experiment and
practice, and the results show that the land has never
been properly managed. The cultivator of the soil
now finds it can do much more than it has ever yet
done, and that a larger quantity of corn may be ob
tainedfrom it, which is the most important result that
can be accomplished, by vastly increasing the growth
of human food, a subject which isofimmense conse-
quence in this largely populated kingdom.

Your committee have satisfaction and pleasure in
stating, that during the past year the number of
members has considerably increased, and; as will be
seen by this report, the subjects discussed have been
of an important and interesting character; and al-
though it might sometimes be difficult to arrive at
any positive conclusion, the resolutions will be found
to contain the general sentiments of the members
present during the discussion. Your committee can-
not but regret that the attendance of members has, in
some instances, been comparatively small, and that
consequently those who were absent were deprived
of the benefit of much valuable and useful informa-
tion in reference to the various subjects discussed, a
mere outline only of which can be given in a report.
Your committee think it desirable that the library
should be much more increased : still, they have the
satisfaction to state, it has received several additions
during the past year.

Your committee indulge the pleasing hope that the
members of tbe club will attend the monthly meet-
ings as punctually as they conveniently can, during
the coming year; and that they will participate as
much as possible in the discussions, as it is by the
communication of facts which are the result of prac-
tice or experiment, that useful and important informa-
tion can be obtained.

Your committee will proceed to give a brief ac-
count of (lie subjects discussed during the past year.
March. — Subject, " The best mode of preparing
land for, and the best method of sowing, bailey and
seeds."

It was considered desirable, on heavy lands, not
to plough in the spring, but to scarify or harrow be-
fore sowing; it was thought best to drill barley, as
the seed does not so easily lodge, and a belter sample
is produced than by broadcast sowing. And in the
liner surface tilth, the seeds plant better than after
spring ploughing. On lighter soils (alter turnips)
a member slated he had been very successful in sow-
ing one bushel broadcast upon a seed earth, and af-
terwards drilling two or two and a half bushels more
seed. It was thought very injurious to roll immedi-
ately after sowing land liable to bind or cap.
The following resolution was agreed to: —
" That the bestpreparation for barley in this neigh-
bourhood is to scarify, and not to plough, in the
spring, upon heavy soils ; the best method of putting
in the seed is by drilling. From three to three and
a half bushels per acre is considered sufficient: the
best method of sowing seeds is by a hand engine, or
seed drill, at the lime of sowing the barley."

April. — Subject, " The application of the salts of
lime as fertilizers."

A very interesting essay on the subject was read

by a member, who has kindly placed it in the hands
of the committee, for insertion in this report.

Several members stated their opinion of the opera-
tion of these salts when applied to land in clay, marl,
&c. ; they had sometimes found it beneficial, and at
times not, but the causes of the difference in the effects
were not apparent to them. Lime, and lime mixed
with common salt, had been used with effects simi-
lar. It was thought that an improved chemical
knowledge of the constituent portions of the soil
might probably lead to the discovery of the causes
why the action of those salts were so opposite in one
instance to another, on soils apparently alike.

The following resolution was passed : —

" That the promiscuous use of lime is very objec-
tionable.

"That although in some instances, and under
some circumstances, lime may be considered an effi-
cient and powerful application, still so far as the
experience of the members of this club enables them
to form an opinion, it is unfavourable to the use of
quick lime upon the old cultivated lands of this
district.

" That the p roper application of chalk or marl is
very advantageous to almost every description of
land, but it is strongly recommended that the marl
should be exposed to the action of the atmosphere
for a considerable time before it is ploughed in."

.Ma v.— Subject, " Sub-soil ploughing."

The members present considered that they had not
had sufficient experience to enable them to give a
decided opinion upon its effect?. Some had tried it,
but did not consider it futther beneficial than by ren-
dering the land more free from weeds than it had pre-
viously been ; it was considered by some members
to be injurious on light lands. The meeting sepa-
rated without coming to any resolution on the sub-
ject.

June. — Subject, " Sheep feeding, Tares, Clovers,

It was considered long-woolled sheep yielded a
greater profit than the short-woolled breed, and
would bear folding as well ; and the best mode of
managing them is by parting off once a-day, (or
oftener if required) a small piece of tares, clover,
&c, giving the sheep a portion of artificial food,
either oil-cake or corn. It was considered, that in
addition to the profit upon the sheep by this mode of
feeding, considerable benefit was derived from the
folding, more particularly upon those parts of a
farm which are at a distance from the homestall. The
saving in carting was considerable, and a course of
folding quite equal to a dressing of ordinary farm-
yaid manure or compost.

The following resolutions were agreed to : —
"That folding sheep is very beneficial to the land,
and that a portion of artificial food, fed with tares,
clover, &c, will bring a remuneration not as regards
the stock only, but in the improvement and benefit
of the soil ; and then such benefit will be seen, not
only in the next succeeding, but for many succes-
sive crops, and will on calculation be found more
economical than making manure in the yards, when
it has to be carted to land at a considerable distance,
the expense of carrying, spreading, ploughing in,
&c, being taken into consideration."
The opinion of this meeting also is —
" That feeding with oil cake is preferable to corn,
considering, of course, the locality of the land, with
respect to the distance the corn would have to be
carried, and from which the cake would be
brought.

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240

July. — Subject, " The best mode of cutting
wheat."

This meeting was not numerously attended, but
those present considered that the various methods of
cutting wheat had not been sufficiently introduced
into this district, to enable them to speak deci-
dedly upon the comparative merits of each ; and
therefore, afier a desultory conversation on the sub-
ject, the meeting- separated without passing any re-
solution.

August, being harvest, no meeting was held.
September. — Subject, " The manuring young
clover, and clover leys."

Some interesting and important observations were
made by some of the members on this subject, from
which it appeared they had been successful in ma-
nuring the young clovers with compost, marl, clay,
dung, &c, by finding the succeeding crop of wheat
more abundant, and of better quality than where the
manures were laid on the leys. It was admitted the
contrary practice might be followed advantageously,
upon very poor soils, to force a greater bulk of straw
in the wheat.

It was resolved, —

" That manuring young clovers is preferable to
manuring clover leys. That the proper time for
applying such manure is as soon after Michaelmas
as convenient ; and thus mixing a considerable por-
tion of marl, or earth, with farm-yard manure, will
be found more advantageous than farm-yard manure
only."

October.— Previously to entering upon the dis-
cussion of the appointed subject, a member produced
a tabular statement of the results of an experiment
with nitrate of soda, on wheat.

There were also presented to the meeting samples
of wheat, grown from seed of the best and worst
descriptions of the previous year's growth. The
object of the experiment being, to show these was
not that difference between the produce of the best,
and of the thinnest coin, which might be supposed ;
on the contrary, in seasons like the present, thin,
hut dry samples might be sown to advantage, the
thin corn not being so liable to rot us the plumper
grain.

The subject for conversation was — " On the breed
and management of sheep best adapted for this
district."

It was stated that half-bred sheep, between the
Down and Leicester, would fatten quicker, and pro-
duce more weight of mutton, than pure Downs of the
same age. For flock purposes, or in hilly districts,
Down were, perhaps, more desirable, as they would
travel and bear hardships better than the long-
woolled breeds ; but that long-woolled sheep, either
Kents or Leicesters, would bear all the folding
usually practised in this neighbourhood. It was
thought an error to suppose that long-woolled sheep
eat more food than short-woolled : and a member
produced a comparative statement of the results of
a trial with a number of sheep of different breeds,
confined to a certain quantity of food each, and the
amount of mutton produced.

ft was contended that Kents would come to more
weight, and produce more profit to the grazier, than
other breeds, though not so handsome an animal as
the Leicesters or Down ; while on the contrary, it
was stated, that the Down and Leicesters were con-
sidered the best breeds at the Smitbfield Show, a
circumstance which ought to have great weight with
graziers and breeders. The advocates for Kents did
not consider it a fair test, the superior shape of
the Downs and Leicesters being strongly in their

favour ; whilst the Kents gave the most weight of
mutton.

Keeping ewes, folding them whenever practicable,
and rearing lambs for stock, was considered the
most profitable practice for the poorer descriptions of
land, and Down ewes were thought to be the best
for the purpose.

The meeting separated without recording any re-
solution on the subject.

November. — A member made some observations
on the growth of white carrots. He had tested a rod
of his own crop, which produced 628 roots, weigh-
ing 5281bs., being at the rate of 37 tons, 4 cwt. 521bs.
per acre.

The member thought fork cultivation might be
found to answer, having tried it on a small scale, and
considers one good forking equal to several plough-
ings, more particularly for carrots, or similar roots.
That for feeding, 2 cwt. of carrots were equal to
3 cwt. of Swedes. That they were easily preserved
by stacking them in round heaps, tapering from the
bottom, and leaving the blades on the outside to
form a thatch, which would effectually secure them
from wet. The land for them should be well forked
in February or March, if the weather is suitable,
and the seed sown immediately afterwards, using a
little sand to separate the seeds.

The subject for discussion, viz., " On the Ma-
nagement of Grass Lands, and Irrigation," com-
menced. It was thought a bad practice to feed
grass land too close at certain peiiods of the year ;
and manuring was much recommended as destroy-
ing moss, &c, &c. Sheep-folding had been tried
with more or less benefit, and also saltpetre, which
had been found about equal to a dressing of ordi-
nary farm-yard manure.

From various causes, irrigation is so iittle prac-
tised in this neighbourhood, that scarcely an opi-
nion, founded upon practice or experiment, could
be given on the subject. It was, however, con-
sidered that when practicable, the waters should
not be allowed to stagnate on any account, but be
kept constantly running over the surface. A
member had tried winter-flooding, and found it
very beneficial to his meadows ; he strongly re-
commended it in situations which afforded the
means, as one of the most economical and perma-
nent improvements to grass lands.

The meeting separated, leaving the subject for
future discussion.

December. — Subject, " The best remedy for a
deficient plant of Wheat."

This subject produced a long and interesting
discussion, in which several practices resorted to
were stated with great perspicuity, and, as the
following resolutions embody the arguments and
facts adduced, your committee think it unneces-
sary to state the conversation which took place.

" First, it was considered that transplanting was
an efficient, mode of remedying a deficient plant ; it
was stated the cost of transplanting an acre would be
about 30s."

" Second, dibbling spring wheat. Several members
stated they had tried it, and found the wheat was
ripe as soon as that which was previously sown."

" Third, when there is a total failure of the plant,
the best way is to resow the land."

A member stated he had sown winter wheat as
late as the 17th of February, which yielded at the
rate of five quarters per acre.

Upon the foregoing statements it was resolved —
" That it is difficult to lay down any distinct rule

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to remedy a bad plant of wheat, but tbat either of the
above methods may be adopted to advantage, accord-
ing- to circumstances."

The meeting- particularly recommended great
caution to be used in ploughing up what may
appear to be a thin plant of wheat.

1842, January. — Subject, " The best mode of
making and managing Fences."

This meeting being very thinly attended, an
argument took place without coming to any reso-
lution.

THE DINNER.

At three o'clock, sixty-four gentlemen (the ex-
act number present last year) sat down to an ex-
cellent dinner, served up by Mr. Durrant, in the
Assembly Room. W. Sandle, Esq., took the chair,
supported by YV. Luard, Esq. ; J. Pattisson, Esq. ;
W. II. Pattisson, Esq. ; J. Cntts, Esq. ; G. Day,
Esq. ; J. Grant, Esq. ; W. Ridley, Esq. ; Messrs.
W. F. Hohbs, J. Beaded, R. Baker, J. Low, J. S.
Lungley, B. Hobbs, II. Hobbs, &c, &c— Mr. W.
Huntley acted as Vice-President.

After the cloth was removed, the President, with
appropriate observations, gave "The Queen,"
" The Prince of Wales," " Prince Albert and the
Princess Royal,'' and the " Queen Dowager,"
which were drunk with cheers.

Mr. Luakd said he had great pleasure in rising
to propose a toast, for though a stranger in that
room, he was not unknown to many there. He
felt it a privilege to be called on to give a toast,
because he was going to propose an institution
which had contributed much to the benefit of the
country, and to the improvement of agriculture —
(cheers). He begged to propose "Prosperity to
the Braintree and Booking Farmers' Club.'' (Drunk
with cheers.)

Mr. Everett said he had to propose "Pros-
perity to the Royal Agricultural Society," whose
object was to benefit the community at large.
Whatever differences of opinion there might be,
there could be but one opinion on the necessity
of doing all they could for the improvement
of the breed of stock and the cultivation of
the soil ; and a society which had for its object
the promotion of that which produced food for
mankind, must be of importance to the commu-
nity (cheers) ; and the Royal Agricultural Society
having this for its object, he conceived it tended
to the welfare of all. He begged to propose
*' Prosperity to the Society, and connect with it
the name of Mr. Hobbs." (Drunk with cheer*).

Mr. W. F. Hobbs said, on behalf of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, he begged to
thank them for the compliment they had paid that
great national institution. He could assure them,
as a member of the Council, he felt honoured as an
Essex farmer and a practical man, that he should
have a scat in the Council (cheers). 'I he society
was rapidly increasing, for since he last met them
they had added more than 1000 members to the
list, and they now numbered nearly 6000 (cheers).
He had had frequent opportunities of proposing
not only gentlemen from this county, but others ;
and he should be at any time happy to convey in-
formation to the society for them ; if they had any
reports or statements of experiments to make, he
should be happy to make them (cheers). They
wanted the help of such practical men as he saw
around him, and he hoped the day was not far
distant when he should seef aimers' clubs through-
out the kingdom formed in connection with the

society. It was the opinion that example farms
would be an advantage to the country at large; but
he looked on farmers' clubs as so many example
farms, and he thought they would tend more to the
advancement of practical agriculture than three
or four, or even five or six experimental farms in
different parts of England ; for when they con-
sidered the differences of soil and climate, they
must be aware before cxamp'e farms could be car-
ried out, and be of use, they should require more
of them than the Royal Agricultural Society was
at present capable of undertaking (hear). He
congratulated them on this numerous meeting, for
he regarded it as a proof that the farmers were
not only willing to receive information, but to
give it to others (cheers) ; and he hoped to see
farmers' clubs increasing throughout the king-
dom. He sincerely regretted the absence of a
friend of his, whom he had expected to be pre-
sent, who might fairly be called the father of far-
mers' clubs — he meant William Shaw, Esq.
(cheers). Though he was not present, he (Mr.
H.) had received a letter from him to-day, from
which it appeared he could not attend, because he
was working for them to introduce a bill to the
House of Commons, to secure farmers from the
effects of hail-storms by insurance (cheers). Mr.
Everett had connected his (Mr. H.'s) name with
various agricultural societies ; it was true, he had
endeavoured to render his part in connection with
the different agricultural societies, and he now be-
longed to eleven of them (cheers). Though he
thought it a wise course of the Royal Agricultural
Society not to interfere with what was pending in
the House of Commons, he could not agree with
some who were of opinion that the farmers in the
local agricultural societies and the farmors' clubs
should be prevented from expressing their opinion
on the corn laws, and those subjects which deeply
affected their interest ; for he thought it would
materially strengthen their cause if, in cases like
the present, when it was the opinion of himself
and others that their property as agriculturists
would be reduced ten per cent., if they could meet
on such occasions and consider the matter (hear,
hear). He thought it would be productive of benefit
to them generally, and to these clubs, if they could
meet and consider these matters, which of neces-
sity affected their interests (Cheers).

Mr. J. Pattisson said, he was empowered by the
committee to act the part of Mr. Toole, the celebrated
toast-master, in proposing a toast, and he called on
them to till their glasses, which he was sure they
would cheerfully do win n he told them it was the
health of Mr. Sandle (Cheers). He was sure this
toast would be drunk not only cheerfully but wisely,
when they considered its claims on their attention ;
for if these clubs were of benefit to the country at
huge — and it was upon that ground that he had
taken any part in them — he was confident they
would all feel this gentleman had been doing great
benefit to the country by taking the chair of the
club (Clieers). That these clubs had been useful
appeared decided when they considered that the
Intent energies and latent talents of that well-
informed class of the community — the agricultu-
rists— had thus been brought out ; that they had
been brought into a focus, and that as it were the
chaff had been separated from the corn (Cheers).
lie believed these clubs had been beneficial, as they
removed that suspicion and prejudice which fre-
quently existed between the tenant and the land-
lord ; for ignorance was the source of suspicion,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

251

and these clubs tended to remove ignorance (Cheers).
He did not exactly like the word " farmer," though
that had become a phrase -so. adopted by the country
that it could not be altert/d ; the word "farmer"
meant " renter," and he gave the preference to
" agricultural,'' which meant all who tilled the soil ;
for there were many who tilled the hind, who would
bu technically termed " farmers," but who tilled
their own freehold, for there was scarcely a gentle-
man in the loom who was not the owner of land
besides that which he cultivated, and this showed
that the two were combined (Cheers). There was
a great deal of good resulted from their attention
being drawn to the objects of nature around them :
on entering the fields they must have their minds
drawn up to the great source of all things whicli
they beheld ; and if he might be allowed to use the
words of that great master writer, whose language
remained imperishable, he found in his " Winter's
Tale" these lines in what Polixenes says to Perdita —

" Nature is made by no mean ;
But nature makes that mean : so o'er that art
Which you say adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes."

(Cheers). He thought they were all of one opinion
as to the advantage of these societies, and therefore
as to the benefit the gentleman whose health he pro-
posed had done in taking the chair, he combined
all the qualities they wanted; he took the chair
when it was not free from the obloquy, and sneers,
and ridicule, and jeers, which few could withstand
(C/ie.Ts). He (Mr. P.) had attended some of the
meetings when that gentleman had given and sought
i information ; and he treated them all with that
urbanity which encouraged them, however modest
they might be, to state their opinions (Cheers). Nor
was one of the least of his merits the way in which
he resigned the chair to a practical agriculturist, of
whom he (Mr. P.) predicted he would well fill the
situation (Cheers). He would now propose the
health of Mr. Saudle, with three times three (Drunk
accordingly.)

Mr. Sanijle said, after the kind and handsome
manner in which Mr. Pattisson had introduced his
name, and after the way in which they had drunk
his health, he should be wanting in that gratitude
which he had not words adequately to express, if he
did not sincerely thank them. He was happy to see
around him so many agriculturists, who had for the
last two years supported him in the chair, by coming
forward and giving their opinions and their ideas at
these meetings (Cheers). He was one of the origi-
nators of the club, for he had some conversation
with Mr. Beadel on the subject in a room about six
feet square, and little did he then think that a
Farmers' Club of this description would be held
iu that room (Cheers). He felt proud to be amongst
them ; and he felt they had yet a great deal to do,
for whether they were to grow corn at a less price
or not, they must not lose that energy which they
needed. Let them go on in the way of improve-
ment ; let them not flag at anything their opponents
might bring against them ; let them get all the pro-
duction which the soil could procure them in an
honest upright way : they were bound to get all
they could for the country ; and then, if they were
to fail, they must, but it would not be their own
fault (Hear). In spite of what was passing in the
House of Commons, and of their having Sir Robert
Peel sliding down their faces, they would proceed
with their exertions ; they were met as farmers to
discuss matters relating to agriculture, to go on and

on, to bind them in social harmony with one another,
and they might bid defiance to their enemies (Clieers).
He knew that as a body of farmers they were not
thought mush of; they could not exhibit that elo-
quence of speech which some men had ; but they
professed to do all that the country expected of them,
and as yeomen and occupiers they were the men to
come forward and do all they could for the nation
(Clteers). Though he (Mr. S.) was about to vacate
the chair, he was convinced another was coming
into it, who would fill it far better than he had
done, and he hoped they would support him in the
way in which he ought to he supported. Let them
come to the meetings — let them not lose sight of
the observations made at their farmers' club ; and
let them support the chair in the ensuing year In
every possible manner they could (Cheers).

Song by Mr. Burrell.

Mr. R. Baker said, though a member of the
club, he had never made his appearance at their
meetings before, and therefore he had been a sort
of sleeping partner, not contributing anything, hut
sharing the profits. He was happy in being a mem-
ber of a farmer's club ; and though he agreed in
general with Mr. Pattisson, he did not exactly
agree witli t he construction he put on the word
" farmer," for there were many occupiers who
were not fanners (Cheers and laughter). They
professed in this club to be farmers — he sought
for no higher distinction, and he dare say no other
member of the club did (Cheers). He had now to
propose a toast for their acceptance, and he was
sure they would receive it with pleasure, for to
carry out the details of a society like this a great
deal of labour must fall somewhere, as they were
not on the universal suffrage principle, where
every one took a part, but on the elective franchise
system, where a few were elected to do for others
that which they could not jointly do for themselves
(Cheers). He alluded to the committee, and if they
were to judge of them by the proceedings of that
day, they must say they had efficiently done their
duty. But he knew they had done more, for they
bad been Instrumental in keeping the society to-
gether, and in forwarding its views in the most
efficient manner thoy could do; and in drinking
to the committee, he begged to add the name of
Mr. Low (Cheers). Perhaps a remark would not
fall amiss from him as to the point in farmers'
clubs, that no political discussion should be intro-
duced. The main object of that was that they
should bring farmers together of all political opin-
ions, and that no differences should arise ; he agreed
in that, but when they were called on to withstand
the common enemy, he thought it was only right
that they should unite hand in hand to resist him
(Cheers). Though they might some of them not
agree with the principle of Sir Robert Peel, or
Lord John Russell, or Mr. Villiers, he thought they
had a right, as a cl ub, to give their protest against
or their approbation of, those principles; and he
had never considered that agricultural societies
would lie stepping over the line if they advocated
such principles as were beneficial to their own in-
terests (Cheer:,). They prohibited this in agricul-
tural societies, but he did not see why it should
not be done in farmers' clubs. It had in fact been
done, for the Bolton farmers' club had formed a
scale of the prices at which they could grow wheat ;
they submitted it to Mr. Christopher, and though
it was different at the minimum and maximum
points, it agreed in many parts with Sir Robert
Peel's scale. If the Bolton club had done this, he

252

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

did not see wby this club should not take up the
question {Hear). He now begged to propose tbe
" health of the Committee, coupling with it the
name of Mr. Low." [Drunk with cheering).

Mr. Low said, he rose under mingled feelings
of pleasure and regret ; he rose under feelings of
regret because they had thought proper to connect
his name with the toast, in preference to his col-
leagues in office, who could have better responded
to it ; but it was also under feelings of pleasure,
as he found his name identified with a most im-
portant and interesting object, which required the
particular attention of all present— he meant the
success of agriculture (Cheers). Perhaps there
never was a period in the history of the country
when agriculture assumed a more interesting or
more important character than at the present mo-
ment. It took its date from the commencement
of time — it progressed through ages, but it never
assumed an important character till triumphant
Rome took it under its notice ; it was considered
essential to the prosperity of that nation, and the
first of its nobles and statesmen were connected
with the incerest of agriculture (Cheers). When
that mighty empire sunk into ruin, agriculture
lapsed into a state of nothingness ; it progressed
slowly till Great Britain arose and took it under
her fostering care. Since then it had continued
to progress, and now was considered so essential
to the weal of England, that it should by
every means be improved and promoted
(Cheers). He was glad that they had no political
banner waving over their tent, and therefore he
would not allude to political subjects, though
he agreed with the observations of his friends
near him, as he thought it the duty of far-
mers' clubs, when due to their own interests, to
bs up and stir themselves as far as was proper
and consistent (Cheers). But he thought the
most important thing which they as farmers had
to do, was to bring out of tha land the largest pos-
sible production of human food, and they should
then rise superior to legislative enactments ; for
Providence, which had favoured England with «
luxuriant soil, had given capabilities to cause that
soil to throw out a sufficient quantity of food lor
the teeming population (Cheers). He knew nothing
so well calculated to bring about these results as
institutions like this ; for farmers were an isolated
set of beings, who required as much improvement
as the soil they cultivated. He also thought that
by an interchange of mutual feelings in clubs like
this, they could bring out of these isolated men
some useful information that would otherwise be-
come extinct (Cheers). The farmers knew a great
deal, but would tell them nothing. He thought
when he came in contact with them, that by the
discussions assuming a conversational character,
he should obtain information from his senior
friends, gained by their long experience : this to a
certain extent had been accomplished; and he
trusted when the farmers understood what the real
nature of these clubs was, they would be more
ready to connect themselves with them, and give
them the result of of their experience. It was not
until lately that agriculture had assumed a scienti-
fic character; and he knew that scientific men
could arrive at certain conclusions, but it remained
for the practical farmers to carry out the results
(Hear). He was pleased that they had some scien-
tific gentlemen connected with that club, and he
trusted that as practical farmers they should derive
beneficial information from the scientific know-

ledge of these gentlemen (Cheers). They had been
told that England was to become a manufacturing
country exclusively ; but the sons of England's
soil did not intend that to be the case. Agriculture
had been the staple foundation on which all nations
of the earth had been based ; and when they de-
stroyed that, they shook the basis on which Eng-
land's proud prosperity was hinging— ('c/ieers) —
it was an important link in the chain which tied
us together as a mighty nation. He recognised
the full importance of commerce and trade ; far be
it from him to contest their importance, for the
agriculturists wished not to t ike pre-eminence —
they onlv desired to be protected ; but while they
considered those interests identified, they also
considered that the essential interest of this vast
empire depended on the prosperity of agriculture
(Cheers).

Mr. J. Beadf.l said, it was a great relief to him
to have to propose a toast that would not require a
single observation to recommend it to them, tor
when he mentioned that it was " Success to Agri-
culture," they would drink it with all tbe enthu-
siasm it deserved. But he could not propose that
toast without occupying their time for one or two
minutes in making an observation on tbe situation
in which they stood to-day. It was gratifying to
him to find, early connected as he was with this
club, that at this second anniversary they main-
tained their numbers, for they h"\d dined the same
number to-day that they did last year, which
proved that the interest of this club had not sub-
sided, and was not likely to subside. (Cheers.)
Much had been said on agriculture; some observa-
tions had eloquently fallen from Mr. Low, and he
might take him as a splendid example of what had
been done by bringing the farmers together. He
was an agriculturist not in the upper parts of
Essex, and they should have known little of him if
it had not been for this farmers' club. When those
who had seen and known Mr. Low from his first
connexion with this club, and recollected how diffi-
dent, how meek, how mild he was then, and when
they heard him to-day, bow bold and how eloquent,
he said they had accomplished one great object of
tbe club, that of bringing out latent talent and latent
energy. (Cheers.) With regard to what had been
said of political questions, he hoped they would
never form part of their discussions, for without
that they had plenty to do. It was an old saying,
that they must put their own shoulders to the whnel
before they called on Hercules to help them; and if
men did stand forward as a body, honestly and ho-
nourably to defend their own rights, they must first
qualify themselves by the acquisition of knowledge,
and prove to all around them that they were not re-
gardless and lukewarm in their own affairs. (Hear,
hear.) He (Mr. B.) attached himself to farmers'
clubs, because he believed them the only legitimate
means by which these objects could be obtained ;
they met there for the interchange of sentiments
without interfering with those irritating political
questions which stirred up the passions of people,
and prevented that free expression of their feelings
which it was the object to procure if they possibly
could. (Cheers.) In giving "Prosperity to Agri-
culture" he gave them the greatest interest of the
country. Great commerce and manufactures were,
and ever would be; but it must be to agriculture
they must look as the staple interest, of the country.
And why should it not be so ? If it were not so, whose
faultwasit? Itiuust be their own. It was the elder
sister ; agriculture was known in the country before

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

253

the loom— before commerce raised her head agricul-
ture was known ; and if she had lost her position in
the scale of the sciences, it was by the fault of her
own sons. He blamed not the present generation —
he blamed those who preceded them ; and he said it
was now their bounden duty to take care that it oc-
curred not again. (CJieers.) If they were true to
themselves, and went on gathering knowledge and
increasing the product of the earth, their voice
would be heard where it ought to be, their interests
weuld be protected, and this would be a thriving
and a prosperous country. (Cheers.) Let him en-
treat them, if they thought farmers' clubs were cal ■
dilated to accomplish these objects, to attend the
meetings of the club, for it was only by this means
that the chairman, the committee, and the other offi-
cers, could get out of it those advantages the mem-
bers were entitled to receive. (Hear.) He must
say, and he did it with regret, that when he cast his
eye over the meetings of the past year, he saw two
or three instances in which they were not attended
as they ought to be. Now it was an axiom that
" knowledge is power," and that was known by
those who called themselves their adversaries — but
adversaries tbeyou<rht not to be — who wished to erect
then- prosperity on the ruins of agriculture; they
knew that by becoming acquainted with the princi-
ples of science in their profession they could make
out their case and get an advantage, and the sons of
agriculture had hitherto been too inactive to pre-
vent that being done. (Hear,) This club was not
established for any peculiar interest — it was not for
the aggrandisement of any person or party ; and
when a sense of duty impelled a gentleman to take
the chair, he (Mr. B.) maintained that the least
they could do was to muster around him, and show how
they were prepared to assist in carrying out the ob-
jects of the club. {Cheers.) He trusted they
would excuse his making these remarks, which
might slightly tread on the toes of some of them ;
but he did think it was wholesome and neces-
sary, for if there was anything beneficial in far—
meis' clubs and in the pursuit of science, it must
be that they gave to it a share of their time and
attention. That the soil of this kingdom could
produce all the country requires for its wants, he
was perfectly sure ; but that it could be produced
by the present system, he was equally certain was
not the case ; therefore they must turn their attention
to the best mode of cultivation — they must get
off their minds old prejudices, and graft upon them
those new inventions and contrivances which would
enable them not to meet their opponent in political
warfare, but to defy him at the cheapness at which
they could produce the ai tide. (Cheers.) It was
said a man's interest was never so well kept as
when it was in his own keeping ; and they might
be assured others would never so well protect their
interest as they could protect their own, hut
in doing that they must take care that they
did not trench on the interests of others. If
they did that, and took up their position
as tenant farmers, representing an enormous amount
of wealth wrapped up in the cultivation of the soil,
they would survive any cloud that might now ob-
scure the political horizon ; they should in a few
years rise triumphant, and prove that they repre-
sented, if not the most, one of the most important
interests in the kingdom ; they would show that
they knew their rights, and dared to maintain them
(Loud cheers). He wanted the farmers to increase
their knowledge, because knowledge was power,
and must prevail. Education was spreading its

wings in every direction : thoy were putting their
hands into their pockets to educate the people ;
they were overtaken by a mania for education, and
they could not begin the world again ; they were
paying their money to educate those below them,
and it was right they should do so, teaching them
their duty to God and to man (Cheers) ; therefore it
behoved them to look to their own interests, and he
saw no better way in which they could increase
their knowledge than by having Farmers' Clubs,
and promoting an interchange of opinion one with
another (Cheers). That was better than twenty
example farms, for it was an experimental farm on
the best plan ; they gave their knowledge one to
another, and thus it became a circulating medium
with the best result ; and if they went on, it was
unlike other monetary matters, for they would never
find a panic in the market (Cheers.) He looked on
Farmers' Clubs as one means that would enable
them to accomplish great good to all in due time :
they could not accomplish their objects in one, two,
or three years, but they should one day, and their
children would bless the day they became members
of these clubs (Cheers).

Mr. S. I.ungley gave " Prosperity to manufac-
tures, trade, and commerce," and said he felt vexed
that the manufacturers should entertain an unkind
feeling towards the agriculturists. In 1836, whin
they were flourishing, many of the agriculturists in
this county lost their whole rent ; numbers were
broken, others were bent, and had not yet got straight
again, but they did not complain. The agriculturists
were going on well now, and they wished to be let
alone. He thought the prospect of foreigners re-
ceiving our manufactures for their corn was ideal

as witness America (Hear). He concluded by con-
necting with the toast the name of Mr. Grant
(Drunk with cheers).

Mr. Grant returned thanks, and said he hoped
the mantle of charity would be thrown over what
the manufacturers might say of the agriculturists •
and said they wished to keep the balance even, so
that neither might have the advantage of the other
(Cheers). The agriculturists were now prosperous ;
but distress was raging in the manufacturing dis-
tricts to a frightful extent. We were too powerful
to consume our own manufactures; there were
many in foreign lands who wanted our garments,
and should we withhold them from them : The
agriculturists were endeavouring to make improve-
ments in agriculture, which was what had been done
in machinery; the earth was their loom, and they
were trying to produce abundance, and he trusted
they would reap the reward industrious men ought
to do. Questions might arise on which ho might
differ from them, but he would not introduce them ;
he would only observe that he wished to see the
labourers who cultivated the ground, able to lay by
a little to protect themselves (rom old age ; but he
could tell them, as a manufacturer, that many of the
labourers were not in a state to buy themselves
clothing, and many manufactures had in conse-
quence been set aside. It was now five years that
heavy adversity had rested on the manufacturing
interest, and now it had arrived at an awful period ;
but the agriculturists were in the sunshine of pros-
perity and enjoyment. He was glad at their pros-
perity, for he wanted rot to see other people
miserable because the manufacturers were gloomy
(Cheers).

Mr. William Hutley proposed "The health of
the labourers of England," expressing anxiety for
their comfort, for be wished to see them live as well

254

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

as himself; and he impressed upon masters that they
should urge their servants to subscribe to benefit or
provident societies (Cheers').

Mr. Ridley proposed " The health of Mr. Day
and the other visitors " (Cheers).

Mr. Day returned thanks, and said, he could
assure them he should return home, if not a better,
a wiser mnn, from the sensible remarks he had
heard (Cheers).

Mr. Day, Mr. R. Cunnington, Mr. Wright, and
Mr. P. Nunn, were then elected members.

Mr. J. Beadei. proposed the health of Mr. Wm.
Hutley, the chairman elect for the next year (Drunk
with cheers).

Mr. Hutley, in returning thanks, said, he feared
he should not be an efficient man to fill the chair,
but he would try to do his duty, for he was always
ready to lend a helping hand when he could be of
benefit, in such a cause (Clieers).

The CuAinniAN gave the health of Mr. W« II.
Pattisson, and the magistrates of the count) (Cheers).

Mr. Pattisson returned thanks, and said he cer-
tainly was much interested in this Farmers' Club,
for he thought it exceedingly useful (Cheers).

Mr. Baines rose to propose the health of the
Secretary, Mr. Smoothy, and said he would, if they
would permit him, allude to the difficulties which
agriculturists in this district laboured under in con-
sequence of the short terms granted in their leases,
and the absurd covenants he had known introduced.
(Hear.) They frequently saw leases of 6, 7, 8, or
10 years' duration, and could a landlord expect a
tenant to expend capital in improvements when he
knew not whether he would allow him to see a return
of it? Tenants often did not look to the advantages
they derived from long leases; but if they turned
their eyes to Scotland, they would not find a lease of
less than 28 years' duration, and the property instead
of advancing 50 per cent, in value had advanced 150.
(Hear.) Go to the Noith of England, and it was the
same. Again, as to the covenants — some time since
he was consulted by a landlord as to the propriety of
allowing his tenant to grow clover. (Laughter.)
But would not institutions like this do away with
this ignorance ? (Cheers.) He thought they would,
for if they could get these things fairly discussed,
and the most advantageous system of agriculture
fairly placed before the landlords, they would admit
that it would be equally advantageous for the tenant
and themselves. (Cheers.) Another thing be
would advert to was the small quantity of accommo-
dation in agricultural buildings on some farms : on
some estates there were two or three large cumber-
some barns, but a tenant must have commodious
yards and sheds, and if he cultivated the land with
the greatest advantage to himself, he would to the
landlord. (Cheers.) Let the tenant have the farm
for 21 or 28 years, aud he would invest his capital
in the land with far more prospect of success than
under the present system. (Cheers.)

Mr. R. Baker said, Mr. Baines did not seem ac-
quainted with the fact that in the North of England
the leases were all granted on corn rents, or on the
price of hay or cheese, according to the products of
the farm. At the agricultural meeting at Liverpool,
a small club was formed, and this was the subject to
be taken up for discussion. The peculiar circum-
stances of the leases arose out of the peculiar circum-
stances of the times. In the leases between 1801 and
1810, the terms were lower than those times warran-
ted. When leases fell, in 1810, the rent was doubled ;
then came a re-action ; the tenants found they could
not pay the rent, and many landlords in Dengie

Hundred were obliged to take the farms into their
own occupation. Therefore, the landlord having a
farm of this sort, hesitated to give a lease of the kind
alluded to ; for he had found that leases were made
only for the weaker party, and when it did not an-
swer it was thrown back on his hands. He (Mr.
B.) was for the adoption of corn rents, if it could
be settled on an equitable principle; and he thought
it might. In the case of a corn rent the farmer might
have a mildewed crop, and thus have more to pay
and less to pay it with ; but the principle of the
Tithe Commutation Act might be adopted, taking off
the first year, and putting on the last, and on this
system a fair lease might be made. He agreed that
no great improvements could go on unless under a
lease. lie was carrying out an improvement in
draining, which cost him £7 or £8 an acre, on a
short lease, but he had faith in his landlord ; others
might be doing the same, for there was great faith
on the pat t of the tenants of Essex in their landlords;
but be admitted it would be better if they had long
leases on a fair principle. Another mode in Scot-
land was this — the improvements were valued on
taking a farm ; on leaving itthey were valued again,
and if they allowed of it, the tenant was paid for it.
That plan was not followed in Essex, but that was
not the fault of the landlords, for he thought if a
fair principle could be laid down, the matter com-
plained of by Mr. Baines would be altered.

The "Health of Mr. Smoothy" being drunk with
cheers,

Mr. Smoothy returned thanks, and said, when
he first took on himself the office of secretary, he
did it to advance the views of the society, which
were to promote the benefit of the whole community.
This was his own interest, for though a man might
come to him and talk about a cheap loaf, this was
no benefit to him, when he saw that nine-tenths of
the clients who came to him and talked about cheap
law were farmers. He had heard it said it was no
matter whether England grew a sack of corn, or the
quantity it did now ; but if ever England should be
deprived of the produce of the soil, the nation would
soon begin to feel the consequences of it. (Cheers.)
He trusted the British farmer would try as long
as he could to produce all he could ; and he
would give them as a toast — " The land we live in."
(Cheers.)

Mr. J. Beadei. said, Mr. Baines's allusion to the
absurd covenants in the leases induced him to make
one or two remarks. A covenant came before him
the other day, in a draft of a lease, drawn by a Lon-
don lawyer, by which the tenant was to have two-
thirds of his land in clover. Persons of his profes-
sion were often called on to get a tenant out of a
difficulty which they could have prevented their
getting into if they had consulted them before they
signed the lease. (Hear.) There were many of
them who had sigDed their leases without the due
consideration which ought to be given to it. That
was not the fault of the landlords, for they left it to
their agents; and a most unwise practice it was to
leave a lawyer to draw the covenants of a lease ; and
though it might be thought it smelt of interest, be
would say that the wisest thing any gentleman
taking a farm could do, was to consult his profes-
sional surveyor before putting his name to it ; that
might save them a deal of trouble. He had never
found that if they could go to a landlord and point
out that a covenant was impracticable for the neigh-
bourhood, that they would not alter it — th>-ir sins
were merely those of ignorance. (Cheers.)

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

256

Mr. Low proposed tbe health of the ladies, which
was drunk with cheers.

The Chairman gave " Success to our next merry
meeting-," and the company broke up about eight
o'clock.

NITRATE OF SODA AND
GYPSUM.

Mr. Grey, of Dilston, transmitted the following-
valuable communication to the Secretary, for the
purpose of being read by him at the Society's dinner
at Alnwick, and also of being inserted in the
Report :

1. The plot of land upon which the experiment
was tried, is of good gravelly loam, in three years
old grass, and well covered with such perennial
plants as are usually sown for pasture, i. e. white
clover trefoil, rye grass, and timothy, without red
clover, which probably may account for the failure
of the Gypsum, which has been proved to be more
efficacious in promoting the growth of that blade
than any other plant.

The plot of land consisted of four acres, laid in
ridges of equal size. On the 18th of April, each
alternate ridge was sown with nitrate of soda at the
rate of 1 cwt. per acre. Some of the remaining
ridges were sown with gypsum at the rate of 10
bushels per acre. One with both nitrate and gypsum,
and 11 without anything. Great pains were taken
in cutting and making the hay, to keep the produce
of the ridges, selected for tbe experiment, perfectly
distinct. The hay on each was carefully weighed
When put into pike, and the result was as under: —

No. 1. 112 square yards, without any manure,
produced 9st. 41b. of hay, equal to 2 tons 81 stone
per acre.

No. 2. 112 square yards, to which ten bushels per
acre of gypsum had been applied, produced exactly
tbe same quantity, so that no benefit arose from the
gypsum.

No. 3. 112 square yards, to which nitrate of soda
wus applied on the 18th of April, at the rate of 1
cwt. per acre, produced list. 71b. of bay, equal
to '.] tons 146 stone per acre, being an increase of 1
ton 65 stone over Nos. land 2.

No. 4. 112 square yards, to which both nitrate and
gypsum were applied in the above-named quantities,
produced 14 st., equal to 3 tons 125 st. per acre,
being 21st. per acre less than the produce from nitrate
alone.

The cost of 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda, brought to
the field, was 22s., and the increased value of the
hay produced by it was on the field from 41. to 51.,
besides which at this time (Sept. 26) the fog or
aftermath of the land to which the nitrate was ap-
plied, is much better than tbe other.

I applied the same manures to alternate ridges of
different kinds of grain, but the crops being strong
and the weather wet, the corn was so much lodged
and twisted, as to make it difficult to keep tbe pro-
duce of each quite distinct, so as to come to a cor-
rect and satisfactory conclusion. Nor can tbe ex-
periment be so effective as if made upon thinner and
lighter crops. I intend, however, to prosecute a
course of such experiments, as it would be danger-
ous to decide upon the results of one particular
season and one description of crop and soil; and it
will, at all times, give me pleasure to communicate
anything likely to be useful to the public, through
tbe medium of the Northumberland Agricultural
Society. John Grey.

Diliton, 26ih September, 1840.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK
LANE EXPRESS.

In January last I sent to your paper a short
notice of my visit to Whitfield Example Farm in
Gloucestershire, in which I observed that no use
was made of hays, natural or artificial ; and that the
green crops exceeded in quantity any amount I had
ever seen on double the extent of land. Two of
your correspondents sent queries on the subject of
feeding the live stock without hay, and on the
courses of cropping, to which I did not reply,- not
deeming it the province of a visitor to enter into
the operations and details of the performances of
another person. And, on these points, I beg leave
to refer tbe querists to the publication " On Soils,"
written by the conductor of the farm, where the
whole system is very amply and clearly detailed ;
and further, to recommend them to visit the farm
itself, and they will find every civility and facility
afforded for inspection and information.

Soon after the insertion of my letter, I observed
that a gentleman belonging to the Gloster Farmers'
Club had made similar observations on the quantity
of green crops on that farm ; which called forth some
ill-natured allusions from a member of that society,
about Earl Ducie's purse, and the application of it
by his " Scotch stewaid " on fresh land. It is very
common in our southern counties to apply the term
" Scotch " as a mark of contempt and reproach,
though with what justice or reason is certainly not
easily seen, nor is it ever explained ; nor can it be
denied that no corner of the world, with the saina
extent of population, evsr made such rapid advances
in every art and science of the present day. In that
of agriculture, no person, free of the absurd and
long inherited national prejudice, ever denifed the
superiority. Earl Ducie most successfully defended
an old and tried servant, and of acknowledged ta-
lent, by stating that he received 8 per cent, on the
money expended ; and that in tbe short space of
three years, tbe offered value of the farm had risen
from 200/. a year to 500/. These facts being un-
doubted, the whole question is at once set at rest ;
for it matters not by what intermediate processes
the result has been effected, nor whether the con-
ductor be a Moor from Senegal, or a Celt from the
Hebrides. The most inveterate prejudice and jaun-
diced bigotry alone could cavil at the performance
and results, or throw out the childish observations.

Exceptions have been taken against the term
"Example Farm," as meaning to establish an invi-
dious distinction, but without any just ground; for
it is not held to view as a beacon to guide every
practitioner, but to show that means are known of
paying as much annuity from money expended in
cultivating land as in other securities ; and not on
an " experimental farm," properly so called, but by
carrying out known and approved principle*, and
on the very best security — the landowner's own
estate. Earl Ducie's observations on granting
leases should be printed, and sent to every land-
owner in England. If a lease had been granted of
the said " Example Farm " to a person of capital, at
tbe rent of 200/., and this person had done what tbe
noble proprietor has performed, lie would receive
8 per cent, for his money ; or rather he should have
liberty to sell his lease, or his profit of 300/. for the
term of the lease, if he be inclined to do so ; and thus
be ready with his capital for other undertakings,
and the proprietor gets the original value of 200/.,
and the very pleasing sight of his property improved.

256

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

If the proprietor himself lays out the money, he may
very soon double the value of his estate, by improv-
ing farms hi succession. By giving long and free
leases, the command (it is dreaded) would be lost of
votes at elections, and even of religious opinions.
How absurd to connect these things with the culti-
vation of the earth !

Mr. Matthews, who sneered at the green crops
on Whitfield farm, thought native and local talent
should have been encouraged, but he did not know
if it existed, as in this case of acknowledged expe-
rience; and I much doubt if local talent could di-
vest itself of feeding a lot of Pharaoh's lean kine on
weeds made into hay — of crooked fences and hedge-
row timber, of the favourite waggons, and above all,
of pelting out the grain with two sticks tied together
in order to employ the labourers, while lands lie un-
drained and unimproved, and in producing weeds
from dread of creating expence. He who does not
see a prodigious stride of intellect between the beat-
ing out of grain with the two sticks tied together,
and the admirable machinery at Whitfield, must be
furnished with optics, or influenced with prejudices,
of which I most certainly do not envy him the pos-
session. But between common and uncommon do-
ings there is no abiding fellowship, nor does any
permanent good-will ever exist — for they jostle our
prej udices, and disturb our settled conceits, and even
otlend our pride for imitation — they are exposed to
an host of assailants, and after natural impediments
are overcome and cease to molest, there remains the
constant and painful war with society. It will ever
form a sad development of the deformity of human
nature, that great and good designs are seldom al-
lowed to proceed without encountering a most stre-
nuous opposition: numerous engines are set to work
to impede the progress, and the puny understandings
which are unable or unwilling to comprehend, are
always found eager and ready to detract and misre-
present what they can neither devise nor imitate.
In such undertakings there are required discernment
and steadiness of purpose on the part of the pro-
prietor, and " a position" above vulgar prejudices
— a position which few are able to take, and fewer
still are able to retain — but without it all such at-
tempts are hopeless. On the part of the conductor
there must be the most enlightened practical skill,
and much judgment and energy in the execution;
but any attempts to improve the condition of the
human race are very often repaid with malice and
persecution — while those who cheat, corrupt, and
slay them, are honoured and exalted. If the enlight-
ened conductor of the farm had gone to India, and
the bayonet and bullet had spared him ; if he had
sacked cities and blown up forts, and slain many
thousands of his fellow creatures, he would have had
his waist girded with a belt, or his brow encircled
with a glittering ring furnished with knobs in
" number" to mark the degree of proficiency he
had attained in the art of butchery and plunder.
He would even he qualified for a legislator, and
get a title, the usual reward of knaves and fools;
and I doubt not Mr. Matthews and many others
would look with admiration at the tawdry thing,
and even applaud the means by which it was got.
But how different the sensation from looking on
the productions of nature, and a field strewn
with our fellow-creatures, and the smouldering
ruins of a sacked city, or an exploded fort! It
remains to be seen when the emanations, scintil-
lations, and coruscations from Mr. Mathews' effu-

sions at the meeting of clubs and societies wil
produce such a result as on Whitfield farm ; for
then, and not till then can any comparison be in-
stituted, and then only can speaking be compared
with acting — the want of the latter quality distin-
guishing our farmers from other classes, just as
our logicians tell us that man is distinguished from
all other animals by the faculty of laughter. By
substituting arable culture for meads and weeds,
the example shewn at Whitfield has most success-
fully broken the magic fence of the spellbound
farmer, and must be hailed as the beginning of re-
lief from an incubus that fetters and depresses the
energies of cultivation, and deprives the popula-
tion of the just and possible increase of the earth.
I would most earnestly recommend all farmers to
repair to Whitfield to examine and be convinced,
and then return and imitate. Cultou.

March 18.

HAY'S BELTON PLOUGH.

Captain Hay, of Belton, in East Lothain, has in-
vented, and taken out a patent for a plough, which
has been carefully examined, and seen in operation
by several eminent practical agriculturists, who ex-
press their opinion that, " in these days when the
practical farmer finds it his advantage to throw
aside all prejudice, and embrace every improvement
that has one object in view, viz., the diminution of
expence — it will soon work its way into general use."
The construction of Hay's Belton Plough may be
said to be that of a double mould board plough ; but
while the one mould hoard is turning the furrow
slice, the other, in a reverse position, is following
the first in the same furrow, and will come into use
when the plough lias reached the end of the ridge,
and the handles, beam, and horses having been set
free hy drawing a bolt, and having swung round
upon the axis, the plough is ready to turn the next
furrow slice alongside of the last one. The advan-
tages of the Belton plough, to which the attention of
agriculturists is directed, are —

Firstly. Those who have steep, hilly lands to cul-
tivate, will find a great saving of time and expense,
as by this instrument a furrow can be turned both
going and returning across the slope of the hill, so
that the work will thus be done in half the time.

Secondly. A great saving of time is effected in
common ploughing along the ridges, as the feorses
turn close round at the furrow end, the body of the
plough remaining stationary ; and as soon as the
beam and handles are again locked, in the opposite
direction, the plough is ready to return. It is also
to be observed, that the horses always turn on the
firm land, which occasions the head ridges to be
much less poached than by the present practice.

Thirdly. This plough is particularly adapted for
laying down lawns and pleasure grounds as level
as a bowling green, without any furrows; and wo
may look forward to its being most extensively used
in the preparation of the ground for crops, as the
ultimate effect of furrow draining will be to banish
every trace of ridge and furrow from our fields,
which of itself occasions a great waste of land and
loss of produce. The men who held the plough
when working, said it was as easily held as tie
common plough, and in many cases easier, when
there were no large stones or unusual obstruction.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

•257

ON BRITISH AGRICULTURAL
STATISTICS AND RESOURCES
IN REFERENCE TO THE CORN
QUESTION.

HY MR. JOHN DUDGEON, SPYLAW, ROXBURGPISUIRE.

(From the Journal of the Highland Agricultural
Society, for March.)

" How great a change fo our advantage would
have beet) in the commercial Daii::?* had we been
feeding our neighbours instead of being p,.rtlv fed
by them ; bad we been in the course of receiving
money for our com instead of corn for our money;
the field is still open ; let us join hearts and hands
to redeem time wol'ully mispenr. I say again, there
never was a period more favourable to agriculture,
when good lessons in husbandry were more season-
able than the present." — Karnes.

It has long been matter of surprise and regret,
that in a country so advanced in information, and
so enlightened in legislation as Great Britain,
comparatively little has been done, nationally, to
afford authentic statistical information upon that
most important branch of industry— Agriculture.
The meagre and imperfect accounts we can obtain
is left to be gleaned nearly entirely from the
praiseworthy exertions of private individuals, who,
however zealous and indefatigable in their re-
searches, possessed not the gigantic appliances
' which a nation alone can command to the right
performance of so extensive an enterprise. It is
true the labours of the Board of Agriculture,
which it is to be regretted ever ceased to exist,
produced some useful information, but its in-
quires had reference generally too much to
matters merely of detail ; or where the statistics
obtained by this body are of more universal ap-
plication, they are so changed by altered circum-
stances as to cease to be available for present pur-
poses. In fact, to be useful, the kind of informa-
tion of which the want is so much regretted, and
to which I allude, would require to be renewed at
periods of no very distant interval. The trans-
actions of the Highland and Agricultural Society
of Scotland, too, present a mass of valuable
materials, from which may be drawn matter
available, in order to hazard an estimate of our
agricultural resources : And, above all, for this
end, much may be said to have been accomplished
by the voluminous proceedings which have issued
from parliamenatry committees on agriculture,
which have sat at various times during the pre-
sent century.

But still, strange to say, from none or all of
these sources do we arrive at any conclusion which
can with any safety be relied upon as to the pre-
sent amount of the agricultural produce of the
empire, or the probable state of the physical capa-
cities of the soil. On this subject, so essential to
correct legislation, much, it would appear, is left
to mere conjecture ; and while some statisticians
have varied in their calculations of the actual
amount of our grain produce as 5 to 7, we find
that the estimates of our best authorities have
been formed frequently, more from the amount
supposed to be consumed, than from any just in-
formation they have been able to procure with
respect to the breadth of land under each parti-
cular crop, or the amount of its aereable produce.

We have reason to suspect even, that the esti-
mated number of acres of land under tillage has
been acquired from no authentic source.

For instance, we find the estimated number of
acres in England and Wales of arable land, or land
under crop, — for the terms are used indifferently, —
as given by Arthur Young* and Mr. Cowling, f
afterwards adopted by Mr. Porter,^ varies to the
extent of upwards ot a million and a half, or to
the very considerable amount of more than 16* per-
cent : these authorities showing the extent in
round numbers to be respectively 12,700,000 and
11,000,000 acres. Mr. Stevenson, in the article
" England" in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, esti-
mated the arable land in 1812 at 11,500,000 acres ;
and Mr. M'Culloch, from a review of these data,
thus hesitatingly expresses himself with respect
to the extent in 1837, when his valuable work of
the Statistical Account of the British Empire was
first published : — " We believe we shall not be
far wrong in supposing it to be at this moment
12,000,000 acres."$

There is thus, it would appear, no certain in-
formation upon which this estimate is founded ;
and when we find the authorities upon which it
rests exhibiting a difference in extent of area,
which, under the ordinary distribution of the
arable land, and at the average rate of the king-
dom, would produce annually more than five times
the amount of the yearly average of our foreign
importations of all kinds of grain, with reason
may it be said that wc are wofully deficient in
what constitutes the elements of correct legisla-
tion in this important matter.

Mr. M'Culloch acknowledges that the real in-
formation at our command on this subject is as
limited and imperfect, as respects Ireland and
Scotland, as this more important division of the
empire ; and indeed the vague terms used with
regard alike to all, show too plainly, even on this
general question of extent of surface under crop,
that no confidence can be attached to the state-
ments hazarded.

But I am inclined to think it is in the distribu-
tion, as it is called of the arable land, or the
extent under different crops, in which the greatest
degree of error will be found ; at least I conceive
we have data within our observation sufficient to
point out satisfactorily the existence of very im-
portant mistakes in our statistical records on this
branch of the subject.

For example, Mr. Combcr,|| assuming the total
number of acres under cultivation in England and
Wales to amount to 11,591,000, thus distributes
them : — Acres.

Wheat 3,160,000

Barley and Rye 861,000

Oats and Beans 2,872,000

Clover, Rye-grass, &c, 1,149,000

Roots cultivated by the plough .. 1,150,000

Fallow 2,297,000

Hop, garden, and pleasure-grounds 102,000

11,591,000
Thus, in round numbers, he assumes nearly
7,000,000 acres to be annually under a grain crop,
while four and a half millions only are devoted to

* Eastern Tour, vol. iv. p. 458.

t Tables laid before Emigration Committee.

t Porter's Prog. i. 17 7.

<$ Statis. Acct. Brit. Empire, vol. i. 528.

j| On National Subsist. App. p. 52.

9

258

The farm Firs magazine.

grass and fallow and green crops. Hence nearly
two-thirds of the whole arable surface is always
under corn, a mode of management which, as no
more than the extent of land devoted to the other
division of crops remains fresh for grain in the
next year, involves the necessity that nearly two
millions and a half of the soil of England, or
considerably more than a third of the whole land
set apart for grain in any one year, is subjected
to the same species of crop in the succeeding
season — a system, it is well known, totally incon-
sistent with every sound principle of husbandry,
and which could not be pursued with reference to
the maintenance of fertility.

Mr. M'Culloch* so far alters Mr. Comber's
estimate, chiefly to show that he has underrated
the extent of ground under win at, and over-stated,
as he thinks, that set apart for .'allow ; but he falls
into the still greater error of stating a larger pro-
portion of the who'e arable l.iud to be under
crop in each year, while in his calculation?, also,
the alternate grasses compose a part of the esti-
mated number of acres under tillage.

In the distribution of the arabh land of Scot-
land, a very different rule is applied, but still, I
think, erroneously. These errors, personal obser-
vation enables me better to point out, and with
greater confidence ; while the estimated con-
sumption ot the kingdom, which I have attempted
to give below, goes far to establish the incorrect-
ness of the estimated produce of the empire,
taken as a whole.

The total number of arable acres in Scotland,
as derived from the General Report made in 1814f
— and there is nothing completed since to vindi-
cate a correction of these returns— is stated as
5,043,450. Of these, the proportion in grass is
estimated at 2,489,725, leaving 2,553,725 to be
annually under tillage— the proportion of arable
land in grass, be it observed, being thus assumed
as very nearly one-half of the whole extent;
while in England, as we have seen, it is set down
as less than two fifths for grass, fallow, and green
crops all included. Now, it is evident it would
be much nearer the truth, taking into account the
considerable proportion of land under a fourshift
rotation, to say nothing of that occasionally de-
voted to two successive culmil'erous crops, or a
wheat crop following beans, to set aside not more
than two-fifths of the tillage land of Scotland as
annually under grass. Thus, in round numbers,
in place of two and a half millions only being
yearly under the plough, devoted to corn, fallow,
and green crops, we have an aggregate of three
millions, or a gain upon the estimate of 20 per-
cent. But, again, in the distribution of the two
and a half millions acres of tillage land by Mr.
M'Culloch, we have the still more palpable mistake
of a much less breadth of fallow and green crops
in each year than the circumstances necessarily
require ; which division, in order to agree with
the well-known method of culture prevalent
throughout Scotland, ought— the grass, as in this
case, being excluded— to stand in the proportion
of a half to the extent of land under grain crops,
while he has stated them at nearly a third less
lhan this relative proportion. In the specific quan-
titles set apart to each species of grain, there is
also, I am satisfied, a very material error, how-
cver much he improves upon the estimate fur-

* Statis. Acct. vol. i. p. 529.
t General Report of Scotland, iir. App. p. 5.

nished in the General Report of 1814, which gives
the proportion of land occupied by wheat at only
140,000 acres, equivalent to no more than 420,000
qrs., as the produce of the whole of this division
of the empire.

Mr. M'Culloch's estimated distribution of the
land yearly subjected to tillage in Scotland is thus
given (Stat. Acct. Brit. Emp. vol. i. p. 537) : —

Acres. Quarters.

Wheat 220,000 at 3 qrs. per acre, 660,000

Barley 280,000 at S\ . . 980,000

Oats 1,275,000 at 4£ .. 5,737,500

Beans find Peas 100,000

Potatoes 130,000

Turnips 330,000

Fallow 150,000

2,505,000 7,37 7,500

For the reasons stated, I am inclined to hold the
following distribution— taking the total amount of
arable acres as given by Mr. M'Culloch — to be
nearer the truth : —

Acres. Quarters.

Wheat 340,000 at 3 qrs. per acre, 1,020 000

Barley 400,000 at 4 .. 1,600,000

Oats 940,000 at 4JL .. 4,230,000

Beans and Peas 100,000 at 3 .. 300,000

Turnips 420,000

Fallow 165,000

Potatoes 140,000

2,505,000 7,150,000

Adding 20 per cent., then, to this estimate— for
the deficiency pointed out in the assumed total
extent of the land under crop, exclusive of grass,
and which there is reason to think would fall
chiefly to the produce of oats and barley — we
would have a total of fully 8,500,000 qrs.

This additional amount of productrveness, it is
thought, is in many respects corroborated by some
facts bearing upon the estimated consumption and
relative trade in corn, as connected with Scotland ;
and particularly to justify the chief alteration it
has been deemed right to adopt in the latest dis-
tribution, as above set down, I may observe, that,
from the improved habits of living of the people
of Scotland generally of late years, it may now
with all safety be ;;s<-umed, that the consumption
of wheaten bread, as the entire and partial food
of this description of a portion of the inhabitants,
cannot be taken at less than what wortld amount to
the full estimated allowance for a million, or
twelve hundred thousand of the people. This
would give the consumption of wheat in Scotland
as about a million quarters. It has been difficult
to ascertain whether the balance of trade in this
article with other parts of the kingdom is, at all
times, for or against this northern division of the
empire ; but as it appears we sent to England, in
the five years ending 1836 — years nearly entirely
free from foreign importation — upwards of 170.0CO
quarters of wheat, while we imported from our
southern neighbours only 116,000 quarters, it is
thought the inference may be justly made, that in
seasons of average productiveness Scotland sup-
plies herself from her own resources ; and thus
we have some corroboration of the estimate that
our annual growth of wheat 11 ust considerably
exceed any of the former calculations, and perhaps
cannot be taken at less than a million quarters.
With respect to barley, and to vindicate, in some

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

259

measure, the larger space set apart for the growth
of this giain, I find the annual quantity charged
as malt, in this part of the empire, during the
period of five years ending 1834 — the last to which
I have been able to gain access — is alone upwards
of 500,000 quarters, about an equal quantity being
used " raw" in distilleries ; while the yearly aver-
age exportation of this kind of grain to England
for a like period, ending 1836, has been nearly
60,000 quarters — the imports from that quarter
being no more than half that amount.*

I have thought it right, as being confined to a
comparatively narrow space, and as exhibiting
better materials for discriminating, thus to go
somewhat minutely into detail, in order to show
more clearly, in respect to the subject as con-
nected with Scotland, the imperfect nature of the
information possessed upon a matter of such emi-
nent importance. I now proceed to take a hasty
glance of the whole subject, as relating to the
united empire, with a view alike to point out, from
the extent of the disparity which exists on different
aspects, the difficulty of legislating aright, and
that more correct data may be adduced upon
which to test the calculations afterwards to be
submitted.

Mr. M'Culloch, then, assuming as we have seen,
that 12,000,000 acres are the full extent of the arable
land of England and Wales, including alternate
grasses, and holding thnt nearly two-thirds of the
whole of this extent are annually under corn — a
mode of management which, as has been ob-
served, involves the necessity that neatly a half of
, all the land in England growing grain in each
year, is subjected to the same species of crop in
the succeeding season — gives the total produce
as 29,450,000.

Tims — Acres. Prod, per Acre.

Wheat 3,800,000 3^ qrs. 12,350,000

Barley and Rye 900,000 4 — 3,600,000
Oats and Beans 3,000,000 4\ — 13,500 000

7,700,000

Scotland, aga:n, with only 2,553,000 of her
.5,000,000 arable acres under crop, exclusive of
grass, is calculated to produce 7,37 7,500.

Ireland, estimated after the vague manner of
the presumed consumption of oats by a portion of
the inhabitants, is held as having 1,100,000
acres of her soil devoted to this end ; while the
quantity required for seed, feeding of horses, and
other internal uses, added to the amount of exports
to England, is taken as warranting the calculation
of three millions or three and a half millions in
all, set apart to this species of grain, which, at
44 h bushels per acre, would give upon the medium
extent, say 18,000,000.

The probable extent of area occup;ed by wheat
and barley, without any data being had recourse
to, is said not to exceed 600,000 or 700,000 acres,
which, at 3 qrs. per acre for wheat and 4 for
barley, in equal proportions, would upon the
largest quantity, show —

Wheat 1 ,050,000

Barley 1,400,000

2,450,000

This view exhibits the total produce of the
United Kingdom as 57,277,500 quarters.

* Appendix, No. 21, to "Third Report of Agri-
cultural Committee," 21st July, 1836.

Thus, Wheat 14,060,000

Barley 5,980,000

Oats.'. 37,237,500 _

This result taken upon the aggregate, is evi-
dently much under the mark, and a casual glance
in some instances cannot fail to create an impres-
sion of error in some of the items. It can
scarcely be, for instance, that the produce of
wheat and bat ley in Ireland is so limited compared
with that of Scotland with her much narrower
surface of arable soil: and, taking into account
the important consumption of wheaten bread in.
Ireland, with the very considerable exportation*,*
particularly of the former grain, which annually
take place* to England, amounting to upwards of
600,000 qrs. on the average of the last twelve
years, it is evident the produce of Ireland must
far exceed a million quarters of wheat, and,
perhaps, is not less than two and a half million
quarters. It will be seen, also, as we proceed, to
apply to the whole matter the test afforded by the
estimated consumption of the country, that the
above calculation of our produce is evidently in-
correct, and, as regards the article " barley" par-
ticularly, as being in great part subject to fiscal
regulations, we have irrefragable proof of a con-
sumption far exceeding the amount of produce
above set down.

Taking, then, the population of Great Britain at
this time at 18,600,000, and of Ireland at 8,400,000,
it may be fairly assumed, that of the former
there are not fewer than 15,000,000 consumers of
wheaten bread. I reckon, of this number, about
fourteen millions for England ; and to justify this
amount, I quote Mr. M'Culloch's own words, who
says, " wheat is now the all but universal bread-
corn" of England." Ireland will give at least two
millions to this number, and taking Scotland at
one million, as already estimated, we have a total
in the United Empire, as consumers of wheat, of
17,000, oro. Applying, then, the usual calculation
to this'subject, this number would not be held as
consuming less than an equal number of quarters
of wheat" but as this supposes an average con-
sumption of rather more than two quartern loaves
a-week to each individual, it appears to me we
shall be nearer the truth to set apart about seven
bushels only to each consumer, and thus to adopt
sixteen millions quarters of wheat as the annual,
consumption of these realms at the present time,
including what is used in the manufacture of
starch, pastry, &c , &c.

Man, however, does not live by wheaten bread
alone, and there arc other more questionable forms
in which he appears a large consumer of corn, to
which 1 will presently advert. In the mean time,
it is conceived, it may be fairly held that these
eaters of bread are consumers of other varieties
of grain, to the extent nearly of what would
amount to one bushel each annually oh the aver-
age, or say equal to two million quarters of oats
and barley in equal proportions; while the re-
maining 11,000,000 persons, of which we exclude
three millions, as being under an age to come into
this average, giving 8,000,000, whom 1 presume,
upon the ordinary data of \\ quarters each, to
consume 12,000,000 quarters of oats and barley,
in the proportion of three-fourths of the former
to one-fourth of the latter species of grain, f

* Irish exports of all kinds of grain said to be
from 1\ to 3 millions annually.— M'Culloch's Slat.,
vol. ii. p. 149.

t The usual annual consumption by the agricultu-

S 2

260

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

From the parliamentary returns of the "quan-
tities of malt charged with duty" in the United
Empire, during the average of five years ending
1840, at which period the consumption in this
way seemed rapidly on the increase, it appears
that the amount of barley thus consumed is up-
wards of 5,200,000 quarters. These figures, it
will be observed, when the quantity required for
seed is included, embrace nearly every quarter
that is said to be grown, leaving nothing to be
otherwise consumed by men and cattle, and for
the very considerable quantity converted into
spirits in an unmalted state.

Then we have the large consumption of corn by
horses. Of these there are computed by the latest
calculations to be not fewer than 1,600,000 in the
United Empire, which, at the usual very law com-
putation of ten quarters of oats annually for each
horse, gives a total of 16,000,000 quarters.* The
quantity of grain consumed by cows feeding
stock, &c, cannot, perhaps, be taken at less than
5,000,000 a quai ters.f

Then, lastly, there falls to be deducted from our
estimated annual produce the amount required for
seed. This, calculated according to the extent of
land above set down, underrated as we hold that
to be, gives for

Quarters.

Wheat, at 3 bushels per acre 1,640,000

Barley, at 3 bushels 574,000

Oats and beans, at 6 bushels 5,680,000

Total for seed, 7,894,000
The whole matter then would stand thus —

Quarters.

Wheaten bread 16,000,000

Oats consumed by man 10,000,000

Barlev eaten 4,000.000

Barley malted 5,200,000

Barley distilled unmalted 1.200.000J

Consumed by horses, cattle, &c 21,000,000

Seed ., 7,!)00,000

Quarters, 65,300,000

ral servants of Scotland, I consider equal to ten
bushels each of oats, and four of barley and peas.
And to show that I have not over estimated the total
consumption of these grains fes above set down, I
have entered into the calculation of the quantities
thus consumed by the agricultural servants ordinarily
employed, relatively to the whole extent of arable
)<tnd in Scotland. This, 1 find, assuming one and
a half, with their families, to be occupied on each
100 acres, at the ordinary allowance of ten and a
half quarters to each family, gives a total 787,500
quarters. Extending the same calculation to Eng-
land and Ireland — though I am aware no similar con-
sumption exists in the former at any rate, but for the
sake of the results — we would have in all 5,115,500
quarters of the quantity of oats and barley as con-
sumed by man given above, and taken off by a po-
pulation, as it turns out, amounting to not much
above 3,000,000.

* I am aware that eight quarters of corn is not
an unusual estimate of the quantity annually con-
sumed by a horse, but when it is considered that
agricultural horses are allowed not less than fifteen
quarters each annually, I think I am still under the
mark in assuming the rate above taken.

t This I have found estimated at double the
amount held as consumed by horses, but it is evi-

Thus, even on a moderate calculation of our
consumption, we have the enormous discrepancy
of upwards of eight millions of quarters between
the computed necessary wants of our population,
and the estimates of the produce of the empire by
our best statisticians. But let it not for a moment
be supposed that any real deficiency of the means
of subsistence exists from our highly-favoured
and flourishing soil. The difference, we are cer-
tain, lies in error of calculation ; for it is noto-
rious that, while the alleged deficiency 1 havejnst
pointed out amounts to upwards of an eighth part
of our calculated requirements, we have not,
upon an average of the v\hole years of the pi-esent
century, imparled from abroad annually an amount
much above a sixtieth part of the yearly aceraye
produce of our oicn soil ■'§

This error, then, I think, can be easily traced
to the calculations of our estimated produce, and,
more especially, I presume, will be found to have
its origin in a misconception as to the mode of
distribution of the arable land. For while, as
1 have attempted to show, Mr. M'Culloch assumes
too great an extent of the whole arable land of
England and Wales, upon his own data, to be an-
nually under crop, and thus , as it were, appears
at first sight to afford no room to correct his error
as favourable to the exhibition of a larger amount
of produce ; yet, it appears to me, his great mis-
take lies in adopting the amount 12,000,000 acres
as the whole land under a system of alternate
husbandry, in place of the arable surface exclusive
ofyrass, whereby, in fairness, and according to
any right system of husbandry, he would be
limited to at most a half, or 6,000,000 acres, as
being under corn at any one time. 1 am inclined
to think also the expression of Arthur Young,
" under crop," as applied to his estimaies of the
soil in England available for corn, means the ex-
tent exclusively adapted to corn, fallow, and
green crops; and in this supposition, I conceive, I
am strengthened by the wording of Mr. Cowling's
estimates, who seems in his different states, in
discriminating between arable and pasture lands,
to make use of these terms distinctively. In this
way we are then entitled, adopting Mr. M'CuI-
loch's own figures, but as haviny reference to the
arable land exclusive of yrass, to consider fully
two-thirds of the whole 12,000,000 acres as under
a grain crop in each year. This would give for
England as annually in grain 8,000,000, or pro-
bably— as a considerable extent of the finer soils
of the south are devoted to corn two years conse-

dently a mistake. — Alison on Population, vol. ii.,
p. 436.

J As the " returns" relative to spirits distilled in
the United Kingdom show a quantity equivalent to
a consumption of upwards of 1,700,000 qrs. of
grain (Pari. Returns, ordered, &c, llth August,
1840), while those relating to malt used in distilla-
tion in 1839-40 exhibit a total of little more than
500,000 qrs., it folhws that the quantity of grain
distilled unmalted must at least be equal to that
above given.

$ The annual average importations of all kinds of
grain and flour, from 1800 to 1840 inclusive,
amount to 1,160,284 quarters. See tables compiled
from Parliamentary Returns; Mundell's lndust.Sit.
of Great Britain, p. 52; Tooke's Prices, vol. iii.,
App. 293.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

261

cutively — nearer 8,400,000 acres, being a differ-
ence on Mr. M'Culloch's calculation of

700,000 acres.
The total extent of land under
corn and green crop in Scotland,
I have found good reason to alter
to the amount of 20 per cent.,
which gives upon that under corn
alone, in each year, a difference
from former estimates of upwards
of 300,000

Together, 1,000,000 acres.

Thus, without making any change upon the es-
timated number of acres of land under tillage in
Ireland, to justify an interference with which I
am not aware that any precise information exists,
though 1 have found good reason to hold it also
as underrated, we have here a difference of extent
of area, which would afford an addition to our
annual computed productiveness, at the usual
average rate per acre of all kinds of grain, of
4,500,000 quarters. If, in addition, we assume —
which it appears to me we are well entitled to do,
from the effects now visible in many parts from
recent improvements— a higher rate of produce
than the state of cultivation at the period of
former estimates warranted, I am satisfied it will
not be difficult fully to account for the discrepancy
which 1 have pointed out, seeing that an addition
of a bushel an acre, with the deficiency pointed
out above as respects Ireland, would be more
than enough to make up for the whole deficiency.

It is not to be doubted that we are now well
entitled to appropriate a larger acreable produce,
and altogether it is no more than might have been
expected, that a great discrepancy should Le
found in our estimated produce, since it would
appear we have few materials to afford precise
calculations later than 1812 and 1814. Circum-
stances, it is evident, must have changed very
materially, during these thirty years, to justify a
larger result than has yet been assumed, and es-
pecially as regards the amount of the different va-
rieties of crops, are subject to so many varying
influences, that it is only a close periodical inves-
tigation that in such a matter could be expected to
show us our real state, and account, perhaps, for
some of the late anomalies in the trade in corn.
For instance, I may just mention — what may be
the change in other quarters of the kingdom I
know not — that in the district within the scope of
my own immediate observation, I am confident
the effect of the prevailing low price of wheat
from 1833 to 1837, and probably other causes,
was at that time to curtail the growth of this
grain nearly a half — a decrease which has never
yet, to anything like the full extent, been made
up ; and if a similar influence has been in opera-
tion over any large extent of surface — and in some
other parts of Scotland, at any rate, I believe it to
have prevailed — it may well account, on other
grounds than altogether deficient harvests, for the
increased importations of the last four years,
which have been almost entirely of wheat.

I fear these details may appear to many some-
what tedious and unnecessary, since the fact of
the under-estimate of our production may be said
to be sufficiently established on a comparison of
our consumption, in connection with the trifling
amount of foreign importation. But I trust it
may not be without its use that I have, even at
the risk of being tiresome, endeavoured to point

out in what respect so slight reliance is to be
placed on the conclusions of our ablest guides in
this matter ; and I shall hold myself well repaid
for the tiouble of the investigation, should the
subject be thus brought to attract the attention of
those who may be able to lead to the removal of
so complete a bar to correct legislation. A minute
investigation and periodical revisal of the actual
proceeds of the soil, I am satisfied, would neither
be so difficult nor so expensive as many suppose.*

But I have another object in view in thus in-
veitigating these calculations ; and if it be of ad-
vantage to point out where, I humbly conceive,
error is found to exist, or rather to show how it is
that, with our present deficient means, a correct
conclusion cannot be arrived at, it is no less ad-
vantageous, and a much more pleasing task, to
have it in our power to prove, from the materials
we possess (defective as they are), that, at all
events, this country possesses within itself physical
capabilities sufficiently adequate to meet the de-
mands of an immensely increased population ;
perhaps it might be safely said, more than ade-
quate to maintain a population larger than has yet
been known to exist within similar limits.

The very magnitude of a prospective benefit,
however, frequently leads to doubt as to its pro-
bable existence ; and, accordingly, we find it is no
new thing that anxiety should be testified as to
the nation's means of future sui sistence, notwith-
standing the strongest evidence of their perma-
nency. It was attempted to be shown, we know,
at the close of the last century, by a celebrated
economist, whose name conferred on the predic-
tion no slight favour, that ere twenty-five years
would elapse, the inhabitants of this empire would
have outgrown the capacity of the soil to main-
tain them ; but forty- five years have since nearly
passed away, and the annual average supply of
corn from abroad has scarcely, as we have already
seen, amounted in all that time to a sixtieth part
of our annual produce ! and this, notwithstanding
our consumption, has increased comparatively
more from the improved habits and enhanced
luxuries of the people, than from addition to the
population, unprecedented as that has been. In
point of fact, the number of inhabitants has in-
creased, during this time, to the extent of fully
ten millionsf — a population requiring for their
maintenance, from what we have seen, fully
20,000,000 quarters of grain ; and yet it clearly
established, that nearly at the close of this time,
that is — saving the few past disastrous seasons —
for .m successive years up to 1837, we have pro-

* Such questions as the following, addressed to
two or three persons of ordinary intelligence ac-
quainted with agricultural subjects, in each parish
or other specified district, and these repeated occa-
sionally, perhaps at the period of taking the census,
would sufficiently bring out the information re-
quired.

The quantity of land under cultivation.

The extent of which, annually, under grass.

The proportion of the remainder under each va-
riety ot crop, as well grain as roots, specifying also
the number of acres in bare fallow.

The average productiveness of the different
species of grain crops, and the value per aero of the
roots or other productions,
t Population of Great Britain and Ire-
land in 1801, J6.338.102

1841, 26,870,143

262

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

vided the whole of this additional suhsistence en-
tirely from our own soil;* while our total im-
ports, taking the whole period, would, at the same
ratio, scarcely yield support to 500,000 of the
people.

Our home agriculture, it would thus appear,
has steadily kept pace with these increasing and
unprecedented demands ; but surely no one will
have the hardihood to say that our effotts in this
achievement have been in any way overstrained,
and that on this account we are the less likely to
be able to continue to make effectual exertions to
meet our still growing necessities. On the con-
trary, it is well known that it is only very lately
indeed that discoveries have been made in agri-
culture, and appliances of various kinds have been
devised which, when brought generally to bear,
cannot fail to give a stimulus to production which
it will be difficult for any probable inciease of po-
pulation to overtake.

To instance alone the recent improvements of
thorough-draining and deep ploughing, for which
we are mainly indebted to the enterprising and
ingenious Mr, Smith of Deanston. In many of
the instances in which this system has been faith-
fully applied, it is well known to have more than
doubled the produce, while in all it has been more
or less eminently successful. It is comparatively
a trifling extent of land, indeed, that has yet been
subjected to the exercise of these principles, but
there can be no question that their beneficial use
is all but of universal application. Taking the
arable land alone of the empire, we may well con-
clude there are not less than what would be equal
to 10,000,000 acres annually under crop, to which
the improvements of thorough-draining and its
accessories might be profitably applied, and with
immense advantage to the nation's comfort and
pecuniary resources. From what is known of the
effects of those operations on different kinds of
soil, 1 consider that I am within the mark in esti-
mating the result of their application, on so ex-
tended a scale as I have contemplated, as equal to
an average of fully eight bushels an acre. Indeed,
Mr. Smith states the^effect of such improvements
upon "the most unpromising sterile soil," as ex-
hibiting a return of sixteen bushels an acre
higher than the average assumed by Mr. M'Cul-
1 )ch for the arable land of all England ;f and, in
point of fact, to justify the expense of these
operations, we are warranted in assuming to
the full the increase I have supposed. This,
then, without having recourse to new soils,
would give an addition to the annual produce
of the empire of 10,000,000 quarters — an amount
just about ten times larger than our average an-
nual importation for the last forty years! The
like course of improvement applied to the
13,000,000 acres of uncultivated laid capable of
tillage, we may well hold as affording a farther
increase of 20,000,000 quarters, after the won-
ders Mr. Smith declares it has achieved upon
the most sterile and unpromising of Scot-

" The fact is in full evidence, that during six
successive years the produce of the United King-
dom has sufficed for the consumption, greatly in-
creased as that has been." — Tooke's History of
Prices, vol. ii., p. 263.

f Remarks on Thorough-draining, &c, by James
Smith, Esq., p, 20.

land's soils.* Thus we have subsistence for an in-
creased population, with all its concomitants, to
the extent of a half more than our present num-
bers !-f-

It needcth not, then, that we stop to enquire
what may be the effects of the more extended ap-
plication of machinery to agriculture — the ferti-
lizing powers of new manures — the influence of a
higher education upon farmers, when chemistry,
botany, and mineralogy shall be the companions of
his walk, and the guides to his daily operations,
or of the less pieasing occupations of science in
the laboratory — when, as M. Liebig has well shewn,
much of the heavy expences in agriculture may be
obviated, by the concentration of the essentials of
many of our manures, in chemical manufactories.

Hut it remains that I briefly point out what is
onceived essential to the development of our
agricultural resources, in the ratio suited to the
requirements of the people, and the urgency of the
times in which we live. The operations to which
I have chiefly alluded, as applicable to this purpose,
involve we know a very considerable outlay of cap-
ital— perhaps not less, on an average, than 07. per
acre. This sum wc find exactly the amount com-
puted as the whole means employed in agriculture
in the earlier part of the century, before any such
expensive improvements were contemplated ; and
I believe it will be readily admitted, is fully equi-
valent to the reul farming capital of the present
day. It is clear, then, however enterprising and
desirous to do their part, the tenantry alone have
not the means to effect the desired end, and retain
what is necessary otherwise to cultivate their lands
efficiently. If they had, however, the returns from
draining are not so immediate, or so ample even ac-
cording to the estimate I have given, as in ordinary
cases to justify so extensive an outlay by a tenant.
As regards the proprietor, it is otherwise ; for
although there is little risk that the increased pro-
duce will prove sufficient to enable the tenant to
pay a fair, and even liberal, per-ccntage for the
landlord's expenditure, it is to be feared — and hence
the check to improvement in his hands— that the

5) 15.000,000 acres.

3,0<)0,000
2

2-hfths, 6,000,000 at3£ qrs. per acre.

18,000,000
3,000,000

21,000,000 quarters.

t I am aware that the able and eloquent author of
the History of the French Hevolutunary Wais, has,
in his hue work on population ( Principles of Popu-
lation, by Arch. Alison, Esq., vol. i., p. 50, and A pp.
No. III.), alluding to the powers of production in re-
ference to population, has entered into a calculation
of the physical capacities of the soil to maintain an
increased number of inhabitants, which exhibits a
result far exceeding that above set clown ; but from
the nature of the argument with which it is con-
nected, he has found himself obliged to adopt too
extreme a case though probably possible under a
different system — to be of any practical bearing, as
applicable to the present practice of agriculture.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

263

double return wliichit is necessary the improve-
ment should yield to repay capital and interest,
within the limits of an ordinary lease, may not, in
every instance, be forthcoming. Dr. Adam Smith
has well elucidated the difference, as respects the
position of parties in this matter, when he says : —
" The farmer, compared with the proprietor, is as a
merchant who trades with borrowed money com-
pared with one who trades with his own. The
stock of both may improve ; but that of the one,
with only equal good conduct, must always im-
prove more slowly than that of the other, on ac-
count of the large share of the profits which is con-
sumed by the interest of the loan." — (Wealth of
Nations, b. III. cap. ii.)

Hut draining is in no respect a tenant's work.
It is essentially — to be performed as it ought — a
permanent improvement, and as such peculiarly
the province of the landlord. In point of fact,
drains are — or at least may be made, at no great
cxpence — more permanent than buildings ; and on
the former as well as the latter a great deal of
money has been expended, and continues to be
thrown away by tenants unprofitably, in perform-
ing partially and inefficiently what ought to be
substantially and once for all complete! by the
proprietor ; for it were evidently much better for
the country, and more profitable to the parties,
that 6/. were expended at once, from which a full
return is annually accruing, than that 31. should he
required to be laid out every fifteen or twenty years,
yielding only a partial effect.

It is to the landlord, then, that we are chiefly to
, look to give that impetus to our agricultural exer-
tions, soimportant at the present time. The tenant,
there is no doubt, generally is prepared to do his
part — to give a liberal allowance for monies ex-
pended ; and let improvements be performed sub-
stantially and well, and then there will be fewer
disappointments as to the immediate result, and
a far higher encouragement afforded to perse-
verance in the right path in futuie. It were infi-
nitely better for the man of means, and a much
more laudable ambition, in place of adding acre t >
acre, upon which 2J or at most 3 per cent, can be
obtained, to lay out his spare capital upon ameli-
••■ orations, which would immediately yield a much
higher rate of interest, and render the land he pos-
sesses permanently more valuable. We have some
lee-way to make up, and proprietors may tarry too
long, if they wait the slow progress which all the
efforts of the tenantry permit them to make. They,
it is hoped, will ever be found willing to lend
a helping hand, and there is much which falls
within their peculiar province to favour and
to forward the improvements alluded to : but
they cannot do all. It is true, through their un-
aided exertions, in many instances, we see the
hand of the drainer, apparently at no great intervals
plying his unsightly but satisfactory work, and, it
may he, many numerous bright spots mark where
his labours have taken effect ; but we must re-
member, that though the whole of the present ara-
ble land of Scotland were subjected to his magic
touch, our increased produce would amount to lit-
tle mure than what our necessities, in unpropitious
seasons, too often demand. It is on the wide and
fertile plains of Kngland that the struggle must first
be made. Ireland, sjIso, presents a fair field, and
her sons have never proved laggards in Britain's
need. We of Scotland shall not cease, I trust, to
pereevcre in the van. But it is on the potent ba-
rons and substantial yeomen of the south that we

rest our main dependance ; and in their hands,
with proper energy, the victory cannot long be
doubtful.

And since it has been proved there are ample
bounds and resources within the limits of our own
soil, not only immediately to overcome the slight
deficiency which remains to be supplied, but by no
great exertion to furnish, for a greatly increased
population, bread enough and to spare, it cannot be
that the landed proprietors of Great Britain, gene-
rail}', will hesitate to make the effort which the
present crisis so imperatively demands. The sound
and only permanent adjustment of the corn question
rests with them. To effect this end, so devoutly to
be wished, we ask them to make no sacrifice. On
che contrary, they will be blest in the act, and
while they give they will be gainers. Nor is there
any fear they shall he refused full time for the
development of increased resources, and a fair
opportunity with their new appliances, to make
the further efforts so immediately available. Agri-
culture has ever been considered the right arm of
every state, and far more so is it the sure defence
of an island nation. We hear much of the power
and wealth of our manufactures. But what would
be thought of the policy which would peril the
welfare ofourgreat cotton manufactures, byopen-
our trade in this article to the unreserved compe-
tition of the world, because it was found that, how-
ever capable of extension and improvement, we
were behind in skill to meet the freaks of fashion,
or it may be, deficient by a small fractional part in
supplying ourselves at all times efficiently and so
cheaply as it was fancied might be done from
abroad ? And yet, where is the comparison in
point of wealth, stability, and strength, between
agriculture and our mightiest manufactures ? It
is true it is said by those who are forced to admit
the cnpabilities of our soil to support the population,
that this can only be done at such an expence as
to make the attainment of the object worthless as
respects any advantage to the nation. But what is
considered to be the grand and essential feature of
the recently introduced improvements, to which I
have fully alluded, is, that the outlay required
involves not the necessity of the maintenance of a,
price, which it has been usual to consider incon-
sistent with the general prosperity of the nation.
Besides, too, that the cost of production is less in
proportion to the benefit derived than any applica-
tion hitherto adopted with a view to rouse the
energies of the soil, the improvement is of such a
nature as beyond all others to ensure fertility, — to
counteract unpropitious seasons, — from the great
amelioration of temperature and climate inherent
in the operation.

If here it should be argued, why then continue
restrictions on the trade in corn which these new
improvements, as regards the price of production,
render no longer necessary? I answer that, al-
though, as respects price, it should appear we
were even able to bear up against foreign compe-
tition, yet the effect of a change in the law, so
far as it may immediately operate to check agri-
cultural improvement, by withdrawing confidence
in a system of continued expenditure, may cripple
our agricultural resources beyond recovery. As
respects the owners and occupiers of those lands
best adapted to repay these ameliorations, we
might possibly be contented forthwith to dispense
with any material protecting duty ; and if all were
sufficiently acquainted with agiiculturc to possess
that full confidence necessary to something like

264

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

simultaneous action, to a general adoption of the
means required to insure increased productive-
ness, so far as the country generally is concerned,
we might perhaps feel some indifference with re-
spect to the settlement of the amount of protec-
tion. But hesides that, it is certain that faith in
full protection is essentially necessary to main-
tain and foster the right spirit of enterprise re-
quired for the full development of our resources
— to induce the cultivators of secondary descrip-
tions of soil to ply their improvements — it is not
to be looked for that the landed interest generally
will derive any direct benefit from the larger sup-
plies of food thus furnished to the people; for as
the amelioration by draining is chiefly applicable
to the lower rented lands, and from such the
great increase is to be derived, the effect of a fall
of price consequent upon increased supply, will be
to depreciate the finer soils, to amalgamate rents,
so that the claim to protection comes to be neces-
sary alike to secure the vigour, and enterprise,
and confidence, so desirable to promote the grand
achievement of simultaneous action, and by ren-
dering the depression less violent than it would
be, concurrent on an approach to anything like
free trade, better prepare those who may be called
upon to suffer, for the change.

Any measure, then, which could be held as a
withdrawal of full protection and encouragement
to home agriculture, I consider as likely, at the
present time, to prove most disastrous. It is not
enough that no check be given to agricultural en-
terprise ; it must continue to be buoyed up and
supported in the full hope of increased encourage-
ment and support, if we wish it to obtain the en-
viable and impregnable position so surely within our
reach. This fostering care has produced, as we have
seen, an increased productiveness to meet the de-
mands of an accession often millions to our popula-
tion within the last forty years. At the same ratio of
increase, ere the half of a similar space of time has
passed over our heads, a fresh demand must be
made for an additional twelve million quarters of
grain, and dire would be the day when, with this
augmented population, we should find ourselves
to be dependent upon a foreign supply, which,
according to the " consular returns" obtained by
the late government, from the "principal empor-
iums" of corn on the continent, precarious and
overstated as, in many respects, these apparently
are, would hardly suffice to furnish one-third of
the species of grain in these circumstances re-
quired.*

British agriculture is still of too tender growth
to stand rough usage. It is, however, of most pro-
mising strength, and with a little longer nurturing,
cannot fail to attain that vigour to withstand, and
perhaps with advantage, the somewhat rude ope-
ration which, as in husbandry, is frequently ne-
cessary to the successful growth of concrescent pro-
ductions. At no previous period in its history
have the estimates of its powers been in any de-
gree brought so completely under the irrefragable

* The answer to the query, addressed from the
foreign office last year lo the consuls, " What quan-
tity of grain of each kind could be exported to Eng-
land from the country or district in which you re-
side, if the trade were made constantly open, at a mo-
derate fixed duty?" produces a grand total of
4,796,003 quarters of all kinds of grain, nearly a
million of which is rye, a species of grain scarcely
used in this country.

test of arithmetic ; and as we have been able, under
comparatively defective and unfixed principles,
hitherto to continue to keep pace with an in-
creased population, unprecedented in the annals
of an old country, why should we be called upon
now for a moment to peril the continued energies
of an interest which, with improved appliances,
is capable of providing from our own soil, by
means of native industry, for any possible addi-
tional increase of population, at a rate, too, which
shall afford full contentment to all ; for low price
effected by our own labour, with every one in full
employment, is a very different thing from the
same object produced by depreciation arising from
unequal foreign competition, with the necessary
concomitant of idleness at home. With every
encouragement, then, to persevere, let us fairly
master the little eminence that remains to be sur-
mounted, and, as we have seen, so easily attain-
able. We shall then find we have obtained an
impregnable position, from which our conquests
may be securely extended ; and as we behold the
effects of the peaceful struggle being exhibited in
the fertile valleys around us, we shall soon find
every clamour lost in the resounding shouts of
plenty.

BRAINTREE FARMERS' CLUB.

The particulars which we gave last week of the
proceedings at the annual meeting of the Braintree
Farmer's Club, must, we think, have impressed
our agricultural readers with a strong feeling of
the practical utiltiy of such institutions, and lead
to the calling up of similar clubs in those parts of
the county in which they have not yet been plan-
ted. The report of their monthly proceedings
contained much interestingand useful information;
and the speeches at the dinner table were marked
by that sterling good sense and intelligence which
characterizes the English yeoman when his abilities
are brought into play, while they show that he is
fairly keeping pace in intellectual advancement
with the other classes of society.

We had not space last week to notice the apen-
dix to the report, from which we now extract the
following essay, written by a member of the
club : —

LIME AND ITS SALTS AS FERTILIZERS.

This is the most important of this class of ma-
nures, and therefore deserves to rank first, and it
will not be difficult to prove that its abuse is the
fault entirely of the farmer, who is too apt to fol-
low example blindly in place of examining the
principle upon which the practice is founded, and
without which success is often precarious and ab-
solutely impossible; therefore successor failure
depends upon their mode of application. The
action of lime upon soil differs entirely according
to the state in which it is used, namely, in the form
of true, or " hot lime," or in the state of "mild lime,
or slaked;" in being converted to the latter con-
dition, it undergoes important chemical changes,
which I shall presently attempt to describe.

The chemical action of lime upon organic matter
is the source of its value as a manure or fertilizer ;
and I shall endeavour to explain the different
states in which it can be applied with benefit to the
cultivator. Hot lime, or lime in its pure state, has a
great tendency to return to its original form of car.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

2G5

bonate ; in undergoing which change, it first
absorbs a large quantity of water, and it then,
assumes the form of slaked lime, or, in chemical
language, has become a hydrate. This hydrate
in its turn rapidly absorbs carbonic acid from the
atmosphere, and thus in r.olong period the burnt, or
hot lime, returns to its original condition, with this
difference— that whereas it was formerly in large
stony masses, it is now in the form of a fine
powder. It is called Mild Lime when partially
slaked, and upon this particular condition I shall
have presently especially to remark.

Having thus endeavoured to explain the three
important combinations of (his earth in which it
is applied to agriculture, I shall shortly allude to
them separately. First, Hot Lime. When any
organic matter is mixed with lime in this form, it
undergoes putrefaction with great rapidity, and in
this way woody fibre, gum, sugar, and many other
vegetable matters are converted into humic acid
and other compounds, which being more or less
soluble in water becomes food for plants ; for all
substances, of whatever description, which are
employed to fertilize the soil or become the food
of plants, can only be rendered thus serviceable
to vegetable life and production, by being presented
to the plants in solution or in a fluid state. Thus
it appears that the most important object to be
gained by the application ot hot lime is the decom-
position of woody fibre and other vegetable mat-
ters, and the consequent formation of humate of
lime and various othi r soluble compounds. Lime
becomes ultimately chalk, but in the act of its con-
version it produces soluble out of insoluble mat-
ters.

Mild or Slaked Lime has little or no action
upon woody fibre, but it unites readily with humid
acid, existing in the soil; in the same manner as
hot lime, it probably retards decomposition, and
thus renders the nourishing properties of the soil
more permanent. From these remarks we may
understand that hot lime will be useful in all cases
when there is an excess of undecomposed vegetable
fibre, as in peat soils, moors, heaths, &c ; and in
fact in most places where the natural growth has
not been interfered with for a number of years,
from which it follows that it will be particularly
useful to old grass which has lost heart from age,
or if the soil be broken up in this state for tillage ;
and it also may be thus applied to such soils if they
he intended for bottoms of dunghills. It is
injurious to growing plants, and will thus free land
of its spontaneous growth of weeds, &c. It may
also be applied to exhausted and almost barren
heath and moors, when the finer grasses have dis-
appeared ; it thus destroys the mosses and other
useless plants, and converts them into useful ma-
nure, winch, being washed into the soil by general
showers, revives the seeds of those plants which
grew there ages previously, and especially white
clover.

Mild Lime is a most useful application in all
cases where any of the above circumstances occur
in cultivated land, and particularly in garden
grounds. It sometimes occurs that the crops be-
come rank from an excess of soluble manure, the evil
effects of which can almost always be counteracted
by a dressing of mild lime which by combining
with the humic acid renders the organic matter
less prone to hasty decomposition, and likewise at
the same time less soluble. If it be intended to
use mild lime as a dressing, theplan recommended
for its application is to slake as much hot lime as

is required for a given space in a heap, and imme-
diately after it has cooled, which will take place
in thirty or forty hours, to have it carted and spread
over the land as speedily as possible. The com-
mon method of laying down the hot lime in small
heaps, and allowing it to slake by rain, is very
erroneous, for in this instance it may get too much
rain, which instead of merely slaking it, and thus
reducing it to a fine powder, converts it into a
running mortar, in which condition it will neither
spread easily nor mix with the soil. Both the lime
and the soil should be dry at the time of appli-
cation ; and besides, laying it in small heaps ex-
poses a far greater surface for the absorption of
carbonic acid, which diminishes materially the
effect of the lime. When the cultivator can make
a choice of the time of application, he will take the
summer, for obvious reasons. Quantity should be
determined by a chemical analysis of the soil, for
if the soil be already loaded with calcareous matter
its use in any state would not only be useless but
might be injurious. It must also be borne in mind
that neither hot nor mild lime can act as a manure,
till it has become converted into carbonate or hu-
mate, and that the fertilizing effects of these sub-
stances are produced at the expence of the organic
matter existing in the soil, so that, although lime
is directly useful by calling into activity otherwise
inert matter, nevertheless it exhausts the soil by
so doing. Care must be taken not to poison the
land. The two apparent opposite effects of lime
must also be borne in mind, namely, that although
it increases the solubility of inert vegetable mat-
ter, still it renders much less soluble those parts
of the organic constituents of soil which have al-
ready become capable of solution.

Carbonate of Lime — Chalk— differs entirely
from the foregoing substance. It has no effect
whatever upon inert vegetable matter. Its action
is, however, most beneficial. It tends greatly to
alter the texture of the soil to which it is applied,
and possesses likewise the very useful property of
being retentive of moisture, without at the same
time becoming adhesive, and can therefore be used
advantageously both to clays and sands. It opens
the clays and increases the absorbent properties of
the sand : it is especially useful as a top dressing
to meadows. It is, however, by no moans easy to
understand its mode of action, except there were
a want of that substance in the land previous to its
application. I am speaking in the presence of
many farmers well versed in the application of
this salt, and I trust that I shall be favoured with
their remarks.

Marl. — Here, again, I am introducing a subject
in a neighbourhood where the practice of claying
land, as it is called, and improperly so, is very
common; and I shall hope for the assistance of
many I see around me in giving practical infor-
mation to this club.

It is generaly allowed that marls are valuable in
direct proportion to tbequantity of calcareous mat-
ter which they contain ; the marls most common
in England are the clay, stone, and shell marls.
They are generally composed of silica, alumina,
carbonate of lime, and frequently oxide of iron.
The carbonate of lime varies from 20 to 80 per
cent. A pit in the parish of Hatfield, near Witham,
contains 45 per cent, with some portion of oxide of
iron, and a large proportion of alumina, as ana-
lyzed by a friend of mine

It is a well established fact, that marls are often
very injurious when applied to the soil immediately

26G

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

after being dug, anil this effect is prevented by
exposure to air, and being tinned over once or
twice before used. It is difficult to explain this
curious fact ; chemistry alone cm solve this
enigma. And it must not be forgotten that the
value of this dressing to land depends merely upon
the carbonate of lime, unless it be applied for the
purpose of altering the texture of the soil, as sands,
which possibly may not need calcareous matter,
and if so, pure clay would answer much better.
Marl is much inferior to lime or chalk for clay
land. It must not be forgotten, that when mail
or any other substance is dug from a pit, the surface
soil alone contains organic matter, and thus unless
the sod is rich in manure at the tiineot'application,
the farmer must not expect to see any marked
improvement immediately after its application,
nor should he condemn the practice, even although
the first crop should be inferior to those before
the marl was used.

GvrsuiM — Sulphate of lime — at present belongs
to a class of manures, but little known amongst
farmers. It is supposed to act as a specific manure
that is supplying the plant directly with certain
saline combinations which are essential to their
perfection. 1 bis salt is found in luccrn, clover,
sainfoin, and turnips, and, according to Davy,
some species of grass. This particular branch of
inquiry is in its infancy. Gypsum is soluble but
slightly in water, and very probably its effect on
clovers, &c, would not be evident in a dry season.

Phosphate or Lime — is a principal ingredient
in bones, and probably one of the fertilizing pro-
perties of bones, and the main one depends upon
this compound. It is not necessary for me to
dwell upon the advantages of bone manure before
so many turnip growers as are present. — Chelms-
ford Chronicle.

THE FARMER.

No. IV.

ON PEATING.

The fable of the Dog and the Shadow, wherein
appears the folly of attempting to grasp all the
present to the certain loss of the future, is too
often exemplified by the manner in which some
farmers prepare their peat grounds. The grounds
that are usually pcated are either sideland, un-
even, coarse, or shallow ; they pare up the sub-
stance of the soil, consequently impoverish the
substratum ; the thin parings are burnt to ashes
and mixed with a small portion of lime, and after-
wards spread upon the soil before it is ploughed.
From the small quantity of ashes produced, even
with the aid of the lime, the vegetative power is
nearly all absorbed by the first nop ; and so blind
are the farmers in general to their own interest,
that they will go on taking crop after crop out of
the same ground without the renovation of ma-
nure, until at last they find it will not return the
seed ; they then give it up, thus having it in a
much worse state than they found it ; and it re-
quires some years to restore a surface, even as
little productive as the original. If the ground
had been ploughed only, and the same quantity of
lime used, the nutritious particles would be much
longer retained, as there would be a much greater
substance to nourish the seed.

The surface of the soil before it is pared being

covered with poor thin grass, some places mixed
with short rushes, has all the features of sterility.
Ask the farmer, what is such land good for ? and
he will tell you it is hardly worth anything; yet,
when the surface of this poor hungry soil is burnt
to ashes, and powdered with a little lime, it is ex-
pected to produce a long succession of good crops
of corn, and that without any fresh lime or ma-
nure being given to it.

The utility of peating is at all times doubtful
(excepting in some very peculiar soils*), and in
many instances injurious, as shown above ; but
where prejudice will adhere to old fashion habits,
let them be so improved as to benefit, instead of
doing harm to the land. If you will peat your
ground, you should manure it well the second
year ; and if you wish to be repaid your expenses,
with some profit alsa, sow your land with turnips,
for they will surely pay, if your soil is well ma-
nured and cultivated. After your turnip crop you
may sow barley, or oats if you prefer it, but mind
your manure ; the land, like the human body, must
be regularly and well fed, to perform its duties
properly. It is, therefore, a duty incumbent on
every farmer who expects good crops from his
land, to cultivate and manure it well, for the ground
is honest : if it is well fed.it will return good
crops. But it must be borne in mind, that if you
wish to biing your land into a good, state of culti-
vation, you must vary your crops every year, or
every alternate year at farthest ; where you have
grown one or two crops of corn, the rest should
be what is called a green-crop, such as turnips,
peas, mangel wurzel, vetches, &c. Green-crops
always enrich the soil, and changing crops,
as it were, give the soil new life, and in most in-
stances you see those farmers thrive best who
pay most attention to their farms.

If the ground you peat is a wet turbary, or
marshy, care should be taken to drain it well
before the peat is burnt or the lime put on ; un-
less it is well drained, you cannot expect a good
crop. If your land is level, it is advisable, after
the grain is sown and harrowed, to make a few
shallow furrows with the plough, here and there
along the field, for the purpose of carrying off the
rain water and redundant moisture from the roots
of. the corn.

It is generally the case, particularly in hilly
farms, that the peated ground is the most inacces-
sible part of the land, and of course the most
difficult to carry manure to ; therefore it becomes
the more necessary to grow green crops thereon,
in quicker succession than on other parts of the
farm which can be easier cultivated and manured ;
and it has already been proved, that the accumula-
tion of manure is not so difficult a task as was
supposed, it only requiring care and proper man-
agement to procure as much as may be requisite
for all the purposes of improved vegetation.
But it must be added, that prosperity cannot be
expected without industry : there is nothing got by
idleness but poverty, hunger, and want.

March, 1842. Delta.

* See an excellent essay " On the improvement of
Peat Soils;" by \V_ C. Johnson, Esq., in the
February Magazine, pages 135*129 ; wherein the
learned auihor describes the kind of soils that require
peating, and in the most lucid and comprehensive
mauner treats upon the best mode of cultivating
such soils.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

207

THE WEATHER OF 1841.

(FROM THE CARLISLE PATRIOT.)

The weather of the past year has heen suffi-
ciently remarkable to merit a more extended no-
tice of it than we have been able to give during
each week ; and the desire for information on this
subject has so much increased of late, that we are
sure we shall gratify many of our agricultural
readers by making public the results of a scries
of observations on the weather of the year which
has just closed, and comparing these results with
those of former years.

Rain.— There will be no occasion for any tables
to prove that the past year has been an exceedingly
wet one. The remembrance of the many wet days
we have had in 1841 will not, we dare say, be soon
forgotten ; but we are all very apt to say that one
year has been a great deal wetter than another,
without more foundation for the assertion than
the very deceitful one of memory. That our
readers may have a better foundation for what
they may say of last year's wetness, we give the
following co-nparative table of

RAIN.

QUANTITY

FALLEN.

DAYS RAIN.

Average of last

1340.

1841.

c years.

1340. L841.

January .

.3.310

2.364

. . 2.542

.. 23

23

Febiuary .

. 2.269

1.249

. . 2.292

.. 20

19

March . . .

.0.721

2.407

.. 2.604

.. 12

22

April

. 0.298

2.429

.. 1.057

.. 12

26

May

.2.433

2.172

.. 1.403

.. 18

18

.4 048

3.243

.. 3.077

.. 27

18

3.166

.. 4.710

.. 29

25

AllgU3t . . .

.2.840

6.210

. . 3.320

.. 16

23

September

.4.056

3 863

.. 3.687

.. 24

18

October. . .

.1.775

5.360

.. 2.918

.. 18

25

November

.2 709

3.231

.. 2 887

.. 19

17

December

.0.369

3.388

. . 2.096

.. 9

23

32.095 39.082

32.593

227 257

We find, from this table, that March, April,
August, October, November, aud December, are
the months in which 1841 exceeds 1840, and that
till the end of July the quantity of rain did not
exceed the average, while the quantity for the last
five months of the year exceeded the average by
seven inches, and exceeded the corresponding
mouths of 1840 by ten inches. The excess for the
year over the preceding one, and over the average,
is neatly seven inches. We find also that we have
bad an excess of days on which rain fell, there being
thirty more such days in 1841 than in 1840; the
most remarkable excess being in December, when
we had rain on every day save eight, while in
December, 1840, we had only nine days on which
rain fell. The number of days on which snow fell
last year was twenty-one, which were thus
divided, viz. : — January, fourteen ; February, six ;
and December, one. We had twenty-two days on
which snow fell in 1840, which were thus divided,
viz. :— January, five; February, ten; March,
three; and December, four.

Winds. — The next table we wish to call atten-
tion to is that of the winds ; and we find that
there has been an excess of easterly winds in 1841
over 1840 to the amount of fourteen days.

WINDS.

NUMBER OF DAYS.

Easterly. Westerly.

1840. 1841. 1840. 1841.

January 5 J 15J .. 25} 15|

February 15| 22 .. 13} 6

March 20 10} .. 11 20:f

April 11 10} .. 19 19 J

Mav 16] 8»- .. 14£ 22|

June 3 14£ .. 27 15|

July 5:} 6| .. 25} 24}

•August 7'f 5} .. 23J 25|

September 8^ 16£ .. 2l| 13^

October 8i 35f • . 22| 15|

November llf 14£ .. 18} 15*

December 18} 7\ .. 12§ 23§

132} 147 .. 233f 218

Thermometer. — By referring to the following
table, we find that the mean temperature of the
year was 47 degrees, which is only one degree be-
low the average mean temperature of Carlisle.
The mean temperature of the first six months, of
the past year was 46 degrees, of the lust G months, 49
degrees. The lowest degree of tempei attire (2
degrees) was registered on the night between the
6ch and 7th of January ; the highest (77 degrees)
was registered on the 27th of May. In 1840, the
mean temperature of the year was 48 degrees : the
highest degree of temperature was 74 degrees (on
the 7th of August)1; the lowest was 21 degrees (on
the 24th December).

THERMOMETER.

Mean. Highest. Lowest.

January 34.0 49.9 2.0

February 38.2 50.8 26.5

March 46.3 61.0 24.0

April 46.2 64.8 32.0

Mav 53.9 77.0 38.4

June 56.9 66.5 41.6

July 57.4 68.2 47.3

August 58.7 71.3 47.8

September 56.0 76.1 38.6

October 44.1 59.5 24.5

November 37.5 54.0 15.5

December 39.3 51.4 11.9

Barometer.— We come next to the pressure of
the atmosphere during the year, and here we find
that the mean pressure is nearly the same as the
average. Indeed, the annual mean pressure seldom
varies much, whatever may have been the daily
variations during the year. During the past year
these daily variations have been frequently very
great. The mean pressure for 1841 was 29.724 ;
tbe average mean pressure is 29.800. The greatest
height to which the mercury in the barometer at-
tained was 30.535, which took place on the 1st of
Febiuary. The lowest point to which it fell was
28.570, on the 30th of November. The difference
between the two points is 1.965, or very near two
inches. In 1840, the highest point to which the
mercury attained was 30.729 (on the 8th March) ;
and the lowest point to which it fell was 28.488
(on the 13th November) ; the difference being
2.241, or nearly two inches and a quarter. The
mean pressure for 1810 was 29.868, very nearly as
much above the average as this year is below it.

208

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

BAROMETER.

Mean. Highest. Lowest.

January ..29.667 30.415 28.731

February ..29.722 30.535 28.878

March 29.722 30.421 29.003

April ....29.798 30.321 29.252

May 29.799 30.382 28.832

June 29.914 30.298 29.476

July 29.764 30.178 29.241

August.... 29. 785 30.233 29.302

September. 29. 826 30.199 28.769

October ..29.479 30.107 28.709

November. 29. 679 30.358 28.570

December. 29. 538 30.246 28.828

Weather — This will probably be ths most in-
teresting table to the generality of our readers ;
for, though few trouble themselves with anymore
exact account of the temperature or pressure of
the atmosphere than that of their feelings — which
are but very poor guides, by-thebye — yet all are
able to appreciate the blessing of a fine day, and
all are ready to grumble on a wet one. All are
ready to say, they never knew such a wet season,
or that the sun has shone but seldom this month ;
and all this probably would make but a poor ac-
count for the climate of England at the end of
such a year's reckoning. Who, for instance,
would say, if asked for an account of the days on
which the sun shone out, that there were 32l days
in 1841 on which it shone out — or, in other words,
that there were only forty-four days on which it
did not shine at some part of the day or other ?
Yet such is the fact ; and though we have had
more days on which rain fell in 1841 than in 1840,
yet the days of sunshine in 1840 were only 288;
notwithstanding, the clear days in 1840 outnum-
ber those of 1841 by fifteen. The frosty days of
1840 were forty-nine ; those of the last year were
seventy. The days on which hail fell last year
were eight; in 1840 there were only three such
days. The days on which we had thunder last
year were twelve ; in 1840 we had it only on nine
days.

WEATHER— 1841.

NUMBER OF DAYS.

Cloudy Sun

Clear without, Rain. Frost, shone

throughout. rain. out.

January 2 .. G .. 23 .. 21 .. 25

February ..0 .. 9 .. 19 .. 12 .. 22

March 2 .. 7 .. 22 .. 2 .. 27

April 2 .. 2 .. 26 .. 1 .. 30

May 6 .. 7 .. 18 .. — .. 31

June 4 .. 8 .. 18 .. — .. 28

July 2 .. 4 .. 25 .. — .. 26

August 1 .. 7 .. 23 .. — .. 28

September.. 1 ..11 .. 18 .. — .. 29

October .... 3 . . 3 . . 25 . . 6 . . 28

November ..6 .. 7 .. 17 .. 18 .. 25

December . . 2 . . C . . 23 . . 10 . . 22

31

77

257

70

321

Our showery days, it will be observed, are not
far off three-fourths of the whole year; and yet
the climate of Carlisle is a very healthy one ; for
while we have more rain in quantity, and more
rainy days in number, than many parts of the
island, yet the very heaviness of the showers as-
sists to clean our streets, and the frequency of
showers and wind prevents that stagnation of the
atmosphere so prevalent on the east coast, and

so prejudicial to health. Our mean temperature
is only three degrees below the mean temperature
of London, while we have none of the fogs so
frequent and so well-known there, and fewer
easterly winds in the course of the year. And,
however unlikely it may appear to the Southrons,
we have much less snow here than they have, and
it lies on the ground a much shorter time. The
sole and great advantage of the south is in the
earliness of the spring ; for, while we are still
suffering from the cold blasts which come from
the German Ocean, hurrying towards the com-
parative warmth of the Atlantic, they in the south
are basking in the genial warmth of the approach-
ing summer. Hence, spring is the most trying
season here. Joseph Atkinson.

Harraby, near Carlisle, 8th Jan., 1842.

STIRLING GENERAL AGRICUL-
TURAL ASSOCIATION'S DRAIN
PLOUGH COMPETITION.

(FROM THE STIRLING JOURNAL.)

On Saturday the 12th instant, the competition
of draining ploughs for the premiums offered by
the Stirling General Agricultural Association, and
by Mr. Murray, of Polntaise, took place on Bor-
rowmeadow Farm, near Stirling, belonging to
Mr. Bruce, of Kennet, and tenanted by Mr. John
Wright. The Association's premium was offered
for the best cut drain, not under twenty-six inches
deep, the whole to be executed by the plough ;
Mr. Murray's premium, for the best executed
drain by a holding or double traverse of the
plough, with the smallest number of horses, and
to be finished by the spade to 30 inches deep.
Eight ploughs were entered, but only six appeared
in the field; four furrows were allotted to each
by drawing, and the ploughs were placed as fol-
lows : —

On the west side of the field— No. 1, Mr. F'etcr
Mac Ewan, farmer, Blackdub ; 2, Mr. William
Forrester, farmer, Stewarthall ; 3, Mr. Alex. Watt,
farmer, Carse of Leckie ; 4, Mr. Andrew Arm-
strong, blacksmith, Arnprior ; 5, Mr. John Bryce,
veterinary surgeon, Doune ; 6, Mr. Ebenezer
Alexander, farmer, Taylcrton, Stirling.

The Held was of a stiff alluvial clay, and, hav-
ing been partially drained with peat turf and
thorn branches some years ago, the ploughs,
getting occasionally into these old drains, were
much disturbed in their path, and Mr. Forrester s
plough was completely broken by getting fast in
some thorns. Much rain having fallen for two
days previous, the land was in a fine state for the
working of the ploughs, but difficult to walk on.
The ploughs were drawn by teams of various
strengths, from eight to sixteen horses. Four
furrows were allotted to each plough, two for the
execution of drains as required by the Associa-
tion, and two for that required by Mr. Murray, of
Polmaise. The day was at one time very wet and
boisterous, yet the work went on cheerily, and
the execution was upon the whole well done.

The judges selected from a distance were — John
Marshall, Esq., of Newhouse, Falkirk ; James
Menzies, Esq., Blackhall, Kincardine ; David
Boosie, Esq., Parkhead, Alloa;— all of whom be-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

269

stowed great pains in observing the whole opera-
tions of the day, and, after a careful examination
and comparison, they awarded the premiums as
follows : —

association's premiums.
1st, Mr. Ebenezer Alexander; 2nd, Mr. John
Bryce.

mr. Murray's premiums.

1st, Mr. Ebenezer Alexander; 2nd, Mr. Alex-
ander Watt

Mr. M'Ewan did not compete for the first, and
for the second the judges decided that he had not
fulfilled the terms of the regulations. Mr.
M'Ewan turned out nineteen inches at one furrow.
Mr. M'Ewan, who was the originator of the drain
plough, was not idle, and as he soon completed
his four drains, having sixteen horses in his
plough, he went about the field forming drains
wherever he found an unoccupied furrow. An
experiment was made by passiug Mr. Alexander's
plough along in the bottom of one of Mr.
M'Ewan's drains, and the work was neatly done.
Mr. Bryce took out another with his plough
equally well. Mr. M'Ewan and Mr. Alexander
exhibited their methods of returning the earth
into the drains over the tiles with the plough,
which was in both cases speedily and well exe-
cuted. Mr. M'Ewan used his drain plough with
a wing added to it. Mr. Alexander used a plough
made for the purpose.

This interesting exhibition demonstrated to
hundreds the certainty that, in alluvial soils, the
plough may be effectually applied to the cutting of
drains, and with a great saving of time and
money. It was evident, however, that all the
ploughs, except Mr. M'Ewan's, are in an experi-
mental state, though they have attained to a con-
siderable perfection in executing the work ; and
when they got along well, the work performed by
the best of them was much more complete than
that performed by Mr. M'Ewan's plough, but of
courseatthe expense of twice goingover thedrain.

Great praise is due to the w'hole of the exhibi-
tors for the persevering exertions they have made
to endeavour to accomplish the construction of a
perfect plough, and they will have their reward in
seeing the drain plough in general use in all clay
lands at no distant period. Such experimenting
as they have had to encounter is by no means
profitable in a pecuniary point of view, and there-
fore those who encounter it judiciously are en-
titled the more to the praise and aid of their fellow
men. Several of our respectable farmers have
given much aid to the tradesmen who had less
opportunities for working trials of their ploughs,
and whose means are, in some cases, but limited.
A public exhibition is not the best place to show
the merits of an implement, and there is, in such
circumstances, no time for cool and minute obser-
vation ; and we believe that all of the ploughs have
been known to make better work, with more dis-
patch, when calmly at work at home, or on some
neighbour farm. The ploughmen deserve great
praise, as, under most arduous circumstances,
they performed their parts admirably, and in most
instances drew their drains as straight as a line ;
and the spadesmen (under the direction of Mr.
Drysdale, King O'Muirs, who rendered most effi-
cient service in taking charge of those who
finished the drains, competing for Mr. Murray's
premium) also did their parts of the work equally
well. Still such exhibitions do good ; they excite

emulation, lead to useful comparisons, and diffuse
knowledge of the subject.

On this occasion there was an immense con-
course of people from all quarters, and of all
classes, and even the ladies honoured and cheered
the gathering with their presence. We observed
present the Hon. Mrs. Fox Maule ; Mrs. Murray,
of Polmaise, and party ; Mr. Murray, of Polmaise ;
Sir Henry Stcuart Seaton, Bart. ; Colonel Graham,
of Meiklewood; Abercairney and tenants; Mr.
Bruce, of Kennet ; Mr. Fletcher Campbell, of
Boquhan ; Mr. Galbraith, of Blackhouse ; Captain
Forbes, of Callander ; Mr. S. Stirling, of Glenber-
vie; Provost J. Aiken; Mr. Lauchlane Aiken;
Mr. Smith, of Deanston ; Messrs. Drummond, of
the Agricultural Museum; Mr. Andrew Buchanan,
Cowie Bank; Mr. M'Larcn, Burnside; Mr. Robb,
Menstry ; Mr. Mitchell, Alloa; Mr. Hamilton,
Callander Park; Mr. Thorns, Keir ; Mr. Carmi-
chael, Kaploch Farm ; and many other well known
agriculturists. We believe a special report of the
whole proceedings, with accurate descriptions of
the ploughs, with dimensions, &c, and with esti-
mates of the costs, will be shortly drawn up for
publication. But knowing the anxiety of most of
our readers to know the result, we have deemed
it our duty to give the foregoing imperfect sketch.

ON LEASES, CULTIVATION
CLAUSES, &c.

Sin, — Seme discussion has lately appeared in
your journal on leases, cultivation clauses, and on the
proper per centage on his capital which the farmer
should derive from the expenditure he makes in
money, and for his personal attention and superin-
tendence. On the latter point, 1 have always ac-
customed my calculations to allow 10 per cent, on
the whole capital invested in agriculture, as the in-
terest the farmer may be able to derive from another
investment of it, and which does not require any
part of his time and attention : five per cent, on the
whole investment reckoned as perishable stock, and
requiring that sum to uphold the original value; and
an additional five per cent, on the whole capital for
the farmers' time and superintendence, making in all,
twenty per cent, on the whole capital, as the proper
remuneration due to the farmer. I shall be glad to
learn, through the medium of your paper, how far
the above statement agrees with the views of Mr.
Wyatt, and other correspondents.

It is rather surprising to observe the discussion on
leases now at the thirteenth hour of the clay, after
the granting of them for a reasonable endurance has
been so universally acknowledged to be the founda-
tion of all good and prosperous agriculture. The
subject requires at this day few or no arguments
either pro. or con. ; for no purchaser of land will ex-
pend any money on the property, plant a tree,
make a road, or build a house, until the title and
rights of proprietorship be made valid and secure to
bim ; and no man can, surely with any reason, ex-
pect or desire another to do what he will not do
himself under exactly similar circumstances. No
person hut a roadman would expend money on the
property of another, and depend merely on good will
for security ; for the present and next possessor may
be all that can be wished, but a whole family may
soon be extinct, the property sold, and the farmer
placed at the mercy of strangers, who are mainly

270

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

anxious to derive the greatest possible value from
the purchase-money. Feudal notions are as ram-
pant as ever, only they are now somewhat modified
and belter disguised : the love of power and of con-
trolling the will and actions of others seems to be
deeply implanted in the human breast, and joined
with the slavish inclination of "uneducated" man-
kind to be under the direction of masters, continues
to uphold the tyranny which one part of our species
has ever been so fond of exercising over the other.
To deny to others the same privileges we claim for
ourselves, and to reckon a certain mode of proceed-
ing to be most essential to our own security, but im-
proper for others in similar circumstances, has been
a very prominent characteristic of mankind in every
stage of existence, and forms an inconsistency not
one of the least wonderful in the anomalous conduct
of the incongruous mass of human beings. The
power of restraining and commanding, by means of
dependent tenures, the political and religious
opinions of others, is too absurd to merit any notice;
as much as mind is more valuable than matter, so
much the more degrading is the slavery of the mind
than that of the body. It is slavery in the vilest
form — the clang of the slave whip is much less so.

Ilia\e always proposed that leases of land be
made transferable and saleable as leasehold proper-
ty in towns, where great advantages have accrued
to the community, and, I suspect, " none" to the
interest of the landowner, save the lost command of
votes, with which he has in truth nothing to do ;
while the value of the property is secured to him.
But this privilege was not granted till compelled by
time and circumstances, which make more converts
in human affairs than any reasoning or arguments
that can be employed. Even the common la-
bourer can sell his capital, weekly, monthly, or
yearly, to the highest bidder: but the farmer is
more disadvantageously situated ; for if he expends
labour or capital, he must wait the slow returns of
crops during many seasons, and the want of his
capital may much embarrass him, and retard his
speculations in other quarters. The vigorous and
enlightened mind of Yon Thiier broke through the
feudal mists of his country, and he expresses his
opinion that the nearer the tenure of the farmer is
assimilated to that of the landowner, the more will
the interest of both parties be promoted; and the
more distant it is, the more will mutual interest
diverge. In every properly-constituted social sys-
tem, all dependence of one class or individual upon
another should be destroyed, except in the sole
point of exchanging value for value, or as the Latins
expressed it, the quid pro quo. But many trammels
and incumbrances remain to be removed ere the
full development of the inherent resources be ob-
tained, which are yet retarded by a false and mis-
taken policy, and which will baffle and render of
little avail all the new modes of cultivation, and
improvements of all kind, that are at present so
eagerly sought. A more liberal policy is most
pressingly required to carry out both the known
means and the future discoveries.

Cultivation clauses should be few, and merely
guard the deterioration of the land, towards the
end or during the currency of the lease. All other
directions are absurd. In the system of improving
and selling leases which I have mentioned, deteri-
oration would be avoided by the tenant as diminish-
ing not only his current income, but the purchase
value; and hence the propriety of an interest being
granted in the subject of all such operations.

The tenure by which college and church lands are

held, has also been lately mentioned in your journal.
The sterility is proverbial, because no holding can
be granted beyond a year or the life of the present
incumbent. A monstrous absurdity is here prac-
tised on the human understanding, by supposing
that the present generation must be deprived of the
fullest use of their legitimate inheritance by the will
of some feudal dotard of the tenth or twelfth cen-
tury, who, after spending his life in marauding and
plundering, and very often in slaying, his fellow
creatures, bequeathed the lands thus acquired to
such purposes as were pointed out to him by his
ghostly adviser. All such tenures, and tithes also,
should be instantly' abolished, and all professors of
learning, us servants of the people, should be paid
fixed salaries from the revenue of the state. A su-
preme power rests with every generation of remov-
ing and settling such nuisances of antiquity, and to
whomsoever priority of possession, custom, pre-
scription, or inheritance, or any other of the various
modes of acquiring possession of land, may have
awarded the value of first fruits, the people, as
mortgagees of the soil, are entitled to the unlimited
use, by every known means, of production. And if
any holder of lands does not use these means, the
supreme power must interfere and appoint others,
who will perforin the duties of possession. Every
trammel and incumbrance, and every fetter to skill
and industry, being removed, the speculations on
corn laws, and the theories about population exceed-
ing the means of subsistence, will be just as much
worthy of attention as the airy warfare of kites and
cormorants, and as idle and chimerical as the reve-
ries of fathers and monks.

29th January, 1842. Rukigena.

RUPTURE OF THE BLADDER IN
TWO TUPS.

BY JAMES T1NDAL, V.S., GOLSPIE.

(Fj-om the Veterinarian.)

March 16, 18-11, I was called to attend a tup of
the Cheviot breed, the property of A. Craig, Esq.,
Kirktown. I found the beautiful animal very un-
easy, constantly shifting his hind legs, and fre-
quently straining as if to void his urine. He was stiff
and unwilling to move. There was a quick and
faltering motion of the heart, accompanied by
great difficulty in breathing. The abdomen was
much enlarged, and tender on pressure; he was
also costive. I immediately gave him a cathartic
drink, as he had been previously bled by the shep-
herd, threw up enemata, and ordered a pint of
thin gruel to be given every two hours, and, if the
medicine did not operate in six hours, to repeat
half the former quantity, adding a little nitre.
Frequent fomentations of warm water were also
to be applied to the abdomen.

17th, 8 a.m. — Evidently worse Repeated the
cathartic and diuretic medicine, &c. He died at
two o'clock p.m.

The post-mortem appearances presented the
penis inflamed, and in various parts ulcerated.
On laying open the abdomen, there escaped up-
wards of four gallons of a red watery fluid ; the
intestines were inflamed ; the stomach slightly so;
the third stomach was quite full and hard ; the
bladder highly inflamed and ruptured near its

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

271

apex ; the kidneys slightly inflamed. The con-
tents of the thorax were healthy.

The second case occurred two days subsequent
to the first. I had no opportunity of seeing it,
but was informed that the animal was precisely in
the same state as the former.

These tups were with others preparing for the
Highland Society's Show at Berwick, and their
feeding consisted of oil-cake, beans, peas, corn,
hay, turnips, and grass. 1 recommended the
feeding of the rest of the flock to be reduced, and
their pasture changed, and they have all done
well since. Mr. Craig, the owner of the above
animals, is perhaps the most successful breeder
of Cheviot sheep in Scotland. He gained the
greater part of the prizes at the Highland Society's
Shows at Inverness in 1839, at Aberdeen in 1840,
and also at Berwick last year,

ON CASTRATING TUPS.

BY THE SAME.

May 14, 1841, 1 castrated twenty-five tups, the
pioperty of J. Hall, Esq., Schebcrcross. The
animal being secured, 1 uncovered the testicle,
and applied the clams on the cord above the epidi-
dymis. The clams being fastened, the testicles
were cut away from ten of them ; the others were
left to be removed thirty hours afterwards. Two
of the tups died on the next day. I had no op-
portunity of examining them, but learned that
they had got away among the heath and rough
ground, and thereby injured the parts so much as
to cause their death.

June 29, I castrated twenty-four tups, the pro-
perty of Gabriel Reed, Esq,, of Gordonbush ; the
clams were used, and the testicles immediately
cut away. In every case they were all put on
short pasture, and did Hell.

I have castrated horses and bulls wit!) the dams
for the last two years, and have never had an un-
toward case, with the two exceptions mentioned
above. I think it preferable to remove the tes-
tides of tups and bulls whenever the clams are
fixed ; for by leaving the testicles unsupported by
the scrotum, their weight may strain the sper-
matic cord, and cause pcrotinitis, and other un-
pleasant consequences.

There is another, and I believe a safe, mode of
castrating practised by some shepherds in this
county on the bull and the ram, by bruising or
crushing the spermatic cord. The animal being
secured, the cord is placed on a piece of wood,
and beaten with a wooden mallet until it feels
quite soft ; the animal is then allowed to go at
liberty, and no bad consequences follow, but the
testicles become absorbed in eight or ten weeks.

should be procured for the use of members of
Farmers' Clubs. It lias reference to Scotch law,
but contains, in an appendix of upwards of ore
hundred pages, forms of leases and cropping
clauses, insetted in the leases of the principal
agricultural counties in Scotland.

The subject of Leases is just now attracting
the attention of many Farmers' Clubs. Strong
opinions are entertained by some persons of the
benefit which Scotland has derived from the system
of granting leases. The effects of the cropping
clauses in English leases have also been recently
mud) discussed. With a view to information on
these points we would strongly recommend that a
small book, called " The Farmers' Lawyer,"

ON THE MANUFACTURE AND
USE OF BARLEY OILCAKE, &c.

Sin, — Your report of Major Moor's calling; the
attention of the Royal Agricultural Society to the
" conversion of barley and other grain into a sub-
stitute for oil-cake for cattle," induces me to inform
Major Moor, and the public through your medium,
that I am about to erect an eight-horse power
steam engine, which will aid my water-thrashing
mill when a scarcity of water occurs, and perhaps
do away with the use of water wholly ; the cost of
reservoirs kept in order, &c, being both trouble-
some and expensive. Besides which, it will chop
hay and straw, steam potatoes, hay, small grain,
carrots, 5cc, for horse and pig feeding, slice turnips,
parsnips, ixc, convert potatoes into flour, (an excel-
lent thing, which must soon come greatly into use),
and grind roughly barter, beans, or any other kind
of grain, mix it with linseed oil, and form it into
cakes, for the use of cattle and sheep.

I have long had this in view, but was always told
it could not be done ; as the people said of my at-
tempting salmon breeding, and is said of everything
good but new by the slow party. However, about
six months ago, I procured the names of all the best
known engineers in England and Scotland, and
wrote to them, telling what I wanted, and asking
the cost. In reply, one asked £700, many £300 to
£500 ; but I am happy to say that Mr. Slight, of
Leiih Walk, Edinburgh, implement maker to the
Highland Society — a man whom I Lave known and
employed for many years, and who is possessed not
only of talent, but integrity of the highest order, —
offered to complete all I desired for about £200. I
can therefore highly recommend to public notice an
engine his natural modesty would avoid by any puf-
fing, feeling certain that he will give satisfaction to
all who employ him. I am convinced that the cake
intended to be made will, by enabling farmers to keep
more stock, leave them in better condition, and have
more and better farm-yard manure to increase their
wheat and other crops ; pay better than selling bar-
ley to the distillers or brewers; and being myself
President of the Total Abstinence Societies in the
north of Sco'land — a situation which has enabled
me to do more for the eternal and temporal interests
of my fellow creatures than all the sermons ever
preached by the bishops and established clergy of
the three kingdoms ; and which, be it said with
shame, few or none of the higher classes have joined
— shall I say from a greater love of champagne than
the cure of drunkenness and misery in its most
degraded state? I am delighted with the prospect
of seeing our bailey in future employed to increase
the blessings of roast beef, instead of that curse to
mankind — fermented liquors of every kind. — Yours
sincerely, F. A. Mackenzie.

Chateau de Tallwuet, Feb. Uth, 1042.

272

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WALTHAM AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

Snow of Hunters. —On Wednesday the 23rd ult.,
this interesting exhibition took place in the field situate
at the back of the Agricultural Hall, Waltham. The
morning- was very dull and misty, but towards noon
the sun partially dissipated the chilling vapours, and
though it could not be called a favourable day, there
was a numerous attendance of gentlemen and larmers.
Amongst those present we noticed the Earl of Jersey,
Hon. C. S. Worthy, W. F. N. Norton, E*q., C. H.
Frewin, Esq., M.P., T. C. Beasley, Esq, R. W.
Raker, Esq , John Fletcher, Esq., Edw. Newbatt,
Esq., W. Dawson. Esq., J. L. Manning, E-q., A.
Drummond, Esq., J. White, Esq., H. Hundley, Esq.
Captain Edwardes, &c. Lord Forester, who bad been
appointed one of the Judge*, could not attend on acconnt
of serious indisposition, and A. Drummond, Esq.,
perfoimed the onerous duties of ihat office in his stead ;
the other two judges were J. White, Esq., and H.
Hamlley, Esq. The s-tewards of the day were Messrs.
Humberrtone, Allen, and Musson. The entries were
numerous, and great interest was excited.

At about half- past twelve, the Judges proceeded to
view the first class of hunters, which were walked,
trotted, and gallopped, and examined for nearly an
hour before the prices were awarded. The following
was the entry : —

1st Class.— To the owner, being a tenant farmer, of
the best four years old hunting mare or gehling; age
to be taken from the 1st of May ; the exhibitor to pro-
duce a certificate from the breeder.

The first prize of 20/. was awarded to Mr. Joseph
Vincent, of Tithby, for his ch. h. by Hawker ; the
second prize of 15/. to Mr. Green , of Great Gonerby,
for his dark ch. h. by Hawker or Armadilla: the third
prize of 1U/. to Mr. John Hallam, of Tithby, for his br.
h. by Stapleton, dam by Y. Phantom.

2nd Class. — To the owner, being a tenant farmer,
of the best three year old hunting mare or gelding, bred
within the limits, &c.

The first prize of 15/. was awarded to Mr. J. Vincent,
of Botteslord.for his b. h. dam by Emilias ; the second
of 10/. to Mr. \V. Musson, of Burton Coggles, for his
brown horse by Emilius, dam by Fireaway, grandam
by Bordeaux.

3rd Class. — To the owner, being a tenant farmer, of
the be?t in-foal or suckling mare calculated to breed
hunters, with pedigree and certificate from the owner
of the hor^e stinted to in 1841.

The first prize of 20/. was awarded to J. L. Manning-,
Esq., of Bardon Park, for No. 3 ; the second of 15/. to
Mr. W. Chamberlain, of VVestby, for No. 15; the
third of 10/. to Mr. II. J. Rudkin, of Langham, for No.
15; the fourth ol 5/. to Mr. T. Cross, of llolwell.for
No. 16 ; the fifth award to Mr. \V. Alsop, of Gaithorpe,
for No. 20 ; and the sixth to Mr. Wellfitt, of Pickwell,
No. 8. The two last awards were made should any of
the mares who had taken prizes not prove in foal, in
which case Messrs. Alsop and Welfitt would be entitled
to the premiums. — Lincolmhire Chronicle.

REMEDY FOR THE SLUG IN
WHEAT.

Sir, — The remedy here recommended is not from
my own experience, but was related to me last week
by a practical and intelligent farmer of Wye, near
Ashford: — Cut4 bushels of Swede turnips into small
pieces, and sow broadcast over one acre of land, and
so in proportion over the whole clover lev. When
this is nearly devoured repeat the application as of-
ten as required until the wheat is safe. The result
will be that the crop of wheat will be saved at the
trifling cost of 3s. per acre each time of sowing the

turnips. My friend assures me that in the year 1830,
be preserved 12 acres of wheat by this method, and
I witnessed the same plan tried on his farm this
year. It is desirable to place some lumps of cut tur-
nips about the field, say a pint in each; then of a
mild morning take some fresh lime and put on the
slugs there collected. If there is appearances of slug
apply the turnips immediately the wheat comes up.

Should this communication be instrumental in
saving to the public one acre of wheat, my object
will be fully answered. Thomas Cull.

East Farleigh, Jan. 1.

CROSS DRAINING v. FURROW
DRAINING.

Sin,— I have lately seen an account of a meet-
ing in Ireland, where a Mr. Blacker is agent,
and it app.ars he is making great improvements in
agriculture. I cannot agree with him in his mode
of draining furrows, or upright drains. I tried it
upon part of a piece last year, from seeing a statement of
that gentleman's, but did not approve of it, as I found
the side of the piece which was drained across was much
the driest. 1 tried it upon a small scale this year, about
three months since, and find the same result. It natu-
rally occurs to me that water will find its level and will
rundown hill, and if you can cut it oil' by cross drains
before it gets to the bottom it must be the best way. i
am a great advocate for tile drains, and I have never
seen any land yet but what will drain, provided you put
them near enough. I prefer laying a complete bottom
to the drains with a thin flat tile before the tops are laid,
particularly on loose and giavelly lands; and it is a
very good plan, upon strong clay lands, to fill up with
stones on the tiles, within nine or ten inches of the top of
the drain. I find the less fall a drain tile has the
better. lam a very great advocate for draining, as I
think it is the best laid out money of any ; but 1 do
think the tenant ought to be assisted by his landlord
(and which is done in a very great many cases) in finding
him all the tiles, as tile drains are so lasting. It is a good
plan to have the end tile, which empties the drain into
the ditch, bored, and a brad crossed, forming a grate to
keep out rats, &c. As to distance and depth of drains,
much must depend upon the soil and situation. I am
quite satisfied that a great deal o( money has been, and
is now, spent uselessly in uot draining properly, and
strongly advise all young drainers to cali in someexpe-
rienced persons to mark them out. My object in writing
is to advise all persons to drain all lands requiring it, as
I have seen it. more than once pay very soon ; and before
they pursue Mr. Blacker's plan of upright drains, o
give one side of the piece the same quantity of ctois
drains, and to be their own judge. Draining too can
be done at the time of year when so many of our poorer
brethren aredestitute of work, and will be thankful for
it, as it can always be put out by the rod to them, which
puts me in mind of a correspondent of your's writing
(and if I mistake not you touched upon it in yourpost-
cript) upon the good effect of a labour rate. Rely upon
it no forced labour upon any one ever has or ever will
answer. Write all you can, and try all your influence to
convince us that it is to our advantage, and that it is our
duty, to find employment, and to attend more to the com-
forts and morals of the labouring classes ; but to attempt
a labour rate, or a landlord to force his tenant to find em-
ployment for the labourers, anil for the labourers to know
ice are forced to have them, never will do ; it puts me too
much in mind of the answers we used to get, under the old
poor law, to their neglect of work or abuse — "I don't
care, you must either find us work or money.'' I fear I
have been trespassing too much upon your columns,
but I do hope it will draw some statements from some
of our English and Norfolk drainers for the benefit of
us all, and beg to remain,

Feb. 4. Not at all an Ui'Right Drainer.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

•2/3

A NEW SOURCE OF THE BEST
MANURE.

" Ne saturare fimn pingui pudeatsola; neve
Effetos cineremimmudnum jactare per agros,"

Virgil.

Dear Herald, — In cold and temperate climates,
the value of farm-yard manure has been known
from the earliest period. It contains, or it leads
to the formation of, every ingredient which our
field-crops demand from the soil, and it gives off
its riches gradually as they are needed.

But it has always been a difficult matter to obtain
this in quantity sufficient for the wants of a hard-
cropped soil. The demands of our increasing po-
pulation proclaim its inadequacy. The labour of
cartage draws deeply 0:1 the farmer's funds ; and
the want of more portable manures is now exten-
sively felt.

Bones, charcoal, burnt clay, and various salts,
have, in turn, presented their claims. But of all
the substitutes for farm manure yet proposed,
none has claims so extensive and well founded as
those of wood ashes. These already contain nearly
all that plants draw from the soil. On warm soils,
they so powerfully dispose the formation of am-
monia and nitrates, that they render the addition
of dung almost needless. They promote the
disintegration of the soil, accelerate vegetation,
and require little cartage.

The chief difficulty, as yet, has been the scarce-
ness of the article : and my object at present is
to point out the source of an abundant and cheap
supply for the wants of at least the present gene-
ration— a supply which may be the means of adding
to the wealth of Britain, doubling her produce, en-
riching her colonies, relieving her surplus population,
a tending her dominions, meliorating climate, and
doing hurt to none.

Our countrymen who emigrate to Upper Canada,
find vast forests which they would more actively
remove, if they had a remunerating price for their
labour. By them much of our pearl ash is sup-
plied. They burn the wood, collect and lixiviate
the ashes, evaporate the ley, and sell the "black
salts'' to purifiers, who present them to us in the
form of pot or pearl ashes. Their methods at
present are said to be clumsy, and their matters
imperfectly collected ; yet some of the more enter-
prising clear 20 acres annually, and pay all their
expenses from the sale of their black salts. But,
as many leave the ashes unheeded, where the wood
is burnt, it seems that the supply is easily made
to equal the present demand.

Now, Sir, if a greatly increased demand were
made, not perhaps for black salts, but for well
burnt ashes, the labour and expense of lixiviation
and purification would bo spared, and an article
better suited to the wants of the farmer would be
obtained at a very moderate price.

It may safely be assumed that a ton of ashes is
wasted for every hundredweight of good pearl
ash which reaches this country. The increased
carriage and freight would certainly be more than
compensated by the want of trouble in purification,
and hence we might have the ashes for 2s. to'2s.6d.
per cwt.

Eight hundred weight of these, per imperial acre,
mixed in a little farm manure, would be quite
enough for a five years' rotation. I have no doubt
but that six hundredweight of these ashes, judici-
ously mixed, under cover, in six carts of good dung,

will, in raising a turnip crop, be found equal to f>0
bushels of bones, and willleave the ground as fertile.
As every farmer can easily, on his own farm have
more dung than he thus needs, his whole cash
outlay for manure will be only 12s. to los- per
imperial acre, instead of 90s. when he used bones ;
and the difference of labour will be very trifling.
On the second grass crop, the addition of other
two hundred weight of the ashes would amply pay
the expence.

Let men of capital and scientific acquirements
remove to Canada, and employ poor people in cut-
ting and burning the wood, and clearing the
ground. This will employ many who cannot now find
work. The ground cleared, will require people to
cultivate it. Roads will be improved. Our Cana-
dian colony will rapidly grow in value and impor-
tance. An increased market for our exports will
be opened ; and the same trade may be extended
to our other colonies, where wood abounds to a
hurtful extent.

The Guano trade must end in disappointment.

The bone trade sends the money of the British
farmer to enrich the nations of Northern Europe -t
but the Canadian ash trade will enable the Britons
to put money out of one of their pockets into the
other.

Nothing truly valuable is effected without some
difficulty ; and I merely throw out the suggestion,
that better-informed minds may digest a working
plan. The bulk of the ashes may be objected to,
and some method of concentrating them may be
devised. But while I know that trees contain too
little silica for corn plants', I believe that the value
of the ashes would be diminished at least one half
by the removal of silica.

We have lately heard of our Government en-
couraging colonization. I hope their attention
will early be directed to this matter; and I am,
Dear Herald, Vour obedient servant,

— Dumfries Herald. P. G.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.

The following Rules and Regulations of the Stew-
poney Agricultural Society appear to us to be so care-
fully drawn, that we gladly give them a place in our
columns, as they may be very useful in the formation
of other agricultural societies and book clubs.

President. — The Earl or Stamford.

Committee or Management, for the year 1841-
-12. — John Aston, S. Stone Briscoe, John Brown,
George Bate, Rev. C. Somers Cocks, John Davies,
John Dickens, Rev. Richard Foley, William Mose-
ley, Rowland Price, John Robins, Rev. George
Wharton.

Treasurers. — Messrs. Ruflbrd, Wragge, and Co.,
Bankers, Stourbridge.

Honorary Secretary. — John H. Hodgets Foley,
Prestwood.

Assistant Secretary. — George Thompson,
Prestwood.

Printer and Bookseller. — George Ford, Brier-
ley-Hill.

RULES.

1. The society is called the Stevvponey Agricul-
tural Society ; and is limited to a circle of twelve
miles, (a map of which is being lithographed, and
when ready, will be given to every member of the
society).

274

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

"2. It consists of a President, Vice-Presidents,
and Members.

'3. The President is elected annually from the
Vice-Presidents, and is not re-eligiblo for two years.

4. The Vice-Presidents pay annually two pounds,
Members one pound, with power to compound for
life, by the payment, in one sum, often annual sub-
scriptions.

5. The Committee of Management consists of
twelve Members, the duration of their office termi-
nates witli the year ; but they may be re-elected.

0. The Committee have the power of appointing
Sub-Committees, from any subscribers to the
society.

7. The President and Vice-Presidents are mem-
bers of all committees, ex-officio.

8. Two General meetings will be held yearly, at
the Stewpouey, one the second Tuesday in April ; the
other the second Tuesday in October.

9. The President and Committee will in future be
chosen at the meeting in April.

10. Every candidate for admission into the society
must reside within its limits, and be proposed by a
subscriber; the proposer to specify in writing the
name and usual place of residence of the candidate.
Every such proposal to be read at a meeting of the
committee, and the candidate to be eligible the same
day.

11. No subscriber shall enjoy the privileges of the
society, or attend the meetings, whose subscription
shall be in arrear.

12. The committee of management will meet (he
first Monday in every mouth, at twelve o'clock, for
the discharge of business ; three to be a quorum.
At such meeting the general business of the society
shall be transacted, the President or a Vice-Presi-
dent talcing the cb iir ; and in their absence the
meeting to elect their chairman.

13. The first business of each meeting of the
committee to be the reading of the minutes of the
preceding meeting.

14. In case of an equality of votes, the question
to be decided by the casting-vote of the chairman.

15. All drafts for money shall be signed by the
chairman of the committee, and counter-signed by
the secretary.

16. No rule or by-law shall be altered, unless due
notice of such change shall be given at a meeting of
the committee, and carried at a general half-yearly
meeting.

17. No prizes shall be allotted, except at the
general halt yearly meeting in October.

18. Subscriptions are paid in advance, and are due
on the first of January. — They may be paid to the
treasurers, or secretary.

19. Each book belonging to the society, is to have
such rules and regulations for its circulation, as may-
be fixed upon by the committee, inserted at the be-
ginning ; which rules are to be binding on the mem-
bers of the. society.

20. No question shall be discussed at any meeting
of a political tendency ; or which shall refer to anv
matter to be brought forward, or pending in either
of the Houses of Parliament.

21. Honorary members may, from time to time, be
elected from such individuals as have rendered ser-
vices to the society, by their exertions in promoting
its objects ; such honorary members not being ineli-
gible from residing beyond the limits of the society,
and not being liable to any claim for subscription.

$2. That members elected after November the
first, will not be called upon to pay any additional
subscription for the ensuing year.

BY-LAWS AN!) HF.OULATIONS.

Objlcts of the Society.— This society has been
founded for the improvement of agriculture, and the
collection and dissemination of new and important
facts; having reference to the capabilities and cul-
tivation of the soil, and general management of agri-
cultural produce ; the gradual perfection of the
various operations and implements of husbandry ;
and the amelioration of the condition of labourers, in
relation both to their domestic comforts, and moral
improvement.

First — By the circulation of useful and important
publications relating to agriculture, by means of a
book club.

Secondly — By the distribution of such prizes as
the society may award, for an annual exhibition o(
new and important implements of agriculture, and
for experiments and improvements made on farms
occupied by members of the society.

Thirdly — By rewards to honest and industrious
labourers, for good character and moral conduct.

It is intended to adopt the rules of the Royal
Agricultural Society, as far as they are capable of
being reduced to meet the objects, limits, and
finances of this society; tugethar with such addi-
tional rules as circumstances may require.

Vice-Presidents jind Members. — Two alpha-
betical registers shall be kept of all the vice-presi-
dents and members, one by the secretary, or deputy-
secretary, the other by the treasurer; exhibiting the
date of their election, and the subscriptions due or
received from them, with the dates, respectively, of
arrears and payment. All subscriptions received by
the secretaries shall he paid into the hands of the
treasurer within a week after they are received, 'and
a due account rendered of the same.

General Meetings. — There shall be two general
meetings of the members yearly, one on the second
Tuesday in April, and the other on the second Tues-
day in October ; due noiice of which shall be given
a fortnight previous, to every member ol the society,
by the secretary. A book shall be kept, in which
minutes of all proceedings, and business of any im-
portance, shall be entered by the secretary. The
principal business of the meeting in April shall be
to elect a president and committee lor the ensuing
year; to examine the report of the finances, and the
general statement of the affairs of the society, and to
transact all other business that may come before
tbem. The business of the October meeting will be
to award the prizes, and to discuss matters relating
to agriculture.

A dinner will be provided for such members as
may wish to dine on the days of the general meet-
ings ; the particulars of which will be mentioned in
the notice given them of the day of meeting by tbe
secretary. The committee will hive the privilege
of admitting a limited number of strangers to dine,
if applied to a fortnight before. The expence of the
dinner will not be included in the subscription.

The President. — The president shall bo elected
annually, at the meeting in April, from among the
vice-presidents, but shall not be re-eligible for two
years from rhe expiration of his office. In all offi-
cial relations of the society, he shall take precedence
of all other vice-presidents and members, and shall
take the chair at every meeting, when present ;
having the privilege of a casting-vote, in all cases of
equality, in the division on anv question.

Com Mil tee of Management.— Tbe committee of
management shall consist of twelve members, elected
annually by the society, at their general meeting in
April. They may be re-elected if the members think

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

275

fit, but are not obliged to accept office, unless they
are willing to do so ; they will have power to elect
sub-committees, in the various departments of the
societ}', if necessary. They will also have the assis-
tance of the president and vice-presidents, as ex-
officio members.

l'::c committee shall meet the first Monday in
every month, to transact the general business of the
society; and shall enter minutes of their proceedings
at each meeting, in a book to be kept for that pur-
pose. They shall audit the accounts the first Mon-
day in January, take into consideration the sums to
be appropriated for the purchase of books, and the
various premiums to be awarded for the ensuing-
year, and make a report on that day of the general
progress of the society ; which details, together
with every other matter of interest, shall be printed,
and sent to each member of the society.

Sfcretary. — The secretary sha!l attend the sit-
tings of all meetings of the committees, and take
their minutes. He shall conduct the correspondence
of the society, preserving the letters he may receive
in a classical arrangement. He shall receive all
monies received at intervals on account of the so-
ciety, paying such sums into the hands of the trea-
surers, and produce their receipts for the same. He
shall have the charge of the expenditure of petty
cash, and the custody of all books and papers be-
longing to the society. He shall keep an account
book in the following form, and produce the same
for the inspection of the committee, at each monthly
meeting. All drafts for money shall be signed by the
chairman of the committee, being counter-signed by
the secretary; and a book shall be kept, in which a
consecutive entry shall be made of all such payments.
He shall give a fortnight's previous notice to all tho
members of each general meeting. He shall have
power to appoint an assistant or deputy, for whose
conduct be must be responsible.

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Books. — The supply of Books is intended to bo
left to the care and management of the committee,
and to be effected by having several copies of each
periodical, to be circulated simultaneously at oppc-
site ends of the district; by which means, it is
hoped, they will be received without delay.

The members ate particularly requested to pay
strict attention to tho rules inserted in each volume.

Rewards and Premiums, for the year 1842. —
Ten sovereigns for the best crop of Swede turnips,
not less than ten acres ; the expense of manure,
quality of the land, and the general appearance and
cleanliness of the whole (of the candidate's) turnip
crop, to be taken into consideration.

Five sovereigns for the second best crop of Swede
turnips, subject in every respect to the same condi-
tions as the above.

Ten sovereigns for the most satisfactory experi-
ments on the comparative merits of the different
processes of subsoil and trench ploughing, and
double trenching with spade.

Five sovereigns for the best Essay on Manures,
to be founded on experience or observation alone.

Judges to be appointed to visit and inspect the
different experiments, and award the prizes.

Each competitor to send in his name to the com-
mittee, by the first Monday in September, stating
what prize he intends to try for, and on what farm.

Twenty sovereigns for the exhibition, by model,
or engine, of the most useful application of steam to
agricultural purposes, with reference to the following
qualifications : —

First — least cost, and greatest economy in fuel.

Second — practical utility, and greatest variety of
application.

Third — portability and simplicity of management.

Fourth — safety fr»m fire, or other accidents, and
saving of labour.

Five sovereigns for the most useful, new, or
improved agricultural implement.

Three sovereigns to the owner of the best plough
for general puiposes.

Two sovereigns to tho owner of the second best
[dough.

To Manufacturers of Agricultural Imple-
ments.— Five sovereigns for the most extensive ex-
hibition of the most useful agricultural implements.

Roots. — Three sovereigns for the best exhibition
of turnips, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and mangel-
wurzel. — The judges to have power to divide this
prize if they think proper.

Seeds. — Two sovereigns for the best exhibition of
agricultural seeds.

Extras, for encouraging the exhibition of Stock.
— Five sovereigns (given by Mr. W. B. Collis,
StourBridge) for the best pen of ten yearling ewes.
1'hiee sovereigns for the best yearling, Leicester or
long-vvoolled ram. Three sovereigns for. the best
South-down or gray-faced ram. Two sovereigns
for the best boar. Two sovereigns for the best
breeding sow.

The above stock to be bred and exhibited by
members of the Society.

Labourers, First Class. — Three sovereigns to the
best ploughman. Fifty shillings to the second best
ploughman.

Second Class, for Boys or Young Men, under
Twenty years of age. — Thirty shillings to the best
ploughman. Twenty shillings to the second best
ploughman.

The successful candidates at the last meeting, for
the following prizes, are not eligible for the same
prize this year : —

Servants in Husbandry, First Class. — Tlnee

T 2

276

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

sovereigns to tbe labourer in husbandry who bas
brought, or is now bringing- up, tbe largest number
of children, without parochial relief. Two sove-
reigns to the second in the same class.

Second Class. — Fifty shillings to the labourer in
husbandry, who has worked the longest time on the
same farm, or with the same master or mistress.
Thirty shillings to the second in the same class.

IIousfiiold Servants, First Class. — TLree sove-
reigns to the male servant who has lived the longest
period in one place, producing a good character from
his employer. Two sovereigns to the second in the
same class.

Second Class. — Three sovereigns to the female
servant who has lived the longest period in one place,
producing a good character from her employer. Two
sovereigns to the second in the same class.

Members of a Clur. — Three sovereigns to that
labourer who shall have continued, without inter-
ruption, for the longest period, a member of a club,
or friendly society. Two sovereigns to the second
in the same class.

Rules for Prizes. — 1. No prize for agricultural
operations and improvements shall be awarded,
unless performed or effected by a member of the
Society.

2. No person shall be entitled to show for a
premium, unless his name shall appear in the list
of subscribers, one month prior to tbe day of
exhibition.

3. The prizes for the exhibition of implements,
will be open to public competition, without refe-
rence to the residence of the maker.

4. In all reports of experiments, the expenses
must be accurately detailed.

o. The imperial weights and measures are those
by which calculations are to be made.

6. If any candidate for any premium, or member
claiming reward or bounty, shall obtain tbe same
under false pretences, be shall ever after be excluded
from this Society.

7. The Society reserves to itself the power to
withhold the premiums entirely, if there appears
not to be sufficient merit in the claim ; and to give
in all cases, such part only of the premium as the
candidate shall deserve.

8. The Society will give the premium, where
there appears great merit, although there may be
only one claimant for such premium.

Forms of Certificates,
Servants in Husbandry. — First Class.
1 recommend of

as a candidate for this premium. He has brought
up, and is now bringing up, children, without
receiving parochial relief ; and does not occupy, nor
ever has occupied, more than acre of land.

Household Servants.— First Class.
1 recommend of

as a candidate for this premium. He (or she) has
lived with or on tbe same premises,

years, aud has uniformly borne a good
character.

Members of a Club.
I certify that of

has been a member, without interruption,
years, of Club, in the parish of

July 4tb, August 1st, September 5tb, October 3rd,
November ?th, December 5th.

BOOKS PROVIDED FOR THE USE OF THE SOCIETY, 1841 •

Periodical works (six copies of each}.

Boyal Agricultural Journal, quarterly; British
Farmers', ditto; Quarterly Journal; Farmers'
Monthly Magazine ; Farmers' Almanac.
Other Books (one copy each )

Harding's Farmer's Account-book ; two volumes
of the Royal Society ; Journal of Agriculture, Nos.
1 to 48 ; "Morton on Soils ; the Agricultural Ferti-
lizer, by C. \V, Johnson ; Main's Young Farmer's
Manual; Low's Elements of Practical Agriculture;
Davy's Agricultural Chemistry ; Bayldon on Rents;
Cullyer's Farmer's Assistant ; the Apiarian's Guide;
On Increasing the Depths of Soils, by C. YV. John-
son ; the Complete Grazier; Liebig's Agricultural
Chemistry; British Husbandly, three volumes;
Cattle ; The Horse ; Sheep ; Ausell on Friendly So-
cieties ; Hillyard's Practical Farming and Grazing.
For 1842.
Periodical Works (ten copies of each).

British Farmer's Magazine ; Farmer's Magazine ;
Journal of English Agriculture ; Quarterly Journal
of Agriculture.

Other Books (one copy each).

Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture; Burke's
British Husbandry ; Sinclair's Code of Agriculture ;
Cuthbcrl Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopaedia ; Ure's
Dictionary of Chemistry ; Cleghorn's System of
Agriculture ; Book of the Farm ; Lectures on Agri-
cultural Chemistry, by James T. W. Johnson ; Gre-
gory's Mathematics for Practical Men; Le Couteur
on Wheat.

These books to be kept by tbe assistant secretary.
Any member wishing to read any of the books is re-
quested to apply for tbe same.

A map of tbe country twelve miles round Stew-
poney, one copy for each member (not quite ready).

The Farmer's Almanac for each member elected
previous to December 31st, 1841.

NEWSPAPERS,

In which the advertisements of the society will be
inserted.
Ten Towns Messenger ; Wolverhampton Chro-
nicle; Mark Lane Express; Birmingham Herald;
Worcester Herald.

TWO LECTURES ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY

will be delivered at tbe general meeting in April,
by Charles F. Partington, Professor of Mechanical
Philosophy.

THE BOOK CLUB

Consists of ten districts, each district having a se-
cretary, and not containing more than thirty mem-
bers. Each secretary to forward the books to the
members in bis district, and to apportion the time
for reading them, sufject to the rules printed with
tbe order of circulation.

MEETINGS FOR THE YEAR 1842.
General Meetings. — April 12th, October lltb.
Committee Meetings. — January 3rd, February
7th; March 7th, April 4tb, May 2nd, June 6tb,

Divisions

Places.

1

2

Claverley ....

o

4

Kidderminster.

5

Kingswinford .

6

7

Prestwood....

8

Stourbridge .. .

9
10

Wolverley. . . .
Wombourn . . .

Hon. Sec.

Mr. J. Wdson.
Mr. H. Yardley.
Mr. J. Morton.
M r. G . Thompson, jun .
Rev. R. Foley.
Rev. G. Wharton.
Mr. G. Thompson.
Mr. R. Price.
Rev. C. S. Cocks.
Captain Dickens.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

277

Statement of the Receipts and Expenditure of the Stew-
poney Agricultural Society from the period of its
formation, Feb. 1st, 1841," to Jan. 3rd, 1842.

RECEIPTS.

£ s. d.
By Annua] Subscriptions from Vice-Pre-
sidents 46 0 0

By do. from Members 141 0 0

By Life Members Compositions 0 0 0

By Subsciiptions due from Vice-Presi-
dents 4 0 0

By Subscriptions due from Members.... 17 0 0

By Subscriptions on 1842 Account 1 0 0

By amount of Premium awarded to W. B.
Collis, of Stourbridge, and presented
by him to the Society for a premium
for Stock at the Meeting-, in Oct. 1842. 5 0 0
By Admission Tickets to the Shew Yard. 22 8 0
By Admission Tickets to the Dinner, Oc-
tober 2Gth 20 4 0

£256 12 0

EXPENDITURE.

Paid for Advertisements 6 12 9

Stationary, Postage, and Carriage of Par-
cels 10 6 7

Books 37 4 11

Printing 8 8 6

Use of Room 3 5 0

Erection of Shew Yard, Police, &c 7 8 2

Use of Ter.t, Lights, Seats, and atten-
dance for the Dinner, Oct. 26 38 0 0

Amount of Prizes 70 O 0

Almanacs for the use of Members, elect-
ed pnor to Dec. 1 841 7 14 10

By sundry incidental charges 3 4 5

By Balance in the hands of the Trea-
surers, Messrs. Ruffurd and Co 39 3 0

By Petty Cash in the hands of the Secre-
tary 4 3 10

Bv Balance due 21 0 0

£256 12 0
"} Lyttei.ton, Chairman.
This account examined by >Geo. Wharton.

j Rowland Price.
Stewponey, Jan. 3rd, 1842.

REPORT.

Your committee, in making tin's their first report
of the Stewponey Agricultural Society, have the
pleasure of stating an increase of forty-nine members
since its first establishment ; the number of members
at the present time being one hundred and eighty-
one : and the limits of the Society having been ex-
tended from ten to twelve miles, a considerable in-
crease in the present year may reasonably be ex-
pected.

A map is being lithographed, and when ready a
copy will be given to each member of the society.

The accounts show a balance in hand of 43/. 6s.
10d., and 21/. due for arrears of subscriptions ; and
your committee beg to remind members that the se-
cond year's subscription is due, and to recommend
gentlemen having various occupations to save them-
selves trouble, by requesting their hankers to remit
the amount thereof annually to Messrs. Ruffords and
VViagge, bankers, Stouibridge, the treasurers of the
society.

Your committee have appropriated the sum of
117/. for premiums, and 42/. for books, for the cur-

rent year; and they have increased the number of
copies of each periodical from six to ten, and or-
dered that the-cther books be kept by the assistant
secretary, and supplied to any member of the so-
ciety desirous of reading them.

A sale of the last year's numbers of the periodicals
i3 recommended.

A list of newspapers (as given in the printed
rules) has been fixed upon for communicating the
proceedings of the society, to which members are re-
ferred for information, it not being deemed necessary
to send a written communication on every subject to
each individual in future.

The exhibitions at the first annual meeting in Oc-
tober last may be considered satisfactory, allowance
being made for the indifferent state of the weather,
and the little publicity the society had then obtained.

A great desire having been expressed for the ex-
hibition of stock, although foreign to the original in-
tention of the society, your committee have offered
premiums for such exhibitions; and they recommend
gentlemen to enter into sweepstakes for various sorts
of stock, if they are desirous of doing so.

The attention of the society has been turned to
the improvement of the condition of the agricultural
labourers, by means of a benefit society, enabling
persons of both sexes, between the ages of fourteen
and fifty, to insure an allowance in sickness and an
annuity in old age, with tables containing a gra-
duated scale of payment, according to age, and the
benefit to be insured ; and it is hoped that it will
meet with the support so praiseworthy an object de-
serves.

Your committee cannot conclude this report
without noticing the beneficial effects of farmers'
monthly clubs in different parts of the country, by
leading to interesting and useful discussions on
many subjects important to agriculture ; and they
hope it may not be improbable to see a club esta-
blished connected with this society. In the mean-
time they have offered a premium for an essay on
manures ; and they have made arrangements for two
lectures to be given at the general meeting in April.

Your committee have the pleasure of stating that
the prospects of your society are most satisfactory,
and from the number of its members and the state
of its funds, they trust that it may be considered as
established on a solid and permanent basis ; and
from the liberal support it has received from gentle-
men engaged in commercial pursuits, they hope it
may be the means of inducing neighbours of all
classes to meet together with one common interest
and mutual good-will.

To this is appended an alphabetical list of vice-
presidents and members, with their residences and
post towns.

DRAINING.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — Your correspondent "Not at all an Upright
Diainer," but who I am sure is an upright man for
calling attention to one of the most important opera-
tions of British husbandry, — for I do contend that no
labour is so well bestowed as on draining wet land,
and lam thoroughly convinced that the system he ad-
vocates of cross-draining is by far the best. I have
experience of it, having (as he also has,) given that
and upright draining a trial, and the result bus been
like his; but possibly, if furrow-drains were put
very close, they might answer; but thenj'ou must

273

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

remember what a great additional outlay of tiles and
labour, and after all, in my humble opinion, it would
not be so effectual. I fully agree^with bim that
much money is laid out very waetefully in draining, in
consequence of their not being cut in the proper [dace
and direction, and I will citeone fact of my own know.
ledge. A gentleman bad a grass field lying with a
gradual slope ; he about four years since made
several drains at the bottom of the field, that being
the part wet: be conceived that the proper mode of
proceeding, but still the field continued wet. Last
year be was advised to cut one deep drain across the
fall, and since that he has not been troubled with
water, his lower drains became quite dry, and I believe
be has taken part of them up and laid elsewhere.
This is one case of money and labour being mis-
applied. I could mention several more, but I con-
ceive one fact as good as a hundred to illustrate the
matter; and this brings to my mind another part of
your correspondent's letter, in which he says that the
tenant ought to be assisted by his hind lord in
draining. I perfectly agree with him in that opinion :
but I also think that the landlord should see that the
work is properly planned and executed, otherwise he
may have his tiles laid (I might say wasted) as in
the case I have just cited, for all drainers are not so
clear-sighted as your correspondent who is "not an
upright drainer." I havefound it a good plan to lay
alder planks, instead of the common tile bottom, on
loose soil, as they sometimes sink and consequently
disarrange the drain. The grate at the end is
a good preventive against the entrance of rats,
&c, as they frequently nest in them, and in
many cases render the drain useless. No one
can deny that Mr. Blacker is doing immense
good in the part of Ireland where he superintends,
and I sincerely wish that such improvements were
going on throughout that unfortunate country ; but
that bis system of draining does not answer here we
have proved, whilst he.it appears, (and he is farther
borne out by Dr. Mackenzie) has found it does best
with him. Thus we are at issue, and I hope that
some other of your numerous correspondents will
give the results of their experience on this important
subject. I have one observation more to make, and
that is, that in cutting drains across the face of a
hill they should be no farther apart than that the
bottom of the top drains should ba at the least a foot
belmv the top of the next, so that the distance depends
upon the declivity of the surface. I fear I have
already taken up too mucb of your valuable paper,
but I cannot conclude without offering my thanks
for the space you weekly devote to agricultural in-
formation; and am, Your's &c,

Febuary 18, 1842. Ciscinnatus.

THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE HADLEIGH FARMERS'
CLUB.

DECEMItER, 1841.

The committee of the Hadleigh Farmers' Club, in
performing the duty which again devolves upon
them, at the close of the second year since its estab-
lishment, of placing in the hands of the members a
brief annual review of its proceedings and resolu-
tions, feel called upon to revert with pleasure to the
increased interest evinced in its progress, and the
gradual increase in the number of its members.

Your committee are also much gratified in having

observed societies of a similar character, during the
past year, constantly springing up in all parts of the
kingdom ; the effects of which must tend to an im-
proved system of management in the surrounding
districts, and unite in one common interest the
hitherto disunited fanners of England.

But, white your committee are thus rejoiced at the
great advantages which must necessarily result from
societies of this character, they desire to express
their decided conviction, that " the publishing state-
ments of the productiveness of any crop, without
at the same time stating the amount of expenditure
and the favourable circumstances under which that
pioduce has been obtained, is highly prejudicial to
their interests, and liable to produce in the minds of
those persons who have not a practical knowledge
of agricultural pursuits, erroneous views upon the
subject: although they feel deeply indebted to all
who have made, and are still making experiments in
any way relating to agriculture, and who give a fair
statement, of the results, (loss as well as gain) which
are consequently sometimes attendant upon them.

The first meeting, in January, was occupied in
making airangements connected with future proceed-
ings, and in preparing the following list of subjects
for the consideration of the Club.

Feb. 5. — On the propriety of manuring young
layers and pastures; also land intended for peas
and beans.

March 5. — On the wheat midge.

April 2. — On weaning and rearing neat stock.

May 7. — On ploughs and ploughing.

June 4. — On the relative value of the different
kinds of roots, to the after-grain crops.

Jaly 2. — On the diseases of wheat generally, and
mode of preparing the seed.

23. — On the nature and properties of clay-
marl and chalk, and the best method of application.

Sept. 3. — On the most advantageous mode of con-
suming the root-crop.

Oct. 1. — Liebig's views of organic chemistry, as
applied to agriculture.

Nov. 5. — On draining arable and pasture lands.

Dec. 3. — Annual meeting. Stock and root show,
at ll2 o'clock.

The meeting in February entertained the subject
of "Manuring youug layers and pastures; also
land intended for peas and beans." The member
who introduced the subject, advocated strongly the
practice of manuring young clover-layers, as tending
considerably to increase the quantity of clover, and
rendering the land in a better state of preparation
for wheat than if applied to the old lay, or after
the crop of clover is removed. Other members
also supported the same opinion, and recommended
that the manure should be applied as early as possi-
ble after Michaelmas. Hut, upon the application of
manure to pasture lands, a difference of opinion ex-
isted : some members contending that the arable
land, at the present price of corn, gave a better re-
turn, although the majority of the meeting were
decidedly in favour of the practice, and where only
a small quantity was applied (say twelve to fourteen
tons per acre) the benefits resulting from it were
very great : and that it is more perceptible the third
year, than upon its immediate application. An una-
nimous opinion was expressed in favour of apply-
ing manure for beans, especially when grown upon
stiff or tenacious soils, and in a state when it has
undergone little or no fermentation ; but quite a
contrary practice was urged in the cultivation of the
pea-crop ; several members contending that in the
majority of seasons, an,d especially in a year favour-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

279

able to the production of the louse, the application
of manure was prejudicial, causing a considerable
increase in the quantity of straw, and a decrease in
the grain.

The discussion was closed, and the following- re-
solution agreed to: —

"That manuring young clover layers is highly
beneficial, and the practice lias a decided pre-
ference to doing it on the old layer ; the clover-
crop being thereby much increased, and gene-
rally tbo succeeding crop of wheat likewise.
Its application is also strongly recommended to
pastures, and land intended for beans ; but, in
the generality of seasons, is not beneficial to the
pea- crop."

The attention of the fjllowing meeting in March
was directed to some most in teres ing observations
on the wheat midge, by

Professor Hecslow, who said that he would pre-
face the few remarks he had to brin»- forward on the
habits of the wheat midge, by a short statement of
the observations already recorded on this subject by
Mr. Kirby, Mr. Marshals, pad others. It was from
the observations of Mr. Kirby, made more than 40
years ago, and published in an eailv volume of the
Linneau Transactions, that we were made acquainted
with most of the facts already on record. In the fiy
state, the midge might be seen in myriads, during a
few of the first davs of June, between seven and
nine o'clock in the evening. They would be found
flying about the ears of corn just then coming into
blossom; and which they frequented for the put pose
of depositing their eggs in the flowers. Fro»n these
eggs were hatched the small yellow maggots or
caterpillars, known in .some parts of the country by
the name of red-gum ; hut which were not to be
confounded witli the rust, also called red-gum, and
which was a fungus. These maggots or midge-
caterpillars sucked the juices of the young grains
and prevented their growing. Mr. Kirby had cal-
culated thev destroyed about one-twentieth part of
the crops in that part of Suffolk where he resided
(which was at Barham) : and Mr. Gorrie, a practi-
cal farmer, considered th.it they sometimes de-
stroyed one third of the crop in Perthshire. It
might be left for the consideration of practical men,
whether it was not of importance to rind out, if
possible, some ready mode of checking them. Pro-
fessor Henslow expressed his conviction that the
destructive effects of this insect had not been over-
rated, as ho had seen an instance, in his immediate
neighbourhood, where he considered a fanner had
sustained a great loss from their attacks, possibly in
amount little short of that stated by Mr. Gorrie.
It was his intention to send an account of his own
observations to the Journal of the Roval Agricultural
Society, before the close of the year, when he had
been aide to observe them through all seasons; but
be would now communicate what he had already
noticed, to the club, us he thought lie could suggest
a few hints of practical utility. lie had found that
vast numbers of the maggots, some dead and others
living, were carried with the wheat to the barn;
thai they were beaten out of the ears in the process
of thrashing, and were afterwards, for the most, part,
blown out with the chaff' from the dressing-machine.
He had ascertained that thev fell within about three
yards of the machine. Upon sifting the chaff' over
a wire gauze sieve, the maggots passed through with
the dust. In order to obtain some accurate notion
of the numbers which might thus be collected, he
selected a certain portion of the dust from different
barns, and bad then ascertained the number of mag-

gots in that portion. Then by calculation he hud
determined the numbers which there would he in a
bushel. Tho.prnportions had varied from above
170,000 to more than 930,000. Although many of
these were dead, yet a great many were encased in
a delicate membrane, which they had apparently
prepared for their winter quarters ; and he supposed
that these would all turn to the fly state in the spring.
If such was the case, there was evidently a ready
method of destroying vast numbers of them — by
simply burning the dust obtained by sifting the chaff.
Although so many were found dead on (ho present
occasion, this might not be the case another year ;
for a few days' difference in the tine of gathering in
the barrest might enable many more to arrive at per-
fection, and either go into winter quarters as cater-
pillars, or assume the chrystalis state. It had been
suggested to him, that when this dust is scattered
on the manure in the farm yard, the process of fer-
mentation would be sufficient to destroy the maggots.
This he considered to be very doubtful, whilst the
plan he suggested was a secure one, and would be
useful also in destroying other insects and their eggs ;
as well as many minute seeds, such as those of florin
grass, which he had sometimes found in greatabund-
ance among this dust.

Professor Henslow then gave an account of an-
other minute gnat of the same genus as the wheat
midge, which "was particularly destructive to the
wheat crops in North America. This was called the
Hessian-fly. It laid its eggs in the straw, and not in
the flower ; and when the caterpillars were hatched,
they devoured a portion near the root, causing it to
break and snap off at that spot.

Professor Henslow having kindly consented to
allow the following resolution to be proposed, it was
accordingly submitted, and passed unanimously: —

" That the committee of the club, with othpr
members who are disposed to join them, com-
municate with Professor Henslow, and give
their attention to different questions relative
to the further understanding, and for procuring
means to destroy the wheat midge."

At the meeting in April, the early part of the
evening was taken up in making arrangements for
the meeting at Ilintlesham, to take place the follow-
ing month, for the trial of different varieties of
ploughs. After which the subject of " weaning
and rearing neat stock" was commenced by the
member whose name stood engaged for its intro-
duction— stating bis practice with London calves.
When he first received them, he put about four
calves to one cow, and in the course of about three
or four weeks they generally began to feed, when
ho gave them a few sliced turnips and a little meal,
and allowed them to remain on the cow about a
month longer. During the summer, in the heat of
the day, he recommended their being shut up on
account of the flies ; and, after Michaelmas, when
taken into the yard, he allowed them about 61bs. of
oil-cake per diem, not having any turnips to spare.

Other members stated their practice, which dif-
fered but little from the preceding; excepting, as
soon as the calves began to feed, which was gene-
rally in abrut a fortnight or three weeks, they were
taken from the cow, and encouraged to eat, by
holding a bunch of hay in their mouths, and giving
them a few sliced turnips.

Another member recommended, for the first fort-
night, giving wheat-meal balls, which they will
readily take after having been administered a few
times, and about a quart of skim-milk per diem.
After which time he gives them turnips, and with

280

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

this plan lias been free from the scour amongst
them, for he considers skim-milk much hetter than
new, as by giving- them new milk, he invariably
found them scour.

Another member stated that he has had the best
success, when, for about the first week, he has given
them part milk and part water, in which clover-hay
had been boiled; then succeeded by a little oil-
cake, upon which hot water had been poured ;
and when they began to feed themselves, gave
them oil-cake, with a few sliced turnips ; recom-
mending strongly the practice of shutting them up
in summer, during the heat of the day, and in the
winter affording them comfortable shelter from the
weather — as he considers warmth very necessary
to their going on well.

After a verv interesting discussion, the following
resolution was agreed to: —

"That early calves are to be preferred for wean-
ing; and in the management of those received
from London, great attention should be paid to
the quality and quantity of food given them for
the first few days; and that wheat-meal balls
are very beneficial, as a preventive against
scouring. The slock of the short-horn, or
Durham, is considered the most valuable for
grazing purposes (and where that is intended,
the practice of keeping them well from the
beginning is the most advantageous) ; but in
the selection of stock for the dairy, the true-
bred Suffolk is considered the most profitable.
In cases of scouring' becoming serious, the fol-
lowing recipe is recommended : — one quart
of boiling milk, poured upon one or two tea-
spoonsful of tincture of opium, and two tea-
spoonsful of tincture of rhubarb, administered
when about milk-warm."
Previous to the discussion, to take place in May,
" On ploughs and ploughing," a trial of ploughs
was agreed upon, to take place at Hintlesham, in
connection with the Ipswich and Ashboeking Far-
mers' Club, on the 6th of May.

The ploughs which were sent by the farmers for
trial on this occasion, were chiefly those in use in
Suffolk ; and these may be divided into two chisses,
the swing or foot ploughs, and those with high
gallowses and wheels. In addition to the above,
were a number of ploughs selected from the manu-
factories of Messrs. Ransome, Bond, & Co., Woods,
Derrick, Sec. ; and among these were the Kent
Turn-rest, the Belton Patent Rutland, Double-
furrow, Palmer's Patent, Essex Swing, and others,
about thirty in all.

Having obtained one of the most improved dyna-
nometers, it was agreed that the draughts of the
ploughs mentioned in the following table should
be tested by that instrument.

RESULT OF THE TRIAL OF PLOUGHS.

Swing ploughs, in deep furrow-work ; the furrows
being 9 inches wide by 7 inches deep, down the
field, and 9 inches wide by 6 inches deep, up.

DRAUGHT DOWN. DO. UP.
MAKER.

Swing ploughs, S R, Ransome .

1 F F, Ditto . .

F S, Ditto . .

Palmer'sPatent,WH, Woods .

Wooden Plough Meadows

Essex Swing Ransome .

Swing ploughs, in shallow furrow work ; the fur-

row being 9 inches wide by 5 inches deep, down,
and 9 inches wide by 5J inches deep, up.

DRAUGHT DOWN. DO. UP.

maker. stone, stone.
Swing plough, ALP, Woods . . 22 . .23

stone.

stone

. 20 .

. 22

. 24

. 25 .

. 25

. 28 .

. 26

. 32

. 38 .

. 32

Ploughs constructed as swing, with wheels at head ;
tried in furrows 9 inches wide by 7 inches deep,
down, and 9 inches wide by 6 inches deep, up.
LL U C, 2 wheels, Ransome . . 24 . . 23

Rutland, Ditto ... 24

Palmer's Patent, Wl w d M /^

H, 2 wheels |

Ditto, 1 wheel . . Ditto . . . 25 . . 24
G, 1 wheel . . . Bond & Co. . 26

Gardiner .

. 24

King . .

. 24 .

. 26

Ransome .

. 26 .

. 24

Woods

. 26 .

. 20

Derrick .

. 26 .

. 28

Ransome .

. 28 .

. 22

Ransome .

no

. 28

Ploughs constructed same as last class ; tried in a
furrow, 9 inches wide, arid 5 inches deep, clown
the field.
G S, 2 wheels . . Ransome . . 22

Suffolk wheel ploughs, with high gallowses; tried
in a furrow 9 inches wide by 7 inches deep, down,
and 9 inches wide by 6 inches deep, up.
Wooden plough .
Ditto ditto . . .
E C, ditto . . .
Palmer's Patent S W
Iron wheel plough .
R, for strong land .
Kent Tutn-rest, — "^

turning the fur- I

row-slice com- )>

pletely over — 10 |

in. by 7, each wavj

%* 141bs. to the stone.

Before entering upon the discussion on " Ploughs
and ploughing," to take place this evening, being
the day succeeding the trial of ploughs at Hintle-
sham, Mr. H. Sallows introduced some cake made
from corn, oats, barley, and beans, which he had
sent him from Mr. R. Turner, of Woodbridge;
with a communication from a gentleman at Sutton-
on-Trent, who had been using them among his
cattle.

[cOrY OF LETTER.]

" Sutton-on-Trent, March 6tb, 1841.
" I send a cake of each sort, which you will find
marked. I have been using the barley-cake since
the beginning of December, for horses, beasts,
sheep, and pigs; they are all fond of if, and have
done remarkably well. My farm horses have been
worked bard, and were poor, at the end of wheat-
sowing ; have kept them through this winter on
carrots, chopped hay, and straw, with 31bs. of barley-
cake each day (no corn). I never had them in better
condition ; they have not swelled legs or anything
else the matter with them, which I consider owing
to the regular state in which the bowels are kept by
the oil. My milch cows have been kept on carrots,
chopped hay, or straw, with 41bs. of cake each per
day, and have milked remarkably well ; the milk
and butter is as sweet as from grass. I lied a cow
up in November; she had been suckling a calf
during the summer ; was very bare at the time ; has
been fed with barley-cake and turnips, and, though
she was thrown back by the epidemic, is now
(March 6th) fit for the butcher. When turnips are
given, I consider the barley-cake much better than
the linseed-cake ; the beasts scour too much to
fatten quick with the linseed-cake, which the barley-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

281

cake corrects, and keeps the bowels in a regular
state. I Lave not been able to get a wbeat-cake;
they were all gune. I do not think they can come
into use for cattle ; the price will be too high. Mr.
Hutchinson, of Sutton, is now making- oil-cake from
barley, beans, and wheat ; and intends making some
from oats and tares. I have had a considerable
quantity of inferior wheat, of the growth of 1839,
made into cake, at a charge of £4. 10s. per ton, for
making and oil ; the same weight of cake as you
take in coin. I think it will be a great benefit to
farmers, in years when there is a great quantity of
inferior corn."

A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Sallows and
Mr. Turner for the communication.

A member then introduced the subject relative to
" Ploughs and ploughing,'' by exhibiting some
drawings of ploughs and models of furrows, and
considered the first question to be entertained was —
what is perfection in ploughing? For his part he
considered the nearer it resembled digging was the
plan which came nearest to that mark ; and, in con-
sequence, highly approved of the improved Kent
Turn-rest plough, as an implement which performs
its work almost equal to the spade, although he
would not recommend it entirely in preference to
the ploughs in common use, but in conjunction with
them, Ransome's R. Wheel Plough, is a plough,
lie considers, well adapted for land in Suffolk
generally.

A member in reply said, he felt at a loss to define
the question — what is perfection in ploughing ? as
he considered it required being performed in a
different manner, according to the nature of the soil,
and the various crops intended to follow.

Another member expressed the same opinion, and
as depending also much on the time of year the
work was performed. On fallows in the spring, he
should recommend ploughing as deep as the soil
will allow, and carrying as wide a furrow as the
share cuts through. In ploughing up land intended
for wheat, at Michaelmas, to turn the furrows over
flat, and as fleet as convenient for the proper forma-
tion of the stetch ; again, when laying up land for
barley, to set the furrows upright, in order that the
frost may have the greater advantage over it to
pulverize it. With regard to the perfection of a
plough, considers it is to have a perfect line from
the blade of the coulter to the back of the breast.

Another member expressed himself pleased with
the performance of work done by the Kent plough,
and as particularly adapted for ploughing up an old
clover-lev for wheat; but considered the extia
draught objectionable, and that it required more skil-
ful management than our common ploughs. A mem-
ber in reply, who has a Kent plough, stated, that at
a trial of ploughs at Tuddenham, on clover-ley, it
only drew 28 stone; and, though it required more
skill to set it, it was quite as easy to hold, and does
not require so much alteration afterwards.

Several other memberstook parts in the discussion,
and the following resolution was carried : —

" That the wheel plough has on the whole the ad-
vantage of the swing plough, except on very
tenacious soils, and there, swing ploughs are to
be preferred, with a head -wheel attached, to be
removed at pleasure ; or, when inconvenient
from the land being wet. That this meeting
also considers the improved Kent Turn-rest
plough possesses some very useful qualities,
and those which cannot be obtained by the
ploughs in common use."
The subject which engaged the meeting in June,

was," The relative value of the different kinds of
roots to the after-grain crops."

The member introducing it, considered it doubt-
ful whether it was not disadvantageous altogether to
grow roots of any description upon the generality of
our heavy lands, taking into account the expensive
preparation which the soil has to undergo for their
production, and the loss which succeeds them in the
following grain crop ; but with regard to light soils
and good turnip-land, when he is able to feed the
crop of roots upon the field, the case is very dif-
ferent; as after a good crop of turnips, the land is
left in a better state, and the grain crop is conside-
rably improved. With respect to the scouring na-
ture of the different kinds of roots, he considers, 1st
potatoes, 2nd mangel-wurzel, 3rd Swede turnips,
and the least so, the common or white turnip.

The member who followed, (in which he was
joined by the majority present) considered mangel-
wurzel so valuable a root in the spring, that some-
thing considerable might be reasonably allowed by
way of deduction from the succeeding crop of grain ;
and that barley was better to follow than wheat.
There was much diversity of opinion respecting the
effect of white turnips and Swedes, as some members
had found the after-crop quite as good, if not better,
after the Swedes than the white turnip ; and, upon
some soils, mangel-wurzel was succeeded by a bet-
ter crop of barley than either of the other roots.

A member also suggested that there was not suf-
ficient attention generally given to ploughing, after
the roots were removed from the field ; and if two
good earths were given to the land, the succeeding
grain crop would not suffer so much.

Some members entertained the opinion that grow
ing turnips upon the ridge, on those soils not adapt-
ed for feeding, was much to be prefem d, than on the
stetch ; and that tiie land was thereby left in a better
state for the succeeding crop.

The meeting being rather divided in their opinion,
occasioned by the fact of members stating that each
root is more or less adapted to the different kinds of
soil, it was rather difficult to pass a resolution which
embodied any particular direction upon the subject;
but that, taking into consideration the value r'f the
roots, and their subsequent effects upon the succeed-
ing crops of grain, the mangel wurzel is more gene-
rally adapted for heavy lands ; the Swede turnip for
mixed soils and good feeding lands; and the white
turnip and common variety, for the descriptions of
soil inclined to sand and gravel.

The subject which engaged the attention of the
meeting in July, was, " On the diseases of wheat
generally, and mode of preparing the seed :" at
which Professor Henslow stated that he had pre-
pared a few experiments, by sowing sound grains of
wheat in contact with diseased grains, or with por-
tions of straw. Some of these had been sown with-
out any preparation ; others had been steeped in a
solution of thesulphateof copper, for difteient lengths
of time. These experiments were not yet complete,
but he had already obtained some results which had
satisfied him of the accuracy of certain conclusions,
at which previous experimenters had arrived ; and
which he had noticed in his report on the diseases of
wheat, which had been inserted in the Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society. In these experiments,
he had propagated the bunt; but had not succeeded
with the smut. He had also succeeded in blighting
the grains, with the little animalcule, (Vibriotritici)
which causes the peppercorn.

With respect to rust and mildew, — these diseases
certainly did not depend upon any particular infec-

282

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tion of tbo grain, and every plant in the experiments
was attacked by rust ; and he expected, before (lie
season was over, to see litis turn to mildew-. He
had most fully convinced himself of the sulphate of
copper being a decided specific against bunt, and
probably against smut als,o.

A member expressed his opinion that, as sulphate
of copper was injurious tovegetation.be thought the
old fashioned plan of preparing the seed with hot
water and lime was preferable. Many statements
were made by others, of their having subjected
seed to a strong solution of sulphate of copper, and
that it had not suffered th; least injury.

The first part of the subject being on the diseases
of wheat generally, and they being numerous, and
proceeding in different seasons from a variety of
causes, no direct resolution could he passed upon it;
but merely to recommend that the fences be low, in
order to ensure a fiea circulation of sun and air, and
attention given to get the land into a proper state for
the reception of the seed ; as mildew generally at-
tacked plants which grew too luxuriantly, and my-
riads of the seeds of fungi are constantly wafted
about in the air, and attack unhealthy plants ; but,
with regard to the mode of preparing tbo seed, an
almost unanimous opinion was expressed in favour
of sulphate of copper or blue vitriol — about lib. of
the vitriol to 5 or 6 gallons of water.

The following monthly meeting was engaged in
the discussion of "The nature and properties of
clay-marl and chalk, and the best method of apply-
ing- them to the soil."

The discussion upon this subject was attended
with some diveisity of opinion, and tended mate-
rially to establish the fact, that a chemical knowledge
of the properties of those earths, and the soil to
which they were to be applied, was most essential
for the production of any beneficial results, ('balk,
clay, and sand alone being all barren and unproduc-
tive ; but if mixed in proper proportions, form the
constituent parts of a good soil.

IWany members having stated the practical results
experienced upon their application, the following
resolution was agreed to: —

" That the calcareous nature of clay-marl and
chalk is highly beneficial to such soils as are
destitute of those earths ; and the best method
of applying them (on account of the heavy ex-
pense) is, to cart them upon the land, without
any admixture, and just prior to the field being
made a summer fallow."

The meeting fixed for the 3rd of September, to
discuss the subject " On the most advantageous
mode of consuming the root crop," was postponed to
some future period, in consequence of the thin at-
tendance of members, occasioned by the engage-
ments of harvest.

At the following meeting, in October, Professor
Menslow proceeded to give a general outline of some
of the leading views which Liebig has lately pub-
lished, on organic chemistry, so far as this science
is applicable to agriculture. He began, by consi-
dering in what respects cultivated plants are diffe-
rently circumstanced from those in their natural
s'ate; the latter arrive at full vigour, simply from
the resources which nature provides them ; whilst
cultivated plants require attention and constant ma-
nuring, to ensure their arriving at full perfection.

This difference is owing to our removing from the
soil, when we carry off our crops, certain ingredients
which cultivated plants have imbibed from it, but
which plants in a state of nature, return to the soil
by the fall of their leaves and by their natural decay,

at the places whore they grew. The whole science
of manuring, reduces itself to our obtaining a per-
fect knowledge of what are the ingredients which
particular plants require for their full development,
and the sources from whence they obtain them. The
first must be ascertained by carefully analyzing the
various species employed in the culture; and we
then must endeavour to obtain accurate estimates of
the quantities removed, that we may replace them
to the full amount.

Now, of the substances which enter into the
composition of plant, there are four common to
all, and all parts of plants; and beside these there
arc others, which in minute proportion appear to
be essential to the constitution of particular plants,
or to certain parts of them. It becomes, then, an
inquiry of impottance to ascertain the sources
from whence plants obtain the four elementary
substances essential to the general structure of
them all. These substances arc, carbon, oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen. Liebeg has shown — and
apparently on very satisfactory grounds — that they
obtain their carbon solely and entirely by decom-
posing carbonic acid. They are supplied with this
substance from the atmosphere, which always con-
tains a certain per ccntago of it. They also ob-
tain it dissolved in the water which they absorb at
their roots. Carbonic acid is constantly generated
by the union of the carbon of humus (or decom-
posing vegetable matter) in the soil, with the
oxygen of the atmosphere ; and thus the roots ob-
tain a ready supply. But still this latter source is
not absolutely essential to the growth of plants,
since they obtain carbonic acid more effectually
and constantly from the air. They may obtain
oxygen either from the decomposition of carbonic
acid or from the decomposition of water; and they
must certainly obtain their hydrogen from the
latter source. It should seem, therefore, that the
three principal ingredients of the vegetable struc-
ture are not supplied, at least to any important
amount, by the process of manuring. Although
nitrogen forms by far the smallest proportion of
the four elements essential to the vegetable struc-
ture, its presence is as absolutely requisite as that
of the other three. Nitrogen always surrounds all
plants abundantly, in the form of one of the in-
gredients of the atmosphere; but it is requisite
that they should obtain this element (as they ob-
tain the others) not by direct assimilation, but by
the decomposition of some compound substance,
of which it is a constituent part. This substance
appears to be ammonia, and perhaps also there
are some others (as nitrous and nitric oxides and
acids) which may occasionally afford it. The
discovery of ammonia, as the great and general
source of the nitrogen in plants, is the main fea-
ture in Liebeg's works. This substance is abun-
dantly developed in the decomposition of animal
manures, and therefore we must suppose that the
chief use of such manures is to supply It, where
the natural supply is insufficient — as it is in all
cases of artificial cropping.

These manures also furnish certain other ingre-
dients, which are necessary to the healthy condi-
tions of particular plants. It is especially in the
liquid parts of such manures that these ingre-
dients are to be found; and it is highly important
that such parts should not be allowed to escape.
They may require a particular mode of treatment
to render them efficacious ; but if they e>capc, the
most essential properties of the manures are lost,
or impoverished. Leibeg strongly recommends

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

283

the use of gypsum for fixing the ammonia during
the decomposition of these manures, under the
form of soluble salt ; whereas it would otherwise
escape as the volatile carbonate.

The subject chosen for discussion at the last
meeting, in November, was " On the advantages
of draining arable and pasture lands," which eli-
cited some very useful remarks, on the material
points to be attended to in the construction, width,
and depth of drains, and the method of filling up.
Mr. Hawkins of Assington, a member of the Sud-
bury club, attended, who had practised, to some
extent, draining with tiles, which he recommended
for more universal adoption : and when the per-
manency of that material is taken into considera-
tion, against the perishable nature of wood, straw,
and haulm, which is more generally employed, it
must be regarded as an improvement in the per-
formance of that important work. A model of tile
was exhibited, which was generally thought would
answer the purpose exceedingly well, the cost
about 25s. to 30s. per thousand ; and if by using
tiles, the width between the drains might be con-
siderably increased, if tiiey were cut an extra
depth, (which some members contended might be
the case) the extra expense would not be very
considerable ; Mr. Hawkins stating it as his con-
viction, that land would dry as quickly when the
drains are ten yards apart and thirty-six inches
deep, a? when five yards apart and only twenty
in depth.

The subject was viewed as one of great im-
portance, such decided improvements having been
effected through its introduction ; but the opinion
of the meeting appeared to be, that the locality and
nature of the soils tended materially to influence
the cultivator, in the choice of materials and
method of constructing his drains; that recom-
mending any particular mode would be unsuc-
cessful, and not admit of general application :
although they could not but express their opinion
in favour of its more general adoption.

Your committee, in closing their report, cannot
allow the present opportunity to pass without ten-
dering their grateful acknowledgments, and testi-
fying the great obligations they feel to the Rev.
Professor Henslow, for his kind visits and the va-
luable services he has rendered to the Iladleigh
Farmers' Club, during the past year. They also
desire to express their thanks for the co-operation
and assistance of other gentlemen who have joined
them, not engaged in the cuhivation of the soil ;
and to indulge the pleasing anticipation that the
same unanimity and good feeling may still pre-
vail amongst all its members, which has been one
of its characteristic qualities : and that each and
every member will consider it a duty incumbent
upon him, to promote, by all the means in his
power, the further advancement of the national
science of agriculture.

For the Committee,

W. Grimvvaue, Jun.,

Secretary.

STATISTICS OF HORSES.— The Semaphore of
Marseilles states, that at the end of 1841 the number of
horses in France was 2,453,712, of which 1,241,789
were mares, arid that the number of horses born annually
h 185,303. The number of entire horses the property
of the State is 4,577, and the number of mares annually
put to breed by these horses is 49,408.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAR-
MER'S MAGAZINE.

Sin, — It appears to me there is a fashion in firm-
ing as well as in dress and other things; and it is
very clear to me, that those who are ruled by fashion,
seldom studv utility or usefulness. It also seems
that as in dress, so in farming, old systems again re-
vive and are called new ; and those men who bring
these old systems up again, generally get the credit
of being called the inventors. Hut, sir, I do not find
much fault with this, for I consider it creditable to
any man to revive any custom or practice which is
really useful to the country; but why anything,
reallv useful in agriculture should be lost for any
length of time, seems to me very strange, knowing
thatall farming operations are performed in the open
day light, and in the face of the public ; yet so it is,
for we fanners are a strange set of animals. I have
frequently seen scores of farmers pass every market
day, for years, by a farm managed upon a good prin-
ciple, and of course evidently with considerable pro-
fit, and yet did not adopt the same principle upon
their own farms.

In cattle breeding some 50 or GO years ago, long-
horns were all the fashion ; they were considered the
most profitable : upon some soils, and in some si-
tuations, with proper attention in the breeding as
to the purpose they are intended, they are still a pro-
fitable breed. At tins time short-horns are all the go ;
whether a farmer lives on the top of Ben Lomond,
or on the plains of Leicestershire, he is thought no-
thing of except lie be a breeder of short-horns ; and
hundreds are given for single animals of this breed,
which are not worth a farthing more for any purpose,
intrinsically, than single animals of many other breeds
of the same weight. These, like the long-horns,
and many other breeds, are profitable in situations
for where they are adapted.

In manure, salt has had its day ; a few who wished
to be fashionable, salted away for several years, but
returned again to the old fashioned farm-yard ma-
nure, lime, &c. Soot was at one time everything ;
it is now nothing, at least with some, landowners, as
they forbid their tenants u^ing it, and not without a
cause, and yet there are cases where it is extremely
useful. At present, nitrate of soda and guano aie the
belles; they, like the butterfly, will have their day;
the former is an old fashion renewed, and will soon
be on the decline again ; 1 already see this taking
place. It is nothing but like a glass of spirits to a
jaded traveller — a mere flash in the pan, and all is in
darkness again, in an old work I have on agriculture,
it is as warmly recommended as it has been of late.
One writer says 20lhs. is sufficient for an acre. Of
guano, I have a better opinion than nitrate of soda,
as, no doubt, it will act much like the dung of most
fowls ; but it will not be lasting, and is no more fit
to be compared with hone manure, except for one
season, than copper is to gold. In last August num-
ber of your Magazine, at page 101, brewers' grains
are recommended as a manure. This will be sad
news to the teetotallers, but excellent to the old top-
ing farmer, who will now drink, and allow his family
and servants to do the same, in order to raise
manure for his farm ; like an old neighbour of mine,
who drunk every day that his cows might have
plenty of grains. In September number, page 228,
bran is recommended as a manure. Whether these
two last manures will ever get fashionable with
amateur farmers or not, I cannot say; a great deal
will depend on the men who have made the discovery.

284

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Before the next number of the Magazine appears, it
will no doubt be discovered that the very best ma-
nure for a crop of wheat, will be the flour and bran
altogether of the preceding crop of wheat, strown
upon the land in a ground state; for by doing so,
it is very clear you give to the land the very food
which the crop requires, and in its purest state. A
friend of mine accidentally discovered that new milk
from thecowvvasan excellent manure; but being
an old fashioned man, like myself, he never made use
of it in his general practice, or published the disco-
very. We both continue, very unscientifically, not-
withstanding the new theory, to give both bran and
grains to cattle, and apply their dungand urine to the
land instead of the grains and bran ; we admit it is ra-
ther stupid to continue to do so. By the last magazine
I see we shall soon be able to '' preserve" ma-
nure; I suppose in bottles, like damsons and goose-
berries. The fanners here ask me what is the
meaning of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen,
Phosphorus, Sulphuric Acid, Alumina, Ammonia,
Carbonate, Phosphate, Lactate, &c. They also
asked me what was meant by chemistry, and what
use it was to farmers? I said that the English of
some of the hard names was, soot and water, salt and
mustard, brimstone and alegar, clay and hartshorn,
lime, milk, &c„ &c.,and that chemistry vvasa science
by which one thing could be changed into another or
others. That there was a gentleman called Liebig,
who would soon be able to turn Ben Lomond into
beef and mutton to supply London market. They
would not believe me, and said, I had given his
name wrong end first, as he ought to be called Big-
lie. " Oh !" I said, " you do not understand the
matter. He will first by a chemical process change
Ben Lomond into a dung-hill ; the Scotch farmer
will then spread it upon the land ; another chemical
process will change it into grass and turnips, and
another into beef and mutton." "Well," but they
say," if he can turn the mountain into a dung-hill,
he could surely turn it into beef and mutton, bread
and butter, cheese and ale, at once." I explained
to them how converting the dung into grass, &c,
were only continuations ol the process, and that
these were brought about by the greatest of all che-
mists, without the help of Biglie, and that it would
not answer toconvertthe mountain into all the above
good things at once without labour; for, if so, all the
Scotchmen would die of the fat rot or gout, and not
one would be left to come here and teach the English
how to farm. I advised them by all means, that if
they had any sons which they intended to be farmers,
to send them to either Oxford or Cambridge for se-
ven years, to study Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as
without a knowledge of these they could notpropeily
understand chemistry, and without a perfect know-
ledge of this they would never make good farmers.
Now, Mr. Editor, you will no doubt consider the
above nonsense. It may be so, but it is quite as
rational as a great deal we now see in publications
on agriculture. It is quite desirable that the farming
community should read more than they hitherto have
done; but' do not disgust them with something they
do not understand. I admit the great importance of
chemistry, even when applied to agriculture; but let
us first bring the farmers to practise what is already
well known to be really useful, and what requires no
threat learning to understand. What use is it to talk
of artificial manure, when the farmers neglect their
dung hills at home, and allow their fields to be
drowned with water, and overrun with weeds? As to
the principles of vegetation and aration, they will
never be clearer explained than by 'full and Cobbett.

The errors in the practice of the former are now well
understood. For agricultural chemistry, I should re-
commend that of Sir Humphrey Davy. It is clear,
comprehensible, and practicable.

I shall now say a little on agricultural humbugs
which have occurred within the last twenty years.
Some of these I cannot recollect, but sb ill first
notice the " Phillip's potatoes" humbug. I purchased
some of these, which cost me, carriage and all,
near 30s. per bushel. When they arrived, I had
many hundred bushels of the very same sort, which
Isold at Is. 6d. per bushel. Both I and a neigh-
bour tried them in our fields side by side with our
own seed. Next in my remembrance was the
" Prickley Comfiey" humbug (Symphytum asperri-
mum). This appeared with some respectable names
to back it. I happened to have a few plants in my
garden, but no animal that I ke|>t would touch it ; and
as to its produce, red clover is equal to it. A cer-
tain person, who should have had more honesty, ad-
vertised and sold plants at a great price. Next upon
my list is the " Tree cabbage," or the " Royal Cae-
sarian colossal cow cabbage." An acre of these
surprising cabbages woidd produce food sufficient
for about 2000 cows the year through ; and I can
find men who believed this, and put me down as a
bigot to old customs because I ridiculed the idea in
the Gardener's Magazine of Oct., 1832 — see page
608. This celebrated humbug first mode its appear-
ance from one of the Channel Islands — (another has
lately appeared from the same place). Fullard was
not the first to publish it. It was first brought to no-
tice bv one who pretends tomore respectability than
he. Fullard pushed the humbug on to a greater
length, and actually sold seeds at 2s. 6d. each.

Last year a clover humbug made its appearance,
" The giant clover" (melilotus lencuntha maxima).
This will grow to the height of 14 feet, and can be
cut once a month. What a prospect for milk and
honey! Last month an early potato humbug sprung
up, and is now growing to maturity ; the harvest
will be reaped by May or June. These humbugs
are a burlesque on the intellect of the nation, and
reflect no credit on any publication in which they
may appear. With respect to fashions in farming,
they are quite a different thing, because I consider
them less harmless than even fashions in dress ; they
are an innocent recreation in which it would be well
if more of the nobility would follow. Some of these
fashions are worthy of imitation by the practical rent-
paying farmer ; others are not, and common sense
must be his guide.

The present practice of subsoiling is an excellent
one, when the land is sufficiently drained ; hut I am
afraid it will only be a fashion of the day, because it
is not new. In an old work on agriculture, there is
a plate of a subsoil plough, exactly similar to Mr.
Smith's plough, and was used for the same purpose.
The only difference was in name, as it was called a
" resurrection plough." Before this plough be put
to work, the drainer must finish his ; and I will now
say a little on this subject.

The newest fashion in draining is called the
" Deanston thorough and frequent system. lo
hear some talkers and writers on this subject, parti-
cularly those who talk and write by a snug fireside
with a bottle of wine before them, one would suppose
draining was unknown in Britain before Mr. Smith
commenced upon his farm. I have read his work on
the subject, and have heard some of his speeches,
and I consider him to be a very sensible man and a
good practical fanner; but, notwithstanding, I am
going to find a little fault with his draining. 1 have

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

285

been a drainer myself more than thirty years, and
upon the frequent S3'stein too. It is the fault with
nearly all ilrainera, whether with the pen or in the
field, that they have each one particular system of
their own, and that they consider this the only pro-
per one for every part of the world. Had 1 never
drained any but my own native farm, I should most
likely have erred the same way. In my practice
I have drained land which had, at some former pe-
riod, been drained exactly upon Mr. Smith's princi-
ple; of course the present fashion is only an old
one revived. Some time ago "Elkington's system"
was i he leading ton in draining. His system was
quite opposite to Smith's. He would drain a whole
farm, or district, with a single drain. His system
was adopted in this neighbourhood ; and the only
effect it had was drying up some of the draw wells,
which had to be sunk deeper to get the water again.
With the surface of the land it made not the slightest
difference, yet I have seen cases where it has drained
the surface.

Now, from my own experience, I have learned
that no one system will produce the best effect on
every description of land at the same cost ; and this
is what should be the aim with all drainers. I say, let
me see the land, and not only examine its surface,
but the subsoil, and, in some cases, the adjoining
lands also, before I conclude on the direction, the
depth, or the distance of the drains. I am quite of
Mr. Smith's opinion that a great breadth of land re-
quires draining, which is considered by most farmers
to be sufficiently dry. He recommends that in every
case the direction of the drains should be right up
the incline of the land. There are cases when I
should do the same, because 1 know there are cases
when it will and lias answered ; but generally I should
not do so, because I have frequently seen it prac-
tised where it has not answered or produced a proper
effect. His arguments for taking the drains up the
incline of the land are — 1st. " Because the strata is
cut longitudinally, and by a drain directed down the
steep, the bottom of which cuts the stratum to the
same distance from the surface, the water will flow
into the drain at the intersecting point of each sheet
or layer on a level with the bottom of the drain,
leaving one uniform depth of dry soil, because the
stratification generally lies in sheets at an
angle to the surface." Now, "generally" I have
found, in this country, that the stratification lies
in sheets horizontally to the surface ; and whenever
this is the case, it is quite clear that a cross drain
will drain more land effectually than one up the in-
cline; and to drain the land effectually, with the
fewest drains, is a matter for serious consideration
with every farmer.

Mr. Smith's second argument for pointing bis
drains up hill is, that the water can run off quicker ;
for, he says, at page 10, "whereas cross drains hav-
ing little declivity, are often filled high up with wa-
ter for years before the mischief is discovered".
Now if there be a little declivity the water will run
off. It is where there is no declivity when the water
stands high in the drains. This is the fault of the
drainer, not of the system. Again he says, " it is
quite necessary to fill drains directed down the steep,
with stones of small size, or with danders or gravel,
to prevent the current of water from cutting or run-
ning the bottom of the drains." He first directs
bis drains down the steep to make the water run off
quicker, and then fills them with small stones to
make it run off slower. Now, whenever the strata
lies horizontally to the surface, I should run my drains
across the incline, but with snch a fall into the main

drains that the water would neither stand in the
drains, nor run off so quick as to injure the bottom of
the drains. In four cases out of five the cross sys-
tem is the best, and as land is generally ploughed up
and down hill, every drain runs across the furrows,
which always auswers a better purpose than in the
furrows. In short, I should neverhavehigh crowned
ridges where the land was properly drained.

Now, sir, for broken stones instead of hollow
drains. I have seen drains taken up which had been
filled thus, perhaps one hundred yenis ago, and
were running tolerably well ; 1 have seen others
taken up which, from the stale of the land, hail per-
haps been run up one hundred years ago. I should
therefore say that, in some kinds of land, or in some
situations, they may, and do answer; but in every
situation I should save the trouble of breaking them
for strong or clay land ; and when 1 could get stone
suitable, I prefer flat stones set on edge to the firm
land, and one edge of the corners set to the opposite
side and reared to the other in an inclined position
and forming a triangular drain. At top of the corner I
should put hedge dressing.^stubble, croppings of trees,
or under wood, or gravel, small stones or cinders,
between and the surface soil. I should not put any
clay in again. If the stones were rough 1 should
adopt the same plan, but cut the drains a little wider.
If I used tile 1 should prefer them made flat, instead
of arched, and form triangular drains in the same
way as with flat stones. In a great number of our
coal districts in this county, a broken stone drain
would not remain open two years. There is a mine-
ral substance in the soil (oxide of iron, 1 believe)
with which the water is so impregnated as to cheke
the drains if made of broken stones.

Mr. Smith says, that by the up-hill system, or his
system, or what I call the old system raised from the
dead, a less length of drains is required to drain an
acre of land effectually than by the cross system ;
and of course, if sunk no deeper, must cost less pet-
acre. I think I can prove from his table of distances
and expencethat, as the lawers say, he has not made
out his case.

Thedistance he recommends for stiff clay subsoils is
from 10 to 15 feet ; for sandy clay subsoils, from 15
to 20 feet ; and so on up to 40 feet, as the bottom is
more open and porous.

Now, except Mr. Smith can drain land perfectly
dry with drains at greater distances than these, there
can be no benefit whatever in his system ; but, on
the contrary, a loss. By taking the drains across
the incline of the land, four acres out of five, or more
of clay laud in this county, would be made per-
fectly dry with drains at 15 to 20 feet distance.
Very little land would require them so near as 12
feet. But suppose, by taking them across the incline,
the land required the drains at the same distance
as if directed up the hill, what advantage is there
in point of expence ? To prove whigh is the
best system on the same land, the drains must
be at equal distances in both systems, and, in
this case, the length per acre will be the same
in both cases; consequently the expence would
be the same, for both systems require leading drains.
One system requires them up-hill, and the other alon"-
the bottom of the hill or field.

It does not appear from reading Mr. Smith's work
that he has had any experience in draining on the
cross system ; of course, what he says against it
arises merely from his ideas, or from seeing draining
on that system badly executed. Most of the objections
he raises against it, may be raised with equal truth
against his own. Others are no objections at all, as

286

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tliev arise from the ignorance or carelessness of the
drainer, not of the system, and the same ignorance
or carelessness would do the same mischief in any
system of draining.

At page 6 and 7 , Mr. Smith gives the names of a
number of respectable agriculturists who have "asto-
nished the natives" with the superior crops they
have got after draining, upon the Deanston system.
Now, I feel quite convinced that draining was the
primary cause ©f those superior crops; hut I will
venture to say also, that the benefit arose more from
the number of the drains than the direction of them
— the " frequent" syst>m, not the Deanston system.
[ have proved the great benefit of the frequent system
30 years ago ; I am acquainted with two farms
drained on this system ; one of them was drained ten
years before I was born, and the other about ten
years after. The drainage of these farms is as perfect
now as at the first. The inclination of the land on
one is very considerable, and in a part, of the other.

I am acquainted with a considerable portion of
Ayrshire, and I will venture to say that more than
three-fourths of it would be drained as effectually at
troin one-eighth to one-sixth less expense by the cross
system than by the Deanston system.

A gentleman who resides at no great distance from
Manchester, drained a quantity of clay land about
ten years ago. The drains were put in a right
direction for the land, which had not much
inclination, but they were laid at too great a dis-
tance from each other. They were also very expen-
sive ones, as they cost quite as much as would have
made three times the number, which would have
been about the proper distance. The manager
was a young Scotchman; and, like most of his
countrymen who come here young, thought he
knew more of agriculture than all the farmers in
Lancashire put together ; of course, he would not
be taught. After a number of years the proprietor
of the land seeing the draining was imperfect,
and taking in some La Belle Assemblee of Agricul-
ture, and seeing there the newest fashion of drain-
ing just comedown, not from Paris, but from
Perthshire, he commenced, two years ago, drain-
ing the land over again upon the newest fashion ;
namely, up hill, every furrow, and with broken
stone. In March 1840, I was in that neighbour-
hood, and seeing the men at work I went to see
their operations. The ridges were 10 feet wide,
of course the drains 10 feet asunder. The men
were breaking stones which were beautifully
adapted for triangular drains. Now, the subsoil
in this field was a very good one for draining, and
drains at 21 feet distance would have made excel-
lent work, and would have cost little more than
one-third the expence. Some parts of the same
estate, to make good work, would require them at
12 feet distance ; but all were served alike. In the
above field I showed the workmen that the old
drains, across of the incline, drained full 21 feet.
I found they were not very anxious to point this
out to their master, and the young Scotch agent
had left some years before. Now, there can be
no doubt but this land will be perfectly drained ;
and we shall no doubt see a fine written letter in
some fashionable agricultural publication. The
letter will describe, in glowing colours, how im-
perfectly the land had been drained by the cross
system with hollow drains, and the most extra-
ordinary effects produced by the " Deanston sys-
tem ;" never taking it into consideration that it
has been the multiplicity of the drains on the
latter system which has produced the effect.

This letter will be read by amateur farmers, and at
some cattle show dinner, some one of these will beg
leave of the chairman to propose a toast. This
will be prefaced by a flourishing speech on the
great national benefit to be derived from the above
system of draining, coupled with subsoil ploughing,
and which if generally adopted will soon be the
means of paying off the " national debt," and will
end with proposing to drink the health of Mr.
Smith, with "all the honours, three times three,
hip, hip, hip, hurrah! for Smith and the Dean-
ston system of draining." At most of the agricul-
tural dinners I have been at of late years, there
has been a great quantity of draining done both
theoretically and practically. The former has
been applied to the land, and the latter to the
bottle.

A new tenant upon a farm in this township,
drained a field of wet clay in February 1840. The
field had been oats the preceding year, and the
old tenant had allowed the cattle to graze on the
field all winter, consequently it was very much
poached, and when the draining commenced every
hole was full of water. The person who laid out
the drains was a little inclined to the " up-hill sys-
tem" in every case ; but knowing I had drained a
considerable quantity of land, he asked my advice,
which he followed except in a part of the field.
In this the drains were taken up the incline. The
drains were all laid with tile, and at a distance of
18 feet. When the drains had been opened about
ten days I went over the field, and where the drains
had been made across of the incline every hole
made by the feet of the cattle, and which were full
of water ten days before, were now quite dry and
the land firm to walkover; while on that part
where the diains were made up the incline the
holes still contained water, except those near the
drains, thus evidently showing that the cross sys-
tem was the best by the quickness in which it took
the water out of the soil.

Another tenant drained a field in the spring of
1841, which had an incline of about ten degrees;
the soil strong, and the subsoil clay and sand, and
lay in such a manner as inclined me to think it
would drain quite as well, if not better, by the
" up-hill system." However, half of the field was
drained upon one system, and the other half on
the other by way of experiment. The drains in
both cases were made at 20 feet distance, 33 inches
deep, laid with tiles, and cinders upon the tiles
between them and the surface soil. The field ap-
pears to be perfectly drained upon both parts, but
next year's crop will afford means of testing the
matter more accurately.

Now it appears very clear to me, that the great
success of Air. Smith's system lies in the number
of the drains, not in the direction in every case,
or in being made of broken stone ; for, by the
number he puts in, the land would be drained,
whatever direction they were put. But I repeat
that the object with every drainer should be to
give the drains that direction, and that depth, as
will drain the land perfectly dry with the fewest
drains ; and to do this, there can be no rules laid
down in books, except general ones.

Draining is of the first importance to agriculture.
There is no saying what England may yet do by a
general drainage, with a proper use of the plough,
the hoe, and the dung cart.

I am, Sir, yours, very respectfully,

Winwick, March 1st, 1842. W. Rotijwell.

THE FAllMEIt'S MAGAZINE.

287

ON THE EXCITING CAUSES OF
GLANDERS.

BY B. WEGUEL1N VANDERK1STE.

The veterinary art has so intimate a bearing on
the pursuits of the farmer, that it is highly desira-
ble he should be at least in some measure acquain-
ted with it. There is, it is true, an adage which
has been received with much favour by the world
for a very long period, and which conveys the sen-
timent that " a little knowledge is a very danger-
ous thing," but we are bold to set up our opinion in
contradistinction to this very common one, and to
pronounce— that any degree of knowledge is better
than none at all. By knowledge we would of
course be understood as intending to imply useful
knowledge, the acquirement of which never did,
never will, nor never can do the possessor, or so-
ciety at large, aught but benefit.

We are willing to admit that the wrong applica-
tion of a little knowledge is a dangerous'thing,
but we contend that the wrong application of a
greater degree is equally ?o ; and we would advise
the narrow-minded prejudiced and misanthropic
advocates of the blessings of ignorance, to prepare
themselves (if they can) with a better argument
ere they venture into the arena of discussion with
the enlightened spirit of the age.

The importance of the farmers possessing some
degree of knowledge in farriery will, we think,
be apparent to all when it is considered that a
great many of the diseases to which the horse is
most liable are acute— that is to say, (we would
wish so to speak as to be understood by all) quick
in their visible origin, progress, and termination.

In these disorders the importance of early atten-
tion is well known ; twelve hours' neglect will
often render the complaint incurable, or at least
more intractable. Now few farmers live near a
farrier; for the remuneration he receives is so
small — when his time, medicine, and other ex-
penses are considered, that in order to realise a
decent subsistence by his profession, he is obliged
to embrace a very wide range of practice.

Three miles is in the country considered by no

means a great distance to send for the farrier

and when the messenger gets there, ten chances
to one but he is out, gone a distance of perhaps
ten miles; some other application has perhaps
been made for his assistance previous to yours,
and as " first come first served" is a just axiom,
you will perhaps have the benefit of his attendance
when the progress of the disease has rendered it
in effect useless.

It is true that you have the privilege of applying
to some other practitioner, and it is equally true
that not being a regular customer lo him, he wi 1
not neglect those who aie, to attend to you. Of
course you cannot expect he should do so j you
would-be indignant at the conduct of your regular
attendant if be pursued such a course.

Ihese are arguments in favour of the general
diffusion of the knowledge of the remedial part of
larriery — the means of prevention of disease should
unquestionably be known to all.

The prevention of the diseases of horses lies
wholly in the hands of the owner. The farrier is
never called in to prevent diseases, but to execute
a far more difficult intention — namely, to cure
them. By studying the prevention of diseases, the
farmer must direct his attention especially to ex-
citing causes, and without wasting more ink in

arguing a point that needs no defence, we will
proceed to make some few brief remarks on the
exciting causes of glanders.

This is a really terrific disease: the rapidity and
ease with which it communicates infection, the li-
ability of mankind to perish by its poison ; these
things considered, it is the wiser course to destroy
the animal immediately that the form of the disease
is distinctly recognised. Medical men and others,
either from a want of thought, or a daring hardi-
hood which can conduce to no useful end, are in
the habit of treating this disease with a want of
caution, to which they have frequently fallen vic-
tims. If it is determined to attempt the cure of a
glandered horse, no medicine should be adminis-
tered to him without the use of the balling iron
and gloves ; for the poison meeting with an abra-
ded surface is quite sufficient to inoculate the sys-
tem.

I lately met with a man who very nearly lost
his life thus. His master was an omnibus pro-
prietor at C , near London. The glanders

unfortunately made its way into his stables
and attacked several of his most valuable
horses. This individulal was one morning
engaged in spunging their noses with vinegar, re-
gardless, or unconscious, of a slight graze on one
of his fingers. In the course of four-and-twenty
hours he became sensible that something more
than comman had occurred, from the swelling of
the hand, which increased and extended itself
gradually up the arm. In the course of a few days
the poor fellow became in such a deplorable state
as to render it necessary to remove him to one of
the London hospitals, which was done. The arm
continuedswelling, and on the poison reaching the
glands under the arm, large lumps were thrown
out, whilst the whole limb attained an almost in-
credible size. The late lamented Sir A. P. Cooper
attended the case, and conceiving that amputation
was the only means of saving his patient's life, a
conclusion, which from the appearance of the arm
was a highly natural one, strenuously advised him
to allow his taking it off. This, however, the man
as strenuously refused, alleging that the loss of
his right arm (which was the one affected), would
render him unable to gain his livelihood, and that
he would therefore die with it on. The baronet
surgeon, with a solicitude which was highly to his
credit, offered the man a handsome gratuity if he
would consent ; but, however, he continued in-
exorable. Contrary to expectation he did recover,

and now drives an omnibus on the C road. A

model of his arm may, I believe, be seen in the
Museum of Guy's Hospital. This is by no means
a solitary case ; numbers of farriers have imbibed
the poison in a similar manner, and, less foi lunate
than this man, have sunk under its malignity.
Not to multiply a detail of these cases, we
will just mention one, in which the poison was
communicated through another medium. This
was the case of a London cabman, who was in-
cautious enough to wipe his horse's nose (not
being aware it was glandered) with his pocket-
handkerchief, with which he shortly afterwards
wiped his own ; the poison was communicated
through this medium, and the man lost his life.
A work may be in the recollection of some of our
readers, written about the commencement of the
present century, by that highly gifted equestrian,
Philip Astley, Esq., entitled his System of Eques-
trian Education. In this work the very act is re-
commended by which this poor fellow lost his life.

288

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

It is there stated, that amongst other means which
should be used to conciliate the horse, the eques-
trian should wipe his eyes and nostrils with his
handkerchief. Mr. Astley was undoubtedly the
first horseman of his time, and in most respects we
should defer greatly to his advice ; but in this in-
stance, it is needless to say, be recommends a prac-
tice which is repugnant to common prudence or
common sense. In another part of his woik, whilst
detailing his performance before the Emperor of
Austria, he mentions a similar practice. 'I he ac-
count is somewhat lengthy, but as it is highly graphic
we subjoin it for the reader's amusement.

"In my travels (says he) taking Brussels, Vienna,
&c, in my road to Belgrade, in 1782, I had the
honour to be introduced (by sending my name to
the Professor) into every principal Manege in those
countries. Sir Robert Murry Keith, then minister
plenipotentiary of the Court of Vienna, did me the
honour of introducing me to the Emperor. His
Majesty expressed himself very desirous of seeing
me on horseback. I immediately complied ; and
observed to his Majesty, " That 1 should be highly
obliged to his Majesty if he would permit mo to
mount an old horse; for," added I, " being a young
horseman, two who are both inexperienced, might
not afford his Majesty much pleasure." Accordingly
an aged Manege horse was brought to me, equipped
with a half peak saddle ; on my taking a view of
the whole, I found (in their hurry) they had not
placed either saddle or bridle properly. I, therefore,
adjusted them myself, using every precautien as 1
would with a young colt ; on which one of the as-
sistants told me, I had no occasion to be afraid of
the horse. I very politely uncovered, and thanked
him, repeating these words, " The horse never hav-
ing seen me before, may show some signs of his
sagacity ; and that I always made it a point, till
the animal was convinced of my disposition towards
him, to act with precaution ; that I conceived there
was more merit in preventing an accident than in
curing one." The Emperor replied in French (con-
ceiving I did not speak that language) as follows,
turning himself to the assistant, " You see, sir, the
gentleman is right, and I wish this measure of pru-
dence was generally adopted."
"Stirrups and everythingbeing adjusted, I mounted,
keeping in view the pure equestrian system, unco-
vering, &c, to his Majesty ; I recovered my whip,
and walked the horse right and left up the middle of
the Manege, making several small circles both ways.
Finding my horse thoroughly obedient to my hand
and heel, his head lofty, and that by the usual aid
1 could foreshorten him at pleasure, I dispensed
with the trot, and encouraged him to the passage,
increasing each way to quick action, terra a terre in
various figures, inclining by ray aid to the pirouette,
knowing that the greatest skill was necessary to ac-
complish this artificial pace, the execution of which
1 consider as the we plus ultra of pure cadence ; the
horse readily obeyed. After a moment I caused him
to walk, advancing him in this natural pace till I
came between the pillars ; I raised his head, pressed
his sides, and put him into the piasse ; uncovering
I thanked his Majesty for condescending to honour
me with his approbation; which his Majesty was
pleased to return, paying me the highest compliment.
I stopped the horse, dismounted, and wiped his face
with my handkerchief, shook the snaffle (for be it
understood, it was with the running snaffle 1 rode
him), and gave him a couple of apples to eat, which
being observed by his Majesty, he asked me which

of the two was better for horses, carrots or apples J
I informed his Majesty, that carrots were excellent,
but I conceived that an apple greatly assisted in
refreshing the mouth, and that it was one of the re-
wards I made use of to gain their affections. His
Imperial Majesty smiled, and requested me to walk
into the Palace."

It is really surprising to us that a man who one
moment exhibits o most laudable caution, as Mr.
Astleyappears to havedonein the regulation of the
horse's appointments, should the next one commit
an act calculated to involve him in a far greater
risk. Should it be said that it is not likely a glan •
(iered horse w ould be found in the manege of the
Emperor of Austria, we would beg to remind the
objector that this disease is of more frequent oc-
currence in great towns than in the country ; also
that a pampered diet is undoubtedly an exciting
cause, as well as a serious deficiency in nourish-
ment; and also that this disease frequently exists,
and that in a form capable of communicating con-
tagion for a considerable period before it assumes
a sufficiently decided character to unequivocally
stamp its nature.

Glanders may with as much truth be termed the
bane of the veterinary art, as hydrophobia in the
human subject may be designated the banc of
medical science. Both develop how much is yet
unattained. The amount of knowledge possessed
on the subject of glanders is very imperfect and
unsatisfactory ; the method of its treatment still
more so. Some veterinary writers term it specif c
inflammation of the membrane of the nose, to dis-
tinguish it from simple coryza (or cold). The
fact speaks for itself, that the one is specific in com-
parison with the other; but this word specific,
which is so often specified, is in our opinion very
specious. It sounds well on the lips of a veterinary
lecturer or in a dictionary of the art, but it conveys
no information as to the nature of the disease.

By some writers on the subject we are told that
glanders is the absorption of a poison secreted in
the membrane of the nose by the formation of
small ulcers. There will be no difficulty in under-
standing this when the animal has been inoculated
with the poison ; but in the case of its spontaneous
origin, the causes of the secretion of this peculiar
poison are involved in much obscurity. The pro-
duction of the ulcers from which this poison is se-
creted, is said to be the result of inflammation.
Now the horse is well known to be subject to con-
sumption in the whole of its phenomena, bearing a
most striking similtude to the phthisis pulmonalin
of the human being. In this case we have inflam-
mation, producing ulceration and the secretion of
pus or matter ; yet it is pus of a very different
character, although glanders and consumption
arise from very similar causes, and from a very
similar state of the system.

We would argue from this, that as the exciting
causes of glanders are also the exciting causes of
other forms of ulceration of a totally different
character, there must be a something — a peculiar
process or change in the fluids — or cause in some
shape or other, for the secretion of a peculiar and,
as it is termed, specific pus. Nor do we despair
that the history and phenomena of this peculiar
process will be at some period and by some for-
tunate individual brought to light, and a specific
remedy discovered ; for we have a case in some de-
gree analogous in the human subject. 1 allude to the
Jennerian system of vaccination, by which one

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289

poison is absolute!}' driven from the system by the
agency of a weaker one.

Jn the present state of veterinary medicine, we
consider there exists no adequate remedy for the
disease. It is true the administration of sulphate
of copper, foxglove, and nitre, in tlic form of a
ball, has sometimes effected a suspension of the dis-
charge, which has been dignified by the name of
cure ; but the disorder still lurks in the system, and
when the medicine is discontinued returns to its
original station with redoubled vigour.

Medical men have sometimes wasted their time,
and rendered themselves justly liable to the charge
of cruelty, by inflicting most torturing and at the
same time perfectly useless operations in this
disease. The poor beast has had holes bored
through his head, and experiments performed
remarkable alike for their inutility and barbarity.

The knowledge, then, which is at present pos-
sessed of the curative part of this disease must be
acknowledged by every candid practitioner to be
perfectly insignificant, and that wc are at present
in possession of knowledge of importance only as
regards the means of its prevention, and that also
in this department we ate exceedingly imperfect,
tince there evidently exists one grand exciting
cause which lias as yet baffled our research.
We regret our inability to trace this to its origin ;
and proceed to turn our attention to those exciting
causes, the knowledge of which is witqin our ken.
Man has forced on the horse a series of habits
totally different to those he is used to whilst in a
state of nature ; his constitution it is true has
'adapted itself so kindly to many of these, that they
have long since ceased to be hurtful to him, but there
are many to which he never can become so far
reconciled as to make them cease to be a source of
disease.

In a state of nature his limbs have known no
shackles, his feet have known no shoes ; farrier's
knife has robbed him of his sweeping tail and
pruned it to the taste of man, or taken from him
the power of perpetuating his species. He has
roved over the wide savannahs of the east in the
company of such numbers as to defy the* hungry
lion or the blood-thirsty tiger ; untnolesting and
unmolested, he has led a life of ease. Did he
gallop, or leap, or race, it was for his own amuse-
ment, for he was his own master and a slave to
none. lie browsed on the tender grasses of the
plain when and where he listed ; they also served
him for a couch, and the canopy of heaven was
the only roof he knew.

Such was his state ere the dexterously flung
lasso had encircled his neck, or the Arab chained
him to his tent. When once within the power of
man, he generously renounced his will with his
liberty ; and owning man as his master, he looked
up to him for protection and kindness, and yielded
him implicit obedience.

One great reason that horses employed in great
towns and cities are found to be more liable to
glanders than those employed in the country arises
from stable mismanagement. What can be
imagined as more likely to irritate and inflame the
delicate membrane of the nose, than that over-
powering ammoniacal effluvia which is per-
ceptible on entering the ill ventilated mews of
London'! After being worked hard and heated,
the animal is confined for perhaps twelve hours in
a close confined low crib, the air of which his rider
can scarcely bear to inhale for a moment. Besides
inflaming the membrane of the nose, inhaling this

vitiated air cannot fail to interfere with a sweet
and wholesome state of his fluids ; so that this may
be termed a double exciting cause, by disposing
his system to a morbific state and favouring a local
development of the disease. It is highly injurious
to shut up horses thus without a yard to run into ;
but as ground is exceedingly valuable in cities,
we are induced to imagine horses will always be
cooped up thus ; and we are equally of opinion,
that it will always constitute a prolific source of
glanders. Another exciting cause of glanders in
cities, is the withholding a proper proportion of
green meat. It is a very rare thing to see green food
carried into London; now and then in Mayor
June a cart laden with tares, &c, may be seen
wending its way through the metropolis, but
nine town horses out of ten seldom or never get
a bite of green meat of any sort; this cannot fail
to vitiate the humours and render the system
gross and unhealthy, and is without doubt a more
prolific source of glanders than is at all imagined.

Want of proper grooming is undoubtedly a
source of this disease : nor is it difficult to account
for its thus operating, when we consider that an
accumulation of dirt on the coat prevents the
free egress of that important clearer of the
system, the insensible perspiration. In fact,
frequent currying, wisping, &c, has a tendency
to equalize the circulation and improve the general
health, and must, therefore, act as a preventive to
glanders.

There is, I conceive, another most extensive ex-
citing cause of glanders which I never remember
to have heard noticed; in fact, from its very
general use in towns and cities, I imagine it
cannot be considered as producing deleterious
results — I allude to the nose-bag system.

Four horses have drawn a waggon load of coals
perhaps a distance of four or five miles, and on
reaching the house at which the load is to be
deposited, the waggon stops. The horses may be
observed a good deal winded, their nostrils ex-
panding and their breathing quick. The driver
now produces four bags, and the poor horses who
know perfectly well what is going on, turn their
heads and attentively watch his movements. He
approaches the leader of the team, and shaking up
the contents of the bag, which are probably cbaff
mixed with a little bean-meal, he holds it to the
horse, who instinctively ducks his head into it, and
it is fastened behind his ears. The same operation
is repeated with each of the team, and having
like a good horseman attended first to what he
considers the wants of his horses, he betakes
himself to the business of unloading the wain.
If we observe the team, wc shall find they ever and
anon more readily to get at the contents of the
bag, throw their heads and the bags rapidly up
and down, and that this is continuallyfollowed by
a loud sneezing. What does this imply? Why,
that a portion of the dust from the bean-meal, or
some finer portions of the chaff, have got up their
nostrils and so irritated the membrane as to cause
sneezing ; and so they go on until the load is
emptied, when they are again doomed to have the
nose irritated by a sudden transition from the
heated air of the bag to that of the atmosphere.

We should imagine no one can dispute the fact,
that this practice must have a tendency to favour
the development of glanders ; whilst at the same
time, in our estimation, it is undoubtedly to be re-
garded as a frequent source of other disorders of
the trachea and lungs.

V

290

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

To sum up the exciting causes of glanders
which we have named, it may be confidently
stated, that whatever has a tendency to im-
poverish or vitiate the blood, or to injure the
general health, or to irritate the mucous membrane
or the nose, is without doubt an exciting cause of
glanders ; and that the prevention of it is to be ac-
complished by paying a due regard to every thing
which conduces to the general health of the horse.

And in conclusion, we will beg to observe, that
rendering such important services as he does ;
and being, as he undoubtedly is, so kind and so
useful a friend to man, the horse, the noble horse,
is deserving his warmest sympathy and his kindest
attention.

ON FATTENING CATTLE.

Siu, — In my former communication I described
the methods pursued on my premises of preparing
artificial food to fatten cattle. I will now attempt
to offer a few suggestions on the expediency of in-
troducing linseed, with a more enlarged cultivation
of peas and beans in rotation of crops, as a sub-
stitute for oilcake. Too large nn extent of arable
land is evidently appropriated to the growth of
barley ; hence the superabundant supply, and con-
sequent low price of that grain. In proportion as
the cultivation of barley could be curtailed the
supply must necessarily be diminished, and the
command of price placed more in the growers' power.
The money value to him of the less would be equal
to that of the larger supply. For instance— were a
sixtli of his crop of barley withheld from market, he
would be able to dispose of the other five parts for
as much money as if he had offered the whole to
sale ; or, which is the same thing, had only five parts
of six of the present crop been sent to market,
barley that is now worth fifteen shillings would be
disposed of at eighteen shillings per coomb, conse-
quently in every sixty coombs ten have been com-
pletely thrown away. To prevent so large an
excess in future, the substitution of one acre in
seven of all lands that were intended to be sown
with barley to the growth of linseed, peas, and beans,
would reduce the supply to the extent I have
mentioned, have precisely the same effect on the
price of barley, and alTord an abundant supply of
nutritious food for cattle. Immense sums of money
are annually expended upon foreign oilcake, and
upon oilcake manufactured in England from foreign
seed. Ships laden with oilcake and linseed con-
stantly discharge their cargoes at our ports. An
estimate of the value of those cargoes might I
suppose, be readily formed from the importduty° In
the absence of any authentic report I dare not
venture to offer an opinion, but from all that I can
learn on the subject, credulity itself would be
staggered at the greatness of the amount. The
principal portion of this money passes from the
pocket of the British to that of the foreign farmer,
and to the employment of foreign labourers ; while
English labourers for the want of work are com-
pelled to seek an asylum in union workhouses,
where they are maintained in idleness. The culti-
vation of linseed upon the principle which I recom-
mend would tend materially to remove this unnatural
state of things, and if t!,p flax after the seed has been
taken from it could be turned (o a better account
than lo be made into manure, I question whether the
redundant rural population of the kingdom would be
suflicient to prepare it for tl e manufacturer. Nothing-
cm be more easy than the culture of linseed. Laud

that is in a proper state to produce a crop of corn,
is fit to be sown with linseed. The latter part of
March, or the beginning of April, is the proper season
for sowing it. My seed was drilled on the 3rd ot
April: about two bushels is the tequired seed to
the acre. The ground should be well harrowed first,
then rolled before the drill, afterwards bushed.
The seed ought not to be deposited beyond an inch
or an inch and a half deep. A sandy loam produces
the best seed. The climate of this kingdom appears
to be extremely congenial to the growth of linseed ;
indeed, it is equal to any part of the world, if we
may judge from the seed grown on my own land,
and from the opinion of several merchants who have
seen the sample ; the weight of it per coomb is sixteen
stones three pounds, which is considered to be con-
clusive evidence of its excellence. Therefore, with
a soil and climate so admirably adapted to the culti-
vation of linseed, I can but expect, that it is an un-
natural state of things when such vast, such unlimited
sums of money are expended on the productions of
foreign countries, to the neglect of those superior re-
sources of our native soil, and to the prejudice of those
craving interests by which that soil is surrounded.
Sir, after having carefully considered and experi-
mentally investigated the advantages to agriculture,
if every farmer would be the grower and com-
pounder of his own artificial food to fatten cattle, and
having also endeavoured to find a counter advantage
in the use of foreign oilcake, I have arrived at this
conclusion — that as the value of gold exceeds the
dross, so are the advantages attendant on the home
growth and consumption of cattle food to be pre-
ferred to any advantage that can possibly be derived
from the purchase of foreign oilcake. I venture to hope,
that the enquiry will be pursued by others, and in
proportion as my statements and experience shall
have been submitted to practical examination, I have
no doubt but that they will be carried into effect, and
additional aids afforded to agriculture.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
Trimingham, March 1. John Wahnes.

P.S. — At the request of correspondents from
various parts of the kingdom, 1 have much pleasure
in answering their queries.

The caldron, commonly called a copper, ought
certainly to be made of iron, on account of its less
liability to burn, and the great length of time which
it retains the heat.

It is perhaps desirable to mix a little chaff with
the compound when given to the cattle. I am
obliged fer the hint.

Information respecting the growth of flax may be
obtained from the admirable essay on feeding cattle

in stalls on green crops, by ■ Blacker, Esq., of

Ireland ; also from a work on British Husbandry,
published by the Useful Knowledge Society, but
the above details contain the pith of the matter.

My linseed was harvested in the first week of j
August ; it was pulled up by the roots, laid in rows
on the ground a day or so, afterwards tied up in
rather small sheaves ; the process altogether is very
simple and interesting.

Your Leicestershire correspondent will find his
questions answered in this letter ; but with respect to
boiled barley, I advise him to exclude the air by
the application of a rammer ; this will prevent it
from turning sour.

Certainly my neighbours have long criticised my
grazing proceedings, and being satisfied of their
efficacy, several of them have introduced the system
upon their own farm. My home grown linseed is
all engaged for sowing.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

291

LOCAL, STATISTICAL, AND HIS-
TORICAL NOTICES.

The improvements introduced within the last
thirty years by the late highly esteemed Duke of
Sutherland and his amiable Duchess, the Countess,
into the county of Sutherland, have literally changed
the aspect or the county. The mountainous ranges,
with their glens, have been converted into sheep
farms; and the lowland districts have been enclosed
and planted or subjected to tillage ; and so there are
now waving corn fields where once were only to be
seen the rough furze, the sterile heath, or the stag-
nant marsh. Mr. Dempster of Skibo has alst> pa-
tronized agricultural improvements in a very liberal
manner, and the consequence has been, that the best
stock, both cattle and sheep, are reared in this
county. The present Duke of Sutherland has con-
tinued in the steps of his noble father with unabated
zeal, and under the able management under which
his Grace's estates are, there is little doubt Suther-
landshire will still further progress. The Rev.
Mr. Macpherson, in his statistical account of the
parish of Golspie, thus describes the improvements
carried into effect : —

" It may be with truth affirmed, that a simple ac-
count of the improvements in this parish must have
the appearance of exaggeration, and that he only can
appreciate them who had seen the state of the parish
forty, or even thirty years ago, and compares that
state with the present. Every farm, every building,
every piece of road, presents an instance of the
greatest improvement. The farms of Culmalieand
Morvich are possessed by Mr. Sellar, who, by trench-
ing, draining, and liming, with much labour and ex-
pense, has converted them into specimens of great
agricultural excellence. The farm of Kirkton, oc-
cupied by Mr. Craig, affords a most creditable ex-
ample of industry and skill. That of Druminuie,
held by Mr. Macpherson, and that of Golspie Tower,
held by Mr. Duncan, have been greatly improved,
and at a great expense. The farm of Rhives had
been rendered a remarkably fine one by its former
successive occupants, Mr. Young and Mr. Suther ;
and an addition has been made to its arable land by
the present possessor, Mr. Gunn. The mains of
Dunrobin, being old and good land, have always
been productive ; but they, too, have been improved
under the new system; and the sume may be said of
the place of Uppat, which completes the number of
large farms in the parish. These notices are not
irrelevant here ; for it must be added, that these
farmers have not only the good fortune to be placed
under most liberal landlords ; but that they deserve
the liberality they receive. They have acquired a
title to the gratitude of the community at large ' by
making corn and grass to grow, where neither grass
nor com ever grew before."

The reverend gentleman also gives a more par-
ticular description of the present state of the parish,
in regard to live stock and farming : —

" The Dunrobin breed of cattle, originally from
Argyleshire, are deservedly accounted excellent and
there is great attention paid to the rearing of them.
For dairy use there are some Ayrshire cows. On
some farms, the breed of Highland black cattle is
chiefly reared: and on the farm of Kirkton, an ex-
cellent breed of black-polled Galloway caitle. At
the Highland Soeitty's Cattle Show, held at Inver-
ness in 1831, where stock of all kinds were shown
from all the northern counties, including Aberdeen
and Perth, a larger amount of prizes was awarded

to this parish than to any other. To the Marquis of
Stafford was awarded the prize for the best two
oxen of the Highland breed ; another for the best lot
of stirks of the same breed ; and the society's medal
for two Highland oxen shown as extra stock. Mr.
Craig of Kirkton obtained a prize for the best cow,
another for the best beifer, and another for the
best ox, all of the Galloway breed — together with the
commendation of the judges for a bay colt and a
chesnut filly, shown as extra stock. This gentle-
man afterwards sold his prize ox for 30(., to the
advantage of the buyer. The Galloway bre^d of
cattle are here found to be very hardy, and to arrive
at a greater weight, upon the same feeding, than the
Highland breed do. The milk, both of the Gallo-
way and Highland cows, is not great in quantity,
but is in quality very rich. On the large farms,
some good work and saddle horses are bred ; and
by the cottars, some small ponies. The kind of
sheep reared is the Cheviot, to the purity and rear-
ing of which much attention is paid ; and they
accordingly are very superior, and obtain high
prices.

" Farming is carried on in this parish on the most
approved system. The rotations of cropping are
the four, five, and six years shifts. Trenching and
draining have been done to a great extent on every
farm in the parish, at an expense of from 8/. to 501.
per acre. The duration of leases is nineteen years ;
in one instance, thirty. The farm buildings and
many of the fences (which are dry-stone dikes,) are
substantial."

MANURES.

The following communication has lately been
made public by M.Scbaltenmann, of Bouxwiller,
in Alsace : — " Ammoniacal salts are extremely
powerful manures. In Switzerland water is poured
over the fresh stable-dung, so as to wash it ; the
fluid thus obtained is saturated with sulphate
of iron, or sulphuric acid, and a liquid manure of
great power is the result. In explanation of this,
M. Schattenmann has entered into the following
more detailed illustration of the manner in which
such manure is prepared, and the effects resulting
from its use. It has been for many years the cus-
tom in Switzerland to preserve stable urine, to
wash the fresh manure, and to collect the fluid in
reservoirs, where, after fermentation has taken
place, the ammonia is saturated and converted
into sulphate of ammonia by sulphate of iron
(green vitriol), sulphate of lime (gypsum), or sul-
phuric acid (common vitriol). The fluid thus ob-
tained, when employed lor watering land, pro-
duces a strong vegetation; an effect that is ascribed
to the sulphate of ammonia, which is not volatile
like the carbonate, if acted upon by the sun.
Fresh manure, like urine, contains ammonia,
which it is important to preserve, but which is
generally wasted by the common modes of ma-
naging manure. Horse-dung is said to be greatly
inferior to that of cattle; but this seems to be
owing entirely to the manner in which it is
managed,— namely, in Alsace and Lorraine, and
generally in France, by placing it in a heap in a
ditch, where it is sometimes flooded with water,
or more commonly by laying it in a heap a couple
of yards high, without wateringit sufficiently. The
notion that horse-dung can only be brought

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292

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

iuto a proper state by stirring and making it,
generally causes that to he done two or three
times. The dung lying in water will not ferment,
and the straw remains undecayed; that which is
lightly thrown together without being watered
enough, heats and becomes mouldy ; ammonia
thus produced flies off into the atmosphere, and
then the most active part of the manure is lost.
The residue is a light, unsubstantial manure, the
action of which is incomparably inferior to that
of cattle, which is naturally indisposed to heat.
I have for many years been in the habit of treating
stable-dung in a manner entirely different from that
commonly in practice. At Bouxw iller I have had for
several years the control of the stable-dung of 200
artillery horses quartered there in a single building,
at the back of which lies some land of n y own.
There I have formed atrench for manure, occupying
80O square yards superficial, and divided into two
equal parts. This trench is an inclined plane which
rises forward, and right and left, so that all the water
which enters it runs down to the middle, where it
collects ; at that place I have a pump, by means of
which I am able at pleasure to return to the
manure the water which runs away from it.
What water I want, I obtain from a well and pump
placed by the side of the manure trench. By
these means, at a trifling expense, I obtain that
great quantity of water which stable-dung requires;
while at the same time I do not lose a drop of the
saturated fluid, which eventually is altogether
absorbed by the manure by the time that it is
taken away, unless I prefer employing it directly,
and to replace it by pouring more pure water over
the manure. The two halves of my trench are
alternately filled from the stables. The litter is
made up six or eight yards high over the whole
surface of the excavation, trod down by the feet
of the men who bring it and spread it, and abun-
dantly watered by the pumps. In this way I have
it thoroughly made up, and as much water as I
want ; two conditions which I consider indis-
pensable, in order to counteract the violent fer-
mentation of the stable-dung, which would destroy
the most active parts of the manure, which are
volatile. I add to the saturated water, and I
scatter over the manure green vitriol in solution,
or gypsum, so as to change into a sulphate the
ammonia as it is produced, and which readily
flies off at a slightly elevated temperature. By
means thus simple and cheap I obtain, in two or
three months, a mass of manure thoroughly made,
as soft and pasty as that of cattle, and of great
energy, as is proved by the remarkable results 1
have obtained both on arable and meadow land for
several years. When this manure or the liquid
which flows from it is applied to land, the most
striking effects are apparent. Letters formed upon
a meadow by pouring it from the spout of a
watering-pot, speedily acquire a deep rich green,
remarkable among the surrounding herbage. It
is, however, necessary in forming such dunghills,
that they should be so placed as to allow the
water to run completely off them, and that they
should be frequently drenched. Farmers do not
employ anything like the quantity of water re-
quired to decompose stable-dung. Care also must
be taken that the litter is thoroughly trodden
down by man and horses, as the dunghills are
made, partly in order to enable it the better to
retain its moisture, and partly to check the ex-
cessive heating, which drives off the best parts of
the manure."

ON IRRIGATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF TUB FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — The excellent article on irrigation which
has appeared in your magazine of this month,
copied from that able work which I strongly re-
commend to the notice of all agriculturists, Mr.
Johnson's " Farmers' Encyclopaedia," has caused
me to trouble you with a few observations on some
of the statements which he has adduced in suppoit
of the advantage of water in its different states of
purity or impurity ; but which, being at variance
with»previous authenticated experiments, I have
taken the liberty of bringing them under your no-
tice, feeling at the same time confident, that any-
thing that will promote the science, or add amuse-
ment to your numerous readers, will always be
welcome to you. I will therefore not encroach
with any more unnecessary preface, but proceed
at once to point out the existing difference of
opinion, formed from well attested experiments,
concerning water in its pure or impure state.

There can be no doubt that water flowing over
strata, which, according to the locality, is gene-
rally constitutedof various properties, or by sewers
running into it, must necessarily be impregnated
to a certain extent with their individual influence ;
and it may be observed, that water in a very thick
state is less liable to filter so rapidly through a
soil as water in a purer condition. Water in this
state has usually been estimated as the most bene-
ficial for vegetable existence; and ibis conclusion
is very apparent, because the water, before it can
free itself by filtration from the properties it had
imbibed from these causes, must remain longer in
the vicinity of the roots, and impart that greatest
essential for the food of plants, viz. — the necessary
moisture.

Water, by filtering through the soil, leavesall its
impurities behind, and when it arrives at a certain
depth becomes perfectly pure, and more resem-
bles distilled water than any other; but distilled,
or very pure water, has been observed in this arti-
cle as to be " totally inadequate to the support of
plants ; they merely vegetated for a time, but they
could not, by any means, be made to perfect their
seeds. In this conclusion, the experiments of Dr.
Thomson, and of M. M. Saussure and Hassenfratz
entirely agree." This is one of the experiments
which differ from previous ones performed by
Triewald, a Swede, and which were subsequently
confirmed by Eller. The latter observed, "that
the roots of hyacinths put in distilled water not
only produced perfect plants, but, after being burnt,
yielded true earth." Another difference of opinion
exists in the idea that plants absorb in exact pro-
portion the quantity of solid or earthy matter con-
tained in the impurity of the water that they are
immediately in contact with ; and M. Lampadions
bears out this opinion (which is stated in this
article) by experiments he made with pure water.
He found that plants placed in pure earth, would
not grow with pure water only, but when they
were watered with liquid drainage from a dung-
hill they flourished very luxuriantly. Messrs. Gle-
ditch, Bonnett, and Du Hamel, on the contrary,
found that plants set in pure earth and regularly
watered with pure water, flourished well, and that
by mixing nitre, common salt, or a solution of
rich earth or dung with it, contributed little to
their growth, and that they throve better without
any of these additions.

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293

There is another known fact, which tends to
prove that the constituent parts of water can have
little further to perform than keeping the sur-
rounding soil in a suitable state to receive the re-
quired food from the atmosphere ; and that is,
" that four thousand different plants can grow in
twenty pounds' weight of pure earth, and in each
of them shall be found a different oil and a diffe-
ent salt. Let us suppose those plants to Le chemi-
cally analysed— near an ounce of oil and salt will
be found in each." Now if the soil or water con-
tained all these oils and salts, and the plants had
taken these essentials from both, or either, they
must have been able to have afforded nutriment to
these plants to the extent of two hundred and fifty
pounds weight of these constituents, which they
would be found to contain ; and as there was
not a grain of any of these essentials visible in
the earth or water, neither can be regarded as
the source of direct nourishment, and atmospheric
influence, consequently, can be looked upon as the
only immediate agent.

These trials of pure water on the growth of
plants seem to be rather at variance with each
other ; and as each of them has been conducted by
men of science, there appears to be no just reason
for doubting their results ; still it is difficult to
reconcile one's mind to proclaim that all are cor-
rect. The difference existing between these par-
ties, I apprehend, has originated from each up-
holding a different theory as to the real source of
vegetable food : one maintains that water is of no
use to vegetation, unless it is impregnated with
,some organic or inorganic substance, held in solu-
tion, to be ready for the roots to take up ; and the
other asserts that water, in its pure state, is more
congenial to plants, by moistening the soils, so as
to allow the air to descend quicker to the roots,
than in any other impregnated state. Both these
theories have been borne out by experiments per-
formed by their different advocates, which must
tend considerably more to mystify than to unravel
any conclusion that you might feel inclined to ar-
rive at on this all-important subject ; and as it is
the invariable custom of most men, when they up-
hold any particular theory on a subject so difficult
as this is of solution, to bring only those trials
and experiments forward which will elucidate
their doctrine more fully, discarding at the same
time any others that bear a very close affinity to
theirs, fearing that by advancing them they might
perhaps shake the one that they had previously
maintained, the real source of vegetable food is
as likely to remain in as much oblivion as it was a
century ago.

However, it is so far satisfactory to perceive
that water in any state is admitted on all sides as
the primary cause of all vegetable existence ; and
this being universally acknowledged, it can be no
longer necessary to observe, that moisture judi-
ciously kept in the vicinity of roots will benefit
those plants in like proportion ; hence it must be
obvious to all agriculturists who wish their plants
to thrive, that it is only by this fluid that they
can expect to reap advantage from their soil. But
by entering on the best method for preparing
soils, so as to render them more fit to receive this
desired influence from the atmosphere, I should
be travelling too much from our subject — I shall
conclude with an observation of Wallerius, who,
after he had noticed with the greatest care, and
repeated with the utmost circumspection, similar
experiments as those alluded to above, asserted as

his opinion — " That the earth yields no real
nourishing matter to plants, but that their nutri-
tive juices are derived from water and the atmos-
phere."

Trusting that the importance of this subject
will plead an excuse for my thus occupying your
valuable time, I remain your constant reader and
subscriber, T. J. W.

Surrey, March 19.

THE FIRST REPORT OF THE
GREAT OAKLEY FARMERS'
CLUB.

Gentlemen, — Your committee, in presenting you
with their First Annual Report, cannot but con-
gratulate you upon the success which has attended
the formation of your club, and on the increased
estimation in which this, and similar institutions
now becoming so general in the country, are held.
Calculated as they are to elicit truth, remove pre-
judices, and stimulate enquiry, they cannot fail
greatly to accelerate the march of improvement
which has been, and is still going on in every
thing connected with agriculture — improvements
so essential and important to enable us to meet
the wants of a vastly increasing population, from
the produce of our own soil; a point of such para-
mount consequence, that farmers must never
consider they have accomplished all they ought
to aim at, until it is effected ; and with the divine
aid ever willing to assist our efforts, either to pro-
mote the temporal or spiritual wants of our fellow
men, we trust and believe this may be accom-
plished.

In alluding to our report, your committee can
but notice, that on several subjects of considerable
importance, the meeting could come to no decision
for the want of more accurate evidence by parties
maintaining different opinions upon the subject
under discussion.

This defect may be noticed in all the reports
which have emanated from farmers' clubs, and
which your committee fully believe farmers' clubs
will greatly remove by exciting more attention and
observation to the results of different plans.

Your committee cannot refrain from calling
your attention to the intimate connection which
subsists between the farmer and labourer; and ask,
whether it would not be a desirable addition to
the usefulness of the club, if prizes could be given
to cottagers for the best vegetable productions of
their gardens, and which might be adjudged at the
same time as the sweepstakes for roots and grain
belonging to the members ?

First Meeting, March 2nd.

The first subject which occupied the attention of
the club was, " On the comparative value of clover
and cow grass, as to quantity and quality of pro-
duce, and the advantage of growing them alter-
nately for artificial layers. Also all other artificial
grass seeds usually sown for layers, and the best
method and time of sowing the same."

It was the unanimous opinion of the meeting,
that red clover cannot be grown with certainty or
advantage but once in eight years.

A member stated, from several years' experience,
he found cow grass approached nearest in quan-
tity and quality to clover of any of the artificial

294

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

grasses, and was equal to it as a preparation for
wheat. This opinion was confirmed by the ex-
perience ot another member ; and in a letter
from a gentleman in Suffolk, who had made many
experiments with cow grass by the side of clover,
it was stated that cow grass would plant and
flourish on land tired of red clover. Italian rye
grass was considered the best of the rye grasses,
being earliest and of the best quality. The want
of a plant that would produce as much as clover,
both in the first and second growth, and that
would act as a change to that plant, was of such
importance that several members expressed their
intention of sowing some c >\v grass instead of
clover, that further results might be ascertained.

Second Meeting, Atril 6th.

Subject. — "On the best mode of cultivating
land for Beet-root ; its expense and value as com-
pared with other Root Crops."

A member, whose success in growing beet was
well known, in a lucid and detailed mannner ex-
plained his mode of cultivating that plant; he
stated his plan to he, to plough his laud on the
stetch immediately after harvest, to baulk the
stetches down, to level the land, and to clean
cross the land deep and well twice before wheat
sowing, and to draw it on to lidges thirty inches
apart before Christmas : he believed these autumnal
p'oughings to be of the utmost importance to the
success of the crops. The meeting unanimously
agreed as to the necessity of forwarding the fallow
as much as possible before Christmas, but consi-
dered that the stetch on wet lands was preferable to
the ridge, as affording greater facilities for getting
the water off. The majority agreed that the first
week in May was the best time to plant the seed,
and that it ought to be rolled in well. Resolved,
" That the increased manure and labour required for
beet gave it an expense of between twenty and
thirty shillings per acre more than turnips, but it
was unanimously agreed that with this increased
expense it was the most valuable crop of the two."

Third Meeting, May 4th.

Subject. — "On the best mode of cultivating
land for Swedes and other Turnips."

This subject was introduced by a member in a
very able and pleasing manner, in a written state-
ment, prepared by him, of the history of the
Swede turnip on its first introduction to this
neighbourhood. He recommended that the land
intended for turnips next summer should in-
variably be broken in the previous autumn, and
that as early as possible after harvest, and again
got on the stetch or ridge before the winter set
in. If under-draining was required on account of
the wetness of the land, the month of March, if
dry, offered the finest opportunity for executing
that work to advantage. As early as possible
during the ensuing spring, the land required good
sound ploughing and pulverizing.

The same member stated that a practice had
been recently adopted, and he believed much ap-
proved of— carrying the muck on land intended for
turnips as soon as it could be got on, instead of
doing it the last thing before the seed tilth. With
regard to the time of sowing, he thought if the
land was in proper order, the early or purple-
topped Swede might be sown any time between the
end of the third week in May and Midsummer day ;
the late or long-topped Swede from Midsummer
day to seven days after. The different varieties
of the common turnip might be sown any time

in July. After some further statements and ob-
servations by several other members, the first
member's ideas on the subject met with the una-
nimous approbation of the members present.

Fourth Meeting, June 1st.

Subject. — "On the management of the Clover
and Hay Crops."

After a very animated and able discussion on
both sides, a member moved, — That clover should
be mown as soon as it was well on the blos-
som, to be turned when a little more than half-
made, and cocked the same day, and to remain on
the code until the day it was fit to cart. Another
member moved, as an amendment, — That clover
should not be mowed until the day it was fit to
cart, and on the morning of that day to turn and
cart it as soon as dry, and not to cock it unless
compelled to do so from unforeseen circumstances.
The same member also stated to the meeting, it was
his plan to mow his clover into small swathes : to
effect this, lie compelled his men to keep their feet
on each side of the swathe they were cutting ; by
this means it could be cut much closer to the ground,
leaving no comb as was common in the usual way
of mowing; and the increased quantity acquired bv
this means far more than compensated for (he in-
creased expense of thus mowing it; and in this
neighbourhood, where the clovers were generally
stout, the swathes from being thinner were fit to cart
sooner by a d.ty or two. Tins plan met the approval
ofmanyatthe meeting, and thanks were given to
him for his suggestion. A medical gentleman very
kindly stated to the meeting, that by the laws of
fermentation, anything that had a tendency to check-
it when once commenced and not completed, would
have the effect of lessening the quantity of saccha-
rine matter, and of course the quality; and more
particularly he should think, if the fermentation of
clover was created from its being wet, or was
checked by wet after it had commenced, and that
one continuous fermentation was the thing required.

On a division, from practical experience being in
unison with these views, and experience proving
that in fine weather excellent stover without any
loss of foliage was made without cocking, and that
in wet weather the more it was moved the more it
was injured, besides the loss of labour which at that
lime of the year was of an artificial value, a large
majority were in favour of the amendment.

Fifth Meeting, June 29th.
Subject — " On the best mode of harvesting corn."
A member stated, not having tried the plan of
mowing wheat now becoming so prevalent, his
observations would be confined to the old plan ;
and, commencing with wheat, he considered it of
great importance it should be cut low, and tied up
in small sheaves about two feet in girth. As regards
barley, he considered it equally important to have it
mown in small swathes, as it greatly facilitates its
making. As regards oats, he considered it under
almost all circumstances most advantageous to reap
them ; and that they ought not to be allowed to
stand until they were too ripe, as no crop suffered
more from being allowed to stand or lay too long a
time than oats. As regards beans, a small sheaf was
equally important as wheat. These observations
were so much in unison with the sentiments of the
meeting, that but. little discussion took place.

Another member observed, that to effect the
desirable object of having small wheat sheaves, be
always compelled bis men to tie up with a small

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

295

handful of wheat ; and he stated lie thought it
highly important that the knot formed hy tying in
traving, should be placed inside the trave ; for in
showery weather, if it wera outside, it would he the
soonest injured, and be frequently tho means of
injuring the whole sample, as the ears from being
closely compressed, would sprout much sooner than
any other part of the sheaf. To effect the object of
having small sheaves of beans, he had them tied up
with beans. This plan was universal in Suffolk ;
and although he had adopted the Essex plan of
using rope yarn, he discovered there was no benefit
in doing so, to answer the increased expense, but
the evil of having very large sheaves made, which
on his plan could not be dene. He also stated
that, having adopted the plan of mowing two-lhirds
of his wheat, he was so satisfied, that viewed in
every way in the economy of time and labour in
securing the wheat; the increased quantity of straw
obtained ; the fit preparation it left the land in for
any process or crop after the land was cleared ; and
in showery or wet weather sustaining much less
injury, and being fit to cart a day or more sooner
than reaped corn — were all such important advan-
tages as could not fail ultimately of making it the
general practice.

A third member in a very lucid manner ex-
plained the advantages of mowing wheat, which
he had witnessed on an extensive scale, at a
neighbouring farm. And after examining and
discussing the merits of some cradles used for
mowing wheat, the discussion closed without any
division, the plan of mowing not yet being suf-
ficiently practised.

Sixth Meeting, July 27th.

Subject — " On the best description of stock to
be kept to consume our turnip crops."

A member introduced the subject by stating,
that he preferred for grazing the whole winter,
well-bred two-year-old short-horn steers ; but for
immediate or expensive gr-azing, he preferred an
older short- horn. The Scotch beasts he con-
sidered, with few exceptions, were superior to
what we used to obtain from that country; arising,
it was considered, from the improved state of agri-
culture in Scotland, and the consequent increased
extent of grazing in that country. He considered
that a short-horn of good quality would make a
larger return for the food consumed than any
other description of beast. This was the general,
but not unanimous opinion of the meeting, as
several other members considered that Scotch
beasts would make a larger return for the food
consumed than short-horns. This opinion was
also maintained by a gentleman from Suffolk, who
grazed extensively.

The meeting had not a sufficient number of
proofs, taking the quantity of food into con-
sideration, which would make the best return ;
but strongly recommended gentlemen to prove by
fattening short-horns and Scotch beasts of equal
value when put into the yard, and ascertain ac-
curately the quantity of food consumed by each,
and thus prove which would make the largest
return for the food consumed.

Seventh Meeting, Sept. 28th.
Subject — " On the preparation of land for
Wheat, the best time of sowing, and the best
varieties for this neighbourhood."

A member stated, that for clover layers, after
good manuring, he recommended them to be
ploughed three weeks before drilling them ; and
for bean and pea land, he recommended first a
backstrike, then manuring, and to plough them on
the stetch three weeks before drilling; and he
considered about the 20th of October the most
favourable time to commence sowing wheat. For
clover layers he preferred the Hardcastle. For
bean and pea land a red wheat called the Gravel-
pit Red. He considered for clover layers two
bushels per acre, and for bean and pea land seven
pecks quite sufficient seed ; for wetting which he
preferred a quarter of a peck of lime put into a
pail of boiling water, and well mixed with a sack
of wheat. The meeting quite agreed as to the im-
portance of a stale earth for wheat, and con-
curred in the mode recommended for cultivating
bean and pea land, and in the time of sowing, and
quantity of seed to bo used ; but many members
preferred the rough chaff, as being a more pro-
ductive wheat than the Hardcastle : this had been
ascertained by several experiments in the neigh-
bourhood, also a red wheat, the Gold Drop, and
another called Syer's red, were preferred to the
Gravel- pit Red. And where sea water was to be
easily obtained, it was recommended for wetting
wheat, a pail to the sack, and well limed afterwards.
Both plans, it was agreed, were effectual pre-
ventives to smut, except the wheat sown was very
much diseased.

Eighth Meeting, Oct. 26th.

Subject — "On the best course of cropping for
this neighbourhood."

A member stated, that from his experience he
considered the four-course system to be the best ;
but in consequence of the wetness of our land,
with few exceptions, rendering it unfit to feed
upon during winter, he recommended substituting
beans or peas upon a portion of the best-
conditioned land in course for fallow instead of
turnips.

Upon a division as to the best course — the four
or the six-course, the majority voted in favour of
the four-course, as recommended by the first
member.

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION DURING THE

PRESENT YEAR.
April 18th. On the preparation of manure for

turnips— Mr. Eagle, Mr. William Thomp-
son.
May 23rd. On the best mode of keeping farming

horses during the summer months— Mr. J.

Hardy.
June 20th. On the management of swine — Mr.

John Hempson, Mr. William Everett.
July 18th. On the best mode of keeping farming

accounts — Mr. Swinborne.
Sept. 19th. On the best mode of keeping farming

horses during the winter — Mr. Isaac

Everett, Mr. John Salmon.
Oct. 17th. On the advantage of top-dressings —

Mr. Robert Green.
Nov. 14th. General annual meeting.

Note. — The club nights are now fixed for the
Monday on or before the full moon in everv month,
instead of the Tuesday as heretofore.

290

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MEETING TO ESTABLISH A
"FARMERS' CLUB" AT CAR-
DIFF.

A meeting was held for the above purpose at
the Angel Inn, pursuant to advertisement, on the
8th January, which was numerously attended by
the farmers in the neighbourhood, amongst whom
were Messrs. E. David, W. T. Watson, J.
Jenkins, W. Lewis, W. Jones, J. Skyrme, J.
Spickett, J. Harries, A. Fergus, Jas. Babb, Ed-
ward Williams, B. Thomas ; also Capt. Howells,
the Rev. James Evans, the Rev. Richard Evans,
&c, &c.

Mr. David, of Radyr, having been requested to
take the chair, expressed bis regret that they had
not fixed upon some one more competent for the
situation ; however, he begged to assure them that
he would do all in his power to promote the ob-
jects they had in view. The requisition for com-
mencing the meeting having been read, the
chairman proceeded — It is scarcely necessary that
I should occupy much of your time in explaining
the objects of " Farmers' Clubs," for the attend-
ance here this day is the best evidence that you
are already fully sensible of their importance; but
as there may be some present who might be glad
of a little additional information on the subject, I
will briefly state, that in the first place it is in-
tended to meet either monthly or otherwise, as
shall hereafter be determined upon, to discuss
subjects connected with the cultivation of the
soil, and to communicate to each other the result
of any operation adopted on the farm. In the
next place, to establish a library in this town of
agricultural books, which shall be at all times ac-
cessible to, and circulated amongst, the members
of the club ; also, to take in some periodicals, such
as the " Fanner's Magazine," the " Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society" (with the proceedings
of which excellent institution I regret to find that
only a small portion of the farmers in this county
are at present acquainted) ; in fact, to dissemi-
nate as much as possible amongst ourselves and
the rising generation what is passing in the agri-
cultural world. We have, gentlemen (continued
the chairman), societies for the improvement of
our cattle and of our sheep, also for the improve-
ment of our labourers, &c, all of which have my
most cordial support ; but I do think we should
also begin at home, and endeavour to improve
ourselves as well. Let us look around and sec
what other classes are doing ; they meet in their
Philosophical Institutions, Commercial Rooms,
Mechanic's Institutes, Lecture Rooms, &c; and if
they r< quire such meetings, and have derived be-
nefit f om them, surely we, who are located in
dista it parts of the country, often remote from
each other, must be ten times more in need of
them. (Hear.) We find, gentlemen, that im-
provements in manufactures, or any discovery
which tends to produce the article at a cheaper
rate, is soon made known and put in practice in
distant parts of the kingdom, which is greatly fa-
cilitated by the institutions I have named ; but,
in farming, I am sorry to say the case is far other-
wise, for years often elapse before improvements
in the cultivation of the soil become generally
known. We often remain in ignorance of what is
passing in an adjoining county, indeed I might
almost say in the adjoining parish, for a long pe-
riod. There is, gentlemen, a rapid march of im-

provement going on, and surely we ought not to
be passive spectators of it. We cannot shut our
eyes to the fact that all our manufactured articles
are now produced considerably cheaper than they
were thirty or forty years ago. A little reflection
must, I apprehend, satisfy us that this has
arisen in a great measure from the superior
skill and enterprise of our manufacturing bre-
thren, and from the laudable desire of ac-
quiring knowledge which has ever actuated
them. I am well aware that we have numerous
difficulties to contend with, over many of which
we have no control. I well know, and as a prac-
tical farmer can hear testimony, that the most ju-
dicious system and the greatest exertions are often
thwarted by an adverse season. This is a source
of great vexation at the time, but it should only
stimulate us to an increased exertion. But I fear
that we farmers are greatly behind other classes in
a desire to acquire knowledge, also in adhering too
strongly to old prejudices and old customs, merely
because they have been practised by our ances-
tors. Gentlemen, 1 have been, as you all know, a
practical farmer for many years, therefore I am
not likely to recommend to you the adoption of
any rash changes or wild schemes founded only on
theory, if your own experience satisfy you that
they are wrong ; but I can with confidence assure
you that we might all derive considerable benefit
by a more intimate acquaintance with systems
pursued in the best cultivated districts, where a
little science is most advantageously combined
with practical experience. Gentlemen, I have al-
ready detained you too long, but there is one point
which I am still anxious to call your attention to,
although some of you may probably consider it
unnecessary, namely, that I trust this club will
never become a "drinking club." (Hear.) I
shall be most happy that we should dine together
either yearly or half-yearly, as might be thought
best ; but if at our monthly meetings we get into
the habit of drinking, depend upon it we shall sow
the seeds of our dissolution. (Hear.) Other
classes meet at their various institutions without
resorting to such practices, and it will be a re-
proach to us if we cannot follow so good an ex-
ample. It is intended that the annual subscription
should be low (I believe only five shillings), in
order to induce all the farmers to become mem-
bers, but a small expenditure at each of our
monthly meetings would considerably exceed
this sum, and entirely defeat our object. (Cheers).
Mr. W. T. Watson,"in proposing the first resolu-
tion, spoke nearly as follows : — Mr. Chairman and
Gentlemen, — I have been requested to propose this
resolution; I do so with much pleasure, as I most
heartily concur in the opinions expressed therein.
The very excellent observations which you have made
to the meeting leave me little to add. It is, sir, of
vast importance to the community at large, as well as
the agricultural interest, that useful knowledge should
be more directed to the cultivation of the soil
throughout this kingdom than it has been hitherto ;
and as the only object of our meeting is, that by the
establishment of a Farmer's Club, we may in this
neighbourhood collect and diffuse sound practical
knowledge, connected with the best means of in-
creasing the productions of the soil. (Hear, hear.)
I am quite certain that such an object at the present
period, deserves and will receive the support of
every one who desires the welfare of his country;
lor surely there can be no dift'eience of opinion as
to its being our duty to produce as much grain and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

297

meal as we can from our own soil ; and if by im-
proved cultivation we can grow a sufficiency for the
ample supply of our population, it is decidedly for
the interest of all classes of the community that we
should do so (heai , hear J ; for, sir, we must remem-
ber that we cannot sepai ate the consideration of large
importations of foreign corn from a corresponding
export of gold ; this has been most seriously proved
during the last three years, and has doubtless pro-
duced a most injurious effect upon every branch of
the nation's industry, whether commercial, manu-
facturing, or agricultural. We must remember that
since the resumption of cash payments, that gold is
as needful to give life and vigour to the body na-
tional, as is the due circulation of the blood to pro-
mote animal life; and it is clearly a point as yet not
proved, that we can dictate to any state from which
we may purchase corn what they must take from us
in exchange ; and should they continue to prefer gold
payments, it must be evident to all that unless we
are prepared to export annually a large amount of
bullion, we must find out a mode of supplying the
increasing demands of our rapidly increasing popula-
tion. Sir, I believe that if capital and skill are
speedily and generally applied in the best way to
thecultivation, draining, and improvementofour own
soil, we may have a sufficiency of food for all, and
keep our gold at home to give ability to all to pur-
chase that food from the produce of their own in-
dustry. (Cheers). 1 would mention here a fact
capable of proof, which would go far to confirm
what I have now stated. There is a farm but a few
miles from where we are now met, which 1 well re-
member a few years ago in a wilderness state ; let
any one visit that farm now, and he will find far
larger crops of wheat grown there than on the aver-
age of the best lands in the county (hear, hear) ;
and he will also find that this has been effected by
the application of skill and capital to a naturally
bad and unproductive soil — and, therefore, we may
look with confidence to the result being at least
equally successful whenever equal skill united with
a requisite outlay is applied to soil of better quality.
When, sir, this has been done generally', and I do
trust that the influence of Fanners' Clubs will tend
greatly to promote such improvements, then should
it appear we are still unable to supply the demand
for food at low prices, we shall not, I am sure, bo so
selfish as to oppose any other method of accomplish-
ing this most desirable object. I fully agree with
Mr. Klman, when he says, " I care not how cheap
corn may be, so it is grown at home ;" and I feel
quite confident that if the owners of the soil unite
cordially with their tenants in supporting such clubs
as we are met this day to establish — and this I have
authority of one most influential (J. 15. Pryce, Esq.),
to say he will do (cheers) — we shall soon have cheap
and abundant food without increasing the serious
evil of exporting vast sums of gold to enrich other
countries while we impoverish our own. (Cheers).

This was seconded by Mr.Skyrme, and carried.

Mr. Wm. Jones, in proposing the second resolu-
tion, said that the objects of the meeting had his
warmest support, but after the excellent remarks
made by the Chairman and Mr. Watson, it was
wholly unnecessary for him to occupy the time of
the meeting, both those able addresses had so fully
anticipated all he could say on the subject. The
attendance this day was most gratifying, and he con-
sidered that the club was now established upon a
lasting foundation, and he felt satisfied that it would
produce the most beneficial results.

This resolution was seconded by Mr. T. Jenkins.

The third resolution was proposed by Mr. Harries
of Treverigg, who observed that notwithstanding he
was not much of a practical farmer at present, yet
he felt considerable pleasure in attending here this
day to establish such a society, which had his most
cordial support, and he begged to assure them that
he would at all times do all in his power to promote
the objects they had in view. (Cheers).

Seconded by Mr. Fergus, and carried.

Captain Ilovvells, being requested to propose the
fourih resolution, said, that although he was not
now a farmer, yet he hoped he should be permitted
to join this club. Agriculture had been his favourite
pursuit. His father, as they all knew, was exten-
sively engaged in that business, and, he believed he
might add, with great credit. It may not be in his
power to render the club much practical assistance,
but he would assure them that they had his most
cordial wishes, and that he should feel great pleasure
iu attending the meetings of the club.

Mr. Babb seconded this resolution.

About 40 members enrolled their names before the
meeting separated. — Merthyr Guardian.

CARDIFF FARMERS' CLUB.

The second monthly meeting of th:s club was
held on the 19th February, when about twenty new
members were elected, which increases the num-
ber to upwards of ninety.

The proceedings of two committee meetings were
also read and confirmed, alter which letters and
communications, received since the last monthly
meeting from the following noblemen and gen-
tlemen, were read, announcing donations of money
and books to the club, and several expressing a
desire to be enrolled as members, namely : —

The Marquis of Bute

The Right Honourable Earl Talbot

The Honourable R. H. Clive, M. P.

The Right Honourable John Nicholl, M. P.

Lord Adare, M. P.

C. R. M. Talbot, Esq, M. P.

Joseph Bailey, Esq., M. P.

The Rev. W." P. Lewis

R. O. Jones, Esq.

Richard Franklin, Esq.

J. E. Bicheno, Esq.

F. Crawsbay, Esq.

The Rev. George Thomas.

Some other routine business having been tran-
sacted, the chairman (Mr. David), addressed the
meeting as follows:— In accordance with the
notice given at our last monthly meeting, the sub-
ject for discussion this evening is " On Artificial
Manure." I consider this subject of such great
importance to the agricultural interest generally,
that I must beg to express my regret that some'
member of this club, more competent than myself
to do it justice, has not undertaken the task of
bringing it forward. However, gentlemen, I will
endeavour to explain to yon my views of the
subject in the best manner I can, begging to remind
you, that although 1 have introduced the question,
I have done so as much to seek information as to
communicate it ; for, upon this question, as on all
others brought before the club, the object is to
discuss them, not lecture upon them. I am like-
wise desirous of stating to you before I proceed
further, that it, in the course of ray observations,

298

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I should refer to any defective practice in the
system of farming now pursued in this county,
I Lope that you will not on that account suppose
that I consider myself perfect, far otherwise, for
I am fully sensible that I have nearly as much to
learn as you have. The object of this club is not
to meet here to congratulate each other upon our
excellence in farming, quite the reverse. It is, on
the contraiy, to point out defects in the mode now
pursued, and, as far as we can, suggest a re-
medy.

I consider that the term " Artificial Manure''
means such manures as are foreign to the farm, as
contra-distinguished from those which arc pro-
duced on it. The latter consists chiefly of the
refuse of the crops of hay, corn, and grass, grown
on the farm after you have separated from it all
that is calculated for human food, and the support
of the working stock on the farm.

Tt is unnecessary that I should occupy your time
in proving that manures',' whether artificial or
otherwise, are beneficial to the land ; bat having
claimed your attention to this subject, 1 do think
that I ought, in the first place, to show you the
very great importance of it to the farmers of
Glamorganshire,— greater, I believe, than to any
others in the kingdom ; and having done so, I
shall, in the next place, give you some account of
those artificial manures which I have made trial of
myself.

It is, I believe, generally admitted, that the
refuse of the crop is insufficient, except upon the
best soils, to keep up the condition of the land
under the usual course, of cropping. If, therefore,
any portion of this refuse is removed from the
farm without a full equivalent being returned to
it in the shape of manure, the land will become
exhausted, and the crops will annually diminish.
Ploughing up old pastures or a judicious course of
cropping may, for a time, prevent the evil from
appearing, but depend upon it it will show itself at
last ; fust, in the impoverishment of the soil, and
afterwards of the occupier of it. Although my
own experience fully satisfies me on this point, I
find that my views are strongly corroborated
by Professor Liebig, in his very valuable work
on " Organic Chemistry,'' — (see page 187.)
"Unless, therefore, you return to the soil those
elements which it has lost in the production of the
crop, (it does not appear very material in what
shape they are returned) the absence of these
elements will render the land incapable of bringing
other crops to perfection."

In thinly-populated districts there is not, in
general, an opportunity of disposing of this refuse,
in the shape of hay and straw, &c. ; and if, as I
said before, the soil is rich, it may possibly be
kept in proper heart without artificial manure.
But, gentlemen, in this county the case is other-
wise ; we have in our hilly districts extensive
mining and manufacturing establishments, where
there is an immense demand for hay and straw ;
and it is in the course of things, that this large
supply should be obtained from the surrounding
districts, and we know that nearly the whole of it
is abstracted from the Vale of this county. You
may attempt to restrain it, but the proprietors of
these establishments must and will obtain it, cost
what it may. The extent of this supply cannot
easily be ascertained, as it is taken to various
places, and by different ways. I have, however,
obtained some data to estimate the quantity,
namely, the quantity of hay and straw taken to

Merthyr along the Glamorganshire canal. From
an authentic source, I find that nearly 4,000 tons
are taken up annually along this canal. If we add
to this what is taken up in other ways, also the
consumption of numerous other works, such as
those near Bridgend, Pyle, Aberavon, Neath, &c,
it would not, I believe, be too high an estimate to
say that double that quantity is annually abstracted
and taken from the Vale of this county without
any portion of the manure arising therefrom
being returned to it. With regard to the extent of
this loss, I am of opinion that for every ton of hay
foddered on the farm, three or four good cart loads
of dung are produced, consequently there is an
annual loss of from 20 to 25,000 tons of good
manure ; and no one can maintain that this is yet
made up by any artificial manure. Whether the
effect of this loss has already shown itself I cannot
say, but looking at the county generally (and I
have recently examined a large extent of it,) I
almost fear it has. There is one striking circum-
stance which I beg to notice, namely, that previous
to the establishment of these extensive works,
this county was noted for its fine cattle. I have
been informed by some of the most eminent
graziers in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, that
fifty or sixty years ago they regularly attended our
fairs, which were then supplied with an abundance
of fine oxen, equal at that time to any in the
kingdom ; but they had long ago ceased to do so,
because of the inferiority of the supply, both in
quantity and in quality. Whether the loss of
so large a portion of our hay and straw has had
any tendency to produce this change, I shall leave
you to determine.

Having, therefore, I trust, shown that the
subject of " Artificial Manure" is one of great im-
portance to the farmers of this county, I shall in
the next place proceed to give you some account
of the trials I have made with such manures
myself; and, gentlemen, as I had no prejudice
either for or against any particular manure, 1 shall
follow the advice of a worthy member of our club
at our last monthly meeting, and give you an ac-
count of those which did not succeed as well as
those which did.

Some of you, probably, recollect that, about
twenty- five years ago, a strong feeling prevailed
in favour of salt as a manure ; pamphlets were
written and speeches made to prove its efficacy,
and if the tax were removed, this country would
soon be independent of foreigners for bread, corn,
&c. The tax was removed, and I, amongst many
others no doubt, made trial of it, but without suc-
cess. I tried it on arable and pasture land, but was
disappointed in the result, and discontinued it.

In a few years after, saltpetre was recommended
in equally strong terms as a top-dressing for
wheat in the spring. This I tried on fifteen or
twenty acres of wheat, at an expense of about
fifteen or twenty shillings per acre. I did fancy
that the young plant assumed a better colour, but
at harvest I could not perceive any perceptible in-
crease, and I did not repeat it. I merely give you
my own experience of those articles; possibly they
may have succeeded better in other places. After
these failures, I must confess that I began to de-
spair of obtaining any substitute for dung, and I
continued to procure all I could from this town. I
need not trouble you with the result, for there
was no mistake here ; but I found the supply
uncertain, besides hauling it three or four miles to
my farm.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

299

About six or seven years ago, bones became
strongly recommended ; and from the favourable
answers to queries issued on the subject to far-
mers in different parts of the kingdom, by, I be-
lieve, the Doncaster Agricultural Society, I
was induced to procure some, and ever since I
have regularly used them, and with complete suc-
cess. Believing that the effects were not invari-
ably alike, I began to suspect that they were not
always genuine ; this induced me to erect a bone
mill on my farm, and their beneficial effects have
been still more satisfactory. My application of the
dust has been in general for turnips, to the ex-
tent of fifteen or twenty acres annually. Last year
I had twenty acres equal to any I ever grew.

With regard to the expense, I find that from
the increased demand it is more difficult to pro-
cure bones for grinding, and the price is dearer.
The bone-dust now stands me in from 2s. Gd. to
2s. 9d. a bushel, and I apply from 20 to 24 bush,
per acre. Although this seems high, yet we must
bear in inindthe great saving in the cost of appli-
cation. I calculate that, if you have three-quar-
ters of a mile to haul the dung, it will stand you
in from 20s. to 25s. per acre, an item which is
often lost sight of ; whereas, with bones, the ex-
pense cannot much exceed Is. per acre, as a man
and horse will drill about four acres of bones and
turnips in a day. Besides the saving of labour,
we all know the value of expedition in all our
farming operations at that season of the year.
Last autumn I applied it to ten acres of wheat,
but it is too soon to judge of its effects.
, Another artificial manure, which I have used
with nearly equal success for turnips, is " Clarke's
Desiccated Compost." It is in powder, and I ap-
plied it with my bone-drill along with the turnip
seed : the cost is from forty to fifty shillings per
acre.

Last summer I applied nitrate of soda on wheat,
barley, meadow, and pasture; and its beneficial
effects on vegetation were very conspicuous, which
I believe some of my friends present witnessed. I
applied it on the young wheat in the month of
April ; and on barley and grass land in May. On
the wheat and hay crop I was not able to compare
its effects with the land not dressed ; but with the
barley I was. It had been applied to a rood of
land near the middle of a field of eight acres ; at
harvest I directed my bailiff to measure an equal
space alongside of it, which had not been dressed
with nitrate. The production of both pieces was
carefully kept separate, taken to a barn, and
thrashed soon after, and the following is the pro-
duce : —

Quarter of an acre oi nitrate — produce, 13 bushels
7 gallons ; per acre, 55 bushels 4 gallons; weight,
6481bs. ; weight per bushel, 47§lbs. ; straw per acre,
1 ton 10 cwt. Oqr. 81bs.; increase, 17j bushels per
acre, at 3s. 6d. — SI. Is. 3d. ; cost of nitrate, 1| cwt.

at 26s 1/. 19s. Quarter of ;in acre no nitrate —

produce, 9 bushels 4 gallons ; bushels per acre,
38 bushels, 0 gallons; weight 450lbs. ; weight per
bushel, 48Ubs. ; straw per acre, 1 ton 2 cwt. lqi.
Olb ; profit per acre — 11. 2s. 3d.

The result is as you perceive, an increase of 50
per cent, where the nitrate was applied. The soil is
a gravelly loam, not in any good heart, as will appear
by the crop where no nitrate was applied being only
38 bushels per acre. I am not prepared to say what
result will be upon the subsequent crops ; I only give
you the result of my experience of it for the first
year.

I am also prepared to recommend to you another
artificial manure, called " Guano" — the excrement,
I believe, of sea fowl. I have witnessed its effects
upon turnips, grass, and oats, which were highly
beneficial ; these plants being two or three times the
size of the plants grown on the same soil without
Guano. I have procured a supply for three or four
acres of barley and turnips for the present year.
The quantity used per acre is about 2 cwt., and the
price 21s. per cwt.

There is one other manure, gentlemen, which I
must particularly wish to call your attention to, al-
though not strictly speaking an " Artificial Manure,"
namely, Liquid Manure. Now this is a manure
within the reach of all farmers, the most fertilizing
of any vegetation, and yet one which is altogether
neglected. How frequently do we find the overflow-
ings of our farm yards running into the nearest
brook or river, and lost for ever! It is not the
farmers of Glamorganshire only who neglect this the
most valuable of all manures; but, I believe, those
of this' country at large. In Flanders and other
parts of the continent, although far behind the Eng-
lish agriculturists in most other respects, vet, in
this instance, they greatly excel us. In that country,
a tank for collecting the urine of the stock, and the
rich overflowings of their farm, is invariably an ap-
pendage to every farm yard. If your own experi-
ence does not satisfy you of the great value of liquid
manure, I would strongly advise you to read Profes-
sor Liebig's work, which I referred to before. All
manures can promote vegetation only when thev are
in a liquid state. This valuable work, coupled with
my previous conviction of its efficacy, induced me
to erect a large tank in a convenient position, to re-
ceive the overflowings of my farm yard ; and during
the last four months only, I have manured five or
six acres of land in an excellent manner, which
otherwise would have been all lost, as I had no op-
portunity of conveying it over my land.

There are other artificial manures, gentlemen,
besides those I have named, which I believe are
equally as beneficial to the land, but I have confined
myself to those only which I have had any experi-
ence of. I know that rape cake is extensively used
in England ; and if there is any gentleman present
who has had any experience of it, I hope he will
communicate the same to the meeting.

The meeting was afterwards addressed at some
length, by Mr. Edward Bradley, of Treguff; the
Rev. James Evans; Mr. Goddard, of St. Fagan's,
&c. The latter strongly recommended rape cake as
a manure; and we much regret that want of ioom
prevents our inserting the valuable information
given. Before the meeting separated, the following
resolution was unanimously adopted —

Resolved, — " That it is the opinion of this meet-
ing, that the abstraction of any portion of the hay
and straw from the farms upon which it has been
grown, must impoverish the same, unless such loss
is made up by artificial or other foreign manures.

" That as the very extensive quantity of hay and
straw consumed in our mining and manufacturing
establishments, is nearly all detived from the farms
in the Vale of this county, without any of the
manure arising therefrom being returned to those
farms, this meeting very strongly recommends the
use of the following artificial manures, which expe-
rience has proved to possess fertilizing properties
favourable to vegetation, namely — Bone Dust, Rape
Cake, Nitrate of Soda, Clarke's Desiccated Com-
post, Guano, and Liquid Manure."— Merlhyr G uardt

300

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SO-
CIETY OF ENGLAND.

At a Council held on Wednesday, the 23rd of
February, present— His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
K.G.,in the chair, John Raymond Barker, Esq., James
Dean, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., William Good-
enough Hayter, Esq., M.P., William Miles, Esq.,
M.P., William Woods Page, Esq., William Shaw, Esq.,
and W. R. Crompton Stunbfield, Esq., M.P.

American Draining Machine.

John G. Shaw Ltfevre,Esq., F.R.S., presented, on
the partof the Boaidot Trade, an accountof an American
draining machine, invented by P. D. Henry, of New
Orleans, in the United States. The object of this machine
is to raise water from a low place or reservoir to a higher
one ; and the inventor proposes to accomplish this pur-
pose by means of a hollow revolving hydraulic wheel,
placed vertically at one-third its depth in the water, and
divided into scooped compartments, provided with valves,
which as the wheel turns round, admit the water and
retuin it until a certain elevation above the surface has
been attained, when the enclosed water falls back along
radiating compartments towards the centre of the hollow
wheel, and is carried away by a cylinder in a continuous
stream. Air. Henry enters into a detailed account of
the particular arrangements by which this effect is pro-
duced in the most economical and efficient manner, and
claims, as the peculiar merit of his invention, the tan-
gential mode in which the compartments of the hol-
low wheel are arranged, in reference to the cylindric
Conduit through its centre, and the contrivance of the
spoons for scooping up the water when the reservoir is
low. Above the hydraulic wheel, when in use, is placed
a man on a frame work, who causes the great wheel to
revolve by turning the handle of cog-wheeh acting on
its circumference ; and the inventor states that he
found a wheel of six feet in diameter, conducted on this
principle, and worked by one man, capable of raising
200 gallons of water per minute.

The Council directed that their best thanks should be
returned to Mr. Shaw Lefevre for this communication,
and that the papers should be referred to the considera-
tion of the Journal Committee.

Banks oe Rivers.

Thomas Lawford jun., Esq., of Peterstone Court,
Brecknockshire, South Wales, brought before the no-
tice of the Council the importance of inquiries connected
with the wearing of rivers, and the most efficient modes
of controlling their course, and of preventing, at the
cheapest rate, their carrying away the land on their
banks. Mr. Lawlord stated that the present expenses
in remedying this evil on a single estate under his
management, amounted to no less than £100 every
year.

The Duke of Richmond informed the Council that
on his estates in the Ilighlandsof Scotland, where many
of the rivers were very rapid, and the banks much in-
jured by the strong and irregular currents, resulting
from obstructions met with in their course, the most
essential service had been derived from the use of in.
clined planes, or large tables, having the two supports
at one end lower than those at ti.e other, stationed in
the river at those points where the banks required de-
fending against the action of the water--, or the currents
diverted in the impetuosity of their course. Mr. Woods
Page also stated that on the Continent, especially in the
Low Countries, he had observed that it was the practice
of the occupiers of land intersected with winding streams,
to defend their banks with wicker-work, interwoven
with reeds and rushes.

Mr. Miles, M.P., then gave notice, that when the
subjects for the Prize Es«ays of 1844 came under the
consideration of the Council, he should move, " That a
Prize be offered for the best information for preventing
the wearing of the Banks of Rivers, whether affected by
tidal iufluences or streams, at the cheapest rate, and
with the most permanent effect."

New Manure.

Mr. Hayter, M.P., submitted to the Council a supply
of the new manure for wheat crops, discovered by Mr,
Daniel and advocated by Mr. Webb Hall. The manure
on being opened for inspection, presented at first sight
the appearance of a rich dark garden mould, exhaling the
disagreeable and strong odour of coal-tar ; being found
however, on a nearer examination, to be more similar in
its texture to decayed stable-manure, or bituminous
peaty mould, evidently containing a large proportion of
woody fibre, which rendered it specifically light and
porous to the touch. Mr. Hayter stated, thai he under-
stood the price of this new manure was fixed at present
at the rate of one shilling per bushel, and that the
inventor recommended the application of from 24 to 30
bushels per acre for Wheat and Barley, and half that
quantity for Turnips ; in the case of Wheat it being an
essential condition, that the manure should not be
brought into immediate contact with the seed.
Marling with Shale.

Charles Charnock, Esq., of Holmefield House, near
Ferry Bridge, in Yorkshire, communicated to the
Council the results of his application of Burnt Blue
Shale, as a substitute for clay or marl on the hilly and
thin soil of his farm. Mr. Charnock stated that in
the coal districts a blue clay was brought up, and accu-
mulated so rapidly near the mouth of the pits, as to
become a great and inconvenient incumbrance to the
owners ; that this clay was similar to the '* Blue
Shale" of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and was fre-
quently burnt, and when drilled along with crushed
bones, was in this state found useful in promoting the
growth of turnips; but as the whole of the heated
mass required frequently to be turned over before it
could be thoroughly burnt, the operation was found to
be tedious and expensive.

Mr. Charnock having had some years' experience of
the utility attending the application of the Blue Shale
to the gravelly part of his own farm, was induced,
from the success which had attended his trials of it, to
select from the numerous experiments he had made on
this point, one average experiment to be submitted to
the consideration of the Society, and to show to its
members that even an article so abundant and useless
as this shall become of v;\lue if rightly applied to its
proper purpose, aud, as in this instance, to soils of a
gravelly and sandy nature.

Mr. Charnock's expe-iment in question was tried
upon a soil lying upon the magnesian limestone— a
substratum proverbial for its natural poverty and in-
ability to resist drought ; and he enters into a detailed
statement of all the particulars relating to his opera-
tions. The result of this experiment was found to be
in favour of the system he had pursued, and that his
barley crop gave an increase of 27% bushels, and
his wheat crop 17| bushels, per acre, besides saving the
expense of from 12 to 16 bushels of rape-dust on the
crop.

Mr. Charnock suggested that the Society should
publish correct analyses of Bones (raw and boiled),
Rape Dust, and Guano; and concludes his communi-
cation with the result he had obtained from a compara-
tive trial of the merits of nitrate of soda and soot, on a
dry grass field. He applied on one acre of the field a
hundred weight of nitrate of soda (which cost 22-.),
and on another acre of the same held 4 qrs. of soot (which
cost 16s.): and the result was found to be very much
favour of the soot.

This communication was referred to the Journal Com-
mittee, and the thanks of the Council returned to Mr.
Charnock for the favour of his statement.

Annual Country Meetings.
His Grace the Duke of Newcastle conveyed to the
Council, through E. Woollett Wilmot, Esq., of Worksop
Manor, the offer of Nottingham Park for the purposes
of the Annual Meeting of 1843, should the Society
decide to hold their Meeting of next year in that part of
the North-Eastern district. Mr. Wilmot stated that hi*
Grace had not only great pleasure in making this offer,
but that, should it be accepted by the Society, the Park

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

301

would be placed at their disposal, free of all expense :
Mr. Wilmot also placing his own persona! services very
handsomely at their disposal on the occasion.

The Mayor of Maidstone (A. Randall, Esq.) ad-
dressed a Letter to the Council, informing them that
the at ention of the corporation of that Borough had
been drawn to the circumstance that the Annual Meet-
ing of the Royal Agricultural Society of England would
in the year 1844, be held at some place situated witbiu
the district comprising the South-eastern counties of
the kingdom ; and that he was directed by that body to
offer the Society every facility and assistance iu refer-
ence to the arrangements for that Meeting. The Mayor
assured the Council that the Corporation of Maidstone
were most anxious to obtain the assembly of the So-
ciety to be held at that town, which, both on account
of its distance from London, and its hourly commuui-
cition by steam boats ou the river, and good roads by
lind with the metropolis, would have strong claims on
the attention of the Council when this question came
before them for decision.

The Council directed their best thanks to be sent to
the Mayor and Corporation of Maidstone, for this in-
stance of their interest in the proceedings of the So-
ciety, and a copy to be enclosed of the information
required by the Resolution of Dec. 8th, 1S41, from all
towns recommended as suitable for the occasion of the
Society's Annual Meeting in any particular year.

Cottage Gardening.
The Council ordered that 3,000 impressions of Mr.
Main's Paper on Cottage Gardening should be printed off
immediately, and the type kept standing for further use ;
the copies being sent to the rooms of the Society, and
delivered on application to the various parties who
subscribed for them.

, Mr. Davenport, of Capesthorne, and Mr. Martin, of
Reigate, requested to become subscribers to the
work.

Agricultural Education.

M. Theremin, of Berlin, informed the Council of the
favourable reception of the Society'.; Journals by the
Mecklenburg Patriotic Union, and of their having de-
puted the Count OstensackeD, the principal Director
ot their Board, to take such steps in communicating
with the Society as would ensure a coutinued reception
of the work by that body.

M. Theremin presented to the Society, on the part of
the author, a copy of a dissertation on the question of
the education and proper training adapted for young
farmers ; by M. Gumprecht, principal farmer at Cvlse,
near Fryburg, in Silesia.

Mr. Mills, M.P , presented to the Society, on the
part of M. de Jetity, a collection of twenty-two of the
most important works connected with the Agricultural
Statistics of Belgium.

Mi". F. F. Welles, of Hereford, prsseated six por-
trait* (drawn by himself, from life, on stone) of the most
distinguished Prize Cattle at the Smithfiell Show
in 1841.

The Rev. Charles T. James, of Chelmsford, pre-
sented impressions ol Certificates of Merit for Labourers,
awarded by the Roding Labourers' Friend Society, and
the Surrey Agricultural Association.

These communications were received with thanks, and
referred to the Monthly Council in May.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
2nd of March.

At a Monthly Council, held on Wednesday, the
2nd of March, present, Henry Handley, Esq., President,
in the Chair, Duke of Richmond, Earl Spencer, Colo-
nel Austen, Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq., Thomas
William Bramston, Esq., M.P., Colonel Challoner,
John Wnlbanke Childers, Esq., M.P., Humphrey
Gibb~, Esq., Stephen Grantham, E*q., W. Fisher
Ilobbs, Esq., Samuel Jonas, Esq., Sir John V. B.
Johnstone, Bart., M.P., George Kimberley, E<=q.,
John Kinder, Esq., William Miles, Esq., M.P., Sir

John Mordaunt, Bart., M.P., Wm. Woods Page, Esq.,
Philip Pusev, Esq., M.P., Francis Pym, Esq., Rev. W.
L. Rham, M.A., William Shaw, Esq., T. H. S. B. Est-
court Sotheron, Esq., M.P., W. R. Crompton Slans-
field, Esq., M.P., and William Youutt, Esq.

Finances.
Colonel Challoner, Chairman of the Finance Com-
mittee, laid before the Council the state of the Society's
funds at the end of the previous month, reporting the
current cash balance in the hands of the Bankers on.
the 28th of February to be 1,340*. 2s. 8d. ; and the
amount of funded property, at the same date, 6,711/.
Colonel Challoner further reported, that the facilities of
transmission and direct communication afforded by
Post-office orders in the payment of subscriptions, had
been found so great and satisfactory to all partifs, that
the Committee having communicated with Mr. Pusey,
a3 Chairman of the Journal Committee, had decided to
recommend to the Council the inseition of a flip-leaf
in the next Journal, distinctly pointing out to the
Members of the Society generally the advantages of
this simple and direct mode of payment.

Exhibition of Implements at Bristol.

Mr. Pusey, M. P., then detailed to the Council his
views on the subjtctof the Regulation? for the Exhi-
bition of Agricultural Implements at the Meeting at
Bristol, and pointed out the desirableness of as few
restrictions as possible being applied to the conditions
under which the implements should be qualified for
prizes, leaving the various questions affec ing their
points of improvement, principle, and construction,
and their superiority in meiit to those of their class
formerly exhibited, to the general discretion, appre-
ciation, and judgment of the gentlemen who would be
entrusted as Judges with the decision of the prizes in
this department. The Council then resolved unani-
mously, That the Exhibition of Implements at the
Meeting at Bristol should be open to the admission of
agricultural implements of every kind; all of which
should be equally qualified, whether they had previously
gained prizes or not, to obtain any prizes which the
Judges might decide to award them, agreeably with the
Prize-Sheet of the Society.

The General Regulations and Prizes for Implements
recommended to the Council by the General Bristol
Committee, were declared to be finally adopted and
confirmed.

House for the Society.
The Duke of Richmond, at the request of the Pre-
sident, reported to the Council the progress already
made by the House Committee on the subject of a
residence adapted to the purposes of the Society, and
the transaction of its official business. The noble
Duke said that the Committee, not thinking that the
Society would be setting a good example to its Mem-
bers in making improvements until they could pay for
them, had unanimously decided that it would be ad-
visable to abandon all intention of undertaking the
erection of such a building as would be worthy of the
Society and its objects, until their reserved fund was
equal to so extensive an expenditure and outlay of
capital, and they therefore recommended that, a suitable
house should, in the meantime, be selected and rented
by the Society.

Election of Council.

Earl Spencer then brought forward his motion on
the subject of the future mode of election- the Council,
and the confirmation of a new bye-law, for defining the
terms and prescribing the form of the election; his
lordship entering into a preliminary detail of the motives
which had induced him to recommend this measure to
the notice of the Council at the present lime. The nobis
Earl expressed his perfect satisfaction at the result of
the elections o( Council which had already been made
at the General Meetings, and with the united and de-
voted interest the Members of these Councils had
evinced in promoting the objects, and carrying out the

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business of the Society ; and his Lordship therefore
selected the present time as one in every point ef view
best suited to the important change in the mode of
election and transfer of power to the Members at large,
he now recommended to the Council for their adoption.
However satisfactory might have been the result of the
present mode of election, he considered the principle on
which it was founded to be too narrow and restrictive
for an executive department, entrusted with powers so
extensive as those conferred by the Charter on the
Council, and for the representative body of so numerous
an assemblage of Members, many of whom were so
willing and capable of devoting their attention to its
immediate interests by their attendance at its Council
Meetings.

The Duke of Richmond expressed the satisfaction it
gave him to second this important proposition of his
noble friend Lord Spencer, and instead of his Grace's
entertaining any doubt as to the wisdom and sound
policy of the measure, he should have experienced even
still greater satisfaction to have had this freedom of
election supported and corroborated by some salutary
restriction, self-enacted by the Council itself on the ex-
ercise of its own powers, precluding the recommenda-
tion to the Anniversary Meeting of the re-election of so
many of those Members who went out of the Council by
rotation for the year, in order that new blood might be
infused into their system, and the wants and wishes of
the Members at large of the Society be brought suc-
cessively into notice by their representatives, who would
thus from time to time come into office, and have their
seats in the Council.

The President then put the question of the following
new Bye-Law, which was carried unanimously : —

I. That the words in the present Bye-Law, which direet

that all elections shall take place by a show of
hands, shall be omitted.

II. That the election of the President, Vice-Presidents,

and Trustees, shall take place by a show of hands.

III. That the election of the twenty-five members of
the Council, who are to replace the twenty-five
members who retire by rotation, shall take place
in the following manner : —

1. A list of the members of the Council who retire by

rotation, but who may be re-elected, shall be pre-
pared on or before the first of May, for the in-
spection of members at the Rooms of the
Society.

2. The Council shall prepare a list of the twenty-five

members whom they propose for election or re-
election, which shall be printed on paper large
enough to admit of additions being made to it;
and a copy of this printed list shall be given to
any member who applies for it of the Secretary,
either on the day of the Anniversary Meeting,
before 12 o'clock, or on any of the three days
(Sunday excepted) previously, between the
hours of 10 and 4.

3. The voting shall take place by each member who

wishes to vote giving in one of these lists, signed
by himself, with such names struck out or added
as bethinks fit, to the President at the Anniver-
sary Meeting, before the commencement of any
other business. When the lists have been given
in, three scrutineers shall be appointed by the
President, who will retire into another room, and
inspect the lists which have been given in, and
report forthwith to the Meeting in writing, the
names of the twenty-five members who shall have
the majority of votes: after which the papers
shall be immediately destroyed by the scrutineers.
If any of the lists should contain the names of
more than twenty-five members, it will not be
counted as a valid vote. — No member will be
a'lowed to vote who does not personally deliver
his list to the President. — In the event of an
equality of votes, the election to be decided by
the Meeting on a show of hands.

Annual District Meetings.

Mr. Shaw brought forward his motion on the tubject
of carrying out the objects of the Society in the most
extensive and useful manner in the successive districts
of the country in which the annual meetings were in
future to be held ; and having stated to the Council the
precise nature and bearings of his proposition, he
moved that a Committee should be appointed to con-
sider the expediency of the plans he then laid before
the Council in reference to this subject.

The Duke of Richmond having seconded Mr. Shaw's
motion, the following gentlemen were appointed to
form a Committee for considering and reporting to
the Council their opinion on the expediency of adopting
the suggestions thus proposed for their adoption
on this subject; namely, Mr. Shaw, Duke of Rich-
mond, Earl Spencer, Mr. Pusey, M.P., Mr. Miles,
M.P., Mr. Pym, Mr. Baker, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Hobbs,
and Mr. Jonas : —

1. To consider and report upon the expediency of

the Society's contributing a sum equal to any
sum which may be raised by subscription in any
district in which the Society may hereafter meet ;
such whole sum to be given in prizes within the
district, for cattle and implements especially re-
quired in that district ; and to promote any other
object, consistent with the objects of the Society,
which, in the opinion of the Council, may be
calculated to benefit that particular district.

2. To consider the propriety of offering a prize for

the best cultivated Farm in the distriot in which
the Society may meet ; sufficient notice to be
given to enable the competitors to go through the
rotation— as, for example, that in 1842, a prize be
offered for the best cultivated farm in the district
in which the Society may meet in the year
1846 ; in the year 1843 for 1847, in 1844 for
1848, and so on. That competitors be required
to give a statement of the course of management
and cropping during the two years previous to
the commencement of the rotation embracing
the period of competition ; to render a de-
tailed account of the whole system of manage-
ment as regards cattle and sheep, tillage, ma-
nure, produce, expenses, and proceeds during
the rotation, with the value of the land and
stock at the commencement and conclusion of
the rotation.

3. To consider the propriety of offering prizes

or medals, or both, for the best ploughing, and
for the best performance in any other brauches
of agricultural labour, as sheep-shearing,
hedging and ditehing, drilling grain, rick mak-
ing, thatching, &c, improvement in which may
be most needed in any district, such prizes or me-
dals to be given in the year in which the Society
may meet in that district ; general good con-
duct to be taken into consideration in award-
ing the prizes.

Prize Essays for 1842.

The Secretary announced to the Council that he had
received numerous Essays sent in by the 1st of March,
to compete for the various premiums offered by the
Society for the Prize Essays of the present year, on
the several subjects selected by the Council for compe-
tition ; namely,— 1. On the Drill Husbandry of Tur-
nips ; 2. On the Natural History, Anatomy, Habits,
and Economy of the Wire-worm ; 3. On the Mechani-
cal Properties of the Plough ; 4. On Prognostics, or
Natural Signs of Changes in the Weather ; 5. On
Cheese-making ; 6. On the Rotation of Crops best
suited for Light Lands ; 7. On the Rotation of Crops
best suited for Heavy Lands; 8. On the varieties of
Wheat suited to different soils, in order to ascertain
what is the best wheat which each soil is capable of
producing ; 9. On the Food of Plants.

The Council decided that the Journal Committee
should be requested to nominate the Judges whose

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

303

duty it would be to examine the different essays in eacli
of these clashes, and, after a careful scrutiny and mature
investigation of their comparative merits, to award the
prize to the most deserving, or withhold it altogether
in case none of the Essays of a class should be thought
worthy of the premium.

[ The Essays " On the best mode of curing Butter for
future consumption, and preservation in Foreign Coun-
tries," having been allowed an additional three months
for their being sent in— namely, till the 1st of July— in
order that the samples of butter might be obtained
from grass-fed cows, milked between the 20th of May
and the 20th of June of the present year, were not re-
ceived on the present occasion.]

Analysis of Soils.

Mr. Pusey, M.P., announced to the Council the de-
sire ot the Earl of Lincoln, her Majesty's Chief Com-
missioner ol Woods and Forests, to promote by every
means in his power the objects of the Society and the
advancement of the agricultural prosperity of the
kingdom ; and that it had especially occurred to his
Lordship that it might be within the immediate pro-
vince of his department, in connexion with the office
of Woods and Forests, to have an opportunity of
evincing practically, as a first step, the interest he felt
ou this subject, in rendering the Museum of Economic
Geology, already under the control of the Government,
instrumental in effecting a great and essential work to
the cause of agriculture, interesting alike to the geolo-
gist and the cultivator of the soil, as well as of national
importance from its influence on the resources of the
country ; and this was, to obtain at the expense of the
Government, but under the immediate advice and
direction of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,
a complete and systematic analysis of the soils of the
kingdom ; the various soils of the same geological for-
mation in different parts of the country, and particularly
those which had been found by experience to be best
adapted for particular crops (as wheat soils, beau soils,
fertile or barren soils, &c, &c.) ; to be taken in
succession from one end of the kingdom to the other,
obtaining twenty analyses of each particular soil, and
thus procuring in the course of one year about 1000
such analyses, all made by chemists of the first-rate
character for analytical investigations of this kind, who
would report not only the chemical constitution, but
the mechanical texture and properties of each soil, and
the whole published from time to lime in the pages of
the Journal of the Society. Mr. Pusey concluded by
expressing his assurance that such a work would not
only be of the highest interest and importance in an
agricultural point of view, but would be a national un-
dertaking worthy of the government.

The Council then immediately agreed unanimously
to the following resolution, a copy of which they re-
quested the President to communicate on their part,
and with their best acknowledgments, to the Earl of
Lincoln, for this proof of his interest in the promotion
of the national objects of the Society : —

" Resolved,— That the Council of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England return their thanks to Lord
Lincoln for the communication he has made to them
of his desire to render the Museum of Economic Geo-
logy useful to the advancement of agricultural know-
ledge ; and beg to express their opinion, that a full
examination and analysis of the various soils of the
country, conducted systematically, as well with regard
to their mechanical texture as to their chemical consti-
tution, with reference to known similarity of their agri-
cultural nature, and to any distinctive agricultural
character which different geological formations may be
supposed to possess, would be likely to produce a body
of recorded facts, to which scientific enquiry might be
applied with a reasonable hope of arriving at the deter-
mination of some general principles of cultivation."

Banks of Rivers.
Mr. Raymond Barker expressed to the Council
the satisfaction it gave him, as Chairman of the Thames
Commission, to confirm Mr. Lawford's view of the

desirableness of making inquiries respecting the wear-
ing away of lands adjacent to rapid and other streams,
such injurious effects being so peculiarly observable
throughout the whole line of the River Thames under
the management of the Commissioners, that complaints
were continually made to them of loss of land from the
force of the stream operating against the banks ; while
on the other hand they scarcely less frequently found
deposits of lands and shoals growing up where hitherto
none had existed : and Mr. Barker adduced a striking
instance of this change of place and surface effected by
the Thames in its action on the adjacent lands. Some
few years ago the Commissioners had sold a small
meadow of a certain extent, with the reservation to
themselves in perpetuity of eighteen feet in width for
the public Towing Path ; under which provision, while
they continued to enjoy an adequate path, the owner's
residue had decreased in extent by (he believed) nearly
one-third. Mr. Barker could not pledge himself to the
accuracy of the detail of this proportion, but he would
obtain from their General Surveyor, and have the plea-
sure of laying befoie the Council, further facts con-
firmatory of the damaging effects of the river; as
a very recent instance of which, Sir Clayton East,
Bart., a Member of the Society, owning a considerable
property in Berkshire, bounded by the Thames, had
just had occasion to complain to the Commissioners
of extensive injury from this cause.

Agricultural Improvement in Ireland.

Mr. Blacker, of Armagh, having communicated
to the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Downshirc,
Mr. Pusey, Mr. Shaw, and other members of the
Society, as well as to the Council, a statement of the
successful operation of his plan for improving the
management of agricultural property in Ireland, con-
sisting in the engagement of district agriculturists, or
person* who shall be employed on estates, to ride over
them and suggest improvements, especially in drain-
ing, giving confidence both to Landlords and Tenants in
the expenditure of money ; the papers connected with
this subject were laid before the Council at that
meeting. In Ireland, infinite service had been
rendered to many of the districts, by placing
Scotch and English Stewards, at the request of the
Landowners, to go over constantly a certain number of
acres, from 200 to 10,000, according to the size of the
property and the views of the proprietor; the sum of
25/. to 75/. being given to each Steward, and a horse
allowed for the purpose of getting over much ground
in a short time. Mr. Blacker intended that these
Stewards should act as agricultural teachers of the
Irish Tenantry, and proceed in the districts of the
Poor Law Unions, conceiving " that the agri-
culturist who has made himself acquainted with
all the modern improvements in agriculture, rnu4 be a
better judge of what they ought to do, in the culiivation
of their farms, than what they can possibly be them-
selves, situated as they are in a remote part of Ireland,
where modern improvements have not yet reached.''

The Council expressed the satisfaction it gave them
to learn that this mode of improvement had been
attended with s»o much advantage in Ireland, but they
much doubted whether it would be favourably received
or could be successfully applied in the agricultural dis-
tricts of England.

Guano Manure.

The President laid before the Council a letter he
had received from Mr. John Hall, 2, Mersey Court,
Liverpool, stating that two further cargoes of Guano
had arrived in that port, and that if the President or
his friends were disposed to buy 100 tons, he could
procure the article of the best quality at 14 pounds or
guineas per ton, or perhaps at even a less rate- Mr.
Hall thought it probable that the dark coloured Boli-
vian Guano might shortly be bought at 10/. per ton,
and stated that the Bolivian had probably more phos-
phate of lime, and the Peruvian Guano more ammonia
in its composition.

The President communicated a paper '* on sod-

304

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

drainin-, drainage wilh the mole plough, and thorn
drainiug," by Mr. H. M. Brown, of Heckington ; and
a p. i per on destroying' the Turnip-fly by means of cream
ef lime applied to the plant, by Mr. Huekvale, of
Over-Norton, Oxfordshire.

The Duke of Richmond presented a copy of the
Premiums offered by the High'aud and Agricultural
■Society of Scotland for the present year and to be
awarded at the Society's Annual Meeting to be held at
Edinburgh on the 2nd of August next ; and also copies of
plain aiid inte ligible instructions on " The Farm,"
and " The Kitchen Garden," selected from " Loudon's
Encyclopeediaof Agricu'ture/'&the" British \lmanac,"
(by permission of ihe respective publishers), and adapti d
by a Member of the Society to the comprehension of
his cottwge tenantry iu Kent, and the children who
attended the schools of Dow, Noithend, and Farn-
borough. Colonel Wright Vaughan, President of the
Peterborough Agricultural Association, transmitted a
communication (which was directed to be laid before
the Council when the question of the appoint incut of
Judges for the Annual Country Meeting came under
consideration) on distinct Judges of Sheep being
appointed in future — one for the Buckley breed, another
for the Burgess breed, and a third favourable to the
form of the Buckley breed on an extended sc;ile. Mr.
Stephens presented the third part of his " Hook of the
Farm;" and Mr. Lloyd Walrond, of Hardwicke, the
second Report of the Gloucester Farmers' Club, sug-
gesting the expediency of the Society's collecting the
Reports of all the Country Clubs, and bindiug them
together for circulation, Mr. Walrond conceiving- that
by this means many advantages would be obtained,
and the local discussions rendered more extensively
useful.

The best thanks of the Council were ordered for
these communications, which were referred to the
Journal Committee.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
yth of March,

At a Council held on Wednesday, the 9ih of
March, present, His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
K.G , in the chair, David Barclay, Esq., M.l\, Thomas
William BramatOB, Esq., M. P., French Burke, Esq.,
John WalbnnkeChilders, Esq., M.P., Humphrey Gibbs,
Esq., Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., M.P., William Miles,
Esq., M.P., and William Woods Page, Esq.

House and Seal Committees.
The Duke of Richmond laid before the Council the
Report of the House Committee, and also that of the Seal
Committee ; the former was referred to the Special
Council appointed to be held on Wednesday next, the
16th instant; and the latter, recommending the Great
Seal of the Society to be executed by Mr. VVyon, Her
Majesty's Chief- Medallist at the Mint, was received
and adopted by the Council.

Dibbling Wheel for Mangold- Wuhzel.

William Miles, Esq., M.P., submitted to the inspec-
tion of the Council the Dibbling machine referred to in
his Paper on the Cultivation of Mangold- Wurzel in the
last part of the Society's Journal. Mr. Miles found
that the gnate*t care was required in deposiiing the
seed into the ground, for if buried too deep it would not
Tegetate ; and to ensure, therefore, a proper depth, he
employed the implement then submitted to their notice.
This machine consisted of an iron wheel, about 3 feet
in diameter, in the flat circumference of which projected
at every 18 inches distance, the iron dibbles, which
were 2j inches in length, being broad at the base, and
tapering and rounded at the end, shouldered on the front
side of the rim, and clamped with screws at the back.
The wheel being supplied with a pair of handles (like
a barrow) was used by being wheeled upon the top of the
ridge by a man walking in the furrow, and holes were
formed, which, from the construction of the machine,
could never run too deep, and into which the seeds

were deposited by women and boys following the wheel,
and generally covering the seed as they advance, by
drawing the foot across the ridge over the holes ; the
roller following and completing the sowing. Mr.
Miles states, that one man with 'he wheel kept six
persons well employed in depositing the seed after him ;
and that since he had adopted this system (recotn-
men led to him by his friend Mr. Webb Hall), his crop
had never failed.

Protection of Embankments.

\V. Woods Page, E-q. laid before the Council an ac-
count of the mode by which the encroachments of
the sea were successfully resisted in the I-dand of Wal-
cheren, the baneful effects ol whose malaria, rising from
its low and swampy s'tuation, were but too well-known
and recorded in our Naval History. Mr. Page states
that when he visited Middleburgh, the oapital of Wal-
cheren, in the year 1784, the whole island was lower
than the sea at high tide, but was protected from inun-
dation by about three miles' extent of its s.indy coast
being secured from the disintegrating effects of the re-
flux ^aves by a matting of straw.

Joshua Rodwell, Esq., of Aiderton Hall, Suffolk,
presented a Paper on the Cultivation of Lucerne ; Henry
Gaitskall, Esq. of Whitehaven, a Paper on the Culture
of the Potato; J. H. Hodgetts Foley, Esq., of Prest-
wood, a Copy of the last Report of the Stewponcy, and
The Hon. H. W. Wilson, of the Leicestershire Agricul-
tural Societies. These communications were received
with the best thanks of the Council, and referred to the
Journal Committee.

The Council then aeljourned to Wednesday next, the
16th of March.

Special Council. — March 16.

At a Meeting of the Council summoned for the spe-
cial purpose of receiving the Report of the House Com-
mittee, present, His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
in the Chair, Earl Spencer, Earl of Euston, Earl
of Lovelace, Richard Westwood Baker, Esq., David
Barclay, Esq., M. P., Thomas Raymond Bailer,
Esq., Thomas William Bramston, Esq., M. P.,
French Burke, Esq , Colonel Challoner, James
Dean, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., .Robert Henry
Ilur.-t, Esq., Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bart.,
M.P., William Miles, Esq., M.P., William Woods
Page, Esq., Philip Pusey, Esq., M. P., Rev. W. L.
Rham, M.A., and W. R. Cronspton Stansfield, Esq.,
M.P.-

The Chairman having read to the Meeting the requi-
sition, signed, agreeably with the terms of the Bye-
laws, by a Trustee, Vice President, and three Members
of Council, authorizing the Special Council to meet on
that day, and the President's sanction and approval of
the same, proceeded to detail the progress of the enqui-
ries of the Committee in selecting a suitable ho'ise for
the future transaction of the official and general business
of the Society. The Committee having decided at their
first meeting that it would be unwise, in the present slate
of their funds, to speculate in the erection of any new
building adapted to the extensive objects and numerous
prospective plans of the Society, by the hazardous out-
lay of the whole of their funded property, and the pro-
bable necessity thatwould arise, beyond thisexpenditure,
of a loan to meet the whole of the expences, determined
unanimously to recommend to the Council the safer
course of renting under favourable terms a suitable
house in some convenient and well known locality.
Having made numerous enquiries in every direction for
such a residence, both by the private personal exerlious
of their own members and public advertisement, they
had been fortunate in meeting wilh a house in every
point of view adapted for their purposes, and which
they now recommended most strongly to the notice of
the Council.

The home selected by the Committee was the free-
hold property of Sir George Talbot, situated on the
north side of Hanover-square, and immediately adjoin-
ing to the mansion of the Earl ol Ilarewood. The an-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

305

nual rent on the house was 300/., and on the fixtures
6QI.; the freeholder being willing- to grant to the Soci-
ety a lease of the property for a term of 99 years, to
grant immediate possession to the Society, and to require
at the perfect leisure and convenience of the Council
the final execution of the legal documents.

The Chairman then read the Report of the Commit-
tee which on the motion of David Barclay, Esq.
M.P., seconded by W. R. Crompton Stansfield, Esq.

M.f., was unanimously adopted and confirmed by the
Council.

The Council then decided that the House Committee
should be instructed to meet on Wednesday next, to take
legal measures for preparing: the lease of the house, and
to make every arrangement for the transfer of the busi-
ness of the Society from their present rooms at No. 5
Cavendish-square, to their House No. 12, Hanover-
square by Saturday the 2nd of April next; the Com-
mittee being further requested to report to the Council
their recommendation of the steps to be taken in refer-
ence to preparation and occupation of their new resi-
dence.

Mr. Dean, as one of the Members of the House Com-
mittee, laid before the Council various plans showing
the capabilities of the new residence thus selected for
the Society; and read to the meeting an explanatory
statement of the details of his suggestions in the appro-
priation of the rooms to different purposes : when the
Council acknowledged their thanks to Mr. Dean for the
pains he had taken on this subject, and for his favouring
them with an inspection of his plans,
spection.

The Duke of Richmond then left the Chair, and the
special meeting was declared to be adjourned.

Ordinary Meeting of the Council.
At an ordinary meeting of the Council, held on the
same day, Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P., in the Chair.

Mineral Bone— Earth.

Mr. Pusey, M.P., reported to the Council, as Chair-
man of the Geological Committee, the result of Pro-
lessor Phillips's examination of the specimens of Native
I hosphate of Lime from Estramadura, presented lothe
Society by Mr. Kimberley at a former meeting of the
Council, and referred to the Geological Committee for
their opinion of its value in an agricultural point of
view, as a substitute to a certain extent, and as far as
the phosphate of lime was concerned, for bone-dust as
a manure,

Mr. Phillips found that this specimen contained bo
less than 90 per cent, of the phosphate, and he was
therefore of opinion that ic would be a most important
manuring application, provided its mechanical texture
co* Id be modified in such a manner as to assimilate it to
that of the phosphate existing in bone-dust. Mr Pu^ey
reported that Professor Phillips's investigations on this
point had led to a successful result, and that he had dis-
covered a mode by which this valuable mineral sub-
stance could be brought into a fit state for application
as a manure ; but he considered that it would be im-
portant that a full examination of the action of this
substance should be instituted previously to any steps
being taken to import it as an article of commerce.

Mr. Pusey then communicated the willingness of Dr.
Daubeny to undertake a journey into Spain, at his own
expense, for the purpose of inspecting the geological
occurrence of this mineral in that country, provided the
Society would procure for him from the British autho-
rities a safe passport through the wi'd and lawless dis-
tncts of Spain, through which he should have to travel
in pursuing the course of this enquiry.

On the motion of Mr. Miles, M.P., seconded by Mr.
Dean, it was unanimously resolved, that the Council
accept with their best thanks this offer of Dr. Daubeny
and that Mr. Pusey, their Chairman, be requested to
open a communication with the Earl of Aberdeen
Her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Foreign
Department, with a view to obtain from his Lordship

the requisite passports and letters for the protection and
safeguard of Dr. Daubeny during his journey.

Machine for Spreading Gvpsum.
Francis Rotch, Esq., of Maple Grove, Ostego
County, State of New York, in America, presented to
the Society a beautiful model of a simple, cheap, and
effective machine for distributing gypsum evenly over
the surface of land, at any given quantity per acre.
I hi* machine is the invention of Mr. Hatch, of the State
of New York, and this model is made to the scale of one
inch to a foot, and consists of a pair of shafts connected
with an axle-tree and two wheels. From the middle of
the axle-tree rises the seat for the driver, and across the
middle of the shafts is the box for containing and
distributing the gypsum. This long wooden box, or
triangular trough, has a moveable bottom, set with
upright studs along its upper and inner surface,
and is so fixed higher or lower by screws as to
form a greater or less opening for the gypsum to
escape, while the toothed rod forming the bottom has a
continual motion right and left as the machine moves
onward, stirring up the gypsum and regulating its
escape downwards on the land. This lateral motion of
the rod is occasioned by a small toothed wheel attached
to one of the two large wheels of the carriage, acting on
a cog-wheel and double crank ; and whenever the ma-
chine is drawn forward, the motion of one of its
wheels is communicated by this arrangement to the
bottom of the gypsum-box, which being maintained in
alternate movement backwards and forwards, the
gypsum is kept in a state of continual agitation within
the box, and allowed to make its even escape out of it
along the regulated opening to which it is previously

Seta

Mr. Rotch states that he has employed this machine
with perfect success for the last three years, and has
found it applicable, not only to the case of gypsum, but
for sowing grain and grass seed broad-cast; and for
this latter purpose a second rod is substituted, set with
wire teeth, one inch apart, and standing up half an
inch, the crevice along the bottom of the box or trough
being narrow or enlarged as before by the screws, ac-
cording to the quantity per acre to be sown. 'Mr
Rotch adds, that by the use of this machine the heavy
dirty job of sowing gypsum is avoided, and much time
saved ; its simplicity and cheapness giving it, in his opi-
nion, great value; while a single horse and boy can do
the work as fast as the horse can walk over the ground.
1 he boy by his weight on the axle steadies the machine
and by the movement of his foot can throw it in or out
of gear at pleasure. The gypsum is required to be well
ground and perfectly dry, in order to its working freely.

The best thanks of the Council were voted to Mr.
Rotch for this model and communication.

Constitution of Soils.
Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., M.P., communicated to
the Society the results obtained by Professor Phillips
in analyzing the natural soils of the wastes on the three
principal geological formations in Cornwall, namely
Ihekillas (or slate), the granite, and the serpentine;'
out of which had arisen the vast quantities of fertile
land brought under the plough within the last few
years, either b.y the addition of something wanting in
their composition, or the removal of something delete-
rious.

The analysis of each of these original wastesoils, resting
on the rocks in question, gave two remarkable facts : 1st.
J hat the component parts, and their proportions in each
soil, were nearly alike, while the rocks on which they
rested were so different. 2nd. That each Foil had a
deficiency in the predominating ingredients of the rock ;
and the presence, on the contrary, of a component part
not to be found in the rock. Thus the granite soil con-
tains no potash, while the felspar in granite contains 17
per cent, of that alkali; the serpentine soil contains no
magnesia, while the rock itself contains from 30 to 40
per cent, of that earth ; and the serpentine soil, on the
contrary, contains 20 percent, of alumina, while the
rock itself contains none. Yet, as Sir Charles Lemon

306

THE ! ARMEtt'S MAGAZINE.

observes, these are indestructible substances ; and if the
soil had in each case been formed by decomposition of
the rock beneath, a considerable quantity of each of
the substances of the rock must have been present in
the soil. Sir Charles adds, that he should have been led
to doubt the accuracy of the analysis of the serpentine
soil, had not Dr. Daubeny analysed the same soil a year
or two ago, and arrived at the same result.

Cardiff Farmers' Club.
Evan David, Esq., Chairman of the Cardiff Farmers'
Club, informed the Council of the continued progress of
that association, the members having amounted to about
100, and the list of donations being well filled. Mr. David
transmitted a copy of his Lecture delivered before the
Club, on the subject of Artificial Manures; and the fol-
lowing unanimous opinion s greed to by the Members
after the delivery of the Lecture, and at the close of their
subsequent discussion: — " That the abstraction of any
portion of the Hay and Straw from die Farms upon which
it had been grown/must impoverish the same, unless such
loss is made up by artificial or other foreign manures.''"
The Club recommended the following artificial manures
as those which in their experience had been found to pos-
sess fertilizing properties the most favourable to vege-
tation, namely, Bone-dust, Rape-cake, Nitrate of Soda,
Clarke's Desiccated Compost, Guano, and Liquid Ma-
nure.

Black Caterpillar.

William Palin, Esq., of Stapleford, near Chester, in-
formed the Council of the complete removal of the
Black Caterpillar from his crop ot Swedes, in the year
1836, by starlings, which being driven, by the repeated
firing of a gun, from theirwerk of devastation on the fruit
of an adjoining cherry-tree, had alighted on the turnip
ground ; and thedestruction of a crop of red apple-pot atoes
planted that year in the same field, by numerous small
flies, which attached themselves to the under-side of the
leaves. Mr. Palin states that nearly the whole of the
common varieties of turnips in that part of the country,
and in North-Wales, were destroyed by the same kind
of insect, while the Swedes and the common sorts of
turnips and potatoes escaped injury along the sea- coast
of North Wales; and he attributes the ravage- of these
insects to the dryness of the summer of 1836.

Mr. William Were, General Commission and Ship-
ping Agent, of Botolpli Lane, expressed h:s willingness
to communicate any facts of importance connected with
the Butter and Cheese trade, which his experience
might suggest. The Rev. W. Rham presented to the
Journal Committee a paper from a recent French work
on the comparative value of food for cattle, with a tabu-
lar statement of average results. Mr. We-twood B;iker
presented copies of " The Constitution and Rules of the
Rutland General Friendly Institution," together with an
Appendix, and the ninth General Report of the Institu-
tion ; and Mr. John Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, com-
municated his notes on the American and Canadian
Agriculture : all of which were received with thanks,
and referred to the Journal Committee.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
23rd of March.

draining tiles produced by Ainslie's Patent Machine ;
and also a communication from M. de Bonval on an
improved system of husbandry ; and Mrs.Coote, of
Richmond Hill, near Clifton, a model of her Sheep-
weighing, dipping, and washing apparatus.— These
communications were received with thanks, and re-
ferred to the Journul Committee.

The Council then adjourned over Easter to Wednes-
day the 6th of April.

At a Council held on Wednesday, the 23rd of
March, present, his Grace the Duke of Richmond,
K. G. in the Chair, Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq.,
Thomas William Bramston, E*q.,M.P., French Burke,
Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., William Woods Page,
Esq., and William Shaw, Esq., the following gentlemen
were elected members of the Society.

Mr. Burke laid before the Council the manuscript of
his work on "Cottage Economy and Cookery," which
was received with thanks, and referred to the Journal
Committee.

Sir Charles Burrell, Bart., M. P., communicated a
letter on a remarkable crop of oats, and Sir John W.
Lubbock, Bart,, on the application of bones as a manure
for grass lands. Mr. Shaw presented a specimen of the

NEW MEMBERS.

The following gentlemen have been elected
members of the Society during the month.

Attwood, William, Leckford, Stockbridge, Hants.
Ballard, James, Cowbridere, Glamorganshire

Barrow, Philip, 2, Stafford-street, Bond-street, Lon-
don

Booker, Thomas William, Velindra House, Cardiff,
Glamorganshire

Booth, William-on, Woodbury Hall, Biggleswade,
Beds.

Brown, Thomas Peach, Tansor Lodge, Oundle, North-
amptonshire

Buller, Sir Anthony, Pound, near Plymouth, Devon.

Cairns, Jeremiah (Sec. Dock Compan-y), Newport,
Monmouthshire

('airier, Thomas, Langanan, Ross,Heref©rdshire

Caudwell, Henry, West Ilsley, Newbury, Berkshire

Charley, John, Finaghy, near Belfast, Ireland

Clerk, Edmund Hugh, Westhoh.ie House, Shepton
Mailet, Somersetshire

Clinton, General, Sir William Henry, G.C. B., 6, Aud-
ley-square, London ; and Cockenhatch, Royston,
Herts.

Coles, Robert, Clifton, Bristol

Collings, Daniel Harson, Sneed Park, near Bristol

Corbett, J. S., Cardiff, Glamorganshire

Dallow, William, Mawley, Cleobury-Mortimer, Salop

Duneombe, The Hon. Octavius, M.P., 24, Arlington
Street, London

Dunning, Richard, Levaton, South-Tawton, Devon.

Easlhope, Sir John, Bart., M. P., 10, Salisbury street,
Strand, and Fir Grove, We > bridge, Surrey

Eastwick, William Henry, Keynsham, Somersetshire

Enniskellen, The Earl of, F.R.S., Florence Court,
Fermanagh, Ireland

Fookes, Henry, jun., Monkton, Blandford, Dorsetshire

Fyfe, Thomas, 26, Tavistock -street, Covent Garden

Gibbs, G. Belmont, Bristol

Green, Robert, Od-ione Hill, Measham, Leicester-
shire

Grutt, Collings De Jersey, Isle of Guernsey

(jyde, Alfred, Painswick, Stroud, Gloucestershire

Haber field, John Kerle, Clifion, Bristol

Harries, Gilbert, Llanwneves, Haverfordwest, S. W.

Hewitt, Charles Hardcastle, Somerset-square, Bristol

Hibbert, Nathaniel, Wemden, Watford, Herts.

Holdsworth, Richard, East Wondhay, Newbury, Berks.

Hopton, Rev. John, Canon -Frome Court, Ledbury,
Herefordshire

Horlock, Keeling William, (Master of the Wiltshire
Fox Hounds) Ash wick, near Bath

Johnson, Thomas, Cheapside, Leicester

Jones, the Rev. John, Penlar, near Cardigan, S. W.

Jones, John, (Chairman of the Quarter Sessions at
Brecon,) GLmhonddu, near Brecon

Kinlock, John, Logie, Kirriemuir, N. B.

Lawrence, William, The Greenway, Cheltenham, Glou-
cestershire

Lawrence, William Scott, Stapleton, near Bristol

Lee, Henry T., Dinaspowis, Cardiff, Glamorganshire

Leadbeater, John Beeston, Brentough, Melton-Movv-
bray, Leicestershire

Leeke, Rev. Wrilliam, Holbrooke, Derby

Lethbridge, John King, Tregeare, Launceston, Corn-
wall

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

307

Lewis, Henry, Hendrp, near Carmarthen, S. W.
Lubbock, Sir Jolm William, Dart., Vice-President and
Treasurer o!' the Royal Society, and Vice-Chancellor
of the University of London, St. James's Place
Meyer, Philip Herman, Stondon Place, Ongar, Essex
Monckton, Edward, Somerlord Hull, Wolverhampton,

Staff*.
Oldfield, Edmund, A«hill, Walton, Norfolk
Perkins, Edward, Monknash, Cowbridge, Glamorgan-
shire
Price, William, Wernddu, Abergavenny, Monmouth-
shire
Prir.ay, Samuel, Linton, near Gloucester
Powell, John, Boweston Castle, Glamorganshire
Powell, John, (Clerk of the Peace for the county of

Brecon,) Watton Mount, Brecon, S.W.
Robarts, A. G., Lombard-sireet, London
Roper, William, Bayham Abbey, Lamberhurst, Kent
Rotch, Thomas D., Drumiinglord House, Newton-
Stewart, N.B.
Ru-sell, Wilham, Sandy Down Farm, Leckford, Stock-
bridge, Hants.
Sadler, Isaac, Houghton Down Farm, Leckford,

Stockoridge, Hants.
Shelley, John, Spring Field, Horsham, Sussex
Simpson, \V. W. 8, Montague-place, Russell-square,

London
Simpson, John, Pyle, Glamorganshire
Smith, James, Houghton, Stockbridge, Hants.
Spencer, John, Leckford, Stockbridge, Hants.
Tate, John, Guyzance Ean House, Warkworth, Nor-
thumberland
Thornthwaite, Joseph, Ackleby House, Cockermouth,

Cumberland
Thorpe, Thomas, Liighton, Huntingdonshire
Topham, Robert, Mowthorpe, Malton, Yorkshire
Tween, Wilham, Hostage, Sible-Hedmgham, Halstead,
' Es<tx

Walrond, Lloyd Baker, Hardwick, near Gloucester
Wason, Rigby, M.P. Kddonan, Newton-Stewart, N.B.
Water park, Lord, Deveridge Hall.Uttoxeter, Stafford-

shire
Whapham, William, Bonvilston, Glamorganshire
Wigg, Wright, South Green, East Dereham, Norfolk.
Wi hums, Ciiarles Crofts, Roath Court, Cardiff, Gla-

morgamhire.
Yeomans, John, Moretou-upon-Lugg, Hereford-hire.

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

It will be seen by the Report of the Proceedings of
the Royal Agricultural Society, that a house has been
taken lor the use of the Society, No. 12, Hanover-
square. The followingdescription of it will be interest-
ing in the Member* of the Society : —

The ground floor consists of an entrance hall and
principal staircase, and one good room fronting the
square twenty-si* feet long, seventeen feet wide, and
fourteen feet high, well calculated lor the library and
reading-room. A middle room seventeen feet long,
fourteen feet wide, and fourteen feet high, suitable for
the Secretary, and beyond that another room ten feet
long, nine feet wide, adapted as an office for one or two
clerks; adjoining is a back staircase. It is proposed
to make a communication by means of glazed folding
doors between the Library and the Secretary's room, as
it will give the Secretary ready access to the Library,
and make the supervision of it more perfect.

On ihe first floor there is a large room fronting the
square, one portion extending over the proposed
L brary and entrance hall, and the remainder over the
Secretary's room ; the fir>t portion is twenty-seven feet
long, nineteen feet wide, and fifteen feet high ; the se-
cond portion is twenty feet long, seventeen feet wide, and
fittten feet high. These two portions as one room wouid
accommodate all the Members who usually attend the

General Meetings of the Society in May and December,
and for the remainder of the year would be used by the
Council and Committees. The portion next to the
square would be generally used for the ordinary Meet-
ings of the Council, and the other portion for Com-
mittees.

The second floor and attics consist of -ix rooms and a
large closet. It is proposed that these be appropriated
to the use of the Secretary.

The front room on the basement story bping large, will
afford accommodation for the porter and his wife.

At the back of the house there is ample space on
which to erect a spacious room with galleries for a mu-
seum. By clearing away the kitchen and other offices
on the basement floor beneath the court or yard, which
is now upon a level with the ground floor of the house,
and by removing the two small rooms which are on the
north side of the back staircase, there is sufficient space
for a room with two tiers of galleries forty-six feet long,
twenty-five feet wide in the clear, and forty feet high.

The sides of the galleries would receive glazed cases,
in which to preserve specimens of all the varieties ot
White Straw Corn and Grain, Seeds of all kinds, dried
specimens of all the nutritive, natural, and artificial
Grasses. Specimens of Manures which nourish and
give substance to the land ; fertilizers, as salts and oils
in their varied form*, which assist vegetation, but
which make no permanent improvement in the soil.
Composts, as Chalk, Marl, Peat, and other earths which,
assist vegetation and increase the substance of the sur-
face soil ; Rocks, as Lias which in a pure or prepared
state aid vegetation— rocks useful for building purposes ;
and, indeed, specimens of all substpnees, the scientific
knowledge of which can aid the practical farmer in the
improvement of the land, and of the seeds and plants
capable of producing the largest and most valuable
return.

On the lower floor of the Museum the Implement
which have gained the Prizes of the Society at the pre-
vious Meeting iu the country, might be exhibited for
a period ; such implements to be afterwards removed
at a time to be fixed by the Council.

The Library and Reading Rooms, from its size and
situation, will" no doubt be fitted up in a manner worthy
of the Society; the quantity of books on agriculture,
and the sciences connected with it, already presented
to the Society, is very considerable, and will, doubt-
less, continue to increase. Here the distinguished
Foreigner and our own nobility and gentry, may meet
the British farmer face to face, each emulating the
other in the truly philanthropic work of promoting im-
provements in agriculture.

THE NEW TARIFF.— CATTLE,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARR-LANE EXPRESS.

SiR) — Farmers appear to think the low duty of the
proposed uew tariff on foreign cattle, sheep, aid fresh
and salted meat, will not affect them, as there are none
to be exported from foreign parts.

Two years ago I was travelling in Hungary, &c,
down the Danube. On the banks of the Danube I saw
numerous herds of cattle, varying in number from one
hundred to one thousand head. I could have purchased
any number at 21. per head, as they are only killed for
their hides and tallow, the fles.h being allowed to rot
on the ground. The beasts would weigh from 80 to
120 stones, of 8lbs. I believe that any number could
be at this moment purchased lor 21. per head.

The distance to Hamburgh would be from six, seven,
and eight hundred miles for them to travel (there are
railways part of the way) to England. I leave the
calculation of the cxp- nse f bringing them to England
to the farmer. I will say 5/. per head, which will
greatly exceed the co*t.

Any Englishman who has attended the wool fairs in
Germany and Hungary will know that there is no want

x 2

308

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of sheep in those countries. Perhaps your readers also
may have heard the reply of Prince Ksterhazy to the
nobleman who boasted a tenant had 5,000 sheep — " his
fat her could reckon more shepherds."

I will not take up any more ol your paper except to
entreat you to call the attention of my brother farmers
to what, in two years' time, must injuriously affect their
interests. Your obedient servant,

Edward Barrett Curteis.

Heathfield Park, Sussex,
March 2Alh.

THE CORN LAWS AND THE NEW
TARIFF.

We invite attention to a letter on the proposed
changes in the Corn Laws and duties upon agri-
cultural produce, by Mr. Jonas, of Ickleton. It
is written in a sincere, honest, and zealous spirit.
He calls upon his brother farmers lo petition — to
rouse from their lethargy: we trust he will not
call in vain. We have no doubt he will recal to
his recollection that, in anticipation of the events
which have now occurred, we long since urged him
to prevail upon those who in conjunction with him-
self were endeavouring to counteract the effect pro-
duced by the hired lecturers of the opponents of
the Corn Laws by using similar means, to expend
their funds in arranging machinery for preparing
petitions in every parish in the kingdom. Had
that been done, in one short week a demonstration
might have been made which would have awakened
the chosen representatives of the agricultural class
from the political mesmerism which lias been prac-
tised upon them by Sir It. Feel. Many of our
readers will recollect the bitterness with which we
have been assailed — the obloquy which has been
cast upon us — as being inimical to the best inte-
rests of the farmers, because we opposed the enter-
taining the discussion of the Corn Laws, and such
like subjects, at the meetings of Agricultural So-
cieties and Farmers' Clubs. There are many
Societies and Farmers' Clubs which, by their exist-
ing regulations, have retained the right to discuss
those qu est ions. Where are they now ? What are
they doing? Quiet as mice. Loud, noisy, and
obstinate in retaining a privilege which they con-
sider to be essential as a means of securing " pro-
lection," and when the time arrives for exercising it
not a meeting is held, not a voice is raised. The
B.aintreeand Booking Farmers' Club, however, is
an exception to this remark. At the Monthly
Meeting of this Club, held March 23, the follow-
ing Resolutions were proposed and carried : —

" That this Club views with serious alarm the tffect
which the proposed alteration in the corn laws will
necessarily produce on the agricultural interests of this
country •, already the direful consequences of it are ap-
parent, and if carried into a law must prove fatal to the
cultivators of the soil.

" That it also appears to this Club, that the proposed
alteration* in the Tariff of the country will tend mate-
rially to depress its agriculture, inasmuch as such alte-
rat'ons affecting the importation of cattle, meat, starch,
seeds, &c, will necessarily greatly diminish the value
of Us home produce.

" And ihat a deputation from this Club do wait upon
the county members, to request their earnest and imme-
diate attention to the subject."

(Signed) Wm. Hutlev, Chairman,

Verily, in the bitterness of our disappointment
at such poltroonery, we are tempted to exclaim,
the farmers of England richly deserve all that can
befal them. Sluggish as their own oxen, they will
not move without the frequent and active use of the
goad. At the late election, alarmed by the reite-
rated cry of " Agriculture will be destroyed," and
urged on by their landlords, their energies were
roused, and they succeeded. New they have no
drivers, they cannot siep out of the old pace.
The absence of energy it is that has kept down the
farmers as a class, and has caused them to be re-
garded as an inferior order. It is from this state
that v\e would have them arise, and be no longer a
subject of animadversion for the other classes of
society. There is no such apathy evinced by any
other class whose interest is affected by the pro-
posed change. The mining interest, the coal trade,
the timber trade, the glovers, the shoemakers, the
tanners, each and all have had their meetings —
have opened communication with each other in
different parts of the country — and have already,
or will in proper time, convey their opinions and
their remonstrances to the proper quarter ; whilst
the farmers suffer themselves, like their own sheep,
to be led quietly to the slaughter. — Mark Lane
Express.

The importance of the alterations proposed in
the new Tariff is admitted by all, whether those in
favour of or opposed to the proposed changes.
It must therefore be matter of astonishment that
a parliamentary paper, furnishing the rate of duties
about to be levied on the various articles enume-
rated, and making alterations which must create a
complete revolution in many branches of trade,
should be sent forth to the public full of inaccu-
racies ; and further, that such inaccuracies should
be suffered to remain so long without correction. A
few hours would have been sufficient lo prepare a
corrected edition.

The unsparing and merciless manner in which
every article of agricultural produce has been at-
tacked, is such, that we verily believe if the re-
gulation of the new duties had been placed under
the uncontrolled arrangement of aboard of free-
traders, being themselves in trade, that a sense of
fairness and justice would have induced them to
hold their hands in some cases in which altera-
tions of an extreme character are now proposed.
Having already recorded our own opinions on the
effect of the various reductions proposed in the
duties on agricultural produce, it may be more be-
neficial now to cite the opinions of others, extracted
from communications before us, but which wc
cannot, from their great number, insert at length.

Mr. Sanders, a corn-factor at Manchester, in a
letter in which he combats the view of the new
corn law taken by the Manchester Chamber of
Commerce, says: —

" If an average reduction of probably 10s. per qr. on
wheat, and other grain in proportion, be no benefit to
the country or the people at large, then, of course, I
subscribe to the opiuion of the Chamber, that it is no-
thing more nor less than legislation for the benefit of a
particular class, viz., the agricultural,"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

309

Mr. Sanders's opinion is, that wheat will be re-
duced 10s. per qr. ; the average has been .rGs. lid.
per qr.; if he be correct, the average will, in future,
under similar circumstances, be 46s. lid. per qr.

Again he says : —

" I am convinced that even at 20*. duty, we shall have
yearly an importation of the finer qualities ot wheat.''

Again : —

" 1 find the seconder of this resolution making this
statement:— Sir Robert Feel's corn law, he says,
'would effectually prevent any greater quantity coming
ta us from America and Odessa than the present law
allowed.' The assertion he hazards is, T can assure
him, at complete variance with the opinion of all tho-e
most conversant with the foreign corn trade ; and for
myself, I have no hesitation in saying, the import under
the proposed law, especially from America, will he
greatly increased.''

We now come to an opinion which we have
heretofore expressed, and strongly urged upon the
consideration of the farmer, in reference to the
new law : —

"Even in abundant seasons, an importation of some
of the finer qualities wilt take place for mixing with our
own growth. We shall rarely see the duty at the rest
of 6s., and never at Is., unless there be a general dearth
on hoth continents. Lastly, I am of opinion it will
prove to he a more liberal measure, a greater conces-
sion (though without any permanent injury to them),
than the agricultural interests are at present aware of.'
It will stimulate the English grower to improvement,
in order to meet his new competitor, the foreign grower ;
and if he fail in producing wheat so as to afford it at
even 50a. per qr. in average seasons, we may
rely on it, before three years are over, we shall hear of
as much agricultural distress as in 1835, or as of manu-
facturing distress at the present time.'*

How the British farmer is to grow wheat at
6s. 3d. per bushel " without any permanent in-
jury to him," we cannot understand; but that
wheat will be reduced to that price, and less,
we are convinced.

Mr. Sanders desires a modification of the duly
on Hour, oats, barley, and beans, which he says
are relatively too low, particularly the two former,
for the interests of the sister kingdom.

We have been requested to give a statement
of the reduced duties upon seeds, &c, as pro-
posed, and which we subjoin below, with some
other articles. Our attention has been called to
the increased duly to be imposed upon foreign
cake, seeds, and cattle, and its evil effect, by a friend
at Chelmsford, to whom we beg to express our
obligation. As regards oil cake, a correspondent
of the " Dumfries Herald" says—

" Still the most unaccountable feature in the present
measure is a clause in the tariff which is calculated to
hurt the interest of the country, without either helping
the revenue or profiting the trader. It is proposed to
triple the import tax on oilseed cakes ! Even at the
present duty the price is generally too high for the
farmer. In order to alleviate the impending miseries of
the feeder and of the cultivator of cold clayey soils, this
tax, instead of being tripled, ought to have been wholly
remitted. Linseed cake is used in feeding cattle, and
only its price keeps it from being more extensively used.
But the pampered citizen says, ' Oil cake gives meat a
bad^flavour ; triple the tax, and you will prevent its
use. I answer, ' You will thus make it cheaper and
more plenteous on the Continent, and so get oil cake
beef across the Channel, while you ruin the British
farmer and destroy your home trade for the morsel.'

"Rape-seed cake is extensively used as a manure in
some parts of the country ; it is the only manure, be-
sides farm-yard dung, which is fitted for our cold, moist,

clayey sods ; and its use on them would soon have be-
come general had the tax on it been removed, and pay-
ing prices maintained. But, 'No,' says the furtn-
ruiner, 'while you allow them rape cake they will hang
by tillage as long' as they can ; they will bring light
corn into the market, which will depress the averages
and raise the import dutv. Take rape cake from them
and you stop the plough at once.' "

Our correspondent at Chelmsford says, that
cattle can be imported from the continent at less
cost than from Aberdeen or Dundee ; and in this
opinion he is confirmed by the correspondent of
the " Dumfries Herald," to whom we have before
adverted, and who says —

"But much as the proposed changes affecting corn
are to he deprecated, those allowing the almost tree im-
port of cattle, sheep, and swine, are infinitely more so.
"The import duty on live beef and mutton is to be less
than one halfpenny per pound ; and the charge of bring-
ing tat cattle or sheep from the Continent to Smithfield
will be less than that of conveying them from Scotland
to the same market."

Some persons console themselves with the idea
that no adequate supply of cattle can be ob-
tained from the continent to affect our prices.
This is a mistake ; as we endeavoured to show last
week, by reference to Ireland : demand will create
supply. On this subject we. beg to refer to a
letter from Mr. Curteis, whose interest in British
agriculture naturally induced him to note the state
of foreign agriculture whilst travelling on the con-
tinent. On this subject the " Perth Courier"
says—

" On the nrticle of potatoes, by which so great a pro-
portion of farmers in Scotland are enabled to pay their
present rents, it is proposed to reduce the duty upon those
of foreign produce from two shillings per c wt. to twopence,
or 3s. 4d. a ton. Now, it must be manifest to the most
superficial observer that this is no protection to the home
grower, inasmuch as the difference of duty in favour of
the latter will be more than compensated by the cheaper
freight to the foreigner, in the ca*e of aTerthshire and a
Belgian farmer supplying the London market. The
same rule applies to live stock, upon which there is
only a differential duty of 10s. Disposed as we are to
make every allowance for the difficulty of the position
of Ministers, we must say that in the leading articles of
agricultural produce, there has been a manifest want of
consideration of the claims of this division of the king-
dom, which, being more distant from the great mart of
our own country than some of the leading Continental
ports, is actually put upon terms of equality with them
in their supply of the home markets, totally irrespective ol
the comparative heavy taxation under which our own
agriculturist* lie."

Some of the journals, supporters of the Conser-
vative interest, in adverting to the income tax,
set forth the advantages which the consumer will
derive in the reduction of the price of agricultural
produce, and which they make so much as to be an
equivalent to the amount of the tax upon- a mode-
rate income. These statements are useful, as
showing what their estimate of the anticipated
reduction in prices is.

The " Morning Post" says —

" Foreign cattle and foreign fish will now presently
be allowed to come into consumption in England, at a
duty so moderate, that the price of butchers' meat of all
sorts must drop some pence per pound. This will be a
great relief to the poor."

Is any man so visionary and inexperienced as
not to know that the poor man's means to pur-
chase, namely wages, will be proportionably re-
duced ? — lb.

310

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

BRIGG AGRICULTURAL
CIATION.

ASSO-

At a meeting of the above association held at the Ansel
Inn, in Brig?, on Thursday, the 24th March, 1843,

WM. SKIPWORTH, Esq., in (he Chair,

The following Resolutions were unanimously adopted.

Resolved — That the great reduction in the duties upon
foreign corn, together with the extensive alteration in the
laws affecting the importation of stock and provisions, which
have been recommended for the adoption of Parliament, have
caused great consternation in the agricultural community.

That the favourable manner in which those propositions
have been received by Parliament, having induced the opinion
that they will become the law of the land, has had a most
disastrous, oppressive, and ruinous effect, in greatly reducing
the value of property invested in the cultivation, improve-
ment, and produce of the soil.

That to reduce the value of produce by an Act of the
Legislature, is tantamount to raising the rent; and that to
do so without providing for a proportionate reduction in the
liabilities and expenses to which those engaged in the culti-
vation of land are exposed, is most unjust ; and that it would
be as just to reduce the rent of land by a direct enactment
ofthe Legislature.

That such changes in the laws relating to the importation
of Stock, Provisions, and Tallow, &c, cannot but restrain, if
not altogether prevent, the application of capital to the im-
provement ofthe soil, and consequently deprive the agricul-
tural labourer of employment, oblige the occupier to curtail
his expenditure, and so prolong and aggravate the distress of
the manufacturers, seriously injure the revenue, and ulti-
mately greatly depress the condition of all persons whose
property is invested in land.

That, although an alteration in the Corn Lawe is requisite to
prevent fraudulent evasions, wild speculation, and violent
actions on the currency, no case has been made out to justify
or require a departure from the principal of ample protection ;
and as all great changes in commercial policy cause great
derangements in the pecuniary obligations of parties, and
have a tendency to destroy confidence, they ought not to be
attempted without a pressing and proved case of necessity ;
that so far from this having been the case in this instance, it
has been abundantly proved that the Corn and Provision
Laws are not the occasion of manufacturing distress.

That, as it is most desirable the expenditure of the country
should not exceed the income, this meeting will cheerfully
bear an equitable share of those burdens which the honour
and the necessities of the country may demand. That, to
enhance their burdens when their means of meeting them
are greatly reduced by the withdrawal or reduction of those
protecting duties which have for a long period been in ope-
ration, and that for the purpose of relieving other classes,
is a measure most uncalled for and flagitiously unjust.

That no government can long retain the support anil coun-
tenance of the people which is continually exciting the fears
and depreciating the property of the most peaceably dispose!
members of society, whether or no it be through the instiga-
tion or in the vain hope of satisfying the discontented, the
unreasonable, and factious.

That this meeting will deem their interests most flagrantly
neglected if their representatives in Parliament do not oppose
to the utmost of their power the proposed reduction in the
duties on foreign corn, stock, provisions, tallow, kc, and also
the imposition of the income tax.

That petitions, in accordance with the above resolutions,
be prepared and presented to both Houses of Parliament.

William Skip-worth,
Bri-gg, March 24, 1842. Chairman.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE
FOR APRIL.

This is a critical and very important month. If
after a dry March, that is the latter half of March,
seasonable showers with western breezes occur,
vegetation will revel in luxuriance; but, of late
years, we have seen frosts of severe character
attended with great aridity, and hot sun during the
middle of the days. Up to the 13th of March, the
weather of this year was far too moist, considering
the previous volume of water which had saturated
the land, and till then operations had been ruucli
retarded. We may safely remark, that although
the frost of December and January in the previous
years was far more pertinacious and rigid, every
vegetable was in advance of the present season ;
still, however, the prospect of growth and bloom is
very fair. Berrv-bearing trees are covered with
buds ; the spurs of apples and pears are profuse,
anil finely enlarged ; and the wall trees are richly
budded. As an average temperature, that of April
is quoted at about 30°, admitting of a range between
29° and 74Q ; both figures of the latter quotation
are, however, extremes seldom witnessed; though
only four years since, we observed 10° of frost,
and a mid-day average under 55^ Fabr. during the
entire month.

VEGETABLE GARDEN.

Potatoes — the most consequential crop of this
department. Mr. Knight recommended early plant-
ing, by whole tubers, in rows never less than thirty
inches apart, varying according to the height of the
haulm, the tubers being only a few inches asun-
der in the rows, which should be made north and
south. Subsequent experiments have shown, that
single-eyed sets, cut from large tubers, rejecting
the root or string end, economise seed, and produce
considerably more crop. But if verv early planting
afford the longest summer, and the greatest propor-
tion of sun to the plant, certain it is that the risk
from May frosts is very considerable; and the
destruction of the one shoot may thus prove final.
If then early sowing, with one-eyed sets, be adopted,
the only sale mode of proceeding will be to lay the
sets at the bottom of a six-inch deep trench, covering
them shallowly at first; and to earth-up from the
banks of the ridges as the herb advances, till the
ground be levelled ; and then a thorough digging:,
to lighten and pulverise the earth between the rows,
will complete the work, and obviate the necessity of
earthing or ridging the haulm. Soot we find the
best and most economical spring manure, sown with
the tuber, and among the covering earth; in field
culture twenty-five bushels per acre is ample.
Nitrate of soda also, scattered over the surface so
thinly as hardly to be seen, after the planting is
finished, will add a valuable neutral salt to the
vegetable. Analysis justifies the doctrine, because
the ashes ofthe herb yield mild alkali and carbonate
of lime, though we Delieve the foimer to be potassa.

Nitrate of soda also assists the brassicas, and spinach
particularly ; and now broccoli, borecole, Brussels
sprout, hearting cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, should
be sown at several periods. It is said to assist
carrots, hut this we cannot testify ; however, an
ounce to u row. of the Early Horn, might be tried,
and the rich colour of the top will be tire indication
of success. All the spindle-rooted plants, if not
already sown, should bo inserted forthwith ; carrots
in unmanured, sandy, and, if possible, new earth.
On this subject a very interesting paper appears in

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

311

the March number of the Quarterly Journal of
Agriculture. We believe that our experience on a
new piece of common land, some years since, fully
made good the writer's assertion.

Sea-kale seed is to be sown early in the month ;
and in making the beds, a free working, but rich
and unctuous loam, trenched and manured two feet
deep, is to be preferred. The seeds are to be sown
at about an inch below the surface, and so arranged
as to be considered permanent ; for the seedling
plants prosper far better if they be never disturbed.
We recommended nitrate of soda to be tried, and
tried it ourselves most unsatisfactorily in 1041.
The kale was exceedingly weak : now, however, we
read in the Gardener's Chronicle, that sea-kale will
take the nitrate in almost unlimited quantity.
Variation in results and opinions must he expected ;
for the soil of hardly two sites in the kingdom is
alike in every particular.

Lettuces, every sort of salad herbs, and radishes,
are sown at intervals, according to the supply re-
quired ; and al! the culinary aromatic herbs may be
transplanted, and propagated by slips.

The first crop of kidney bean cau go in safely
after the third week ; but the ground and drills
ought to be warm under a full sun.

Artichoke beds. — Level the ground, dig and
loosen it ; if the suckers be strong, leave two or
three to remain on the stool, but carefully detach
the others from the stock, with anv rootlet adhering,
in order to obtain new plants.

Asparagus beds should he made, but not in mass
as formerly. The best method is to trench an ex-
pansive plot of the finest part of the garden two or
three feet deep, and to manure it at bottom and
throughout most generously. Then, after allowing
the ground to settle, to plant or sow angle rows,
eight feet asunder. These will admit of cropping
between, and insure a permanent supply of fine
heads for twenty years, with erery facility for the
required manipulations.

FRUIT DEPARTMEN I.

If the strawberry plots and borders remain un-
finished, they must be completed Without delay.
Fork the spaces, very carefully remove every weed ;
then top dess with richly manured loa:n, mixed with
an ounce or two of nitrate of scda to the barrow.
'I bis salt is so valuable that we ought to experiment
with it ; it is said to enrich strawberries very much,
but we dare not experimentally warrant the asser-
tion. Yet as it can be safely tried, our duty claims
the mention of it; for so permanent are its effects,
when it agrees with a herb, that a cautious trial is
always an object of inteiest.

Watch the attacks of the gooseberry caterpillar,
and as any are observed, remove them. Some
recommend a sprinkling of powdered hellebore,
others a wash of strong decoction of fox-glove;
the former is poisonous, and should not he per-
mitted to attach to the fruit.

Vines may break early. Watch the shoots, de-
taching those that are redundant ; lopping the lead
of best placed, ai.d securing (hem to the walls in due
time, otherwise a rough wind will break them off.

Fig-trees. — Nail the selected fruitful shoots, and
cut clear away those that are supernumerary.

Melons require due stopping, and careful impreg-
nation of the ferlile blossoms. Whether the heating
material be dung-beds, dung anil leaf-linings, hot
water, or flues under the earth, the heat should be
strong and steady; shade must be given half-light
high in full sun, but air, unless with great caution,

is better excluded. The same may be said of
cucumbers.

Pines in succession pits— after potting in fine,
turfy loam (green chopped turf is not objection-
able), manured —ought to be pushed on rapidly at
?0Q to 7.")°. Moist, close, vapourous heat is the agent;
air and direct sun are little required. With high
temperature they do well enough when the fruit
approaches maturity.

Vinery. — Watch the fruit; admit some air, and
keep to TO. Excite the West St. Peters about the
15th. Sprinkle the rods, and coat the flues with a
thick cream of lime and pure sulphur (not sulphur
vivum, it is dirty trash). Copious moisture assu-
redly is a most potent enemy to the acarus (called
red spider), but we much question its utility to
either the leaves or fruit of the vines ; however,
custom sanctions it, though the shrivelling of the
grape, by the death of the foot stalks, is very pre-
valent of late, and we are jealous of the possible
results. Steam, excited iu hot flues, is an electric
agent of no mean energy.

FLOWER GARDEN.

Sow every annual where the plant is to remain.
As to transplantings, depend for them in the pre-
pared pots; for since the planting in parterre and
masses has been i;i vogue, a great improvement has
been effected. Verbena* in pots, and all the thou-
sand and one beauties eot dreamt of by our fore-
fathers, are now secured during winter, or raised in
heat under glass, to bo transferred at once, avoid-
ing the risk of depredation which formerly pre-
vailed. Dress the fuchsia beds, cutting down the
old stems, and pointing in the mulch of leaves,
which protected the roots. Propagate fieely by
cuttings, in heat ; and whenever a woody plant
is found hard to strike, take off a very narrow ring
of the bark just below a joint, while the shoot
remains on the plant : and if it form a callus of
granular natter, the first process of radification is
effected, and it may then be detached.

In-arcli the camellia ; hut grafting is a better and
more rapid process.

Green-house. — Put the geraniums in the blooming
pots ; plant deeper, and carefully bring down the
shoots, so as to give a low, full, and broad figure.
This is the fashion ; and it is preferable to the
lengthy growth of the old system. Cuttings now
root with rapidity. Give air freely, and water
early and late.

Destroy weeds everywhere; roll and mow lawns;
sweep and roll the walks; repair and clip box
edgings early as possible.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

GYPSUM.
A correspondent inquires, what is the time and
mode of application for gypsum, and are its effects
immediate, or are they advantageous for the second
crop, and would its use be profitable for seeds in-
tended to remain down one year only ? Is it suit-
able for poor grass land, as well as clover, sainfoin,

A correspondent says, — Having drained a meadow
and stubbed the rushes up by the roots to effect their
eradication, I am disappointed in finding them coming
up again as strong as ever. If any of your corres-
pondents have found a remedy, 1 &hould feel great
pleasure in having it communicated through your
columns.

312

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT
FOR MARCH.

Oa a comparison of seasons, the weather expe-
rienced in most parts of England during nearly or
quite the whole of this month, has, notwithstanding
its turbulence, and the numerous and rapid changes
in the atmosphere, proved decidedly favourable to
farm labours, as well as vegetation in general. At
the conclusion of February, the operations in the
iields were decidedly backward, arising- from the
saturated condition of the soil preventing the possi-
bility of throwing the furrows either with ease or
advantage ; soon, however, as the period now claim-
ing our attention was entered upon, more than usual
activity was apparent, not only in the process of
wlwat sowing, but also that of barley, oats, and
peas, while the dibbling of beans was advantage-
ously attended to. In fact, so few vrere the ob-
structions in the shape of humidity, or other mate-
rial causes, that, ere Lady-day had passed, at least
four-fifths of the Lentern corn, together with the
major part of the pulse crops, were finished under,
all things considered, cheering auspices. As to
March dust — a sure omen, it is said, of a good har-
vest— this has been plentiful; while we earnestly
hope that the result may prove the omen to be a
truism ! From the above remarks, it will be
readily perceived that March has, in a great mea-
sure, compensated the agriculturist for the almost
unprecedentedly numerous difficulties he had to
contend with last autumn ; yet there is one subject
connected with farming, which, we fear, cannot
fail in the main to act prejudicially to his interests —
we mean the extremely small quantity of heavy
wheat which was placed in the ground during the
months of November and December. This circum-
stance will, we fear, cause the approaching seuson
to be prolonged a fortnight, or perhaps three
weeks, beyond the usual time for conclusion, and
probably cause a falling off to be observed in the
average acreable produce; but, as all other grain has
been got in upon a good dry bed, we have no serious
misgivings as to the return.

It is highly gratifying- to be enabled to assert that
the autumn-sown wheats were never recollected to
have exhibited a more strong or healthv appear-
ance than has been the case of late, while fewer
instances of losses by the slug and other insects
have been apparent than during the spring of 1841.
Considering the unusual mildness of the past win-
ter, the consequent prevalence of slug, and the
damp state of the land, this is somewhat surprising;
but we learn that in some of the lowland districts,'
where ^ the waters have greatly prevailed, some
extensive breadths have become rotten from ex-
cessive moisture ; hence, reploughing and sowing
have been found necessary. To use a technical
phrase, so regular have the light wheats appeared,
together with the barley and oats, that the soil upon
which they are now growing, has the appearance
of a " bowling green," without being, in any way,
affected with premature exuberance.

There is one subject connected with agricultural
pursuits which, in the present crisis of affairs— a
crisis, the great importance of which as respects the
interests of the farmers of the United Kingdom, was
perhaps never before equalled, by far too important
to be lost sight of;^-viz., the great increase in the

breadth of land now under wheat culture ; it having
been asserted, on the most undoubted authority,
that it has not been so large during the last ten
years as at this moment. That such is the case, we
much rejoice ; since not only will it tend to render
us wholly independent of the foreign grower for
future supplies of that article, but also prevent
that immense drain of bullion to pay for them,
which cripples both the home grower as well a i
the community at large. But, as opposed to all
this, future prospects are far from flattering; as it
is now placed almost beyond a doubt, that even
lower figures than those at present realised for
wheat will be submitted to. All other articles are
low in the extreme, and cannot, we conceive, easily
he much cheaper ; hence it is now the wheat and
flour markets about which so much anxiety is felt.
As public journalists, we feel it incumbent upon us
to lay before our readers such facts, though they
may possibly be at variance with some of those
statements which have from time to time been
referred to as fair critcrions fiom which to draw
certain conclusions, as may be useful to them in
future operations. And these facts are the more
forced upon us from the circumstance of some
persons having conceived that markets will improve.
We have made the strides'.; and a most extensive
inquiry, from correspondents residing in almost
every county in England, as to the available sup-
plies of wheat, and we find that they are equal to
those returned at the corresponding period of many
preceding years : hence, a scarcity of quantity need
not be apprehended, though the quality is unusually
bad. Besides, there are about 500,000 quarters of
foreign wheat, on which home consumption duty
was paid last season, still in warehouse, together
with fully 500,000 quarters more under lock; and
it may be fairly calculated that, soon after the latter
end of next mouth, the arrivals from the Baltic and
Black Seas will be abundant. All this must have a
depressing influence upon figures, even allowing
for the absence of an adequate supply of good home-
grown wheat. The proposed withdrawal of fair
protection to the agricultural body, by the bill now
under discussion in the Lower House, will induce
many timid holders of imported wheat to enter it
at the Customs immediately after the measure
shall become the law of the land. That Sir
Robert Peel will inflict a great injustice to a
large and valuable portion of our population, cannot
be made a matter of question. For instance, if
we adduce the present rate of impost upon wheat,
which is now 26--. 8d. per quarter, in contradis-
tinction to that which will be paid when the aver-
ages rule at the same sums under the new
revision, it will be found that instead of that
figure only lis. per quarter will be required from
those importing. The professed object of the
bill is to " encourage a regular trade in corn," and
" regular" enough it will be, we are convinced, —
much to the loss of those whose demands upon
the legislature are far greater than any other class
in the state. A most extraordinary disparity has
been apparent for some time past in the prices at
which the various kinds of wheat have been sell-
ing, they having ranged from 40s. to 69s. per
quarter ; and hence, by the admission of super-
abundant supplies of really good foreign, a great
advantage will be gained over the English growers.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

313

But what are they now doing ? Why not up and
stirring, to avert the impending danger which
now threatens them ? We tell them thus frankly,
that unless they at once bestir themselves, the
enemies of native industry will gain their ends,
and thereby produce effects, the result and extent
of which it is not easy to foretel.

In the flock districts in the northern and mid-
land parts of England, the lambing of the ewe-
flocks has gone on, considering the prevailing
epidemic, somewhat more favourably than could
have been reasonably anticipated ; but in the
western and southern counties very serious losses,
both of sheep and lambs, have been experienced.
As an instance of the latter, we have to state that
in the Isle of Wight they have amounted to nearly
or quite ten per cent., which have prevented the
usual supplies being transmitted to the London
markets. Up to the great lamb show on Good
Friday only 100 were received, per railway, from
that quarter, and since that day not a single head
has come to hand. At the corresponding period
last year, more than 700 were received, though
not in very fine order. By accounts from Norfolk
and Suffolk, we learn that the quantity of turnips
and other food remaining for the stock is un-
usually small, and of very inferior quality, which
has caused many graziers to transmit their sup-
plies to the different markets in a half fat state ;
the prices realised for which have proved by no
means remunerating. In Scotland the same com-
plaints exist, and we may venture to assert that
we never saw so much positively lean stock from
thence as in the course of this month.

The principal feature in the corn trade at Mark
Lane, as well as in our provinces, has been its
excessive dulness ; and prices all over the king-
dom, from the commencement until about the 23rd
of March, had a downward tendency. After the
latter day, however, there was a trifling reaction
in the inquiry for the best red and white wheat,
arising mostly from its scarcity, and the rates
improved about Is. per quarter ; but this remark
chiefly applies to English. Barley is now ex-
tremely low in value, and the transactions in that
article have been confined to malting parcels at
depressed figures, all other kinds being a mere
drug. Mall has tolerably well supported its
value, and most of (he supplies have been cleared
off as they came to hand. The superabundant
supplies of English and Irish oats have caused all
sorts to rule dull at lower rates, while foreign,
both free and in bond, have commanded scarcely
any attention. Beans, peas, and flour have each
fallen, with a sluggish demand, dealers only pur-
chasing to meet their immediate wants.

From Scotland we learn that great progress has
been made in sowing the Lenten crops ; and ere
another ten days have elapsed, we feel assured that
farming operations will become seasonably for-
ward. The heaviness in the corn trade in Eng-
land has produced a dulness in most of the
principal markets, but figures have not fallen in
the same ratio as with us. The Scotch farmers
view with considerable alarm the forthcoming al-
terations in the import duties.

Nearly all the wheat and oats have been sown
in Ireland, and the same as respects beans and
peas. The wheat plants are well above ground,
and indicate good crops. At Dublin, Waterford,
and other markets, the trade has ruled dull, and
prices have been again noted lower for wheat and

oats. Great complaints have arisen from the mi-
serably low currencies lately obtained for them.

The London hay and straw markets have been
fairly supplied since our last, but their quality has
proved extremely bad, and many loads of meadow
have with difficulty produced even 21. per load.

Here follows our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock exhibited and
sold in Smithfield cattle market. The former
have comprised 11,840 beasts and cows; 104,000
sheep and lambs ; 1,421 calves ; and 1,729 pigs ;
while the latter have ruled as follows : — Beef,
from 3s. 2d. to 4s. 6d. ; mutton, 3s. 4d. to 5s.;
lamb, 6s. to 8s. ; veal, 4s. 8d. to 6s.; and pork, 4s.
to 5s. 2d. per 81bs., to sink the offals. These
figures are much beneath those obtained at the
corresponding period last year, as will be seen
by the following table :—

A STATExMENT and COMPARISON of the SUP-
PLIES and PRICES of FAT STOCK, exhibited
and sold iu Smithfield Cattle Market, on
Monday, March 29, 1841, and Monday, March
28, 1842.

At per 8lbs. to sink the offals.

March 29, 1841. March 28, 1842.

s. d. s. d. s. d. a. d.

Coarse &inferiorBeasts 3 4to3 8 .. 3 4to3 6

Second quality do 3 10 4 4 .. 3 8 3 10

Prime large Oxen 46 48. .40 42

Prime Scots, &c 4 8 4 10. .44 46

Coarse & inferior Sheep 3 10 42. .36 38

Second quality do 4 4 4 10 . 3 10 4 2

Prime coarse v.oolled do. 50 5 2.44 48
Prime Southdown do.. 5 4 5 6.410 5 0

Lambs 70 80. .60 70

Large coarse Calves ..5 0 5 4.. 4 8 5 6

Prime small ditto 5 6 5 10 .. 5 8 5 10

Large Hogs 40 46.. 4 6 4 10

Neat small Porkers ..48 50.. 50 52

SUPPLIES.

March 29, 1841. March 28, 1842.

Beasts 2,516 2,472

Sheep and Lambs .... 16,620 18,270

Calves 69 42

Pigs 645 319

As to the trade, this, with the exception of that
experienced on the 28th, has ruled excessively
dull, and quotations have been drooping. Up to
the 26th, good lambs sold at good prices, but after
that time an abatement of Is. per 81bs. was sub-
mitted to by the salesmen, while the general quality
of the arrivals has been beneath that we have pre-
viously reported.

Up to Newgate and Leadenhall markets, the re-
ceipts of slaughtered meat from Scotland and
different parts of England have been great ; they
having been larger than recollected for a series
of years past. This has tended to depress both
the trade here and at Smithfield, and prices have
given way materially. With meat killed in the
metropolis we have been moderately supplied, and
sales have been slow.

SUFFOLK.
The weather for the last two months has been
very changeable, and farm work has not gone on
briskly; indeed, if every opportunity has not been
improved, but little progress could be made in
finishing planting wheat, also in planting peas and
beans. Of the appearance of the young wheats we
can report but little in their favour ; for one piece
which looks well you may see ten looking very in-

314

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

different — apparently not mors than half a plant;
great complaint also exists of tlie destruction of tbe
slug. We are of opinion the state of the heavy or
clay lands in this county for the reception of the
barley is, from the extraordinary quantity of rain
we have had for the last nine months, the worst we
ever remember to have been ; it is admitted that the
oldest person never remembers such weather for the
like length of time. Young layers are looking well,
and are generally good plants. Winter vetches,
where planted early, are tolerably luxuriant ; those
put in lite have a very sickly appearance. The se-
cret in getting a good luxuriant and early crop (we
mean on a wheat stubble as an extra crop), is to
give the land a light coat of long or unfermented
muck, and to put them in as soon as pos-
sible after the wheat is off — the first week in Sep-
tember at latest; and even on heavy or clay lands,
if well drained, with such treatment we should not
despair of a crop of vetches. The markets for all
kinds of grain have gone on receding, sometimes
gradually, but of lute more rapidly, particularly
since the introduction of the alteration of the coin
laws and the measure of finance by the so-called
" farmer's friends." Farmer's friends, forsooth !
We are expressing the opinions of thousands of the
agricultural interest, when we state, amongst the
county members who were elected pledged to sup-
port the late (we suppose we must call them now)

corn laws, that there is not an honest man amongst
them except Lord Worsley. That noble lord de-
serted a ministry which he had uniformly supported
except on the question " corn laws ;" tben, in ho-
nesty to bis constituents, he voted against them, and
by such desertion they lost the reirs of government.
We wish the members for this and the adjoining
agricultural counties (Essex and Norfolk) hud had
tbe courage and political honesty to have redeemed
their pledges made on the hustings in support of the
landed interest ; it really appears they would wil-
lingly saciifiee anything for party purposes. We
look on their conduct as most despicable, and we
doubt not, when the suffrages of the agricultural
community are again solicit* d, they will meet their
deserts. Fat beasts are anything but paying for the
corn, cake, and provender they have consumed ; we
know of some lots which have not brought prime
cost after several weeks' high keeping. Hoggets
are also a miserable sale, paying about 6d. or Is. per
head for 40 weeks' keep. We should be sorry to
give a statement so gloomy were we not realising
it, but such facts are staring us in the face, and we
see no reason to hope for improvement, indeed each
succeeding week is worse than its predecessor; we
are getting from bad to worse ; not even the " far-
mers' friends at the helm give us hope.— March
22nd, 1812.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH.

We scarcely recollect so much inactivity in the
wheat trade, as all the large markets of consump-
tion have exhibited during the whole of the last
month. In not one of them have any speculative
operations been entered into, anil the supplies
generally having been in a considerable degree
suited to the demand of the actual consumers, tbe
variations which have occurred in prices during
that period have been of very little consequence; in
a certain measure therefore the predictions which
in our late numbers we have ventured to place
b fore our readers, respecting the quantities of
home grown and of foreign duty-paid wheat,
then remaining unconsumed in the United King-
dom, have been already in part realized. Previous
to 1815, when it was considered necessary to pass
laws protective to our home agricultural interest,
it was then admitted by all, that the average price
of British wheat should be as nearly 80s. per quar-
ter as possible, else to produce wheat would be
a sacrifice of farmers' capital. The corn law
consequently passed at that period had that object
principally in view, and the result has been of the
deepest importance to the British community in
general. Under the protection given to agricul-
tural operations by that beneficent and most
excellent act of parliament when amended in 1827,
the farmers embarked much additional capital
in their farms, and brought forward an immense
increase of science and talent in their system of
cultivation; and there is not one field now
in tillage which does not produce considerably
more of grain or of pasture, than the same
field did twenty five-years ago. This increased
production of wheat has been followed by very
important consequences to the most vital interests

in the British Empire ; for, without in any degree
injuring the interests cf agriculture, it has
produced a great alteration in the mean value of
wheat itself. Previous to 1815, as we have
already shown, 80s. per quarter for wheat was
considered a fair average price; whilst in 1842, the
prime minister of England has fixed, and we dare
say truly, Mis. to 58:3. as a sufficiently remune-
rating price to the home wheat grower. This is
most certainly an apparently immense reduction
in the value of British grown wheat, but it only
originates in the superior manner in which the
fields are now cultivated to that practised pre-
vious to 1815, and these vast improvements could
never have been effected, had not the law held
out protection and encouragement to agricultural
pursuits. These improvements, however, may be
truly considered as only in their infancy : the
field for their further progress is absolutely
boundless. Amongst at least fifty millions of
acres of land, there is scarcely one acre at present
so perfectly cultivated as to limit its future pro-
duce to that of the present day ; whilst the vast
majority of these acres must, before another
quarter of a century can pass away, yield a very
much larger amount of pioiluce, if their tillage he
duly and properly protected by patriotic laws.
It is only by superabundance of agricultural pro-
duce, grown at home, that industry can be
rewarded under the existing state of British society ;
for this is the only legitimate mode of rendering
the value of all the necessaries and of many of the
luxuries of life moderate to the great majority
of the people of these kingdoms. Foreign
importations however, if abundant, may
and must no doubt for a time reduce the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

315

expences of living, but universally they
must in a far greater proportion reduce the wages
of labour, and place thousands of families entirely
out of employment- When the prices of provi-
sions are paid to our home farmers, money,
applied to these purposes, is in a continued stream
i , circulation. It passes from the farmer to the
landlord and manufacturer, and from them to the
workmen, and thus fully employs the people. It,
in fact, circulates in an under current until it
expands itse'f amongst the entire population, and
eventually comes back to the capitalist with more
than compound interest added to the principal,
and is again by him embarked in farther profitable,
patriotic, and productive operations, giving food
to, and shedding blessings amongst, many millions
of her Majesty's subjects. The consequences on
the contrary attending large importations of fo-
reign agricultural products are of the most painful
description. Money, which is the sinew of
every exertion in civilized society, is remitted
abroad in payment for supplies of foreign food,
and, unlike when it is distributed amongst our
home farmers, not one penny so remitted ever
returns from foreign agricultural countries for
the employment of the working classes within
the British empire ; a barter trade between foreign
agricultural producers and British manufacturers
being perfectly impracticable. The experience
which we have had now for upwards of four
years of the bad consequences of a virtually free
trade in foreign grain, shows by far too clearly the
vast injuries done to all classes of society here
by this circumstance, and holds forth, we may well
say, a warning voice to the people to avoid by all
practical means in future the recurrence of such a
calamity. Not one additional hale of British
goods has since then been shipped to any of the
countries from which we have imported such
immense quantities of agricultural produce, and
to which, within the last three or four years, we
have remitted in the precious metals alone very
considerably more than twenty millions sterling
In payment for these supplies of food. This large
sum has positively been extracted from our
nation's wealth. It has been drawn from the daily
wages of those by » horn the foreign food has been
consumed, and, unlike similar payments when
made to British farmers, it comes not again into
circulation amongst our productive classes. It
has been expended on foreign agricultural im-
provements, and amongst foreign manufacturers.
It is now affording means and encouragement for
extending foreign agricultural operations, and for
increasing foreign commerce and foreign manu-
factures, and this too at the sole expense of the
British people. The want of that money, and not
over-production of manufactured goods, is the
real cause of the partial distress now certainly
by far too prevalent amongst the mining and
manufacturing labourers ; nor can this misfortune
be removed until further supplies of foreign food
be rendered unnecessary by an abundant growth
at home. The present appearances in the fields
give good hopes in this respect for the future.
The winter wheat plants are in a very healthy state,
and are already assuming all the qualities of luxu-
riancy. The breadth in wheat tillage this season
will he also considerably larger than it has been
during the last three years ; a good deal of land,
previously sown with barley, having been con
verted into wheat fields, in consequence of the
depressed prices obtained for that article during

the last and the present malting seasons. An
abundant crop this year, however, must restore
general prosperity, if agriculture continues to be
protected by law ; whilst an open trade in foreign
grain would, on the contrary, have been fatal to
the best interests of the public. Three thousand
millions sterling embarked in agricultural pur-
suits and in landed, property, must be protected
for the public good; and to prevent the annual
produce of this immense property, in as far as
possible from being- interfered with by the pro-
duce of foreign fields, must always be a great
public advantage ; for on this prohibition depends,
in a very material degree, the wages of productive
labour of every description. We again repeat that
the corn la>.vs ought to he maintained for the pub-
lic benefit. To the agricultural interest itself,
indeed, these laws are of minor consequence.
People employed in that department of industry
care little what the value of wheat may be quoted
at, which after all is the real standard of value,
and to which the price of every thing else must
eventually assert itself, even that of the national
debt. If wheat must be depressed to a still
lower quotation, so likewise ought to be the
amount of the national debt, of which the great
proportion was contracted for at somewhere about
601. for the one hundred pound stock at the
period, when the medium value of wheat was cal-
culated at 80s. per qr. According to the relative
value of money and wheat then, the pi ice paid by
the fundholder for one hundred pounds of stock
was equal to fifteen quarters of wheat ; and to
settle the amount of the national debt now, by the
same standard of fifteen quarters of wheat in which
it was created, at Sir Robert Peel's average price
of 56s. to 58s., would at once reduce the public debt
to somewhere about three hundred and fifty mil-
lions sterling, instead of eight hundred millions,
its present amount. If the value of land for the
interest of the manufacturer must be reduced, so
likewise should that of the national debt be pro-
portionally curtailed. Whenever it happens that,
by stagnation at home or overstocking foreign
markets with British goods, the manufacturer
finds it difficult to turn his capital embarked in his
trade three or four times a year, at a profit of ten
per cent, on each turning of his money, he imme-
diately complains of the high price of food, and
demands a reduction in the value of agricultural
produce, in order that to restore his profits he may
make a corresponding reduction in the rates of
wages paid by him to his workmen and labourers.
With equal propriety, however, for the same pur-
poses, he may demand a reduction in the amount
of dividends paid to the national creditor. We are
far, indeed, from supposing that it would not be
an act of the grossest injustice to commit a breach
of the public faith ; but still to do so would not be
more iniquitous than the attempts now making to
pay commercial losses and debts by depreciating
the value of agricultural property, most undoubt-
edly are. The repeal of the corn laws would be
injurious, however, even to the cotton lords
themselves, for as long as they exist they form an
excellent safety valve, at all events, for the evapo-
ration of those bad feelings which bad trade occa-
sionally generates in their minds ; hut should these
laws ever be abrogated, the consequences of these
occasional bad passions may in future seriously af-
fect the mental faculties and acquirements of many
of these gentlemen. If there exist a doubt in the
minds of the manufacturers, however, of the injury

316

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

which the corn laws do to tlieir individual interests,
there exists no doubt whatever in the minds of
the manufacturing operatives and artisans that
these laws form a solid protection to the wages
paid to them for their labour. The penny post
and the schoolmaster have laid open to them the
real principles of political economy, for they have
learned that the price of every thing and of any
thing is entirely relative. They know that bread
in London is much cheaper amongst the in-
dustrious classes of society at 2d. per lb. than it is
in Paris at half that price, because the wages of
labour of all descriptions are three times dearer
in London than they are in the capital of France.
They know too well their own interests, and
those of their families and connections, to permit
their sober judgments to be regulated by the
wild theories of the anti-corn law leaguers. In
fact, they are not generally aware that their lot in
life is so extremely bad as the advocates for the
repeal of the corn laws generally represent it to
be. If it be bad, however, they may be morally
persuaded that it cannot be improved by an act of
the Legislature, by which millions of acres of
land would be thrown out of cultivation, as would
from necessity be the consequence of an entirely
free trade in grain being established with foreign
nations, or even by foreign grain being admitted
into consumption here on the payment of a mode-
rate fixed rate of duties. Such an act would
materially injure the home market for the con-
sumption of British manufactured goods, and
would compe) thousands of families who now
obtain their livelihood from agricultural pursuits
to pass into the manufacturing districts, thereby
increasing the number of manufacturing labourers,
and materially reducing their wages. It is fortu-
nate for them, however, that the new corn bill
may not act so injuriously on their interests, as
the total repeal of the corn laws would have done.
The weather has fortunately been favourable
for field operations during the last six week.*, and a
greater quantity of what is called spring seed wheat
than usual has been got into the ground generally
in excellent condition ; and, as the science of
farming now renders spring sown wheat little
inferior to that planted before the end of the
year, we may reasonably expect an abundant crop
of wheat, should the weather be only propitious
till the conclusion of the coming harvest months.
Commercial and manufacturing complaints will
then disappear, and improvements of every de-
scription will be made from the great national
profits which universally attend an abundant home
production of all the necessaries of life. It will
not in that event be any longer necessary to remit
specie to the continents of Europe and of America
in exchange for the people's food. Our own fields
will be cultivated for the benefit of the British
people, instead of those of Poland and of the
hanks of the Ohio. Waste lands at home will
then be converted into tillage, and under proper
legal protection being extended to capital and
talent embarked in such benevolent operations,
not only may provisions be raised within the
United Kingdom perfectly sufficient for a three
times greater population than we at present pos-
sess. This will be a solid benefit, which must
arise from giving fair and legal protection to our
internal industry, in whatever channel it may be
directed ; and it must not be sacrificed to the
groundless complaints and unsubstantial fears of
the master manufacturers, more than trade, ship-

ping, and manufactures should be to the interests
of agriculture. In the British empire just now
society forms a large chain of various links, each
depending on the other for support. Of this arch,
no doubt, agriculture is the key stone, and its
even partial injury would be followed by the total
destruction of the remainder of the structure.
The new corn law will not protect British
interests. To the corn merchants it will be ad-
vantageous, in so far as the new corn law limits
the amount of duty which, under any circum-
stances, they can be charged with; and this bene-
fit to them is well illustrated by the latest advices
received from the large markets of shipment
within and without the Baltic sea, which are as
usual in due course of post. At Danzig, Elbing,
and Konigsberg, the wheat trade had become ex-
tremely dull, and a reduction of little short of 13s.
per qr. on the value of high-mixed Polish wheats
since our last publication had not brought forward
any extensive purchasers for the British markets.
The orders for purchasing, which have been lat-
terly transmitted to these ports by the British
corn factors, have in most cases included the
maximum duty of 20s. per qr. under the new corn
bill, as a charge of importation, the same as freight,
insurance, &c, and their limits are low in propor-
tion to this additional charge. This duty the
present proprietors of Polish wheat must be pre-
pared to pay on any quantity which maybe shipped
for some months to come to the United Kingdom,
and they will pay it willingly too, for the advan-
tages which they always reap from the con-
sumption of their agricultural produce in our mar-
kets. Either the British importer or the British
revenue will receive the benefit of this duty, and
it is a great fault in the new corn bill that the
minimum duty on wheat has not been fixed at
5s. or 6s. per quarter; for the foreign proprietor
will with equal cheerfulness pay this rate, should
our average prices ever exceed 70s. per quarter.
It admits not of any doubt, that the importations of
wheat from the above places however will be
large during the current season, and even with a
charge of 20s. per quarter for duty, the profits
on future purchases of it will be probably con-
siderable, because, should our average prices
become even 50s. per quarter, high mixed Polish
wheat will readily sell at 60s. The difference in
quality therefore is equal to one half of the duty,
even under the worst possible circumstances ; and
no person, well versed in the corn trade, will
ever hereafter import any grain, unless the qua-
lity be of the best description. In Rostock, Stet-
tin, and other ports of shipment nearer to the
mouth of the Baltic sea, a similar depression
existed at the latest dates in the wheat trade, and
a considerable reduction had occurred in the value
of the best Silesian samples, but no British buyers
had come into the market, nor would they do so
until a much greater decline in prices be sub-
mitted to by the present proprietors. The
corn trade was in the same state of inactivity at
Hamburgh, and at all the large ports of shipment
without the Baltic sea, and on the German ocean.
Disappointment of course was universally felt,
that the British markets continued to be so abun-
dantly supplied with grain of British growth, and
that the golden harvest which the German and Polish
wheat proprietors had previously anticipated the
pleasure of reaping from the wants of the English
people, cannot at present at all events be realized.
That they must eventually succumb to circum-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

317

stances, and send their wheats here, is rendered
probable, because they have no other markets of
consumption to send them to, and the British
agricultural interest must be injured by the
present alteration in the corn laws, by which the
value of the wages of all the productive
classes of British society have, during the last
quarter of a century, been so effectuallv protected
against the interference of foreign labour and of
foreign agricultural produce in the United King-
dom. Should the prices here be in any manner
encouraging when the change in our Corn Laws
comes into operation, a considerable quantity of
wheat may also be expected from the Peninsula,
and from all the intervening markets in France,
Belgium, and Holland ; but any excessive importa-
tion from these districts is not at all probable from
the present aspect of the corn trade in this country.
From the lower ports in the Mediterranean and those
in the Adriatic and on the Black Seas, however,
large shipments have already been made, at prices
far dearer than the state of the corn trade here
latterly could have justified, and the loss of money
in these shipments most probahly will be great.
Large supplies will yet be forwarded to us from the
same districts, but a great reduction in prices must
occur there to render any profit on these shipments
possible. In common seasons, all the ports within
the Gut of Gibraltar are too far removed to render
corn shipments to this country advisable. The
freights are always high, and the voyage generally
being long, the risk of loss by heating much coun-
terbalances the chances of profit, unless in years of
.scarcity. Still, however, speculations from thence
will annually be made iu grain under the new Corn
Laws, and our farmers will be sufferers.

The information received since our last publica-
tion from the United States of America, is dated
in the first week of March ; but that part of it
which refers to the corn trade, is not in any par-
ticular degree interesting. Prices remained there
much the same as we last quoted them, and con-
siderable shipments continued to be forwarded to
Europe. Hopes were still entertained that relaxa-
tions in our Corn Laws, in every respect favourable
to the interests of American agriculture and com-
merce, would be made by the British legislature;
and although, whpn our proposed corn alterations
reach our transatlantic brethren, they will not
nearly come up to American expectations, still they
ought to be considered by them as a considerable
gain. They no doubt, and most properly too, to
protect their own agricultural produce, impose a
duty equal to 8s. 6d. per quarter on foreign wheat
when imported into any part of their Union for
consumption, for it is undoubtedly right that they
should extend protection to their own industry ;
aod they also charge a duty of about 6c/. a pound on
English cheese consumed by them, whilst we,
under the generosity not reciprocity system, impose
a duty of less than one penny per pound on American
cheese, with which all our markets are at present
most abundantly supplied. We shall now shortly
take their cured provisions at moderate duties, and
do all we can to encourage American agriculture,
whilst Jonathan will reciprocate by continuing to
charge almost prohibitory duties on the importation
of all articles of British manufacture. Our ministers
ought at all events, however, to protect the interests
of our millers and granary keepers from those of
America, for in these undertakings a great deal of
property is here embarked, and heretofore much to
the benefit of the British public. American flour

should, in a most particular manner, be excluded
from our markets; its importation will materially
interfere with our milling trade, and, beside this, a
great proportion of the quantity latterly imported
from America is not genuine. It is manufactured
from wheat and Indian corn mixed, and its delete-
rious quality cannot be detected until it comes
under the baker's hands, when its great inferiority
is discovered in the weight of bread baked from
each barrel of this adulterated mixture. Wheat, as
the raw material, perhaps, should occasionally be
admitted here on the payment of moderate duties ;
but flour is a manufactured article, and should not
be admitted unless at a protective duty. English-
men should be rich, indeed, if they can afford to pay
American labourers for producing wheat, American
workmen for grinding it, and American seamen for
bringing wheat and flour into this country for home
consumption, whilst we are transporting many
thousands of industrious families annually to our
colonies because they can find no employment at
home. We cannot even conceive that any British
advantage can arise from this system of generosity,
nor can we comprehend how that doctrine can
benefit us, which, for the sake of increasing agricul-
tural cultivation in the wilds of America, would
place millions of acres of land 3t home out of
tillage, — would throw thousands of agricultural and
of manufacturing labourers out of employment, —
and would put a most effectual limit to those agri-
cultural improvements in Great Britain and in Ire-
land, which, if duly encouraged and protected by
British laws, must eventually end in the produc-
tion of provisions of every description for the
abundant support of three times our present popu-
lation. No increase of commerce can weigh in the
scale when opposed to these certain advantages,
which must be the eventual result of extending pro-
per, though still moderate, protection to all depart-
ments of industry throughout the united kingdom,
her colonies, and foreign possessions. Such, how-
ever, is the state of the wheat trade at the period
when our present number goes into circulation, and
such are our agricultural prospects. To neither the
producer nor to the consumer can they in any de-
gree be satisfactory. With excellent wholesome
bread at 1 |d. per pound, the present price, the im-
portation of foreign wheat will, notwithstanding the
positively moderate prices of this article, be so
large, that an addition to the revenue of one million
sterling may fairly be calculated on before the close
of this year, drawn from foreign grain, to be here-
after entered for home use under the new corn
law. A positive injury will thus be inflicted on
our farmers, by large supplies of foreign grain at a
time when prices are moderate, and when there is
abundance already within the empire, and will even-
tually fall with equal pressure on the manufacturers
themselves.

Nothing can be more discouraging than the state
of the barley trade has been to the barley growers, dur-
ing the whole of the lastmonth. The malt trade is an-
nually declining in amount, in consequence of the
heavy duties imposed on that article ; and the barley
growers and beer consumers have had, since our last
publication, the satisfaction of learning from the Chan-
celler of the Exchequer himself, that no reduction is
intended to be made in the rates of the malt tax. All
the large markets of consumption have been supplied
with malting barley, during the last month, much
beyond the demand of the maltsters, although, under
different circumstances, these supplies would not
have been more than the actual consumption would

318

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

have required. Prices consequently have been
gradually drooping, and the people have not been
receiving the slightest benefit from this depreciation
in the value of the farmer's property. To have re-
duced the malt duty, even by 5s. per quarter, would
have been a certain plan for increasing the amount
paid into the treasury from this tax. A trial for a
few years of the advantages resulting from this re-
duction, would have induced the legislature after-
wards to have fixed this tax at Is. per bushel ; and
then the barley trade would again have flourished,
and the people would have consumed the extract of
twice the quantity of malt which they can now aflford
to do under the existing, almost prohibitory, rates
of malt duty at present levied from this source of
revenue. The prime minister, however, has stated
that the malt duty this season will he less in amount
than it was the last, and during the last two or
three years the consumption of the common brewers
had been under four millions of quarters. The least
attention to the annually increasing population
of this empire should convince the Chancellor
of the Exchequer that this quantity is much too
small for even a restricted supply of the people with
wholesome beer; and it is the natural cause of the
immense quantities of adulterated beer which are
now, we may say, almost in daily use amongst all the
labouring classes of society, and by which their
health are put in jeopardy — the revenue being, at the
same time, very materially defrauded. Ten millions
of quarters of malt may be consumed annually by
the common brewers, if the malt duties were only
reduced to even one-half of their present charge ;
and the revenue would be improved by the grant of
this boon to the people. From malt alone, at a re-
duced duty of even 5s- per quarter, one million
sterling may easily be added yearly to the sum now
paid into the Exchequer from this necessary article
of consumption ; and the comforts of a great por-
tion of the people will be proportionably increased
by some relaxation in the malting laws of this de-
scription. At least two millions of acres of sandy
and light soils would be requisite for the production
of the additional quantity of barley which the malt-
sters would use under a moderate system of taxa-
tion ; and the addition to the national wealth which
the improvement of these new fields would create,
would do much more than pay the expenses attend-
ing the increased consumption of beer. In grain-
spirits likewise an extensive alteration in the excise
regulations is necessary to the morality of the people,
and to the increase of the revenue. The duties
payable on home-made spirits throughout Scotland
and Ireland, should be raised to 5s. per proof gallon,
and the duty at present charged in England should
be reduced to the same figure. Many millions of
gallons of spurious and deleterious spirits are at
present consumed in England, on which not one far-
thing of duty is paid, and in the introduction of which
into general consumption the public morality is
severely injured. By the equalization of the home-
made spirit duties throughout the United Kingdom,
the virtue of temperance would increase in strength,
and the entire population would enjoy in mode-
ration numerous gifts bestowed on them by
Providence. One half of the public expenditure
of the Preventive Service would, by a patriotic
act of this description, be saved to the state, and
the amount of home-made spirit duty, under the
present system paid into the treasury, would be
mateiially increased. Great mistakes must exist
somewhere in our financial system, else certainly,
after upwards of a quarter of a century of profound

peaco, so much difficulty would never exist in
raising the public revenue. Sir John Barleycorn
pays already a large share of the public expen-
diture, but still this most benevolent gentleman
yearly invites the Chancellor of the Exchequer to
permit him to increase the happiness and prosperity
of his countrymen, and thereby still further to
increase the public revenue. These benefits he
can bestow on the empire, if only the ex-
ciseman permit him to increase in growth, and
with his growth to add to his political power and
influence amongst his at present rather ungtateful
countrymen. But the legislature says no, and the
people must submit to half allowance of beer and
of home-made wholesome spirits, until a minister
of genius appear to rectify the evil. The state of
the Barley trade, during the last few years, how-
ever, has been so uncertain that a rather con-
siderable extent of land, lately under barley tillage,
has this season been sown with spring wheat; and
it is perhaps fortunate that this change has been
resorted to, because a feeling certainly does exist
in Norfolk, and in the other barley districts, that
the new corn bill will not be sufficiently protective
to the property of the barley farmers, and that
foreign growers will undersell British barley in
all our chief markets of consumption, even after
payment of the highest rate of duty hereafter
chargeable on the importation of foreign agri-
cultural produce, under the new corn law, when
entered for home consumption.

The state of the oat trade, since our last publi-
cation, has been in every respect as unsatisfactory
as that of barley has been, and the prospects of
the oat cultivators are still worse than even
those of the barley farmers are at the present
moment. The markets generaly have been plenti-
fully supplied with this article, and the trade h^s re-
mained in a state of great depression. Prices, though
previously low, have continued still gradually to
decline, and the value of oats imported into Lon-
don from Ireland has fallen in many instances as
low as 14s. per qr., which, after deducting freight,
and charges to London from the west coast of Ire-
land, and the expenses incurred there in kiln-
drying, and rendering the grain fit for the voyage,
leaves a most precious reward to the farmer for
producing them, and largely adds to that stock of
money out of which he must pay his rent, income,
taxes, and all the charges attending field labour.
It is extraordinary/indeed, that at a time when
the quantity of this article produced at home is
already more than equal to the consumption, and
when there exists a moral certainty that under
the present corn laws this quantity must be annu-
ally on the increase, we say it is extraordinary
that the Legislature should employ themselves in
framing a new corn law, by which these supplies
must be prodigiously increased by the importation
of oats of foreign growth. Under the corn bill
now in progress through Parliament, Irish farmers
may in most instances cease to produce oats, with
a view to the British markets of consumption ; for
it is not possible for them to compete in our mar-
kets with foreign oat growers under the proposed
scale of duties payable on their entry for home
use. From the Elbe, the Ems, the VVeser, and all
the large foreign oat markets of shipment, the
freights to London are between Is. 3d. and Is. o'd.
per qr., and the best brew foreign oats being at
present worth in London 25s. per qr., even the
highest import duty of 8s. per qr., added to this
freight, is no protection whatever to the oat pro-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

319

ducers in England, Scotland, and Ireland; aud,
should this part of the proposed corn bill be per-
severed in by her Majesty's ministers, a vast deal
of land, now profitably employed in oat tillage,
must inevitably be thrown out of cultivation in
every part of the United Kingdom. We cannot
even conjecture one solitary benefit which can
arise to any interest within the British empire,
from the infliction of so much injury on the agri-
cultural interest as the throwing of millions of
acres of land out of cultivation must occasion to
them ; but we can easily foretell the mischiefs
which must be the consequence of this system of
generosity to all classes within the empire. Prices
of oats, no doubt, for a few years may fall even
lower than they are now, but when the home
supplies become deficient by throwing oat lands
out of cultivation, they must again rise far above
their intrinsic worth, and John Bull will then
pay for his present folly. In the meantime, so
soon as the proposed corn bill becomes the law of
the land, the importation of foreign o;its, chiefly
of the best qualities, will be immense; they will
be imported generally under foreign flags, and the
freights will be paid to foreign seamen. The cost
price of the oats so imported will be paid in the
precious metals to foreign oat growers, and not
one bale of British manufactured goods, in addi-
tion to the quantity now sent, will be forwarded
to those continental districts from which these
oats will to a certainty be received, should the
oat part of the new corn bill not be revised and
very materially altered. To Ireland, in particular,
the future prospects of agriculture are very dis-
couraging. Many of her fields must revert from
tillage to pasturage ; and even after this change,
the produce of her soil will be met in the British
markets of consumption, by the agricultural pro-
duce of Europe and of America. The generosity
system hereafter will give to Englishmen foreign
salted beef and pork for their food, instead of
fresh roasted beef produced within the United
Kingdom, which they are now enabled to use under
the protective system. Ireland, therefore, must
maierially suffer by the contemplated alterations in
our institutions — not merely in her oat produce, hut
also in that of cattle aud swine, which, for many
years past, have been great sources of wealth to her
agricultural population — if very considerable modi-
fications be not made in the oat portion of the new
Corn "Bill, and in that part of the proposed tariff
relative to a large reduction being made in the
duties on the importation of live stock, of fish,
and of cured provisions from foreign nations. If
the proposed changes, however, in those laws
which protect industry at home, be prejudicial to
the agricultural interest, they will be much more
hurtful to artizans, traders, and to all descriptions
of manufacturing labourers; and, eventually, their
evil qualities must have an unfavourable influence
on that degree of confidence which now exists
betwixt man and man, and afterwards on public
credit itself. They must render money even more
scarce than it is at present, and consequently
enhance its value. Scarcity of money universally
and naturally puts limits to agricultural, commer-
cial, and to manufacturing improvements, renders
productive labour in proportion scarce, and thus
ruinously reduces the daily wages and annual
incomes of all who are subjected to its influence.
Not one advantage can be reaped from the new
Corn Bill by any interest within the United King-
dom, which may not be obtained from the existing

Corn Law ; but many important benefits may be
lost by the people generally, as soon as the pro-
posed alteration is effected. In short, at the present
moment, in no department of agriculture does any-
thing satisfactory present itself. The gloom exist-
ing amongst fanners is not now much less than that
was, which the change, in 1819 and 1825, of paper
money to a metallic currency, created ; for, instead
of any immediate prospect of amendment being
placed before them, they are about to be charged
with an income tax, which must add considerably
to their present difficulties. The value of grain of
all descriptions is already too low for the public
good ; but the consumers, in the long run, can
never receive any benefit from any reduction
effected by them in the expenses of living, at the
expense of the agricultural interest. The expe-
rience of the year to come will, we fear much, prove
the truth of this assertion ; for, if we be not much
mistaken, the manufacturers will find, during the
coming season, the value of the home trade depre-
ciated in proportion to the depreciation which may
be made in agricultural property during that period.
In these observations there are no party politics.
Our only object is to support the agricultural inte-
rest, for on it depends the prosperity of every
interest within the United Kingdom, and the pro-
ductive employment of the entire population.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

March 28.

Per Qr. Per Qr.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, red .. 50 58 White ..64 08

Irish 44 50 54 Do 50 58

Old, red , — — Do — —

Rye, old 34 36 New 36 38

Barley, Grinding 25 26 Malting 27 80 Chevalier SO 32

Irish 23 25 Bere .20 21 24

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 56 6J Brown.. 50 54

Kingston and Ware .... 56 62 Chevalier 63 —

Oats, Yorksh. & Lincolnsh., feed 20 22 23 Potato ..23 25

YoughaU and Cork black 16 18 Cerk, white 17 18

Dublin 10 17 18 Westporl 17 18 19

Waterfbrd, white 16 17 Black 15 17 18

Newry 21 22

Galway 11 13 15

Scotch feud 17 -j0 22 Potato.. 23 26

Clonmel 20 22 Limerick 10 17 18

Londonderry 22 23 Sligo .. 16 20

Beans, Tick, new 27 32 Old.... 35 40

Peas, Grey 31 82 Maple.. 31 34

White 34 35 Boilers. 34 37

Seed, Rape SGI. 401. Irish. .321. 3il. per last.

Linseed, Baltic... 48 56 Odessa 60
English Red Clover.. .. — — per cwt.

White —

Mustard, White 15 — brown 15 16 per bush.

Tares, old 28 30 new 36 44 per qr.

Flour, Town made 58 — Suffolk 44 — pr sk. of 880 lbs.
Stockton and Norfolk, 43 —

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 50 56)

Hamburg 46 48V nominil.

Rostock 46 48 J

Barley 16 20

Oats, Brew 17 19 Feed... 14 16

Beans 20 24

Peas 22 26

Flour, American, per brl 28 30 Baltic.. 29 —

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
March 25th, 1842.

Wheat 59

Barley 27

Oats 10

Rye 36

Beans 30

Peas 31

d.

9
0
1

4 j
81
3

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, March 26th,
1841.

d.
4
11
5
9
5
6

Wheat 64

Barley 32

Oats 23

Rye.,., 34

Beans 39

Peas 89

320

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

I Wheat,

Week ending

Feb. 11th .. 59 11

18th .. 60 0

25th .. 60 10

March 4th .. 60 9

11th .. 59 11

18th .. 59 9

A ggregateAverage

of the six weeks

which regulates

the duty

Duties payable in
London till Wed-
nesday nextinclu-
sive, and at the
Ontports till the
arrival ef the mail
of that day from

London

Do. on grain from
British posses
sions out of Eu
rope

00 2

20 8

Barley,

29 2

28 5

28 6

28 3

2? 9

27 0

28 0

19 10

2 6

Oats.

20
19

1!)
Ill

19
19

19 6

Rye.

80 o
87 1
31 10
84 3
33 11
86 4

34 11

18 3

Beans.

32 9
32 5

81 10

82 0
31 10
30 8

31 11

18 3

22 9

Peas .

33 9
33 11
33 1

32 6

33 11
31 3

33 1

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, March 28.
In the Hop Market no particular alteration has oc-
curred, but we must notice a continued demand for
prime samples of last year's growth at very full prices.
In the older qualities of 1839 and 1840, a moderate
business is doing1, but there is not much of a stock, as we
have on former occasions remarked, for the dealers to
work upon.

19 9

Bags,

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

Pocks.

Bags

1838
1838
1838
1838
1839
1839
1840
1840
1841

203030 30 Pocks. 1841

East
Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

80.. 90

ioo.. no

100.. no
130.. 150

130 . . 180

Account shewing the Quantities of Grain, Meal, and
Flour, imported into the United Kingdom, in the
month ended the 5th March, 1842; the Quantities upon
which Duties have been paid lor Home Consump-
tion during the same month, and the Quantities re-
maining in Warehouse at the close thereof.

Foreign Grain and | On»„Htv Quantity en- Quantity
Flour.

Mid.
Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

80 . . 90
100 ..110
100.. 110
130 . . 150

130 to 108

Weald
of Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

74
90
90

90
100
100

no.. 130

Sussex.

Nom.
Norn.

Nominal
Nominal

70 . . 90
90 .. 100
90 .. 100

108 .. 120 200 230

Farn-
ham.

Wheat, from British

Possessions

Peas, from do

Indian Corn, do. . . .
Wheat, foreign ....

Barley, do

Oats, do

Rye, do

Peas, do

Beans, do

Indian Corn, do. . . .
Buck Wheat, do. . .

Flour and Meal from

British Possessions

Flour &;Meal, foreign

imported terea lor rem:

1 ' consumption, warehouse.

qrs. bush.' qrs. bush.

1664
128

177502
8001
645
1504
3285
5099
2009
0

cwts. qrs. lbs.

20283 2 1
150753 2 14

1945 2
239 3

1980
89

184 0

55 2

145 6

64 0

0 7

qrs. bush.

13244 1
2762 5

448735
69513
91566

1778
23129
44253

2856 5

cwt?. qrs. lbs. cwts. qrs.lbs.

4548 3 20 147179 0 11
23 0 14,233262 2 8

STOCK OF GRAIN, &c., IN BOND, IN THE

PORT OF LONDON, ON THE 5th MARCH.

Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Peas. Rye. Flour.

qrs. qis. qrs. qrs. qrs. qrs. cwts.

184,347 8,742 51,637 7,742 9,434 711 77,026

PRICES OF SEEDS.

March 28.

The transactions in Cloverseed were on a rather
retail scale to-day, and former terms were barely
supported. Canaryseed was excessively difficult of
disposal and again cheaper. In quotations of other
articles, no material change occurred .

Linseed, English, sowing 54 59

Baltic — — crushing 48 54 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 50 54

Large, foreign.... — —

Clover ,English, red .... 63 88 white — — per cw*.

Flemish 63 83 do.. — —

New Hamburgh ..58 78 do.. — —

Old do 53 73 do.. — —

French 68 88 do.. — —

Hempseed, small 38 43 large.. 48 50

Coriander 10 16 old.... 16 18percwt.

Mustard, brown, new .. 10 14 white.. 9 13pr.bush.

Trefoil 16 28

Rapeseed, English new.. 36/. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42 Scotch 18 40

Tares, winter — — New.. 4 5

Canary, new 08 78 fine 83 88

Carraway.old 50 52 new 48 49 52

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, March 2S.

The following quantities have been received during
the past week— from Scotland, 1710 tons ; Yorkshire,
605 ; Devonshire, 230 ; Jersey, 70 ; Kent and Essex,
225 ; Wisbeach, 105 ; total, 2945 tons. The above
supplies, added to remains from former arrivals, are
equal to the demand. Good fresh samples are in re-
quest, but coarse or inferior lots experience heavy
sales.

PRESENT PRICES AS ANNEXEP.

s. s.

York Reds 50 to 70 per ton

Scotch do , 45 50

Devons, early ! 45 50

Do., late CO 65

Jersey Blues — 50

Kent and Essex Whites 50 55

Do. Kidneys — 65

Wisbeach do — 60

Yorkshire Shaws for planting — 70

Yorkshire Prince Regents for planting . . — 69

WOOL MARKETS.

LIVERPOOL, March 26.
Scotch.— Our market remains much in the same state
as regards the demand for Laid Highland Wool, only
small quantities continue to be taken by the manufactu-
rers for their immediate want*. White Highland is en-
quired for, and really good parcels command our
quotations. There is little or no demand for either crossed
or Cheviot, and in the absence of sales we keep our quo-
tations as before.

s. d. s. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs.. 8 0 to 8 6

White do. do 11 6 12 0

Laid Crossed do.. unwashed.. 9 0 10 0

Do. washed do 9 9 11 6

Do. Cheviot unwashed do 10 0 12 0

Do. washed 13 6 17 0

White Cheviot, washed 20 6 22 6

FOREIGN.
CITY, March 28.— The past having been what
is termed a broken week, there is but little to report
of the wool market, which continues in nearly the
same position as last noticed. The accounts from
abroad have come in very sparingly since ihis day
week, but from France they do not read very favour-
able. From the United States, it is much to be feared,
our orders this spring will not be near so large as in
year3 of financial prosperity, though there are still
expectations that when Sir Robert Peel's proposed
alterations in the tariff becomes known there, an im-
petus will be given to. trade.

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand, London.

i

■p

rJBw

/top

•

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MAY, 1842.

No. o.— Vol. V.]

[Second" Series.

PLATE I.

The subject of our first Plate is a Devon Bull, for which a prize of 30 sovereigns
was awarded to W. Porter, Esq., of Hembury Fort, Buckwell, Devonshire, at *the
Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, at Cambridge, held in July, 1840. The
animal was bred by Mr. Quartly.

PLATE II.

THE DEATH OF THE ELK.

TH5VS au inhabitant of northern latitudes; in Europe between the fifty-third and
sixty-fifth degrees making a part of Prussia, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Lapland,
and Russia. In Asia it is found further south, from the thirty-fifth to beyond the fiftieth
degree, spreading oyer Tartary, and abounding in Japan. In America it resides between
Hie forty-fourth and fifty-third degrees, round the great lakes and over the whole of
Canada and New Brunswick. The method of hunting these animals is somewhat
curious, particularly in Canada, where the hunters enclose a large space with stakes and
branches of trees forming two sides of a triangle; the bottom opens into a second
enclosure, which is fast on all sides ; at the opening are hung numbers of snares, made of
the slips of raw hides. The hunters assemble in great troops, and, with all kinds of
hideous noises, drive into the enclosure not only the Elk, but various other kinds of deer,
with winch that country abounds.

LETTER FROM SIR F. A. MAC-
KENZIE TO THE ROYAL AGRI-
CULTURAL SOCIETY.

With regard to Mr. Burk's proposal of a cheap
publication, giving directions to our labouring classes
tor nutritious and economical food, it is excellent,
and much required in England, where beer, white
bread, butter, and tea, commonly constitute their
food, but are neither nutritious or economical. Out-
money cannot be devoted to a more useful purpose
than suggesting comforts to our lower classes. Both
the French and Scotch excel the English in the nou-
rishing qualities and economy of their food, especi-
ally the latter, whose diet consists of oat-meal, milk,
potatoes, and barley, used as a soup or broth.

Nothing can be more invigorating than oatmeal,
as porridge, or baked into cakes— and barley boiled
ii I'Ecossaise for four 01 live hours at least, is decidedly
a healthy and most nourishing food. Knough of
Ibis broth too, can be made for two or three°days
consumption at once, and laid by to warm up again,
which enci eases its economy. I do not give a pre-
ference to our Scottish diet on my own authority ; it

OLD SERIES.]

speaks for itself to erery one who visits the well-fed
districts of Aberdeen, Moray, Forfar, Ayr, &c, and
contrasts the strong-limbed.-.broad-shouldeied popu-
lation there, with the spindle-shanked labourers of
Essex, and other parts of England. The Scotch faro
is oatmeal porridge for breakfast, potatoes and oat-
cake for dinner, and oatmeal gruel or barley broth
as supper. Lard, onions, and pepper, with vegeta-
bles, are added to the broth by such as can afford
them, and milk treacle or coarse sugar to their por-
ridge, but such luxuries are not common, or at all
deemed necessary. No expence in the greater part
of Northumberland or in any part of Scotland is in-
curred by the use of beer amongst labourers; water
alone quenches their thirst, even when engaged in
the toils of harvest or hay work, and our° Society
would do well to recommend that English farmers
should give the value of the beer allowed in money
as extra wages to their servants, who would soon
learn that it could be better laid out, and more pro-
fitably spent in procuring little comforts for them-
selves or their families.

With regard to prizes offered by our Society, f
think a great improvement could justly be made in
the selection. Will it not be allowed that tli

Y [No. 5.— VOL. XVI.

322

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

largest premiums ought to be voted for what will be
most useful to the nation 1

Does then utility guide the prize committee when
fixing on the annual lis*, of premiums? For in-
stance, let any unprejudiced person, casting his
eye over the list of premiums for 1841, and seeing
only 10/. awarded to Messrs. Skirving and Gibbs
for their valuable display of roots and seeds, whilst
20/. immediately follows for a gorse-cutter allowed
by the judges to be by no means perfect, — would he
call this a judicious distribution of our funds? What
comparison can there be between the value of a
Skirving Swede, to the nation, and a gorse-cutter?
— between a superior kind of turnip or grain calcu-
lated to increase largely the supply of food for hu-
man beings, or for our animals throughout Britain ;
and a cutter of gorse for horses and cattle onlv, and
besides a thing not of any use, and never can he of
any use to one out of a thousand of ourfarmers. I am
decidedly of opinion, and I shall find every man of
common sense agree with me in thinking, that the
discovery of a superior, more prolific, or earlier
wheat, or other grain ; or a weightier and more nu-
tritious root than any now known, would be of more
value to our country, and I may say to the whole
world — for it could not be confined to Britain — than
all the gorse-cutters, nay, even than all the short-
horns one hundred times over that ever carried prizes
at our national or local shows. Yet how does the
matter stand in the eyes of the prize selecting com-
mittee? Why, that 100/. was given for short-herns,
as premiums ; 100?. for Herefords ; 651. for De-
vons ; 1 4 j/. for cattle of any kind; 15o/., horses;
110/., Leicesters ;.100/., Downs; 1 10/.,long-woolled
sheep; 10/., extra stock ; and only 30/. for pigs, by
far the most useful and consequently valuable animal
to the mass of our population; total for animcls,
9l5/.; and, as I have already stated, for the rools
and seeds on which these very animals wholly de-
pend for their superiority, nay, for their very ex-
istence— ten pounds. Could, may I humbly ask,
these cattle, sheep, &c, be produced in their perfect
stale, did not such men as Skirving, Gibbs, and
others, exert all their talent in discovering roots and
seeds, superior in quantity and quality, as food for
these very animals; and if 915/. he devoted to the
latter, what will any unprejudiced man say ought to
be allowed for that which is the great source and
cause of perfection in these animals? Why, 1000/.,
I may say 10,000/., would not be beyond the bounds
of a fair proportion, could such a sum be afforded.

Besides this: a new and more valuable root, or
new and more prolific kind of grain, is of importance
to every man, woman, and child, fed within the
boundaries of our isle — will spread its benefits over
the whole country, and come into general use in the
course of but a very few seasons ; whilst the own-
ers of first-rate animals do all in their power to
keep their valuable breeds wholly in their own hands,
to prevent any competitors at cur shows becoming-
successful rivals. In one hundred years give what
premiums you like. The Spencer blood of short-
horns, or the Webb breed of Downs will not be ob-
tained by any great number of our breeders, not by
one in ono thousand of our farmers, unless the premi-
ums are given on conditions which I am about to
propose? Which then most deserves encourage-
ment ?

What I would suggest is this: — That the owners
of prize animals should not be allowed to confine a
valuable breed to their own farm-yards. 1 consider
it the duty and great object of all our agricultural
societies to study the general interests and welfare

of the whole nation — not that of private individual
breeders only — to see that all which has proved its
superiority should as much as possible be spread
over the whole country ; and as the best means of so
doing as regards animals, I propose making it condi-
tional that no male animal shall be allowed to com-
pete for a prize without producing a certificate that
during the past year he has served such a fair pro-
portion of females as may be fixed on, and that all
gaining prizes shall come under an obligation to
serve a proper proportion of females during the rest
of their lives for a moderate but a fair remuneration.
The male produce too of female prize animals ought
to be kept entire, as a condition agreed on when re-
ceiving a premium, and what would still further
tend to spread the best breeds over the whole coun-
try would be this — that all the males got by prize
males should be kept entire by their owners, a thing
easily arranged by making it conditional when the
females are served by a prize male. As to any se-
curity for the fulfilment of such conditions, let us
rely on that honour which is the distinguishing mark
of every true-born Englishman.

In addition to my proposed innovations, I would
briefly suggest that instead of a premium being given
commonly to the fattest animal exhibited, a strict
enquiry should be made as to the expence of bring-
ing it into that fatted state, and decided by a prefe-
rence given to that animal or breed which has ac-
quired the best condition on the poorest cheapest
fare. It can be of no value to the generality of our
farmers, who look for their subsistence to the profits
derived from their farms by judicious economy, to
know that the wealthy expend a sum in preparing
their stock for shows, double its value when ready
for exhibition ; on the contrary, the really valuable
gift to our nation would be those animals arriving at
a state of perfection at the smallest expence, and such
only ought to obtain premiums.

But to be brief. With regard to prizes, I would
place a new, earlier, more prolific, better kind of
grain, capable of being grown on inferior soils, as
first in importance, since on grain depends the lives
of nine-tenths of our immense population; and let it
not be forgotten that one bushel of increased pro-
duce in grain over every arable acre in Britain would
add 1,200,000 quarters annually to t!-:e present ave-
rage of our corn crops. What object then deserves
really the greatest encouragement?

The second place should be assigned to new supe-
rior roots, grasses, or any kind of vegetuble food.

Superior ploughs, a perfect dibbler, or other imple-
ments capable of performing the various operations
necessary for tillage best, and at least expence,
should decidedly in justice stand third — for their
benefit? would be felt speedilv all over the. country —
and 1 do hope that after the promise— shall I call it —
given by the Royal Society to my application for a
committee to decide the merits of various ploughs,
and prove by repeated trials on various kinds of soil,
which will perform the most and best work with tke
least draught — that this premise may be fulfilled so
soon as possible, and a committee immediately select-
ed. As to deciding by the necessarily brief trials at our
annual shows, the thing is impossible; but let our
Society call on the many willing to devote their
time and talents to this most important object, and
the>'e will be no want of hundreds ready to form a
committee perfectly competent to decide the ques-
tion, at furthest within six months from their ap-
pointment.

Discoveries of new and valuable economical ma-
nures, the destruction of the wire worm, turnip fly,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

3:23

grub, and remedies for tie many other evils wbich
afflict the best agriculturists, should come next, and
not yield in importance to (he all-absorbing premi-
ums for animals which ought to stand fourth ; though
I fear that old habits and prejudice will yet fcr a while
get the better of reason, and give them a higher
place thaa I hope I have succeeded in proving them
to deserve.

A large sum is annually devoted as premiums for
essays on various subjects, but it may well be doubted
whether they produce the heneficial results expected.
I think that most of my readers will confess
(hat too often these essays remain in their libraries
with uncut pages. I often see even our Quarterly
Journal in a corner of apartments occupied by zea-
lous agriculturists, unread and disregarded. In fact
we are overstocked with works on agriculture in
France and Belgium, as well as at home; we have
found how little is to be gained by wading through
the load of trash — witness, " Vaux on tillage," sent
to me here beautifully bound in green and gold— and
think our time can be better occupied than in read-
ing accounts of matters, the truth of which we can-
not confidently rely on. What is wanted is what I
proposed 2 years ago, but of course too new an idea
to bo complied with — a book on agriculture in all its
branches, composed and selected from all that is
best, published under the authority and sanction of
a practical committee of our Society, with new edi-
tions every 2nd or 3rd year, omitting what becomes
obsolete, and adding all that is new and really use-
ful. Every man possessing 20 acres of land would
read this and profit by it. One visit to a scientific
model and experimental farm, such as I have more
than once suggested, would do the visitor more good,
and give liim more valuable practical information,
than a winter spent in reading all the essays and
pamphlets ever printed.

Last year I proposed that the principal points of
all the best and worst animals exhibited at our shows,
should be written out by their judges, and for the in-
formation of young agriculturists who attend our
shows to acquire instruction, placed as tickets on
some conspicuous part of each animal. But the
short time allowed to judges for forming their opi-
nions, prevented this useful proposal being cariied
into effect. 1 am, however, glad to know from my
friend, Col. Le Couteur, that he proposes, and I
heartily second him, the adoption of points by our
judges as practised 'n Jersey, beyond all doubt the
best, quickest, easiest, and most impartial mode of
deciding the merits of all animals, and giving every
necessary information as to their superiority or infe-
riority to those desirous of instruction.

I have perhaps dwelt now too long for the pati-
ence of listeners, on the important subject of this
my communication to both our national Societies;
but I can assure them that my observations are made
solely from the strong desire I ever feel for all that
can be termed really improvement in agriculture,
and consequently encrease the comforts and happi-
ness of our fellow-creatures. I always see wLere
there is a will, a way will be found to accomplish
what can be proved best without any great difficulty,
and I now beg to subscribe myself, not as the censor,
but as the well-wisher to all our agricultural Soci-
eties, being

their humble and devoted servant,

Chateau de TaUwuet,
Morbihan, France, April 7th.

F. A. Mackenzif.

IMPROVEMENT OF MOSS.

Although a portion of the Thornhill moss had
long been considered utterly worthless, by per-
sons unacquainted with, or inattentive to, the
modern system of improvement, our friend Mr.
Kerr, tanner, happened to think differently, and
whether from the pleasure of experimenting, or
the hope of ultimate profit, determined to give a
considerable section of peat land, rented by him-
self, a fair trial. Accordingly, in the fall of 1840,
he commenced levelling, and this operation com-
pleted, the ground was thrown into a series of
ridges, each well crowned in the centre, and from
ten to eleven yards wide. Alongside ot these,
spade-drains were drawn to the depth of eighteen
inches, as covering in, under the circumstances,
previous to consolidation, would have been too
expensive, if not impracticable. In digging over,
in the absence of other manure, a substitute was
found in finely ground bone-dust, and applied to
the value of from 41. to 4/. 10s. per acre, mixed
up rather slightly with the moss. During the
winter sand was plentifully applied to the depth,
say of an inch and a half; and next, as a quick-
ener, a coating of lime. At sowing time another
application was tried — earth taken from the road-
sides, perhaps to the depth of two inches. Two
kinds of seed were procured— early Angus oats,
and a grey kind recommended by the Messrs.
Lawson, Edinburgh, with whom Mr. Kerr had
communicated, describing the nature of the soil,
and his mode of treating it. Specimens of both
seeds are before us, and it is due to the gentlemen
named to say that the latter has served the pur-
pose so well that it has even improved on the
sample sent, weighing, as it now does, 401bs.
The Angus weighs 41 ditto, but, notwithstanding,
the experimenter gives a preference to the grey
oat, as being a hardier plant on mossy soils, very
nearly equal in amount of grain, and superior in
length and quality of straw. With the grain seeds
were intermingled a mixture of Yorkshire fog,
Timothy, rye-grass, and a portion of white clover,
the latter chiefly on the tops of the ridges, all of
which throve so well that the clover, when ex-
amined last year, was found in many parts twelve
inches high. The principal crop thus grown
yielded forty bushels per acre ; and altogether the
experiment, in realizing the expectations of the
most sanguine calculators, has damped pro-
portionally the predictions of the doubting few.
The scene of operations, which presented lately a
most unsightly appearance, has in consequence
changed its character so entirely that it now
claims affinity with the luxuriant verdure of a
fertile holm. This transformation has no doubt
been effected at considerable expense; but at the
same time the results prove that a considerable
portion of the land of this country, at present
worth almost nothing, may be reclaimed to great
ultimate advantage. Mr. Kerr, therefore, de-
serves the best thanks of the public, on the old
principle that he who produces two leaves of
grass or corn, where only one or none grew be-
fore, is more useful in his day and generation than
thousands on thousands whom History in her
great charity is never tired of eulogizing, but who
when the simple truth comes to be known, were
only remarkable for the injuries they inflicted on
the human race. — Dumfries Herald.

y 2

324 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

A BILL TO AMEND THE LAWS FOR THE IMPORTATION

OF CORN.

[The Towns comprised in the Schedule which are therein marked with an
asterisk (*) are those which were not appointed by the Act 9 Geo. 4, cay.
60, as places in and from which Returns are to be made.]

Preamble.- Whereas an Act was passed in the ninth year of the reign of his late Majesty King

o Ogo. 4,c. 00. George the Fourth, intituled, "An Act to amend the Laws relating to the Importation of

Corn :" And whereas it is expedient that the said Act should be repealed, and that new

provisions should be made in lieu thereof; Be it therefore enacted, by the Queen's most

excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal,

1 and Commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,

Recited Act That the said Act shall be and the same is hereby repealed : provided nevertheless, that all

9 Geo. 4, c.eo. Acts or parts of Acts, which by virtue of the above-recited Act were repealed, shall still be

repealed. deemed and taken to be and remain repealed.

f* II. And whereas it is expedient that corn, grain, meal and flour, the growth, produce,

Com, &c. may , c ~ c r. J ' 7; . . . . ' 5 „ r , , J

be imported and manufacture of any foreign country, or of any British possession out of Lnrope, should

from foreign be allowed to be imported into the United Kingdom for consumption, upon the payment

™™ j£n* fho of duties to be regulated from time to time according fo the average price of British corn

corn* ^i'tj ii ic ii»ii' i • f •» t-» i /* t

produce of the made up and published in manner hereinafter required; Be it therefore enacted, that

British posses- from and after the passing of tins Act, there shall be levied and paid to her Majesty, upon

Europe, may all corn, grain, meal or flour entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom, from

be imported parts beyond the seas, the several duties specified and set forth in the table annexed to

me'^of^he5 " tu's ^ct ' anc^ tnat l'ie sa'^ duties shall be raised, levied, collected and paid in such and

duties specified the same manner in all respects as the several duties of customs mentioned and enumerated

in the table to jn \\w 'fable of Duties of Customs Inwards annexed to an Act passed in the session of

parliament held in the third and fourth years of the reign of his late Majesty King

William the Fourth, intituled, " An Act for granting Duties of Customs hereinafter

referred to as the Customs Duties Act," and by virtue and in pursuance of the several

powers and provisions in that Act contained, and in the Acts amending the same, and not

otherwise.

3. III. And whereas by an Act passed in the session of parliament held in the fifth and

SSTVs &°6" s'xtl1 years °^ llis late ^aJes,y ^'no William the Fourth, intituled, " An Act to regulate

Will. 4, c. 13. the Importation of Corn into the Isle of Man," it was enacted, that it should not be

imposing the lawful to import into the Isle of Man any foreign corn, grain, meal or flour, except upon

^••"m^ortaUoii payment of the same duties as were by the said recited Act of the ninth year of his laic

of foreign eorn Majesty King George the Fourth made payable on the importation into the United King-

into the isle of ,jom 0j- com> grain, meal or flour, which duties were by the said Act now in recital

the' United directed to be ascertained, levied and paid as therein is mentioned. And whereas it is

Kingdom, un- expedient that the duties payable on foreign corn, grain, meal or flour imported into the

der 9 Geo. 4, c. jgje Qf jyjan s|10uu be the same as those payable on the importation of foreign corn, grain,

meal or flour into the United Kingdom, and that for this purpose the said lecited Act for

regulating the importation of corn into the Isle of Man should be repealed, and such

Foreign corn provision should be made in that behalf as hereinafter is contained ; Be it therefore enacted,

>"*>' be inipor- lnat tjie sa\d recited Act regulating the importation of corn into the Isle of Man shall be

isle of Man anc^ tne same is hereby repealed ; and that from and after the passing of this Act, it shall

upon the same not be lawful to import into the Isle of Man any foreign corn, grain, meal or flour, except

^mDosedfby6 l,Pon payment of the same duties as are by this Act made payable upon corn, grain,

this Act on fo- meal or flour imported from any foreign country, and entered for home consumption in

rcii

:u corn im- tne United Kingdom ; and such duties shall be levied, collected and paid in such and the

United King- same manner as if the same had been imposed by an Act passed in the session of

dom. parliament held in the third and fourth years of the reign of his late Majesty King

William the Fourth, intituled, " An Act for regulating the Trade wilh the Isle of Man."

. ,. " ... IV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that all actions, suits and prosecutions now

Actions, «CC. . r i i • «• t /.i ir

for breach of depending, or hereafter to be brought for or by reason of any breach or non-performance

provisions of 0f any of the provisions of the said Acts hereby repealed, or either of them, or for the
Acts herebv re- /■ , .• ,. it j J • n i a

pealed, or' for recovery of any duties or sums of money payable under or by virtue of the same Acts, oi

duties payable either of them, shall and may be proceeded with as fully and effectually, to all intents and

m'lv 'i^'pro- P"rP0Sf!S> as if this present Act had not been made.

ceededwith. V- Provided always, and be it enacted, that no corn, grain, meal or flour shall be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 325

shipped from any port in any British possession out of Europe, as being the produce of 5.

any such possession, until the owner or proprietor or shipper thereof shall have made and Regulations to

subscribed, before the collector or other chief officer of customs at the port of shipment, shipping corn

a declaration in writing, specifying the quantity of each sort of such corn, grain, meal or from any Bri-

flour, and that the same was the produce of some British possession out of Europe to be ^|l ^g^?,"

named in such declaration, nor until such owner or proprietor or shipper shall have

obtained from the collector or oilier chief officer of the customs of the said port a certificate,

under his signature, of the quantity of corn, grain, meal or flour so declared to be shipped;

and before any corn, grain, meal or flour shall be entered at any port or place in the

United Kingdom, as being the produce of any British possession out of Europe, the

master of the ship importing the same shall produce and deliver to the collector or other

chief officer of customs of the port or place of importation a copy of such declaration,

certified to be a true and accurate copy thereof under the hand of the collector and other

chief officer of customs at the port of shipment before whom the same was made, together

with the certificate, signed by the said collector, or other chief officer of customs, of the

quantity of corn so declared to be shipped ; and such master shall also make and

subscribe, before the collector or other chief officer of customs at the port or place of

importation, a declaration in writing, that the several quantities of corn, grain, meal or

flour on board such ship, and proposed to be entered under the authority of such

declaration, are the same that were mentioned and referred to in the declaration and

certificate produced by him, without any admixture or addition ; and if any person shall,

in any such declaration, wilfully and corruptly make any false statement respecting the

place of which any such corn, grain, meal or flour" was the pruduce, or respecting the

identity of any such corn, grain, meal or flour, such person shall forfeit and become liable

to pay to her Majesty the sum of One Hundred Pounds, and the corn, grain, meal or flour

to such person belonging, on board any such ship, shall also be forfeited; and such

forfeitures shall and may be sued for, prosecuted, recovered and applied in such and the

same manner in- all respects as any forfeiture incurred under and by virtue of the said

Customs Duties Act. $4

VI. Provided always, and be it enacted, that it shall not be lawful to import, from parts Prohibition of
beyond the seas, into the United Kingdom, for consumption there, any malt, or any corn importation of
ground, except wheat meal, wheat flour, and oatmeal ; and that if any such article as

aforesaid shall be imported contrary to this provision, the same shall be forfeited ; and such
forfeitures shall and may be sued for, prosecuted, recovered and applied in such and the
same manner in all respects as any forfeiture incurred under and by virtue of the said
Customs Duties Act. -,

VII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that the commissioners of her Majesty's Account' of
customs shall, once in each calendar month, cause to be published in the London Gazette, com imported,
an account of the total quantity of each sort of the corn, grain, meal and flour respectively, ^"u".?0.11 •
which shall have been imported into the United Kingdom ; and also an account of the paid, rates of
total quantity of each sort of the corn, grain, meal and flour respectively, upon which the dlltv> and corn
duties of importation shall have been paid in the United Kingdom during the calendar J" bTpubUshed
month next preceding, and of the several rates of duty which shall from time to lime during monthly,
such month have been payable upon each sort of corn, grain, meal and flour respectively ;

together with an account of the total quantity of each sort of the said corn, grain, meal and
flour respectively remaining in warehouse at the end of such next preceding calendar
month. q

VIII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that if it shall be made to appear to her if any foreign
Majesty in council that any foreign state or power hath subjected British vessels, at any ptate »hall sub-
port within the dominions of such state or power, to any other or higher duties or charges ie^u,' goods,
whatever than are levied on national vessels at any such port, or hath subjected, at any &c. to any
such port, goods the growth, produce or manufacture of any of her Majesty's dominions, higher duties
when imported from any of such dominions in British vessels, to any other or higher are levied on
duties or charges whatever than are levied on such or the like goods, of whatever growth, the vessels, &c.
produce or manufacture, when so imported in national vessels ; or hath subjected, at any ^es^her00""*
port or place within the dominions of such foreign state or power, any article of the growth, iiaje'sty may
produce or manufacture of her Majesty's dominions, when imported from any of such PronibIt .tne
dominions in British vessels or in national vessels, to any duties or charges which would c™™°from°suoh
not be payable on the like article being of the growth, produce or manufacture of any other state,
country, and imported from such other country in national vessels ; or that any such

foreign state or power hath granted any bounties, drawbacks or allowances upon the
exportation from any port or place within the dominions thereof of any articles the growth,
produce or manufacture of the dominions of any other foreign state or power, which hath
not also been granted upon the exportation from such port or place of such or the like
articles, being the growth, produce or manufacture of her Majesty's dominions: then and
in any of the cases aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful for her Majesty, by any order or
orders to be by her made, with the advice of her Privy Council, to prohibit the importation

326 TIIE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of all ov of any sort of com, grain, meal or flour from the dominions of any such foreign
state or power; and it shall also be lawful for her Majesty from time to time, with the
advice of her Privy Council, to revoke and to renew any such orders or order as aforesaid,

9. as there shall be occasion.

Weekly returns j^t ^n(j wnereas it is necessary, for regulating the amount of such duties, that effectual
nncl sales of provision should be made for ascertaining from time to time the average prices of British
corn to be made corn ; Be it therefore enacted, that weekly returns of the purchases and sales of British
herein menu- corn shall be made, collected and transmitted in the manner hereinafter directed, in and
oned. from the cities and towns named in the schedule of cities and towns annexed to this Act.

10. X. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for her Majesty to appoint a fit and pro-
Power of ap- pei. person t0 be Comptroller of corn returns, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, and
pointing comp- r r , r^i . «i r i i i n u ht •
trolier of corn to grant to such Comptroller of corn returns such salary and allowances as to her Majesty

returns. shall seem meet : provided always, that such person shall be appointed to and shall hold

such his office during her Majesty's pleasure, and not otherwise; and shall at all times
conform to and obey such lawful instructions touching the execution of the duties of such
his office, as shall from time to time be given to him by the Lords of the Committee of
Privy Council appointed for tlie consideration of all matters relating to trade and foreign
plantations.
| ' XI. And be it enacted, that the said Comptroller of corn returns shall at all times exe-

noTto act by cute the duties of such his office in person, and not by deputy ; but that it shall be law-
deputy except ful for her Majesty to appoint a fit and proper person, who shall act as Deputy Comptroller
p wrof ai-eS ' °f corn returns, in case of 'the sickness or other incapacity of the said Comptroller, or in
pointing a de- case he the said Comptroller should, with the permission of the Lords of the said Committee
Puty- of Privy Council, be absent from the duties of such his office; and all and every the pow-

ers hereby vested in the said Comptroller of corn returns, and all and every the acts, mat-
ters and things hereby directed to be done and performed by him, shall be vested in, and
shall and may be done and performed by any such deputy as aforesaid, during the continu-
ance of any such sickness, incapacity or absence as aforesaid, of the said Comptroller of
coin returns, and such deputy shall hold such his office during her Majesty's pleasure,
and not otherwise, and shall receive and be paid such salary and allowances as to her Ma-
jesty shall seem meet.

12. XII. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the
Lord Mayor, cj[y 0f London, at a court to be holden for that purpose, and they or the majority of them
an topectorof present at such court are hereby authorized and required, to nominate and appoint some
corn returns fit and proper person to be Inspector of corn returns for the city of London ; and it shall be
for the ciiy of jawfuj for t|ie saj() Lord Mayor and Aldermen from time to time, as occasion may require,

upon any misbehaviour or neglect of duty of any such inspector, to remove him from such
his office by any order to be by them made at a Court to be specially convened and holden
for that purpose ; and upon the death, resignation, permanent incapacity, or removal of any
such inspector of corn returns for the city of London, it shall be lawful for the said Lord
Mayor and Aldermen, at a Court to be holden for that puipose, and they or a majority of
them present at any such Court are hereby authorized and required, to nominate and ap-
point some fit and proper person to succeed to the said office.

13. XIII. And be it enacted, that the said inspector of corn returns for the city of London
Said inspector s|iau at all times execute the duties of such his office in person, and not by deputy; but
his omeeXby"e tnat in case of the sickness or other temporary incapacity of the said inspector, it shall be
deputy, except lawful for the said Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the city of London to appoint some fit
in certain cases. ana> p10per person to act as the deputy of the said inspector, during the continuance of any

such sickness or incapacity as aforesaid of that officer, and no longer; and all and every
the powers heieby vested in the said inspector of corn returns for the city of London, and
all and every the acts, matters and things hereby directed to be done and performed by him,
shall and may be vested in, and be done and performed by, any such deputy as aforesaid,
during the continuance of such his appointment.

14. XIV. And be it enacted, that no person shall be eligible or shall be appointed to the of-
Noperson deal- fice of inspector or deputy inspector of corn returns for the city of London; who, within si.r
flour or raa'lt months next preceding the time of any such appointment, shall have been engaged in trade
to be ap- or business as a miller, maltster, or corn factor, or who during that period shall, as a mer-
toro'f'corn^re- chant, clerk, agent or otherwise, have bought corn for sale, or for the sale of meal, flour,
turns in Lon- malt, or bread, made or to be made thereof ; and if any inspector or deputy inspector of
don- corn returns for the city of London shall, during his continuance in such his office, engage

in trade or business as a miller, maltster, or corn factor, or shall, as a merchant, clerk, agent
or otherwise, buy com for sale, or for the sale of meal, flour, malt or bread, made or to be
made thereof, he shall in manner aforesaid be removed from such his office, and from and
after the time of such removal shall become incapable of acting as inspector of corn returns
under this Act.

15. XV. And be it enacted, that every nomination and appointment, so to be made as
Appointment aforesaid, of any inspector of corn returns for the city of London, shall be enrolled at the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 3'27

next sessions of the peace to be hoi den in and for the sakl city ; and the said enrolment, or of inspectorfor
a copy thereof, certified under the hand of the clerk of the peace for the said cily to be a don^be e'!-
irue copy, shall, for all intents and purposes, be and be deemed and taken to be good and rolled,
conclusive evidence of any such appointment as aforesaid having been duly made.

XVJf. And be it enacted, that every person who shall carry on trade or business in the 16.

city of London, or within Jive miles from the Royal Exchange in the said city, as a corn Dealers m corn
factor, or as an agent employed in the sale of British corn, and every person who shall sell deliver ina de-
any British corn within the present Corn Exchange in Mark-lane in the said city, or within claration to the
any other building or place which now is or may hereafter be used within the city of Lon- £°ri' ,Mu>"n'>
don, or within five miles from the Royal Exchange in the said city, for such and the like
purposes for which the said Corn Exchange in Mark-lane hath been and is used, shall, be-
fore he or they shall carry on such trade or business, or sell any corn in manner aforesaid,
make and deliver to the Lord Mayor, or one of the Aldermen of the city of London, a de-
claration in the following words ; (that is to say)

" I, A. B. do declare that the returns to be by me made, conformably to an Act
passed in the fifth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled, [here
set forth the title of this Act], of the quantities and prices of British corn which
henceforth shall be by or for me sold or delivered, shall, to the best of my know-
ledge and belief; contain the whole quantity, and no more, of the corn bona tide sold
and delivered by or for me within the periods to which such returns respectively
shall refer, with the prices of such corn, and the names of the buyers respectively,
and of the persons for whom such corn shall have been sold by me respectively ;
and to the best of my judgment the said return shall in all respects be conformable
to the provisions of the said Act."
Which declaration shall be in writing, and shall be subscribed with thehand of the person
so making the same; and the Lord Mayor or such Alderman as aforesaid of the city of Lon-
don for the time being shall and he is hereby required to deliver a certificate thereof, under
his hand, to the inspector of corn returns for the city of London, to be by him registered in
a book to be by him provided and kept for that purpose.

XVII. And be it enacted, that every such corn factor and other person as aforesaid, who 17.

is hereinbefore required to make and who shall have made s'jch declaration as aforesaid, Dealers in com
shall and he or she is hereby required to return or cause to be returned, on Wednesday in turai'tocorn
each and every week, to the inspector of corn returns for the city of London, an account in inspectors.
writing, signed with his or her own name, or the name of his or her agent duly authorized
in that behalf, of the quantities of each respective sort of British corn by him or her sold
during the week ending on and including the next preceding Tuesday, with the prices
thereof, and the amount of every parcel, with the total quantity and value of each sort of
corn, and by what measure or weight the same was sold, and the names of the buyers
thereof, and of the persons for and on behalf of whom such corn was sold; and it shali be
lawful for any such inspector of corn returns to deliver to any person making or tendering
any such returns a notice in writing, requiring him or her to declare and set forth therein
where and by whom and in what manner any such British com was delivered to the pur-
chaser or purchasers thereof ; and every person to whom any such notice shall be so deli-
vered shall and he or she is hereby required to comply therewith, and to declare and set
forth in such his or her return, or in a separate statement in writing, the several particulars
aforesaid.

XVIII. And be it enacted, that the comptroller and deputy comptroller of corn returns, ^q

who, at or immediately before the passing of I his Act, shall respectively hold such offices or The present
appointments, under and by virtue of the said recited Act of the ninth year of the reign of comptroller,
his late Majesty King George the Fourth, shall and they are hereby authorized and re- j1^"^ ancni--
quired respectively to hold and forthwith to act in such their offices or appointments under spector of re-
and by virtue of this present Act, and to discharge the several duties of and belonging to turns for the
such their former offices or appointments, in such and the same manner, and as fully and to Continue in"
effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if they had been respectively appointed to such office,
their offices or appointments, as aforesaid, under and by virtue of this present Act; and mg„£pp°l°hft
that the person appointed to act as inspector of corn returns for the city of London, under other inspec-
thesaid recited Act of the ninth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, tors of returns
shall, without further appointment, continue to act as such inspector, under this Act, until a^day0"/
he shall die or resign such his office, or be removed therefrom by the Lord Mayor and Al- June next after
dermen of the city of London in manner aforesaid ; and each and every inspector of corn J1'? Posing of
returns for any city or town other than the city of London, who, at or immediately before
the passing of this A.ct, shall hold such office or appointment under or by virtue of the said
recited Act of the ninth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, shall
and they are hereby respectively authorized to continue to hold their respective offices or
appointments until the twenty -fourth day of June next after the passing of this Act, and are
hereby authorized and required to perform the several duties hereinafter assigned to them :
provided nevertheless, that except so far as respects the inspector of corn returns for the

328 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

city of London, and such other inspectors of corn returns as shall he continued in office by
virtue of the warrant of the commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, as hereinafter is provided, the office or appointment of
every inspector of corn returns who, at or immediately before the passing of this Act, shall
hold such office or appointment, shall, on the said Twenty-fourth day of June next after the
passing of this Act, cease and determine.

19. XIX. And be it enacted, That in the several cities and towns enumerated in the said

In other cities schedule hereunto annexed, except the city of London, and except the cities or towns in
tiian London, i • u .u • r • ■> « . . * « 1 . » ■ ' i ' »

supervisors of which the inspectors of corn returns, appointed under or by virtue of the said recited Act

txene to act of the ninth year of the reign of his late Majesty Kinjg George the Fourth, shall for the time

rors,°andnat-C" ^eino continue to hold their respective offices under the provisions of this Act, the duties of

tend nt a place inspector of corn returns shall be performed as hereinafter is mentioned by the supervisors

appointed. 0f excise, under the orders and directions of the commissioners of excise; and in order

thereto, the commissioners of excise shall cause a fit and convenient place to be appointed,

such place to be varied from time to time as the said commissioners may see occasion, at

which the accounts by this Act required to be returned by persons purchasing corn within

such cities and towns respectively shall be delivered, and shall cause a supervisor of excise

to attend at such place on the days on which such accounts are required to be returned for

the purpose of receiving the same ; and every supervisor of excise attending at such place

and receiving such returns shall be deemed and taken to be an inspector of corn returns

under the provisions of this Act.

20. XX. And be it enacted, That the commissioners of excise shall, as soon as such place for

Commissioners receiving such returns shall have been fixed and appointed in any such city or town as afore-

of excise to .» ,, . . , , , i t -' •> . -

make known -said, cause the same to be made known by advertisement in some newspaper circulating

the place to be within the city or town, and shall also cause a board to be affixed in the market-house, or if
defhering fRe- tIiere sha11 b? n0 market-house, in some conspicuous place near to the place where the
turns of corn corn-market is usually held in such city or town, setting forth the place at which such ac-
purchaaed. counts of corn bought within the city or town are to be delivered ; and any person who shall
remove, deface, obliterate, or injure any such board, or the writing thereon, or any part
thereof, shall for each such his offence forfeit and pay the sum of Five Pounds.

21. XXI. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the commissioners of her Majesty's
co\TrCetHn)sf Treasury> or any tnree or more of them, by any warrant or warrants under the hands of
may continue diem or any three or more of them, to be signed before the Twenty-fourth day of June

offlh0ldbt,ieil • ,hli a^tei l'ie r>assin§ °f tllis Act> t0 0I"der and direct that the person who at or immediately
nmtof the""" before tne ,ime of the passing of this Act shall hold the office of inspector of corn returns in
commissioners any city or town named in such order, other than the city of London, under or by virtue of
"nrvhe TrPa" lJie said recited Act of the ninth year of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, shall
continue to hold such office, and such person shall accordingly be inspector of corn returns
for such city or town under this Act until he shall die or resign, or until the determination
of his office or appointment, as hereinafter is mentioned, and shall, as respects the city or
town for which he is so continued as inspector, perform, under the orders and directions of
the commissioners of excise, the duties assigned to him by this Act ; and it shall be lawful
for the commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, or any three or more of them, by any war-
rant under the hands of them or any three or more of them, to direct that, at any time to be
named in such warrant, the office or appointment of any such inspector of corn returns, so,
continued in office by any such previous warrant as aforesaid, shall cease and determine
and the office or appointment of such inspector shall cease and determine accordingly ; and
in case of the death, resignation or determination of office of any such inspector of corn
returns so continued in office in any city or town by such previous warrant as aforesaid,
the duties of inspector of corn returns for such city or town shall thenceforth be performed
by the supervisors of excise, as hereinbefore is mentioned.

22. XXII. And be it enacted, That every person who shall deal in British corn at or within
m^ltie't'anT" nny cily or t0WD naraedin the said schedule hereunto annexed, other than the city of Lon-
towns to make fl0n> or wno shall at or within any such city or town engage in or carry on the trade or
declaration. business of a cornfactor, miller, maltster, brewer, or distiller, or who shall be the owner or

proprietor, or part-owner or proprietor, of any stage-coaches, waggons, carts, or other car-
riages carrying goods or passengers for hire to and from any such city or town, and each and
every person who, as a merchant, clerk, agent or otherwise, shall purchase at any such city
or town any British corn for sale, or for the sale of meal, flour, malt, or bread made or to be
made thereof, shall, before he or she shall so deal in British corn at any such city or town, or
shall engage in or carry on any such trade or business as aforesaid, or shall purchase any
British corn for any such purpose as a/bresaid, at or within any such city or town, make and
deliver, in manner hereinafter mentioned, a declaration in the following words : (that is
to say)
Formofr«jla- " J, A. B., do declare that the returns to be by me made, conformably to the Act

passed in the year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled,

[here ?et forth the title of this Act], of the quantities and prices of British corn

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 329

which henceforward shall by or for me be bought, shall, lo the best of my know-
ledge and belief, contain the whole quantity, and no more, of the British corn bona
fide bought for or by me within the periods to which such returns respectively shall
refer, with the prices of such corn, and the names of the sellers respectively ; and
to the best of my judgment the said returns shall in all respects be conformable to
the provisions of the said Act."
Which declaration shall be in writing, and shall be subscribed with the hand of the person Declaration to
so making the same, and shall by him or her, or by his or her agent, be delivered to the \? delivered to
mayor or chief magistrate, or to some justice of the peace for such city or town, or for the who shall give
county, riding or division in which the same is situate, who are hereby required to deliver a certificate
a certificate thereof to the supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns for such supervisor act-
city or town as aforesaid, at the place appointed for receiving such returns, or to such con- ing ns inspec-
tinuing inspector of corn returns as aforesaid for such city or town (as the case may be), to tor"
be by such supervisor or inspector registered in a bock to be by him provided and kept
for that purpose.

XXIII. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the inspector of corn returns for 23.

the city of London, and for any supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns in The supervisor*
any such other city or town as aforesaid, or for any continuing inspector of corn returns in p,"i'owcred to
any such other city or town as aforesaid, to serve upon and deliver to any person buying dec'iaratkm '
or selling corn in any such city or town, and who is not within the terras and meaning of ll0tn Mrn"
this present Act specially required to make any such declaration as aforesaid, a notice in dealors-
writing under the hand of such inspector or supervisor, requiring him lo make such de-
claration as aforesaid ; and every such person upon whom such notice shall be served as
aforesaid shall and he is hereby required to comply with such notice and to make such
declaration in such and the same manner in all respects as if he or she had been specially
required to make the same by the express provisions of this present Act.

XXIV. And be it enacted, That all persons who are hereinbefore required lo make, and 24.

who shall have made, such declaration as aforesaid, shall, and they are hereby required, on Corn-dealers to

the first market day which shall be holden in eacli and every week within each and everv ,.n"k<\renil'nii
j • .i -j i i i i l i • r -W- ■. J in writing to

city or town named in tie said schedule hereunto annexed, except the city of London, at supervisors of

or within which they shall respectively deal in corn, or engage in or carry on any such "lp corn
trade or business as aforesaid, or purchase any corn for any such purpose as aforesaid, to thera^' by
return or cause to be returned to the supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns
for such city or town, at the place appointed for receiving such returns, or to the continuing
inspector of corn returns for such city or town (as the case may be), an account in writing',
signed with their names respectively, of the amount of each and every parcel of each re-
spective sort of British corn so by them respectively bought during the week ending on and
including the day next preceding such first market day as aforesaid, with the price thereof,
and by what weight or measure the same was so bought by them, with the names of the
sellers of each of the said parcels respectively, with the names of the person or persons, if
any other than the person making such return, for or on account of whom the same was so
bought and sold ; and it shall be lawful for any such supervisor of excise acting as inspector
of corn returns, or any such continuing inspector of com returns as aforesaid, to deliver to
any person making or tendering any such return, a notice in writing requiring him or her
to declare and set forth where and by whom and in what manner any such British corn was
delivered to him or her ; and every person lo whom any such notice shall be so delivered,
shall and he or she is hereby required to comply therewith, and to declare and set forth
in such his or her return, or in a separate statement in writing, the several particulars
aforesaid.

XXV. And be it enacted, That the inspector of corn returns for the city of London, and 25

every supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns for the several other cities and Inspectors and

towns aforesaid, and every such continuing inspector of corn returns as aforesaid, shall duly supervisors t<

and regularly enter in a book to be by him provided and kept for that purpose, the several to^em^a

accounts of the quantities and prices of coin returned to him by such persons respectively book; and

as aforesaid ; and every such inspector of corn returns for the city of London and everv traf,smi,,,t0 t"*

c ■ .■ " r j J , . .' . J comptroller,

supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns, and every such continuing inspector weekly, an se-

of corn returns as aforesaid, for any of the several other cities and towns enumerated in count of the
the said schedule, shall in each and every week return to the comptroller of corn returns priees'of corn
an account of the weekly quantities and prices of the several sorts of British corn sold in sold,
the cily of London, or in the city or town for which he shall be or act as inspector, accord-
ing to the returns so made to him as aforesaid, and in such form as shall be from time to
time prescribed and directed by the said comptroller of corn returns ; and the said returns
shall be so made to the said comptroller by the inspector of corn returns for the„cify of
London on Friday in each week, and by the respective supervisors of excise acting as in-
spectors of corn returns, and by the respective continuing inspectors of corn returns, for the
several other cities and towns aforesaid, within three days next after the first market day
holden in each and every week in any such city or town.

to
ns

330 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

26. XXVI. And be it enacted, That no inspector of corn returns in the city of London, nor
Inspectors and any supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns in any of the cities or towns
noTto 'include aforesaid, nor any such continuing inspector of corn relurns aforesaid, shall include in the
returns until return so to be made by them as aforesaid to the comptroller of corn returns, any account
they have as- 0f sa]es or purchases of corn, unless such inspector or supervisor shall have received satis-
the persons factory proof that the person tendering such account hath made the declaration hereinbefore
making them required, and hath delivered the same to the lord mayor or an alderman of the city of Lon-
deciaration re- ^oa» mayor or chief magistrate, or to some justice of the peace of the city or town for which
quired. such supervisor or continuing inspector shall be acting as inspector of corn returns, or to

some justice of the peace for the county, riding or division in which such city or town is
situate, or that such person hath previously to the passing of this Act made and duly de-
livered the declaration required of him by the said recited Act of the ninth year of the reign
of his late Majesty King George the Fourth.

27. XXVII. And be it enacted, That the average prices of all British corn, by which the
Average prices rate and amount of the said duties shall be regulated, shall be made up and computed on
to be made up Thursday m each and every week in manner following — (that is to say) the said comptroller
every week. of corn returns shall on such Thursday in each week, from such returns as shall be received

by him during the week next preceding, ending on and including the Suturday'm such pre-
ceding week, add together the total quantities of each sort of British corn respectively
appearing by such returns to have been sold, and the total prices for which the same shall
thereby appear to have been sold, and shall divide the amount of such total prices respec-
tively by the amount of such total quantities of each sort of British corn respectively, and
the sum produced thereby shall be added to the sums in like manner produced in ihe Jive
weeks immediately preceding the same, and the amount of such sums so added shall be
divided by si.v, and the sum thereby given shall be deemed and taken to be the aggregate
average price of each such sort of British corn respectively, for the purpose of regulating and
ascertaining the rate and amount of the said duties ; and the said comptroller of corn returns
shall cause such aggregate weekly averages to be published in the next succeeding Gazette,
and shall on Thursday in each week transmit a certificate of such aggregate average prices of
each sort of British com to the collector or other chief officer of the customs at each of the
several ports of the United Kingdom, and to the collector orother chief officer of the customs
Certificate of at tue I,orl °^ Douglas, in the Isle of Man ; and the rate and amount of the duties to be paid
averages to be under the provisions of this Act shall from time to time be regulated and governed at each
transmuted to of the ports of the United Kingdom respectively by the aggregate average prices of British
customs. - corn at l'ie l'me °^ lne enlry f01' home consumption of any corn, grain, meal or flour charge-
able with any such duty, as such aggregate average prices shall appearand be stated in the
last of such certificates as aforesaid which shall have been received as aforesaid by the col-
lector or other chief officer of customs at such port ; and the rate and amount of the duties
to be paid under the provisions of this Act shall from time to time be regulated and governed
in the Isle of Man by the aggregate average prices of British corn at the time of the im-
portation into the Isle of Man of any corn, grain, meal or flour chargeable with any such
duty, as such aggregate average prices shall appear and be stated in the last of such certifi-
cates as aforesaid, which shall have been received as aforesaid by the collector or other chief
officer of customs at the port of Douglas.
2g XXVIII. Provided always, and be it enacted, That in the returns so to be made as afore-

How quantities sa'^ to l'ie comptroller of corn returns, and in the publications so to be made from time to
of com are to time in the London Gazette, and in the certificate so to be transmitted by the said comptroller
be computed. 0f COrn returns to such collectors or other chief officers of the customs as aforesaid, the
quantities of each sort of British corn respectively shall be computed and set forth by,
according, and with reference to the imperial standard gallon, as the same is declared and
established by a certain Act passed in the fifth year of his late Majesty King George the
Fourth, intituled, " An Act for ascertaining and establishing Uniformity of Weights and
Measures," as the said Act is amended or altered by a certain other Act passed in the sixth
year of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, intituled, "An Act to prolong the Time
of the Commencement of an Act of the last session of parliament, for ascertaining and
establishing Unifoimity of Weights and Measures, and to amend the said Act;" and by a
certain other Act passed in the session of parliament held in the filth and sixth years of the
reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, intituled, " An Act to repeal an Act of
the fourth and fifth year of his present Majesty, relating to weights and measures, and to
make other provisions instead thereof."
29, XXIX. Provided always, and be it enacted, That until a sufficient number of weekly

Until sufficient returns shall have bepn received by the said comptroller of corn returns under this Act, to
tuni^'iremadt" an<°n' sucn aggregate average prices of British corn as aforesaid, the weekly average prices
comptroller ' °f British corn published by him immediately before the passing of this Act shall by him be
may use the used and referred to in making such calculations as aforesaid, in such and the same manner

present ave- as jf t|,e same na(j been ma(je Up an(j taken unc|er an(J jn pursuance of this Act.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 331

XXX. Provided always, and be it enacted, That all coin or grain, the produce of the 30.
United Kingdom, shall be deemed and taken to be British corn for the purposes of this W1»at shall be

AqI^ deemed British

XXXI. Provided always, and be it enacted, That if the said comptroller of corn returns '31,
shall at any time see cause to believe that any return made to the inspector of corn returns If any com re-
for the cily of London, or to any supervisor of excise acting as inspector of corn returns, turn is believed
or any such continuing inspector as aforesaid, for any other city or town as aforesaid, is same nfaVbe 6
fraudulent or untrue, the said comptroller shall and he is hereby required with all conve- omitted in the
nient expedition to lay before the Lords of the said Committee of Privy Council a state- comPuta,ion-
ment of the grounds of such his belief; and if upon consideration of any such statement,

the said Lords of the said committee shall direct the said comptroller to omit any such
return in the compulation ofsuch aggregate weekly average price as aforesaid, then and in that
case, but not otherwise, the said comptroller of corn returns shall be and he is hereby au-
thorized to omit any such return in the computation ofsuch aggregate weekly average price.

XXXII. And be it enacted, That any cornfactor, dealer or other person who at or pre- 32

viously to the time when this present Act shall come into operation shall have made the corn dealers

declaration required of him in and by the said Act so passed as aforesaid in the ninth year having made

of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, shall and he or she is hereby ^evioulftothis

required forthwith to make all such returns to the inspector for the city of London, and to Act, shall

the respective supervisors of Excise acting as inspectors of corn returns in the several other transmit re-

j . r -j i .l .-l -.ir • • 1 turns and Toni-

cities and towns aforesaid at the respective places appointed lor receiving such returns as piy with the

aforesaid, or to such continuing inspector of corn returns as aforesaid, in any such other rules hereby

cities or towns (as the case may be), and to perform and do all sucli acts, matters and re<iuired-

things, and to comply with and observe all such rules and regulations as are hereby required

or directed of or in regard to persons who have made any declaration required of them in

and by the present Act, although he or she may not have actually made such last- mentioned

declaration. 33.

XXX I II. And be it enacted, That the comptroller of corn returns shall and he is hereby Comptroller to
authorized from time to time, in pursuance of any instructions which he shall receive in ',ssue di.re^ti0115
that behalf from the Lords of the said committee of Privy Council, to issue to the inspector spectionnofm
of corn returns for the city of London any general or special directions respecting the in- books of >"-
s'pection by any person or persons of the books so directed as aforesaid to be kept by such c?fyofLondon
inspector of corn returns; and no such inspector for the city of London shall permit or Inspector not '
suffer any person to inspect any such book, or to peruse or transcribe any entry therein, to permit
except in compliance with some such general or special directions from the said comptroller perused with-
of corn returns. out such di-

XXXIV. And be it enacted, That each and every supervisor of Excise acting as inspector rectl0"^
of corn returns, and each and every such continuing inspector of corn returns as aforesaid, c of jhe
for any city or town other than the city of London, shall and he is hereby required on each last return to
and every market-day to put up or cause to be put up in the market place of the city or town be affixed on
for which he shall act as inspector, or if there shall be no market-place in such city of on^achmarhet
town, then in some other conspicuous place therein, near to where the corn-market is day.
usually held, a copy of the last return made by him to the comptroller of corn returns,

omitting the names of the parties who may have sold and bought the said corn; and everv
such supervisor or inspector shall also again put up such account on the market-day imme-
diately following that on which it shall first have been put up, in case the same shall from
accident or any other cause have been removed, and shall take due care that the same shall
remain up for public inspection until a new account for the ensuing week shall have been
prepared and set up.

XXXV. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the commissioners of her Majesty's o ,-
Treasury, by any warrant or warrants to be for that purpose from lime to time made and Treasury to fix
issued, to settle and allow such reasonable and moderate salaries as shall be paid and pay- salaries of

able to the said inspector of corn returns for the city of London, and to such continuing ounlP.troiiers

p . c -j e 1 • -j .• e .1 1 .■ 1 b anJ inspectors.

inspectors or corn returns as aforesaid, for and in consideration of the duties so to be per-
formed by them : Provided always, that the salary so to be allowed to the inspector of corn
returns for the city of London shall not in any one year exceed the sum of three hundred
pounds, in consideration of which salary he shall and is hereby required to keep and
maintain a proper and convenient apartment or place of business at or near to the said
Corn Exchange in Mark-lane, for transacting the duties ofsuch his office, and to defray all
incidental charges and expenses of and attendant upon such his office : Provided also, That
the salary to be granted to any such continuing inspector of corn returns as aforesaid, for
any other of the cities or towns aforesaid, shall not exceed fifty pounds in any one year for
such inspector, or a proportionate sum for any period less than a year.

XXXVL And be it enacted, That the salary aforesaid allowed to the inspector of corn 26.

returns for the said city of London shall be paid quarterly by the receiver-general of the Regulation as
Customs or of the Excise in and for the city of London ; and the salaries which shall be to payment or
allowed to any such continuing inspectors of corn returns as aforesaid, for any city or town other sa anPi

332 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

than the city of London, shall, as regards those persons whose offices or appointments arehereby
continued until the said Twenty-fourth day of June next after the passing of this Act, and are
then to cease, be paid to them up to that day ; and as regards those persons who shall be
continued in office after the said Twenty-fourth day of June by virtue of the warrant of the
commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury as hereinbefore is mentioned shall be paid quar-
terly ; and such salaries shall be paid by the collectors or other chief officers of the customs
or excise in or for the cities or towns for which such continuing inspectors as aforesaid shall
be respectively acting, provided that no such payment of salary shall be made either to the
inspector of the corn returns for the city of London, or to any such continuing inspector of
corn returns as aforesaid, unless the inspector of corn returns claiming the same shall first
produce and deliver to the receiver-general or collector of the customs or excise by whom
the same is to be paid, a certificate under the hand of the comptroller of corn leturns, cer-
tifying that such inspector hath duly made the returns required of him by this present Act
during the period in respect of which any such payment is to be made, and which certifi-
cate such comptroller is hereby required, on the application of any such inspector as
aforesaid, to grant, unless any such inspector shall, without good and sufficient cause, have
neglected or omitted to make such returns as aforesaid, or some of them : Provided also,
That if the duties of the said office of inspector of corn returns for the city of London shall,
during any such quarter of a year as aforesaid, have been discharged wholly or in part by a
deputy, the comptroller of corn returns shall in such certificate as aforesaid specify the
length of time during which such deputy hath so acted, and the whole or a proportionate
part, as the case may be, of any such quarterly payment shall in that case be paid to the
said deputy.
37. XXXVlf. And whereas the persons who at the time of the passing oj this Act respec-

Powpi'to the lively hold the offices or appointments of inspectors of corn returns in any of the cities or
Treasury to towns aforesaid, other than the city of London, will by reason of the determination of their
grant eompen- respective offices and appointments under the provisions of this Act cease to receive the
gpectors'of1" series attached thereto ; and it may be reasonable and fit that compensation should be
corn returns, made to such persons ; be it therefore enacted, That it shall be lawful for any three or
more of the commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury for the time being, by warrant under
their hands, to order and direct that such annual compensation or allowance, not exceeding
in any case the annual salary of the office in respect of which such compensation or allow-
ance is granted, as to them in their discretion shall seem just and reasonable, having due
regard to the length of service and conduct of the parties, shall be made to the several per-
sons who at or immediately before the time of the passing of this Act shall respectively
hold offices or appointments of inspectors of corn returns for any of the cities or towns
aforesaid, other than the city of London, for any loss of salary attached to such offices or
appointments which they may respectively sustain, by reason of the determination of their
respective offices or appointments by the provisions of this Act; and such compensation or
allowance shall be issued and paid to the party to whom such compensation shall be made,
at such limes and in such manner as in such warrant shall be directed, by the collector or
the chief officer of the customs or of the excise, in or for the city or town for which such
party shall hold the office of inspector of corn returns at the time of the passing of this
Act: Provided always, That an account of such compensations shall, within fourteen days
next after the same shall have been so granted, belaid before the Commons House of Par-
liament, if parliament shall be then assembled, or if parliament shall then not be assembled,
then within fourteen days after the meeting of parliament next following.
38. XXXV11I. And be it enacted, That if any person who is hereby required to make and

Penalty on deliver the declaration or declarations hereinbefore particularly mentioned and set forth, or
for'no^makinK e'tner 0I" them, shall not make and deliver such declaration or declarations at the time
declarations or and in the form and manner and to the person or persons hereinbefore directed and pre-
retums. scribed in that behalf ; every person so offending shall forfeit and pay the sum of Twenty

Pounds for each and every calendar month during which he shall neglect or delay to make
and deliver any such declaration ; and if any person who is hereinbefore required to make
any return to the inspector of corn returns for the city of London, or to any supervisor of
excise acting as inspector as aforesaid, or to any such continuing inspector of corn returns
as aforesaid, shall not make such returns to such inspector or supervisor, at the time and in
the form and manner hereinbefore directed and prescribed, every such offender shall for
such his offence forfeit and pay the sum of Twenty Founds.
Recovery and XXXIX. And be it enacted, That all and every the penalties aforesaid shall and may be
application of prosecuted, sued for and recovered by and to the use of any person who will sue for the
penalties. same, before any two justices of the peace acting in and for the city, town, county, riding,

or division within which the offence shall have been committed ; and upon conviction of
any such offender before any such justices of the peace, either by the confession of the
party offending or by the oath of any credible witness or witnesses (which oath such jus-
tices are hereby authorized to administer), the amount of such penalties and forfeitures
shall be levied, together with the costs attending the information and conviction, to be as-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 333

sessed and allowed by such justices, by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the
party or parties offending, by warrant under the hands and seals of such justices (which
warrant such justices are hereby empowered and required to grant); and the
overplus (if any), after such penalties, forfeitures and fines, and the charges of such distress
and sale are deducted, shall be returned, upon demand, unto the owner or owners of such
goods and chattels ; and in case such fines, penalties and forfeitures shall not be forthwith
paid upon conviction, then it shall be lawful for such justices to order the offender or
offenders so convicted to be detained and kept in safe custody until return can be con-
veniently made to such warrant of distress, unless the offender or offenders shall give suffi-
cient security, to the satisfaction of such justices, for his or their appearance before such
justices on such day or days as shall be appointed for the return of such warrant of distress,
such day or days not being more than Seven days from the time of taking any such security,
and which security the said justices are hereby empowered to take by way of recognizance
or otherwise ; but if upon the return of such warrant it shall appear that no sufficient distress
can be had thereupon, then it shall be lawful for any such justices of the peace as aforesaid,
and they are hereby authorized and required, by warrant or warrants under their hands and
seals, to cause such offender or offenders to be committed to the common gaol or house of
correction of the city, town, county, riding or division where the offender shall be or reside,
there to remain, without buil or mainprize, for any term not exceeding Three calendar
months, unless such penalties, forfeitures and fines, and all reasonable charges attending
the same, shall be sooner paid and satisfied.

XL. Provided always, and be it enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the Lords ^0#
of the said committee of Privy Council, by any order to be made by them, and issued under prwwjouncil
the hands of one of the clerks of her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, to stay the may stay pro-
proceedings upon any information before any such justices of the peace as aforesaid, for fonn'atloi™ '""
the penalties aforesaid, or any of them; and that it shall also be lawful for any justices of justices may
the peace before whom any person shall be convicted of any offence against this Act, if he mitigate penal-
or they shall think proper, to mitigate or reduce the penalty incurred by such person, so tlc*'
as such reduction or mitigation do not exceed Two-thirds of the penalty to which such
person would be liable under this Act.

XL1. And be it enacted, That if any person who shall be summoned as a witness to 41.
give evidence before any justices of the peace, touching any matter of fact contained in any Penalty on
information or complaint for any offence against this Act, either on the part of the pro- ^mdtaewheu
secutor or of the person or persons accused, shall, after a reasonable sum of money for his required,
or her charges and expenses shall have been paid or been tendered to him or her, refuse or
neglect to appear at the time and place for that purpose appointed, without a reasonable
excuse for his, her, or their neglect, or appearing shall refuse to be examined on oath and
give evidence before such justices of the peace, then and in either of such cases such person
shall forfeit for every such offence any sum not exceeding Ten Pounds, to be recovered in
the manner hereinbefore provided for the recovery of the several penalties aforesaid.

XLU. And be it enacted, That if any person shall make any false and fraudulent state- 42.
nient in any such return as he is hereinbefore directed and required to make, or shall falsely Punishment for
and wilfully include or procure or cause to be included in any such return any British corn '""^"J faIse
which was not truly and bona fide sold or bought to, by or on behalf of the person or
persons in any such return mentioned in that behalf, in the quantity and for the price therein
stated and set forth, every such offender shall be and be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

XL1II. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend to alter the 43.

present practice of measuring corn, or any of the articles aforesaid, to be shipped from or to Act not to affect
be landed in the port of London ; but that the same shall be measured by the sworn meters lhe P»?ctieeof

• it iiiCtisurii)0" or

appointed for that purpose, by whose certificate the searchers or other proper officers of her privileges of
Majesty's customs are hereby empowered and requited to certify the quantity of corn or t'"' cU>' ot
other articles as aforesaid so shipped or landed ; and that nothing in this Act contained London"
shall extend to lessen or take away the rights and privileges of, or the tolls or duties due and
payable to, the mayor and commonalty and citizens of the city of London, or to the mayor
of the said city for the time being, or to take away the privileges of any persons lawfully
deriving title from or under them.

XLIV. And be it enacted, That if any action or suit shall be brought or commenced 44.

against any person or persons, for any thing by him, her, or them done by virtue or in Limitation of
pursuance of this Act, such action or suit shall be commenced within Three months next Bction8,
alter the matter or thing done, and shall be laid in the proper county ; and the defendant or
defendants in such action or suit shall and may plead the general issue, and give this Act
and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had thereupon ; and if afterwards a
verdict shall pass for the defendant or defendants, or the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall dis-
continue his, her, or their action or actions, or he nonsuited, or judgment shall be given
against him, her, or them, upon demuirer or otherv. ise, then such defendant or defendants
shall have treble costs awarded to him, her, or them against sucli plaintiff or plaintiffs. 45.

XLY. And be it enacted, That this Act m.-iv be amended or repealed by any Act to be Act ma>' be

__„„ i : .1 • ■•pi- ' r aineiiaeil or re-

passed in this present session of parliament. pealed.

334

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

TABLE OF DUTIES

TO AVHICH THIS ACT REFERS.

II imported from any Foreign Country :
Wheat : —

Whenever the average price of

Wheat, made up and published
in the manner required by law,
shall be, for every quarter,

£
.... under 51s. the duty shall be, "1

for every quarter J

.... 51s. and under 52s 0

.... 52s. and under 55s 0

.... 55s. and under 5b's 0

.... 56s. and under 57s 0

57s. and under 58s 0

.... 58s. and under 59s. . .; 0

.... 59s. and under 60s 0

.... 60s. and under 6ls 0

.... 6ls. and under 62s 0

.... 62s. and under 63s 0

.... 63s. and under 64s 0

.... 64s. and under 65s 0

.... 65s. and under 66s 0

.... 66s. and under 69s 0

.... 69s. and under 70s 0

.... 70s. and under 71s 0

.... 71s. and under 72s 0

72s. and under 73s 0

.... 73s. and upwards 0

Barley : —

Whenever the average pi ice of

Barley, made up and published
in the manner required by law,
shall be, for every quarter,

under 26s. the duty shall be, 1

for every quarter J

.... 26s. and under 27s 0

.... 27s. and under 30s 0

.... 30s. and under 31s 0

3ls. and under 32s 0

.... 32s. and under 33s 0

.... 33s. and under 34s. 0

.... 34s. and under 35s 0

.... 35s. and under 36s 0

.... 36s. and under 37s 0

.... 37s. and upwards 0

Oats ; —

Whenever the average price of

Oats, made up and published

in the manner required by law,

shall be, for every quarter,

.... under 19s. the duty shall be

for every quarter ,

.... 19s. and under 20s 0

20.5. and under 23s 0

.... 23s. and under 24s 0

.... 24s. and under 25s 0

.... 25s. and under 26s 0

.... 26s. and under 27s 0

.... 27s. and upwards 0

Rye, Teas, and Beans : —

Whenever the average price of

Rye, or of Peas, or of Beans,
made up and published in the
manner required by law, shall
be, for every quarter,
.... under 30s. the duty shall be, )

for every quarter \

.... 30s. and under 33s 0

.... 33s. and under 34s 0

s. d.
0 0

l)

'.'}

19

0

18

0

17

0

16

0

15

0

14

0

13

0

12

0

11

0

10

0

9

0

8

0

7

1)

6

0

5

0

4

0

3

0

2

(1

1

0

0 8 0
0

6

0

5

0

1

u

a

0

■i

0

i

II

OH 6

10 6
9 6

34s. and under 35s • • • 0

35s. and under 36s 9

36s
37s.

8

7
6
5
4
3
2
]
1

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
0

and under 37s 0

and under 38s 0

.... 38s. and under 39s 0

.... 39s. and under 40s °

.... 40s. and under 4ls 0

41s. and under 42s 0

.... 42s. and upwards 0

Wheat, Meal, and Flour : —
For every barrel, being one hun-
dred and ninety- six pounds ;
A duty equal in amount to
the duty payable on
thirty-eight and a half
gallons of Wheat.
Oatmeal : —

For every quantity of one hun-
dred and eighty-one pounds
and a half ;

A duty equal in amount to
the duty payable on a
quarter of oats.
Maize or Indian Corn, Buck Wheat, Bere, or
Bigg : —

For every quarter ;

A duty equal in amount to the
duty payable on a quarter of
Barley.

11

0

10

0

9

0

, ,

8

0

7

0

6

0

# ,

5

0

. ,

4

0

, ,

3

0

% ,

2

0

Bah

1

0

If the produce of, and imported from, any
tish Possession in North America, or
where out of Europe.

Wheat : —

Whenever the average price of
Wheat, made up and published
in the manner required bylaw,
shall be —
. under 55s. for every quarter,"}
the duty shall be, for every >■

quarter J

. 55s. and under 56s

. 56s. and under 57s 0

. 57s. and under 58s 0

. 53s. and upwards 0

Bri-

else-

0 5 0

0 4 0

3 0

2 0

1 0

Oats : —

Whenever the average price of
Barley, made up and published
in the manner required bylaw,
shall be—
. under 28s. for every quarter
the duty shall be, lor every

quarter

, . 28s. and under 29s 0

. . 29s. and under 30s 0

. . 30s. and under 31s 0

. . 31s. and upwards 0

-}

0 2 6

2 0

1 6

1 0

0 6

4

ry y

0

Whenever the average price of

Oats, made up and published
in the manner required by law,
shall be —
.... under 22s. for every quarter
the duty shall be, for every

quarter J

.... 22s. and under 23s 0

.... 23s. and upwards 0

Rye, Peas, and Beans : —

Whenever the average price of

Rye, or of Peas, or of Beans,
made up and published in the

2 0

1 6
0 6

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

335

manner required by law, sball
be —
.... under 30s. for every quarter,"!

the duty shall be, for every > 0 j U

quarter J

.... 30s. and under 31s 0 2 6

.... 31s. and under 32s » 0 '2 0

.... 32s. and under 33s 0 1 6

.... 33s. and under 34s 0 1 0

.... 34s. and upwards 0 0 6

Wheat, Weal and Flour : —
For every barrel, being one hun-
dred and ninety-six pounds ;
A duty equal in amount to
the duty payable on thirty-
eight an J a half gallons of
Wheat.
Oatmeal :—

For every quantity of one hun-

dred and eighty-one pounds
and a half ;
A duty equal in amount to
the duty payable on a
quarter of Oats.
Mai/,e or Indian Corn, Buckwheat, Bere or
Bigg-.—

For every quarter ;

A duty equal in amount to the
duty payable on a quarter of
Barley.

SCHEDULE

OF CITIES AND TOWNS TO WHICH THIS
ACT REFERS.

Cheshire : —

Chester.

Nantwich.

Middlewich.

Four Lane Ends.

"Conpleton.

"Macclesfield.
'Stockport.
Lancaster : —

Liverpool.

Ulverstonc.

Lancaster.

Preston.

Wigan.

Warrington.

Manchester.

Bolton.
•Blackburn.
♦Bury.
♦Rochdale.
Derby : —

Derby.
"Chesterfield.
Nottingham : —

Nottingham.

Newark.
•Mansfield.
* Retford.
Leicester : —

Leicester.
•Loughborough.
"Hinckley.
'Lutterworth.
Northampton : —

Northampton.

♦Peterborough.
*Daventry.
•Wellingborough.
•Kettering.
Warwickshire : —

Coventry.

Birmingham.
*\Varwick.
*Alcester.
Worcester : —

Worcester.
♦Bromsgrove.
*Kidderminster.
•Stourbridge.
Gloucester : —

Gloucester.

Cirencester.

Tetbury.

Stow-on- the- Wold.

Tewkesbury.
•Cheltenham.
*Dursley.
*North Leach.
*Stroud.
Somersetshire : —

Bristol.

Taunton.

Wells.

Bridgewater.

Frome.

Chard.
•Somerton.
*Shepton Mallet.
* Wellington.
•Wiveliscomb.

Monmouthshire : —

Monmouth.

Abergavenny.

Chepstow.

Pontypool.
♦Newport.
Devonshire : —

Exeter.

Barnstaple.

Plymouth.

Totness.

Tavistock.

Kingsbiidgc.
"Oakhamptoii.
•Tiverton.
"Honiton.
Cornwall :

Truro.

Bodmin.

Launceston.

Redruth.

Helston.

St. Austell.
"Falmouth.
"Callington.
*Liskeard.
"St. Columb.
Dorsetshire : —

Blandford.

Bridport.

Dorchester.

Sherborne.

Shaftesbury.

Wareham.
"Poole.
Hampshire: —

Winchester.

Andover.

Basingstoke.

Fareham.

Ha van t.

Newport.

Ringwood.

Southampton.

Portsmouth.
"Christchurch.
Rutland : —
"Okeham.
Hereford : —
"Leominster.
"Hereford.
♦Kington.

SllROI'SIIIRE : —

•Shrewsbury.

*Ludlow.

♦Newport.

♦Oswestry.

"Wellington.

"Wenlock.

♦Whitchurch.
Wiltshire: —

"Swindon.

•Devizes.

"Salisbury.

♦Marlborough.

"Trowbridge.
W'arminster.
Staffordshire : —

•Stafford.

•Burton- on- Trent.

*Lichfield.

•Newcastle-under-
Lyme.

'Stone.
•Uttoxetcr.

* Walsall.
•Wolverhampton.

* Drayton.
Middlesex : —

London.

Uxbridge.
Hertfordshire :—

Hertford.

Royston.
*Bishop's Stortford.
•St. Alban's
•Hemcl Hempstead.
•Hitchin.
Surrey : —

Guildford.
*Croydon.

* Kingston.
*Dorking.

Essex : —

Chelmsford.
Colchester.
Romford.
"Chipping Ongar.
•Saffron Waldeu.
*Braintree.
Kent : —

Maidstone.
Canterbury.
Dartford.

•Chatham, or Roches-
ter.

* Dover.
*Gravesend.
"Ashford.

Sussex : —

Chichester.

Lewes.

Rye.

•Brighton.
•East Grin stead.
•Battle.
•Arundel.
♦Hastings.
•Midhurst.
•Shoreham.
Bedford : —

Bedford;
•Leighton Buzzard.
•Luton.
Berkshire -.—

W'indsor.

Reading.
•Abingdon.
•Maidenhead.
*Newbury.
•Waliingford.
Bucks: —

Aylesbury.-
'Buckingham.
•High Wycombe.
•Newport Pagncl.
Oxfordshire: —

Oxford.
"Banbury.
•Henley.
•Witney.

•Chipping Norton.
Huntingdon : —

Huntingdon.

St. Neot's.
Cambridge : —

336

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Cambridge.

Ely.

Wisbeach.
*Newmarket.
Suffolk : —

Ipswich.

Woodbridge.

Sudbury.

Hadleigh.

Stowmarkct.

Beccles.

Bungay.

Lowestoft.

Bury St. Edmund's.
Norfolk : —

Norwich.

Yarmouth.

Lynn.

Thetf'ord.

VVatton.

Diss.

East Dereham.

Ilarleston.

Holt.

Aylsham.

Fakenham.

North Walshara.
*Swaffham.
Lincoln : —

Lincoln.

Gainsborough.

Glanford Bridge.

Louth.

Boston.

Sleaford.

Stamford.

Spalding.

•Barton -on -Humbei*,
*Bourne.
•Grantham.
•Grimsby.
*Horncastle.

'Market Rascn.
*Caistor.
*Alford.
*Holbeach.
*Long Sutton.
York : —

York.

Leeds.

Wakefield.

Bridlington.

Beverley.

Hawden.

Sheffield.

Hull.

Whitby.

New Malton.

*Barnsley.

'Bedale.
•Bradford.
*Doncaster.
•Knaresborough.
'Bickering.
^Richmond.
*Ripon.
*Selby.
*Skipton.
•Thirsk.
"Rotherham.
*Otley.
•Thorne
Durham : —

Durham.

Stockton.

Darlington.

Sunderland.

Barnard Castle.
Northumberland : —

Walsinghatn.

Belford.

Hexham.

Newcastle-upou-

Morpeth. [Tync.

Alnwick.

Berwick.

Cumberland : —
(Carlisle.
Whitehaven.

Cockermouth.

Penrith.

Egremont.

* Wigton.
♦Maryport.
•Workington

Westmoreland : —

Appleby.

Kendal.
Wales : —

Carmarthen.

Carnarvon.

Haverfordwest.

Cardiff

Denbigh.

Wrexham.
"Brecon.
•Mold.
•Bangor.
*Cowbridgc
"Newbridge
*Newtown.
*Corwen.
''Welshpool.

* Llangefni.
*Llandillo.
♦Knighton.
•Swansea.

he estimates the article in this country is certainly
too low. The carriage from the interior, and the
freight to this country, would amount to more than
21. a ton, without making any allowance to the
manufacturer for his trouble, or the merchant for
his risk and outlay. The value of wood-ashes as
a manure is considerable, and the farmer could
afford to pay a higher price for them.

But we have an article on our own coasts equally
valuable as a manure, and which has not received
from farmer's the encouragement it merits. I
allude to kelp, the matter produced by the incine-
ration of sea-weed. Sea-weed we know to be a
powerful manure, and the ashes of sea-weed
will supply to the soil both a vegetable and mine-
ral manure. For many years the manufacture
of this article in the Western Islands was the chief
source of revenue to the proprietor, and the sub-
stitution of a cheaper substance in the manufac-
ture of glass, for which it was chiefly used, has
caused much misery among thousands of families,
who have thereby been deprived of employment.
It is believed that it could be profitably sold at 41.
per ton, including freight. Half a ton of this
substance will supply to the soil as much soluble
matter as six cwt. of nitrate of soda, and that
matter containing salts of various kinds, all in-
dispensable to the growth of plants. It will at the
same time furnish about three cwt. of earthy
matter, viz., lime, silica, alumina, and gypsum,
by your correspondent, P. G., " every ingredient
which our field crops demand of it ; " and it is
this variety of substances which makes it of such
universal application as manure. Now kelp,
though it does not supply all the substances of
which farm-yard dung consists, will be found to
contain a greater variety of matter necessary for
the growth of plants than nitrate of soda or any
single mineral manure.

In this era of experimental farming, it would be
worth while to make a trial of kelp ; but let it be
mixed with some animal substaucc, such as farm-
yard dung, bones, or guano. It has been success-
fully applied by itself, but I am not aware that it
has been tried as a mixture with other manures.
If it should prove equally valuable with nitrate of
soda, it can be supplied to the farmer at a much
lower price, and its manufacture, would furnish
employment to thousands of our poorer country-
men in the Western Islands. — I am, sir, your
obedient servant, A Farmer.

I5lh March, 1842.

MANURES.

10 tHE EDITOR 01 Till, DUMFRIES-SHIRE AND
CALLOWAY HERALD.

Sir, — 1 have read with attention the plan re-
commended in last week's paper by your ingenious
correspondent, P. G., for opening up a " new
source of the best manure.'' The price at which

PHOTOGRAPHY. — Modern science has made
rapid advances ; but in none so extraordinary as in this
mode of taking portraits. A likeness true to nature,
leaving no discretion to the arlist, but representing the
individual in a manner as infallibly faithful as the most
accurate looking-glass, and that in a few seconds, is
indeed a wonderful triumph of art. Two or three or
more individuals may be taken together, so as to form
a family group in the same picture. Mr. Beard, who
has opened establishments for taking portraits in ihe
City as well as at the West End, for the accommoda-
tion of the public, deserves great credit for the spirited
manner iu which he has engaged in thi< new und
interesting branch of the Arts.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

337

. THE FARMER.

No. 5.
On Draining.

Draining is a science which cannot be learnt
without a great deal of practical experience blend-
ed with deep study and scientific knowledge,
therefore the benefits arising from a judicious and
proper draining arc enjoyed only by a few ; and
as the great expense of thorough-draining is gene-
rally pleaded as an excuse for neglecting the work
altogether, the following hints are drawn up with
a view of shewing that much and useful draining
may be done without incurring great expense.

When a farmer has a piece of ground that re-
quires draining, the first thing he should do is to
ascertain the cause of the wet — whether it proceeds
from natural springs in the ground or from the over-
flowing of water from higher ground, or from a stiff-
ness or tenacity of surface impervious to absorption,
and consequently retaining the superabundant rain
water. In the next place he should ascertain the
quality and depth of the subsoil underneath the
surface which he may wish to drain — for a thorough
knowledge of the nature and sort of ground is ac-
tually necessary to ensure effective draining; with-
out that knowledge great expenses maybe incurred
without any benefit ; but if the nature of the soil is
known, and that may very easily be found out by
digging two or three feet into the ground, you may
make your drain of the required depth at a trifling
expense.

, If your land is wet from springs, you must en-
deavour to find out the head of each fountain, and
carry your drains up to them with a gradual as-
cent, that the water may flow off regularly, though
slowly, to prevent unnecessary wear of the bottom
of the drain by an impetuous rush of water. If
your subsoil consists of clay, you must dig down
to it and open your ground— sloping each side un-
til you have the surface of your clay from 15 to 18
inches wide in the clear ; when you arc on the
clay, dig out of the middle thereof a gutter in shape
much like a blunt wedge, thus— Figure I.

about 6 or 8 inches wide at top, about 1| or 2
inches wide at bottom, and about (>, 8, 10, or 12
inches deep, with a regular fall for the water.

The size of drain must be guided by the quantity
of water that may be expected to flow through it.
When the drain is properly cut as above, it may
be covered with slates, tiles, or any flat stones ;
or, if stones are scarce, it may be covered with
faggots of brushwood cut to the length of the top
of your clay, and tied up in small bundles with
withs, as shown in figure 1. Lay them close to
each other on the face of your gutter, and cover
them over with the soil you dug out of the trench.

If your soil consists of a loose friable earth,
that is, a kind of worthless inadhesive clay

that pulverises in the air, you must dig yo in-
trench to the required depth, sloping the sides ar,
before stated from about 18inches wide at top, to
about 5 or 6 inches wide at bottom. Form your
drain with slates or tiles, thus—Figure 2,

filling behind the slates with stones ; but if your
ground is very soft and loose, it will be requisite
to place flat stones under your side tiles, thus —
figure 3.

Cover them at top with tiles or flat stones ; if top
stones are deemed expensive and difficult to be
procured, you may place faggots and tiles alter-
nately as a cover — the stone will prevent the
drain falling in. Then put a layer of small stones,
such as you would gather off your hay fields, or
gravel, about 6, 8, or 12 inches thick, and fill up
the trench with the earth. Where stones cannot be
had without very great labour and expense, much
good may bedone by placing small brushwood lon-
gitudinally at the bottom of the trench, covered
with faggots as before described, which, although
not very durable, the benefit will more than repay
the extra trouble of renewing them frequently.

If your ground is a stiff turbary, the plan pro-
posed for draining clay ground (see figure 1) may
answer very well ; the farmer's experience will
soon teach him to adapt his drains to the nature of
the soil he wishes to drain.

There is another mode of draining that deserves
notice, and which is too much neglected — parti-
cularly as the benefits arising therefrom are two-
fold, and the operation is so simple and so easy as
to be within the power of every farmer — that is,
keeping the ditches always clear, especially in wet
fields, and which should invariably be made so as
to carry off the redundant water. The farmer that
keeps his ditches clean, improves his hedges and
his fields ; and where the ditches are properly kept,
the drains may be made to run into them.

Where the wet ditches are neglected, the water
becomes stagnated, and breeds vermin in warm
weather, and the cattle in drinking that water fre-
quently swallow the vermin, which renders them
unhealthy, and sometimes causes their death. Yet
sucli is the carelessness, we may almost say lazi-
ness of some farmers, that they will sooner run
the risk of losing their cattle than be at the trou-
ble of scouring their ditches, which a few hours',
or at most a few days' labour would accomplish.

338

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Although the humidity of our variable climate,
and the quantity of rain that falls, renders it ne-
cessary to drain certain lands, there is a possi-
bility of over draining and making the soil too
dry for vegetation. It is generally admitted that
wet ground drained too much clogs and hardens,
so as to become as it were hide-bound, and conse-
quently less productive than in its original wet
state. Moisture being the life of vegetation, it
requires much and judicious care in retaining the
requisite portion, by adapting the drains to the
respective soils and situations. Where there is
the greatest quantity of water, there is the greatest
difficulty in regulating its discharge. All drains
should be made with a gradual inclination of de-
scent proportionably to the quantity of water
usually flowing, and formed so as to preserve as
nearly as possible a proper and uniform degree of
moisture in the soil. Delta.

April, 1842.

ON HEDGES.

Sir, — Tt has often been a matter of surmise to me,
that amongst the numerous and valuable communi-
cations on agriculture in all its details, which have
from time to time appeared in the journals of the day,
so few should have appeared on fences — a subject
which, in my humble opinion, requires as much atten-
tion as any connected with farming.

How frequently do we see, when passing through
the country, that even in fields where a portion of
the live stock is feeding, the hedges are in such a
state as can afford no possible security against the
animals breaking out of the field, either to trespass
on the neighbouring lands, or to stray through the
roads. In the former case, to the material injury of
young crops, young plantations, &c. ; and in the
latter, to the injury of the owner by loss of time in
searching for them, poundage, and in some instances
by the loss of the animals themselves. If you do
not find this statement to coincide with the result of
your experience, Mr. Editor, 1 can assure you I have
observed innumerable instances of it in this neigh-
bourhood.

I am convinced the great error arises from a want
of calculation upon the comparative expenses of
maintaining a bad living or dead hedge, and a good
living one ; for, I have no hesitation in slating, a
considerable sum is saved in the course of a few
years by having entire living fences, independent of
the losses by accident which necessarily result from
imperfect hedges. I shall therefore make such a
statement as will, I trust, convince every one con-
cerned, that in having dead or imperfect hedges he
is actually a loser, without taking into consideration
the accidental losses incurred thereby.

But I would previously beg to observe, that lam
speaking of hawthorn fences when I refer to an en-
tirely new hedge; being convinced as I am, that ex-
cept under very peculiar circumstances, nothing
makes so cheap a fence, and its preference for beauty
of scenery none will deny.

Tn making the following calculation, I do not
pledge myself as to its accuracy for different situa-
tions ; but, as a comparative statement of the rela-
tive cost, I certainly think I am nearly right ; still,
as my object is to learn as well as teach, I trust the
observer of any inaccuracy will not fail to draw my
attention to it. I shall take equal distances of en-
tire dead hedge, and entire living hedge; for it must

be borne in mind that a small "gap" repeatedly
mended, is but a shorter line of fence, and is there-
fore open to the same arguments as a longer line —
the only difference being that the longer line admits
of a clearer exposition than the shorter one.

Cost of 100* perches of dead hedge for a period
of30f years.

£ s. d.

2 stakes per yard — 1600 at 5s 4 0 0

2 headers per yard — 1600 at Is. 6d... 14 0
Trouse or brush-wood for making 100

perches of hedge, estimated at 2 8 0

Making 100 perches of hedge, at 8d.per

perch 3 6 8

10 18 8
Estimated duration of the above three

years J 10

109 6 8
1 man 10 days repairing the above in 3rd

year, at 2s. per day 10 0

which multiplied by + 10

10 0 0

119 a 8

Divide the total sum by tbe number of years
equal to 31. l'.3s. 6|d. ^ remain per annum.

Divide above by the number of perches will
equal 9|d. per perch, per annum — nearly

Cost of 100 perches of quick-hedge for a period
of 30 years —

£ s. d.
600 posts with 3 mortises, at 8d.... .. 20 O 0

1800 rails with 3 mortises, at 4d 30 0 0

5000 hawthorn quick, at 12s 3 0 0

100 perch of fencing and trenching,
planting quick, &c, at 2s. per

perch 10 0 0

Cleaning and trimming, or plashing,
as the case may be, estimated on the
average at 2s. per perch for a period
of 30 years 25 0 0

88 0 0

Divide the total sum by tbe number of years
equal to 21. 18s. 8d. per annum.

Divide above by the number of perches will equal
7d. per perch per annum nearly.

In the above I have taken the lowest possible cost
for the dead hedge, and the highest for the living
hedge, in order that I may not be thought partial ;
notwithstanding whioh, it appears there is a saving
of 2£d. per perch per annum, to be realised by con-
stantly planting quick, duly protected with posts
and rails, instead of making a dead " gap" or dead
hedge.

It is difficult to judge of the probable duration of
hawthorn-quick, but I have incontestible proofs of
its having existed as a good fence for a much longer
period than 30 years; lam therefore quite safe in
assuming 30 years.

lam, Mr. Editor, your obliged servant,

Kidderminster, Mar. 1842. G. Thompson.

* Customary perch of 8 yards.

f Being the estimated period to which quick will
be found to maintain its strength.

t SO years divided into tea periods of 3 years
each.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

339

MANURES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUMFRIES SHIRE AND
GALLOWAY HERALD.

Sir, — As general principles, we may affirm, 1.
That plants will be found more plenteous where
they have the best and readiest supply of food. 2.
That, as a part of this food consists of salts indes-
tructible by a red heat, we will find this part in
their ashes. 3. That these ashes, when sprinkled
on, and incorporated in an infertile soil, will assist
that soil in feeding plants which require such food.
They are the readiest and most portable supply
which we can impart.

But we find that agricultural plants thrive abun-
dantly in soils from whence a luxuriant crop of
wood has lately been removed. We find that the
soil which is fertile in wood, is also fertile in corn
and green crops ; and that the soil which grows
stunted trees, is soon exhausted by corn. From
this we infer that wood and agricultural crops re-
quire the same, or similar food from the soil ; and
chemical analysis has amply confirmed the infer-
ence.

The marine/?<c/, or sea-plants, on the contrary,
grow not on the deep soil, but on the naked rock,
and have their food from the sea. Would our
corn or our turnips find their food on the naked
surf-beaten rocks 1 Or can that which is the na-
tural food of the fuci, be also the food of corn ?

That which is pre-eminentl}' the alkali of land-
plants is potash ; that of sea-plants, soda. Pro-
, lessor Johnston, from the analysis of Sprengel,
states that while the crops of a four-shift rotation
require only 96'^ lbs. of soda, they require 23;? lbs.
of potash.

Kelp did not need the recommendation of your
" Farmer," neither did wood- ashes require mine.
The Highland Society, several years ago, offered
premiums for evidence of the successful use of
kelp as a fertilizer. It was tried in various parts
of the country, and high things were then spoken
in its praise. If it had been found a paying article
to the farmer, its use would have been continued
and extended. Hence, your correspondent as-
sumes a tone to which he is scarcely entitled, when
he asserts that kelp 'has not received from far-
mers that encouragememt which it merits."
Pray what does kelp contain ? Nothing but what
sea-water contains, and a little sea-sand ! We
may get this cheaper in sea-salt; and in one ton
of the salt, we would get more of the "indispen-
sables" than in two tons of the kelp. The only
difference would be, that, by the action of the fire,
part of the sulphates in sea-weed have been robbed
of oxygen, and converted into sulphurets, and a
small part of the soda has been carbonated, or
made caustic. The sulphurets are not known to
aid vegetation. They would destroy it if they
were not soon re converted into sulphates.

Hence the only advantage of kelp over com-
mon salt is a very little free soda. But this ad-
vantage can be easily had by the proper use of a
little slaked lime.

Mix carefully one ton of good old dung in five
tons of moss earth, and let the heap stand for two
weeks. Bring forward ten bushels of newly slaked
lime, and half a ton of common sea-salt. Turn
the compost carefully, and mix in it as equally as
possible the salt and lime, beginning with the moss,
putting a layer of lime next, and the salt immedi-
ately above the lime ; cover with compost. This

will form a mixture of more value than a ton of
the best kelp, and it will not cost half the price.
It should, if possible, be mixed under a shed. If the
compost is dry, it should be gently moistened
before the lime and salt arc mixed. But after it
begins to ferment, it will draw moisture, and rain
would greatly injure it. To those who want kelp,
this is certainly a cheap and an efficient substitute.
I would not dare to lay this quantity on less than
four Scotch or five imperial acres of turnips.
More would probably burn the plants. But I
must be allowed to say I do not consider it a ma-
nure fitted for any soil which I have seen in this
quarter. A small quantity of bone-dust, or a few
carts of farm dung, would be not only an improve-
ment, but are absolutely necessary. And even
with this, I would apply the manure only to our
dry warm soils ; for in this part of the country
the S. W. wind brings us so much salt-water from
the Atlantic, that few of our soils require any
muriates artificially applied. In my analysis of
the plants vvhich grow naturally on our cold, wet,
tilly soils, I find much larger quantities of muri-
ates than are found in any profitable agricultural
crops; and in the Swedish turnip, grown on tilly
soil well drained, top-dressed, and highly ma-
nured, I found a quantity of muriates so much
greater than that found by Sprengel in Prussia,
that I am convinced we have from the sea an ex-
cess of muriates hurtful to our cold retentive soils,
especially in wet seasons.

Your correspondent says — " The ashes of sea-
weed will supply to the soil both a vegetable and
a mineral manure." Does lie really believe that
the ashes of well burnt plants contain vegetable
matter ? He tells us that the soluble matter in
kelp " contains salts of various kinds, all indis-
pensable to the growth of plants." Does he mean
the growth of sea-plants? Let him tell us what
these " salts of various kinds" are, As I happen
to know a few of them, I beg leave to ask him if
iodide of sodium be "indispensable to the growth
of " agricultural plants ?

He advises us to mix help with guano. I would
advise him first to try his mixture in the small
way. He may put an ounce or two of guano in a
cup, slightly moisten it, and, if he has no kelp at
hand, add a spoonful or two of quick lime (slaked^),
powdered soda, or potash, and mix well. If an
intolerable stench is not immediately evolved, the
guano is little better than saw- dust.

Guano owes fully half its value to ammonia and
volatile matter. Kelp, soda, lime, or potash, expels
the ammonia and volatile matter, and scarcely any
salts, except muriates and phosphates, are left.

Professor Johnston found from 10 to 30 per
cent, of common salt in the guano imported last
year; and yet my friend advises us to expel the
ammonia from guano, and leave a fixed matter,
very like what he would have got by mixing kelp
with bone-dust. He advises us to mix common
salt with common salt! Professor Johnston, in
the true spirit of chemistry, advises us to mix
guano in farm yard dung, or in rape dust.

I shall conclude with a few remarks on my late
proposal. The value of wood ashes has been so
extensively proved on the Continent, that, as I
said, they do not need my recommendation. No
farmer who has burnt wood or couch on his fallow,
needs to be told of the superior fertility of the spots
where the ashes lay. But the farmer knows that
in this country, the article cannot be got exten-
sively at any remunerating price. My object was

z 2

340

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to point out a source of supply — a source which
at once would be the means of improving the soil
and promoting the interests both of Britain and
her colonies.

I did not, indeed, like your " Farmer," contem-
plate " thousands of families," scurvy-bitten and
half-naked, spending a wretched life in scrambling
over the rocks of our Hebrides to obtain a scanty pit-
tance for their subsistence, and an article but
partially fitted for the wants of the soil — an article
which can now be supplied at less cost, in greater
perfection, anc^'with less of human degradation. But
my view was directed to the removal of vast
forests ; the conversion of what is now hurtful to
climate, and an obstacle to population, into a
means of promoting fertility at home, and health,
population, commerce, and happiness abroad.
And as I consider my project fraught with good to
the human race, you need not wonder that 1 do not
tamely allow it to be either drowned in saltwater,
or buried in sea-tangle.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

March 19, 1841. P. G.

MAIDSTONE FARMERS' CLUB.

At the monthly meeting of this club, in March,
C. G. Whittaker, Esq., the elected chairman pre-
siding, the appointed discussion of the evening on
the subject of spring corn was proceeded with.

Mr. Viney said that his practice usually was to
sow the same sort of wheat now as he should have
done in the autumn on the stale furrow.

Mr. Philpot said that he should do the same
as Mr. Viney, creasing his prepared land before
sowing.

Mr. Boucher said that he had sown some of
the Hertfordshire brown wheat, and some Tala-
vera, or, as it is generally called, spring wheat,
but that he had not found that the Talavera came
any forwarder than the other. Two years since a
neighbour of his had sown some common brown
wheat, whilst he had sown some Talavera. His
neighbour's had been quite as forward in harvest
time as his Talavera. One of the best crops he
had seen had been from some common wheat
sowed by a neighbour two years ago in the spring.

Mr. Hatch said that sometimes he had had oc-
casion to sow wheat late for turnips and cole. He
had sown what was called the " Viney white,"
which, from his experience, he should prefer to
Talavera.

Mr. Nokes said that he had sowed Talavera two
or three years ago, and had had but a poor crop.
He had sowed some " golden drop" recently,
which now looked very well.

Mr. Cull reminded the members that in select-
ing their sorts, they should recollect that the
bearded wheats always suffered most from the wet.

The Chairman said that some years since it
bad always been supposed, when the autumn
season had been lost, that the mischief was irre-
parable if they did not sow spring wheat ; it
would seem, however, by more recent observation,
that the common wheat answered as well as what
was called the spring wheat— a very important
fact for farmers to know.

A member said that he had last year sown
seventeen acres with brown wheat very late, and
it was the best crop he had.

Mr. Boucher said that he had once sowed
some ears of the " hoary white" wheat amongst
his spring wheat as an experiment, and had ob-
served that they appeared at harvest time to be
just as forward as the other.

Mr. Spencer mentioned a case where some
brown wheat had been sowed in the autumn, and
the corn not showing after a very wet winter, the
owner proceeded to ox-harrow it, when the corn
was found to be nearly all sound and sprouting.
This showed that they should not despair too soon
of any crop which might seem to have rotted.

The Chairman said that it appeared to be the
universal opinion, that what was called spring
wheat was not essential for spring sowing. They
would now proceed to enquire into the best sorts
of oats, barley, beans, &c.

Mr. Boucher said that in the best preparation
for beans on clay soils, namely, a clover ley, par-
ticularly if it was slightly mended, he should pre-
fer either the Mazagan beans or Essex ticks, for
good land.

Mr. Viney confirmed this view, and said that
he preferred Mazagan beans if the ground was
such as to enable them to be got off early, but in
other cases he thought the Essex ticks would
grow the best crop.

Mr. Hatch said that when he intended to take
two crops of wheat in one course, he ploughed up
his wheat stubble and drilled in " Essex ticks,"
from which sort he found he could grow a greater
quantity per acre than any other ; after drilling,
he hoed or horse-hoed three times altogether,
which made pretty good tilth for the succeeding
wheat. Oats he generally preferred sowing after
wheat which had been sown on a clover ley. In
some cases he drilled oats ten furrows to the rod,
and whether he hand-hoed or horse-hoed them, he
had found very little difference in the quantity
grown ; indeed he thought that no crop paid
better for horse hoeing than oats. He would re-
commend red oats, which sort he had sown for
three years, and of which he had grown better
crops than of either the white or the black sorts.
He generally sowed peas, when he did sow them,
instead of beans, on a wheat stubble, and in the
same way. He had generally found the early
grey peas very early, and had got them off in a
kindly summer early in July ; his object being to
follow with turnips and rape, which made a very
good preparation for wheat. The early peas, how-
ever, did not grow so good a crop generally as the
later sorts.

The Chairman asked whether Mr. Hatch ma-
nured his wheat stubble.

Mr. Hatch replied that he manured for beans ;
and in reference to barley said that he had always
found the " Chevalier" better for malting than any
other sort. He had tried a sort called the Molda-
vian, and had been disappointed in it, as although
prolific, it had grown coarse. He had a malting
barley soil, and generally got a good price, but
since he had grown the Moldavian he had never
been able to sell it to the maltster.

Mr. Spbncer said that on the chalk soils they
did not consider it a good plan to sow oats after
wheat. It was an adage amongst some old
farmers, that they should never sow two white
crops following. His plan generally was to sow
peas between his turnips. He usually drilled his
turnips ten furrows to the rod, and had afterwards
a drill attached to his horse-hoe, and drilled the
peas between the rows of turnips when he horse-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

341

hoed the turnips for the last time. Oats he sowed
on the furrow in his stiff land ten furrows to the
rod, but on the chalk he sowed them with the
Suffolk drill about thirty-three rows to the rod.
The sort of beans which he generally sowed was
the Twisden.

Mr. Beard asked if Mr. Spencer grew much
straw to the peas.

Mr. Spencer said that that depended on cir-
cumstances. The seasons had, when he had
sowed peas, been generally very dry, but he be-
lieved that he had got his fair share of straw. He
had found no inconvenience in cutting the peas,
and had got some very good turnips on this plan.

Mr. Barnes said that three years ago he had
lost his wheat season for fifty acres on one farm
and two hundred on another, and he was strongly
recommended by some farmers to sow Talavera.
He did so, never having sown an acre of spring
wheat before. In the same field he had sown
one-third Talavera, one-third " golden drop," and
the remainder " hoary white." The Talavera did
not produce more than about half that produced
by the " golden drop," and the " hoary white" not
so much as the "golden drop," but more than the
Talavera. He had sowed six acres of the Talavera
alone, which was very bad. He had sent some
Talavera into Essex, where it was sown in a field
of thirteen acres, and he believed had yielded
above half as much as any other crop of the same
extent he had had. If anybody were to give him
Talavera wheat on condition that he should sow it,
he would not accept it. He (Mr. B.) should like
to ask one question of the members present. He
had been a decided opponent of spring sowing,
hut he had never been able to learn that any piece
of wheat sown in February had failed. He would
ask whether any gentleman present had known of
such a failure, lie had known of numerous cases
of success, hut not one of failure, even although
some successful pieces had been sown in March.

Mr. Boucher said that he thought that spring
wheat was never quite so heavy as autumn wheat,
but he had generally observed that spring-sown
wheat produced an average crop.

A member said that he had sown Talavera three
years since, and had not grown three sacks per
acre.

Mr. Barnes said that he had now about fifty
acres to sow, and asked whether it would be right
to sow it now, if it could be done within a fort-
night ? It was the general opinion of the mem-
bers that he should do so.

A member said that a friend of his had sown
wheat in April, and said that he would sow again
if it was in the middle of May.

Mr. Barnes recommended that in all spring
sowing, plenty of seed should be sown, in order to
have a good plant. If they could escape mildew-
he did not fear anything else in spring sowing.

It was agreed to by several members, that where
Talavera could be raised, it was perhaps the best
wheat in the market ; and an instance was
mentioned where six quarters per acre had been
grown on an old hop-ground.

Mr. Hatch, in reply to Mr. Spencer's remark
that it was not a good plan to grow two white crops
following, said that it was the general practice in
this county to grow oats after wheat.

Mr. Fu'llager said that some farmers, by
dunging their clover ley wheat grattens and sow-
ing oats, raised sometimes as much as nine or ten
quarters per acre.

Mr. Beard said, in respect to beans, that he
generally sowed them on a wheat gratten, and con-
sidered it right to plough up the clover ley for them
early, and put in the beans in the following spring.
He was not in the habit of sowing many peas, as
his soil was rather stiff; indeed, on some of his
land he could sot sow wheat when it was clover
ley, and when such was the case he generally put
in beans. He found the bean gratten the best sea-
son for wheat. If not mended it was not good
enough for oats, and if intended for wheat it was
generally mended.

Mr. Nokes said that in the neighbourhood of
Maidstone, barley was frequently sown after
wheat, on a kind of bastard fallow.

Mr. Kutley said that on the south downs of
Sussex, such was the principal barley season. He
believed that probably two-thirds of the barley
there grown followed wheat. The farmers there
generally got in their seed in March or the begin-
ning of April, not having broadshared the land,
or indeed done anything to it in the winter except
turn their sheep upon it. He thought this by no
means a good practice, but it was the practice
which prevailed there. Their rotation was wheat,
barley with seeds or rape, then wheat again, thus
having one-third of their land in wheat, one-third
in barley, and one-third in clover, rape, or swedes.

The Chairman then asked what the opinion of
the members generally was as to the propriety of
sowing oats after wheat.

Nearly the unanimous feeling of the members
was that such a practice was decidedly objec-
tionable.

Mr. Luxford said that once, as an experiment,
he had sown sixteen acres of oats after wheat,
having manured the land with forty-five bushels
of sprats per acre. He did not think it, however,
a good practice to sow oats after wheat at all, and
believed that crops so raised were generally defi-
cient ; hut he should like to know whether after
manuring with sprats the plan was considered a
good one.

Mr. R. Goldino said that from what experience
he had had, he should suppose sprats would
answer as a manure for oat crops better than any-
thing, but this was a strong exception to the prac-
tice of growing oats after wheat.

Mr. Kennard said that he had grown on one
occasion about nine quarters of oats per acre after
sprats, and at the same time had grown not more
than half that quantity on land which had not been
so manured.

Mr. Barnes said that the black and white
strawed crops generally prepared the soil for each
other ; but he had found from his own experience
that sowing oats after wheat on the soil he farmed,
was much more successful than sowing them after
beans, and he accounted for it in this way, — that
the fallow in preparing their stiff land for wheat
lightened it so as to make it better for oats,
whilst beans would have closed the land.

An animated and highly interesting discussion
then took place on the comparative plans of Mr.
Barnes and Mr. Beard, for which we regret we
cannot spare room. The meeting unanimously
passed the following resolutions respecting spring
sowing of wheat and oats, and deferred the further
discussion on barley, peas, beans, &c, till next
meeting: — ■

"Wheat.. — That notwithstanding a very general
and long prevalent opinion that Talavera wheat
was absolutely necessary for spring sowing, the

342

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

experience of the members of late years has deci-
dedly proved, that all of such other kinds as have
been tried, both white and red, have been more
prolific than the Talavera. An instance has oc-
cured in which red wheat sown so late as the 17th
April grew a fine crop. The only objection
against late sowing appears to be its coming some-
what later to harvest. Thick sowing, having a
tendency to early maturity, is recommended in
these late cases. An objection to Talavera is also
its peculiar liability to take injury from wet during
harvest."

"Oats. — That it is not theoretically good hus-
bandry to sow oats after a white crop, unless sti-
mulated by sprats, rape-cake, or other strong
manure, or sown on light land, after wheat which
had been preceded by a fallow, because the fallow
pulverises the land, and prepares it for the oat
crop."

PREPARED GYPSUM AS A
MANURE.

BY THE REV. T. SKIPUORTH.

It has not been without much hesitation, as a
clergyman, that, at the urgent request of several
highly respectable individuals, I have applied my
pen to the present subject. Convinced, however,
that, when the properties and application of
prepared gypsum are properly understood, a great
public good may arise— that a large addition of
profitable labour will be created— that it holds
forth to all cultivators of the soil, a solid bene-
fit— that the poor man's garden may propor-
tionally share the same advantage as the rich
man's fields — that, while the draft upon the
peasant's purse is diminished, the produce of his
garden may be increased. With these convic-
tions, I shall not, in a public view, feel justifiable
in withholding what I know on the subject.

Adverting, indeed, to the cheapness of the pre-
pared gypsum as combined with its efficiency, it
may not inappropriately be termed the poor
man's manure ; and I wish it no other title.

That, as clergymen, we have infinitely more
sacred and important duties — duties, whose claim
is so imperious, that woe is unto us if we neglect
them — I readily allow. But still, if, while watch-
ing over the spiritual interests of onr people, we
can, either by assistance or suggestion, promote
their temporal interests also, we are surely in-
reasingour usefulness. If, residing in the coun-
t ry, and as an occasional relaxation from profes-
sional cares, we can make the cultivation of only
a few acres subservient at once to our own health
and the temporal advantage of others— I own I can
see no harm. If, while watching, as far as dis-
cernible, the operations of nature, we love to
" look through nature up to nature's God," and
can enjoy this with deeper interest in a plot
which we call our own — then can I see no harm
in exchanging occasionally the sick bed-side, the
pastoral visit, and the life-wearing study, for
green hills and " pleasant pastures," and waving
corn-fields. Nay, how can we spend a portion of
our relaxation-hours more innocently— I might
ask, more usefully— than by the practical con-
sideration of any plan by which food may be
rendered cheaper to the poor,— not by sending
away the money of this country to purchase the
produce of another, but by rendering our own
sufficiently productive to support her sons and her

daughters ; — not by filling the purses and
storing the coffers of foreigners, but by rendering
independent — though abundantly enriching it —
the loved land of our fathers ?

The grand desideratum in agriculture would
seem to be this — the production of the greatest
possible profit from every separate acre ; because,
to double the amount of produce, would thus, to
the occupier, be more than equal to doubling the
quantity of land ; inasmuch as the extra- profits,
so produced, would be — unless under a new valu-
ation— without any increase of rent or assess-
ment, and might frequently indeed render the
land more than equivalent to rent free. Besides,
as the heaviest crops have, from their smothering
quality, the greatest tendency to prevent the
growth of weeds, the expense of cultivation would
be rather diminished than increased.

I might have enriched my observations by ex-
tracts from authors, whose names are a guaranty
for the soundness of their opinions — amongst
whom would have been those high authorities —
Sir Joseph Banks and Sir Humphrey Davy; and,
in the present day, the name of every professor of
agriculture, both at home and abroad, who have
all written mosc favourably of gypsum as a ferti-
lizer ; but this would have swelled the same beyond
what I wish.

The Burnhaiu (near Epworth) gypsum, as pre-
pared for sale, contains considerably above one-
half of that valuable agricultural ingredient— the
sulphuric acid, in combination with lime, and a
very small portion of oxide of iron, which gives it
its slight tinge of red.

There cannot be a more defective estimate of
the properties of gypsum than that which would
limit its application to the grasses, an error which
the more requires refutation from having found
its way into here and there a work upon agricul-
ture. This error can scarcely have arisen but
from a want of greater experience. That gypsum
is strikingly efficacious upon the grasses is certain,
and that it has been much oftcner tried upon them
than in any other way I believe ; but that it is
fully as efficacious upon several other crops, and
particularly turnips and potatoes, I am convinced
by a number of experiments.

An immense tract of poor and light waste lands
in England, considered too bad in quality to repay
the expense of any high-priced manure, is yet out
of cultivation. Now, there are happily no soils to
which gypsum, both from its peculiar properties
and extraordinary cheapness, is more applicable
than to these. Much additional labour for the
poor, a consequent relief of the poor-rate, and
profit to the employer may, therefore, here also be
created by the adoption of this fertilizer; while
the vast accession of home produce thus arising,
must proportionally assist in rendering us inde-
pendent of the foreigner.

One other omission alluded to is that, unlike
several popular manures whose benefit is limited
to a single crop, gypsum is ordinarily found to
extend its virtues to three or four crops in suc-
cession.

If, therefore, I have shown, from actual expe-
rience, that the prepared gypsum is in numerous
instances calculated to effect, at much less ex-
pense, as great or greater benefit than that from
the high-priced manure, then must I also have
shown that it is a profitable investment for a por-
tion of the farmer's capital.

Beltun Rectory, 1842.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

343

THE ISLAND OF LEWIS.

The cattle, sheep, and domestic economy of the
small farmers and cottars detailed.

" The black-cattle, horses, and sheep, are rather
of a diminutive size. They are too numerous by
one-half; a small tenant that pays annually £3
sterling, keeps seven or eight beasts. One farm
yields £40 of rent. It is occupied by ten families,
who have eigbty head of cattle, miserable starved
beasts. In winter they can gather very little pas-
ture on the moor; and during snow, they are
driven to the shore to feed on ware, Alga Marina.
It is a mistaken kindness in the proprietor to per-
mit the small tenants to keep so many beasts — for
one would be better than two : it would be better
fed, and bring more cash at the tryst. The far-
mers or tacksmen keep a larger breed of horses
for riding and for the cart; but, in general, the
horses are not much higher than the Sbetland
ponies. They are firm and strong, fit for the mossy
soil and rocky shore. Their principal work is in
carrying peats and sea-ware in creels, one
hung on each side from the crook-saddle. Many
of them ate of beautiful symmetry. The sheep
are principally of the black-faced breed, rather
small ; but the mutton good, and very sweet ; and
Lewis beef, when for a short time on mainland
pasture, is proverbial for delicacy and fineness.

" Hogs are not numerous, as the natives have a
strong antipathy to them and their flesh. JMore
swine and fewer horned cattle would be more pro-
fitable for a Lewis man, in the present state of the
market; because, for his two year-old stots, he
will sometimes not get above £l; and for a pig
one-year-old, he will get the same, and a ready
market for ship stores. Besides, one pig for making
manure is better than two stots. Black cattle are
sold from £1 to £6 per head ; sheep from 5s. to
10s. per head ; lambs from Is. 66. to 4s. ; horses
from £3 to £7 of the small kind — others, used by
the farmers, from £10 to £20."

Seaforth, the proprietor of the island, now the
Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Isles, sent
four beautiful ponies of the native breed as a pre-
sent to the late King George the Fourth. These
little animals were fine specimens of symmetry
and strength, and were much admired by his Ma-
jesty.

age from the straw yard collected in a tank. I some-
times sow rape and peas on the compost heaps and
dig them in, having them two years in preparation
before put out.

The quantity is about forty loads to the statute
acre, which I estimate at about six pounds iu value.
I have attempted to answer your correspondent's
questions ; though shortly from respect to your space,
I hope not unsatisfactorily.

I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,

James Kidd.

PREPARATION FOR TURNIPS.

Sir, — Your paper of the 13th December Las just
been placed in my hands, containing a request from
one of your correspondents, who dates his letter
" North Britain," and signs "A very young Farmer,"
that 1 should state the management of the land,
&c, on which my turnip crop was grown last year.

The soil is a deep rich loam with warm gravelly
substratum ; the field of considerable extent, well
sheltered, open to the south.

The previous crop, Hopetown oats ; when cut, I
sent in the strong ploughs three horses abreast, (the
Clydsdale breed), ploughed deep, left for winter fal-
low. In spring two more deep ploughings prepared
the land for the seed, and placed them in drills
twenty-eight inches apart.

The manure is made in straw yards, and from
stall-fed cattle and sheep kept in houses on boarded
floors, &c.

Some compost is generally added, prepared with
the urine from tanks to cattle sheds, and the draiu-

RAISING WATER.

A very useful method of raising water to a con-
siderable height by means of a very slight fall, has
been successfully practised by Mr. Robert Watson,
plumber, Newcastle, which, from its great utility,
deserves to be very generally known.

The following are some short extracts from two
letters from Mr. Watson, to a gentleman in Had-
dingtonshire, containing some particulars of what
he offers to effect from the data furnished to him.
He says, " The situation entirely regulates the size,
and of course, to a very great extent, the whole
cost of this apparatus. I cannot too strongly recom-
mend this plan of supplying water, where situations
will admit of it; the whole thingis so extremely
simple and perfectly self acting, with neither trouble
nor expense, beyond lis first cost and fitting up.
It is quite clear, that with a fall of from 8 to 9 feet,
and a supply of two gallons per minute, you could
have thrown up above 200 gallons 70 feet high,
every 24 hours, but tben the apparatus would do
this in about three hours ; and therefore you should
have the whole 24 hours' water from the three-quaiter-
inchlead pipe in a tank or reservoir ready to be used
when set to work. We could do without the tank
altogether, provided your spring could supply from
10 to 12 gallons per minute, and instead of the three-
quarter-inch pipe you had one put in large enough
to run that quantity, the whole expense would be
from 157. to 20/. One thing is clear, that you have it in
your power to have not less than 200 gallons a day
raised to the height of 70 feet by the power of the
water alone."

MALT.

This is a return moved for by Mr. William Williams,
M.P., of the total number of quarters of malt made
from the 5th day of January to the 5ih day of July,
1841, and from the 5th day of July, 1841, to the 5th day
of January, 1842 ; and of the amount of the duty paid
(payable) thereon in each period.

The return is given as follows : —

From the 5th of
Jan. to the 5th
of July, 1841...

From the 5th of
July, 1841, to
5th of Jan. 1842.

Total Quarters

of Malt charged

with Duty.

Quarters.
3,070,032
1,450,509

Amount of Duty-
charged (payable)
thereon.

£ s. d.

3,322,171 10 1
1,567,072 7 7

I 4,520,541 I 4,889,243 17 8
C. A. COTTRELL, Accountant-General.
Excise-office, March 22, 1842.

344

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE CULTIVATION OF BAR-
LEY, AND THE ADAPTATION
OF VARIETIES TO DIFFERENT
SOILS.

BY MATTHEW MARMADUKE MILBURN.

Assistant Secretary to the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society.

Although barley is now generally cultivated as
one crop in the best courses of cropping, and
forms a very considerable portion of the crops
grown by at least every light land fanner, it is
somewhat surprising that so little Las been written
by practical men on its cultivation and character-
istics. Treatises on domestic economy, written
principally by persons with no knowledge of agri-
culture, are almost the only works which allude to
it, and in them much occurs respecting it quite at
variance with practical results. Donovan's other-
wise valuable work on the chemical principles of
brewing, distillation, &c, is a striking example
of the remark, and contains much erroneous matter
on this subject. I shall at once proceed to notice
the varieties I have grown, and the results.

Norfolk Barley. — This is the oldest variety of
barley grown in the kingdom, and is generally
technically described by farmers by the significant
appellation of " old country barley''— a name sig-
nifying that it has stood the test of years. For
quantity and firmness of straw it is certainly un-
equalled ; and if, as every plant sooner or later will , it
has deteriorated in quality, it is rather because it is
sown on soils unadapted to its perfect development,
than from any radical defect in the barley itself
that its deterioration is to be attributed. I shall
show presently that the cultivator must adapt the
peculiar characteristics of the bailey to the consti-
tution of the soil and climate to obtain a crop of
certain determinate quality.

On alluvial soils not absolutely clayey — on deep
soils of every kind with an open gravelly subsoil,
and on all soils in a high state of cultivation, ex-
cept the peaty with yellow or white sand subsoil,
or loose and over friable sand, the Norfolk barley
will always be found successful. On soils of this
description it will tiller considerably — when not
sown very thick, as much as two-thirds ; that is,
three stems will issue from the original spire, and
having material in the soil for the full develop-
ment and expansion of the radicles, it acquires a
hold which prevents the drought from very
seriously injuring it ; and in such situations I have
noticed the whole of the plant taken oft' by frost or
wind, and still an excellent crop has succeeded,
and in some cases too on land not in a very high
state of cultivation.

It is perhaps unnecessary to repeat that, in order
to secure this capability in the plant to resist the
vicissitudes of the weather, it requires a s>oil as
above described — i. e., adapted to its wants ; and
in such cases its malting qualities are also equally
well developed.

The general desideratum in barley is its dispo-
sition to yield saccharine matter in proportion to
its bulk. The maltster has the same amount of duty
to pay for the grain when one-twentieth of the
corns never become malt, or for the grain when
an additional twentieth portion of it consists of
husk, as when the whole is thin skinned and
abounding in farinaceous, or its result, saccharine
matter. On a genial soil the Norfolk barley grows

a plump, thin-skinned grain ; considerable uni-
formity in the grains as regards size, and a fine
curly skin, not bleached white, nor high yellow
in colour, but of an uniform pale yellow. On be-
ing crushed it yields white flour, but if grown on
clayey or very loose sandy soils, a considerable
portion of the corns will be, in the language of the
maltster, " flints" — exhibiting an unyielding hard
kernel, which will split rather than fall into flour.
This shows that there is a disposition in the malt-
ing qualities of the variety to deteriorate in un-
genial soils ; and in soils of this description, com-
prising nearly the whole of the improved land, it
is quite unsuitable, except for the production of
grinding qualities.

The disposition to tiller evinced by this variety,
as well as the length to which it grows, causes a
large production of straw ; that straw is of a stiff
unyielding character, and therefore there is less
disposition to lodge in this barley than in most of
the cultivated kinds.

The ears are not long, but the corn is thickly
set, and from their number, the yield of grain is
not inferior — generally beyond that of most other
kinds. From 48 to 59 bushels per statute acre,
nineteen-twentieths of which will weigh 281bs.per
bushel in seasons favourable to the maturity of
the plant, though the above statement has been
often exceeded.

The usual time of sowing, and indeed the time
I have found the most favourable to its growth,
is from the 21st of March to the 5th of April; and
the nearest the first-named time, I have invariably
found to be the best. No preparation oftheseedof
any kind of barley ever takes place in my neighbour-
hood, except the steeping of it for twenty-four
hours in waterif the season be far-advanced, and the
soil very dry. It has been sown as late as June ;
and in a parish adjoining to my own was but
twelve weeks between being sown out of the
sacks, and its produce winnowed into them again
in the barn. To state therefore a specific time for
the flowering or maturing of the plant is obviously
entirely vague, as it is every year different from
the differences of the weather ; a fortnight differ-
ence may take place if the soil be very dry, or the
temperature low at the period of sowing, and
several weeks' difference will inevitably take place
between a wet and dry — a cold or hot summer.
We usually look for its ripening from the middle
of August to the beginning of September, though
in the extreme southern counties three weeks'
difference in earliness of maturation will take
place.

The usual method of sowing barley is by the
drill ; from two-and-a-half to three bushels per
acre are allowed. It is in almost every case
sown after turnips, depastured with sheep — not
because turnips are more favourable to its growth
than any other crop, but because they are usually
consumed at the period for sowing the barley, and
when wheat could not be sown ; and because the
clover leys, the precursor of the other corn crop
in the rotation, are consumed at the period of
wheat sowing. Artificial grass seeds are usually
sown along with barley, because the fineness and
scattered distribution of the stems are more fa-
vourable to its development than either wheat
or oats. To the turnip crop we have always found
a crop of barley immediately preceding it inju-
rious ; the turnips seemed to have to encounter
a principle in the soil evidently deleterious.
The Chevalier barley stands next in importance ;

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

345

for although but recently introduced, and so soon
rejected by a large body of cultivators, it fills up
a gap in the desiderata of barleys which no other
variety does or can. It enables the occupier of
the soil exclusively sandy not only to grow a barley
which is destitute of "flints," but one which for
fineness, thinness of skin, plumpness of grain, and
disposition to malt freely, equals if not surpasses
the best sample grown upon the most genial barley
soil. Complaints have been raised against Cheva-
lier of its disposition to lay or lodge ; and that in
many cases this is the case cannot be denied. But
this arises rather from the want of knowledge of
its qualities on the part of the cultivator, than any
defects in the variety itself. So soon as a corn of
fine appearance and good malting qualities was
announced, it was at once sown on the rich loam,
and even the clay land farmers fancied if it did not
throw out " flints" they might possibly grow
malting barley. They were however disappointed ;
the barley lodged extensively, even before any
weight of the ear or excessive rains occurred, and
prejudices were raised against it by these, which
will perhaps never be overcome.

I wished to ascertain if possible a cause for these
two peculiarities of the Chevalier barley, namely
— the disposition to lodge, and freedom from
flints on soils purely sandy.

I accordingly submitted the different kinds of
straw to analysis, as laid down by Davy ; and the
results were, that 480 parts of Chevalier barley
straw contained 9 parts of silica ; 480 parts of
Norfolk bailey straw contained 11 parts of silica,
or upwards of one-third more.

There may seem some discrepancy between the
above results and those of Davy ; his experiments
were however not to test the quantity of silica in a
given bulk of straw, but of the ashes. I believe the
relative proportions of the ashes produced from the
Norfolk barley straw, and the silica contained in
them, would be as near as possible to the result of
Davy.

It appears, therefore, that there is an indisposi-
tion in the Chevalier barley to take up silic:i ;
this accounts for its superiority over Norfolk bar-
ley in its freedom from flints on sandy'soil, while it
affords a reason for its inability to stand upright
on soils deficient of silica.

Another peculiarity of Chevalier is its early
germination and early maturity. In ordinary sea-
sons it will germinate from three to five days be-
fore the Norfolk — an effect which operates also
atthe malt kiln, and induces a considerable free-
dom to malt. If sown at the same time as Nor-
folk, I haveinvariably found it ripe a week sooner ;
and I have known in warm seasons that Chevalier
will ripen as early as Norfolk — sown 14 days ear-
lier.

Perhaps the only absolute defect in Chevalier
is its want of tillering; it requires a little more
seed generally than Norfolk or Battledore barleys ;
but owing to my always sowing Chevalier on my
worst land, I give it the same quantity of seed as
the other varieties. In appearance the Chevalier
is particularly plump in the middle of the grain,
the ends falling abruptly from the body of the
grain ; the skin is thin and curly, and the meal
beautifully white. Its yield per acre exceeds, (on
soils adapted to its nature, there being inferior
ones) by from two to four quarters per acre the
Norfolk, and from one to two of the Battledore.

It appears able to resist a dry season admirably,
but is more liable to lodge in a season of heavy

rains than either of the above mentioned kinds on
any description of soil. The Chevalier produces
less straw per acre, but that is of better quality
for stock.

The next variety which I would just refer to,
though it is now superseded by Chevalier, is the
Battledore barley. Some years ago it was sown
on land considered unfit to produce Norfolk barley
to perfection ; and though it is small in sample,
and thick in the skin, it could be better confided
in than Norfolk for bulk of produce and disposi-
tion to malt. In a very wet season on the one
hand, when it becomes lodged, or in a very dry
one on the other, when it does not come to perfec-
tion, it is so very small that it is fit only for grind-
ing. Its production is considerable, and it will
produce more bushels per acre than Norfolk ; and
this propensity to yield is comparatively little
affected by the vicissitudes of the weather. It
may therefore be termed a hardy variety ; the
weather will injure the sample, but less affect the
quantity per acre.

The reason why it is discarded by the maltster
is because there is too great a proportion of refuse
— i. e., skin to the saccharine matter, and too little
weight per bushel to enable him to pay the duty
upon it, when he can have barley which will
weigh several pounds more per bushel.

A description of barley called in Scotland "here,"
in England "bigg," fills up an hiatus in barley
cultivation so completely, that Norfolk Chevalier
and " bigg" enable the farmer to grow barley on
every description of soil. It is calculated to resist
frost and cold and wet to any conceivable extent,
and therefore is calculated to grow on cold clay
soils, and in exposed situations. It is not all used
for malting, and from the smallness of the grain
and greatness of the proportion of skin to flour, it
never can be used for that purpose. The grain
is uniformly long and small, and the skin thick
and indented longitudinally; the colour is dark,
inclining to brown.

Its principal use is to furnish a change to soils
chiefly under oats, and when thrashed is ground
for the feeding of pigs. The ears are short, and
the grains disposed completely round them instead
of being flat; from this peculiarity it is denomi-
nated a " six-rowed" barley, all other kinds being
properly " two-rowed."

It may be sown in the autumn, and will in that
case ripen much earlier than any other variety.
On sound forward soil the sample much improves,
and the yield per ear being greater than that of
most other kinds, the produce even of meal per
acre is little less than of other varieties.

There are numerous varieties of barley, but few
which have come into general use — indeed every
quality at present known to be attainable, are
combined in the three preceding varieties named ;
the only probable improvement likely to be se-
cured is either greater yield per acre, or greater
capability of affording saccharine matter. That
these qualities have not been hitherto attained,
both experience and fact go to show.

The Annat Barley, produced from a few erratic
ears of great beauty by Mr. Gorrie, is beautiful in
sample; on ordinary land is fine in appearance,
yields more per acre than the Norfolk, if not the
Chevalier, grows on a sandy soil, but I am assured
by an eminent maltster that it will not malt freely,
nor give out the proportion of saccharine matter
that other barleys of a similar appearance will.
Peruvian barley has been cultivated in garden cul-

346

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ture on a small scale ; it seems prolific, indeed,
exceedingly so, but the sample is coarse. New
varieties are constantly being advertised — it is
however certain, that how much soever they may
at first prosper, owing simply to a change of soil
and climate, they soon deteriorate 5 no dependence
can be placed on an erratic ear producing barley
of a similar quality. The year bef'orelastl gathered
a straw of bailey having two ears upon it ; these
I carefully sowed in the garden : the produce was
exclusively single-eared. Little permanent ad-
vantage will be gained by discarding the varieties
above noticed.

Thorpfield, Thirsk, Yorksftire, April 4.

MILWICH AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

TEMPERATURE OF THE CHEESE ROOM.

At the meeting of this Society, on Tuesday,
March 22, Mr. Wm. Blurton, of Field Hall,
delivered the following address on a subject of
great importance to dairy farmers.

The practical results of some experiments which,
at the instance of a very highly respectable cheese
factor, I have been induced to try, will form the
subject of my promised address to you this even-
ing,— On the importance of properly keeping lat-
ter-math and spring made cheese.

The second, or latter-matb weigh of cheese
would be considered by many of the most eminent
cheese factors and others, equal, if not superior in
quality, to that made in the summer months, pro-
vided its condition and quality be not impaired by
what is generally and technically termed starving ;
that fine quality can, I concave, at a very trifling
expence be maintained by keeping the cheese
room in a proper and regular degree of tempera-
ture, provided the situation be over another room
where a regular fire is kept.

The specimen of cheese which I have now
great pleasure in shewing you has been so kept,
and has not, except being occasionally turned
over, received since Christinas the customary at-
tention of rubbing with hair cloths, &c, usually
given.

When my cheese room was first projected, it
was at that time considered indispensable to have
a commodious space of floor room, for cheeses in
their earliest stages to lie singly upon ; therefore,
for a dairy of thirty or forty cows, 54 feet long by
15 wide was not thought larger than requisite for
that purpose ; but since the alteration I have made
in fitting up a portion of that room, one-third
only of that space is now become necessary, and
is, consequently, studded off from the remainder
by a lath and plaster partition, and the larger por-
tion is now used as a store room, or for other
useful purposes, and the smaller one, viz., 17 feet
by 15 feet, only fitted up as a cheese room.

From the right hand brick wall, and in a line
with the partition, are fixed three revolving cheese
drying frames, or cheese turners, similar to that
for which I obtained the extra prize at the Royal
English Agricultural Society's Meeting at Liver-
pool, each containing 55, or, in the whole, 165
cheeses ; and in the most convenient part of, and
near the unoccupied walls, are shelves, which, to-

gether with the floor and cheese frames, hold up-
wards of 430 cheeses, which, for a dairy of thirty
or forty cows, will be amply sufficient, while it is
necessary for the cheeses to be laid singly.

When the whole space is filled up by the cheeses
so placed, and often before that time, should the
weather become cold enough, those on the floor
may be laid double, as the numbers increase ; and
I have no hesitation in stating that when the
cheeses become dry enough in condition, they may
be placed three or four deep ; when not only the
quality will thereby he greatly improved, but the
loss in weight by keeping through the winter
months be proportionably lessened, should the
prospect of improvement in price be an induce-
ment for keeping it longer.

I have on repeated trials found the loss in weight
sustained by the dairy farmer, on the usual plan
of keeping his cheese, from Michaelmas to Lady-
day, assuming the price at 60s., will not, on an
average, be less than 10s. or 12s. per cwt. ; while
the factor, who necessarily keeps his cheese in the
warehouses ten or twelve deep, reckons his loss,
as I am informed, at about half that sum.

It is scarcely necessary for me to mention the
comparative difference of expence between regu-
lating the required and essential degree of warmth
of a small room with that of a large one ; and as
it is indispensable that cheese in its early stages
of drying be placed singly, it becomes equally so
in point of economy, that the cheese room should
be so arranged as to be capable of containing the
greatest number of cheeses in the least possible
space, which can be only done by occupying every
portion of the cheese room by shelving of some
kind above the floor.

My present cheese room is over another, where
a constant but moderate fire is kept in winter, and
is occupied by an old servant who has lived in the
family nearly sixty years ; but the fire in the
lower room does not in continuous frosty weather
give a sufficient heat ; therefore, instead of having
a common grate, as is usual in most cheese rooms,
I have substituted a round moveable wrought iron
one, about eighteen inches deep by nine inches
wide, with upright bars about half an inch
asunder, fixed round flat rims at the bottom and
top, with a grating at the bottom to prevent the
coke or cinders with which it is supplied from fall-
ing out too quickly. I have also a moveable plate
of sheet iron, about two feet square, turned up at
the edges, with feet to keep it out of contact with
the floor ; so that when it is desirable to give a
greater degree of heat to the room, I can place
the before named round grate upon it in any part
of the cheese room, when I can regulate the heat
of the room by the thermometer to any degree re-
quired. I must also here state that the cheese
room floor I laid with common plaster, except
about six feet square of boarding, each laid half
an inch asunder, and near the chimney breast.
This is of importance, as it admits a free circu-
lation of warmth and air from the lower room
amongst the cheeses on the revolving cheese dry-
ing frame, and which brings them to much earlier
maturity.

My brother dairy farmers will now find that we
have not only our old competitors, the Dutch, but
what will prove much more formidable, the Ame-
rican dairy farmer, to compete with ; and as the
American cheese is remarkable for its richness of
quality, 1 advise the English dairy farmer to lay
the strictest injunction on his dairy-maid to dis-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

347

pense with the skimming dish ; for as you cannot
make a silk purse without silken materials, so
you cannot manufacture a fine quality of cheese,
when the essentials to make it so are first taken
away.

It is about seventeen years since I first invented
this important dairying implement — the revolving
cheese drying frame; and its acknowledged use-
tulness might have remained in partial obscurity,
had it not been for the liberal patronisers and sup-
porters of the public exhibitions of the Royal Ag-
ricultural Society of England, of which I have the
honour of being a very humble member.

ASPARAGUS.

(from thf. gardener's chronicle).

A few weeks since, we reported briefly the sub-
stance of a paper upon the cultivation of asparagus
in the north of Spain, which was communicated
to the Horticultural Society by Captain Churchill,
of the Royal Marines. This gallant officer was at
St. Sebastian during its occupation by General
Evans ; and he profitted by such leisure as his
military duties afforded him, to mate himself ac-
quainted with the natural history and horticulture
of Guipuscoa. We might content ourselves with
merely referring the tmny inquirers who want to
know how to grow asparagus well, to the report
just alluded to ; but in our opinion it is much too
important to be passed with so little attention.

Asparagus is probably the vegetable most gene-
rally admired and most seldom well cultvated ; it
is only here and there that it is large, tender, and
delicate. In country gardens it is small, green, and
strong ; in the London market it is long, white,
hard, and tough — to the eye attractive enough, but
to the taste more like bleached timber than an es-
culent. Indeed, we have never been able to com-
prehend the reason why, in this our age of im-
provement, some ingenious turner has not produced
imitation sticks, which might be tipped with half
an inch of eatable asparagus, and thus spare the
necessity of cooking four-fifths of the stuff that is
brought to a London table. Covent Garden aspa-
ragus is assuredly the worst in Europe. For this
reason, when really fine asparagus is met with,
people think it must be some peculiar sovt — obtain
the roots from Vienna, Berlin, Hamburgh, Batter-
sea, or Deptford, and then when they find them
producing heads identical with what they had be-
fore, lay the blame to the seedsman, or the soil of
the climate, or anything rather than their own
want of skill. There is but one sort of asparagus,
be its name what it may ; all the difference consists
in its cultivation.

Captain Churchill says tbeGuipuscoan asparagus
measures from three to six and more inches in
circumference. How this is obtained, his excellent
account leaves no room to doubt.

Asparagus is a plant found naturally on the
beach of various parts of the coast of Europe,
where it is covered by the drifting sand, and watered
by salt water at high tides. Sand and salt water
occasionally may, therefore, be regarded as indis-
pensable conditions for maintaining it in health.
How seldom is this thought of '. It, however, ex-
plains in part the excellence of St. Sebastian aspa-
ragus.

It seems that at the mouth of the Urumea is a
narrow slip of land, about three feet above high-
water mark, consisting of alluvial soil and the
wearing away of sandstone hills, at whose foot it
is placed. This is the asparagus ground of St.
Sebastian. Beds are formed five feet wide, with-
out any previous pieparation except digging and
raking. In March the seed is sown in two
drills, about two inches deep, and 18 inches from
the alleys, thus leaving a space of two fec-t between
the drills. The rows run invariably E. anil W. —
doubtless in order that the plants may sbade the
ground during the heats of summer. When the
seedlings are about six inches high, they are
thinned to something more than a foot apart.
Water is conducted once a day among the alleys
and over the beds, so as to give the seedling an
abundant atid constant supply of fluid during the
season of their growth. This is the cultivation
during the first year.

The second year, in the month of March, the
beds are cohered with three or four inches of fresh
night soil from the reservoirs of the town ; it re-
mains on them during the summer, and is lightly
dug in during the succeeding autumn ; the opera-
tion of irrigation being continued as during the
first season. This excessive stimulus, and the
abundant room the plants have to grow in, must
necessarily make them extremely vigorous, and
prepare them for the production of gigantic sprouts.
In the third spring, the asparagus is fit to cut.
Doubtless all its energies are developed by the dig-
ging in of the manure in the autumn of the second
year ; and when it does begin to sprout, it finds its
roots in contact with a soil of inexhaustible fer-
tility. Previously, however, to the cutting, each
bed is covered in the course of March very lightly
with dead leaves, to the depth of about eight
inches ; and the cutting does not commence till the
plants peep through this covering, when it is care-
fully removed from the stems, in order that the
finest only may be cut, which are rendered white
by their leafy covering, and succulent by the ex-
cessive richness of the soil.

In the autumn of the third yedr, after the first
cutting, the leaves are removed, and the beds again
dressed with fresh night-soil as before ; and these
operations are repeated year after year. In addi-
tion to this, the beds are half under salt water an-
nually at spring tides.

Let any one compare this mode of culture with
ours, and there will be no room for wondering at
the difference in the result. The Spaniards use a
light, sandy soil ; we are content with anything
short of clay. They irrigate ; we trust to our
rainy climate. They know the value of salt water
to a sea coast plant ; we take no means to imitate
nature in this respect. They dress their beds with
the most powerful of all manures ; we are content-
ed with the black residuum of a cucumber frame,
which is comparatively a caput mortuum. Finally,
they throw leaves lightly over their beds, by which
means they expose the young sprouts to the least
amount of resistance, and force them onward by
the warmth collected from the sun by such beds of
leaves; we, on the other hand, compel the aspa-
ragus to struggle through solid earth, capable in
the smallest possible degree of absorbing warmth
during the day- -but, on the other hand, ready to
part with its heat again at night to the greatest
possible amount.

Can any one wonder, then, at the poor results
obtained by our manner of cultivation ? — or that

348

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

some gardener should now and then astonish his
neighbours by producing asparagus which we call
Giant, but which at St. Sebastian would be called
second rate ?

THE BURTHENS ON LAND.

During the discussion on the Corn Law in the
Commons, the agriculturists have been repeatedly
challenged to show what are the burthens which
they bear beyond the other classes of sociely, and
some gentlemen have argued as if the land were
more lightly taxed than other property; but the
following statement from Mr. Coates, founded on
statistical information gathered by him while
making a valuation to equalize the county rate in
Berkshire, will show the proportion of local bur-
thens which are borne by the land : —

" The whole property in Berks, subject to paro-
chial rates, amounts to the net annual value of
656,627/. The different classes to which this ap-
plies are as follows, viz. : —

£. s. d.
1st. Land, including farm-houses

and agricultural buildings,

with tithes and rent-charges,

where tithes are commuted 521,000 0 0

2nd. Mansions 33,900 0 0

3rd. Houses, mills, wharfs, canals,

railroads, &c, &c 81,727 0 0

4th. Cottage tenements excused

from poor-rates 20,000 0 0

Total 656,627 0 0

" It therefore appears that upon a rate of 3s. 4d.
in the pound, which probably is about the average
amount required for all parochial rates,

£. s. d.

The land will contribute per annum 86,833 0 0

Mnnsions 5,620 0 0

Other hereditaments 13,62 10 0

Cottage tenements

Total per annum 106,071 0 0

Showing accurately that all hereditaments ex-
clusive of land and mansions connected therewith,
contribute about one-seventh towards parochial
burdens."

In a communication we have received from Mr.
Coates upon the subject, that gentleman says —

" From having made upwards of twenty paro-
chial valuations in the eastern counties, I am en-
abled to form some opinion as to comparison
between these counties and Berks ; and I am
strongly inclined to think the burthens borne
therein by the landed interest are greater in pro-
portion to other property than those of Berks, as
in the latter county the facility offered by the
Thames and its tributary streams occasions a much
greater capital to be employed in mills used for
such a variety of purposes, such as the manufac-
ture of copper, paper, wire, &c, &c, and the
Great Western Railway and magnificent stations
add very much to the class of property which is
not agricultural."

This applies solely to local imposts ; but there are
other burdens, the malt tax for instance, which
press directly and exclusively upon agriculture.

ON EARLY SOWING.

Dear Herald, — I was much pleased with a re-
mark in one of your monthly reports last spring,
where you recommended early sowing of oats. I
had sown a lot about the middle of March, and I
think this was certainly the heaviest crop I had on
that field. This spring, if the weather is favour-
able, I will not hesitate to sow a dry field of light
soil as early as the 8th or 10th of March. Cold
heavy soils cannot be expected to be ready so soon.
Many of our heavy soils have been so wet
ploughed, that if not moderately harrowed as soon
as the clods are dry enough to break freely, our
oat seed on them may not be so advantageously
got over. When these clods are broken, the field
dries sooner, and even in a frosty morning it may
be sown and harrowed with ease ; when the clods
are unbroken, we have often to delay sowing in
frost till mid- day. I have for years given a double
stroke before the seed, with manifest advantage.

Many are unfriendly to early sowing. I have a
great respect for the opinions of intelligent far-
mers. None knows so weli the proper time of
sowing any given field as the observant farmer
who has often sown it. I one year sowed half a
field on the 22nd of March, and the other half on
the 7th April (I think in 1837). The last sown
was first ripe, and rather the best crop. I do not
consider this as invalidating what I recommend ;
for a storm of snow prevented the first sown from
being properly harrowed. The first lot was sown
fully wet; the second was sown in hard frost,
when the soil was so dry that the wind raised
clouds of dust after the harrows.

As a general principle, I feel inclined to say that
it is disadvantageous to sow fields formed from our
clays/ate very early, or when veryjwet. I have not
time at present to explain my reason for this. It
would lead me into a subject which I have never
seen treated. For the same reason, I would not
sow mossy fields, nor fields composed of a mix-
ture of moss and red clay, either very early or till
moderately dry; but I would slightly harrow them
some weeks before they are sown. But if even
these soils had been well limed only a little before,
I would sow them as soon as any others. I think
all other soils should be sown as early as the sea-
son will permit.

I would not have thought of troubling you with
these remarks, had I not this evening been look-
ing over the first volume of the Farmers' Magazine,
and met with the following passage : — " We had
some conversation with an intelligent farmer at
Northallerton, and were surprised to learn that wheat
was preferred after clover instead of oats, because
the latter are apt to make the ground run wild."
The writer disapproves of that view for reasons
which, to me, are not satisfactory, and I shall not
quote them. I think the intelligent Yorkshire far-
mer had truth on his side; and I shall briefly tell
you why I think so. That crop is most apt to let
a " field run wild," or to encourage weeds, which
does not take the food from the weeds. Give
weeds plenty of food, and they grow freely ; with-
draw their food while they are very young, and
you starve them.

An interesting question now arises, — Whether a
crop of wheat or of oats is most calculated to with-
draw the food from weeds ? In ordinary circum-
stances, 1 would say, a crop of winter wheat.
Many of the weeds which infest our soils are early
in growth, and have got hold of the soil, and begun

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

349

to spring before the oats are sown; and hence
they keep hold of the soil, and often choke the
oats, instead of the oats choking them. The
wheat, on the contrary, has got a firm hold of the
soil, has spread its roots, and attracts the strength
of the soil, before any weeds begin to spring. Thus
the wheat starves the weeds at their very birth.
On the same principle, barley, though later
sown, by its rapid growth, soon draws the strength
of the ground to it, and stifles weeds; whereas
oats, a more slow growing plant, especially when
late sown, lets the weeds beat it.

In 1840, I had one part of a field sown on 30th
or 3tst March, and another part of similar soil,
and with the same seed, on the 18th or 20th April.
The first sown took full possession of the ground.
Not a weed could be seen. The last sown was
almost choked with couch, &c, and was not half
the value of the first.

Another cause increased the difference between
the value of the two crops; the first sown got a
fine shower just when the harrows left it; the last
was sown in extreme drought ; it had not a shower
for weeks, and the lea plants made it look green
before a single blade of corn appeared.

It is evident from the above, that the earlier
we sow early soils, the more we choke the growth
of weeds, and the more we have the prospect of a
good paying crop.

Another fact requires to be attended to. Almost
any oats, however bad, will spring in a field. In
1840, much of our oats was shaken in the fields
by the bad harvest. These lay on the ground all
.winter, and were repeatedly ploughed in the fal-
low ; still they grew and infested our fallow crops
in 1841.

But although inferior or damaged oats will
spring, yet they send forth weak plants-wh'ich will
never be able to support themselves in a field dis-
posed to weeds. I let some of these grow unmo-
lested to harvest, but I found they would never
have ripened a crop worth reaping.

Nature has given the corn ks first food in the
husk (what we call the " seed pickle"). If this
be copious, a strong healthy plant quickly takes
hold of the soil, and keeps its hold. If the seed be
weak, light, or damaged, it may still give a fair
crop on a clean warm soil and mild spring ; but
if the soil or the spring be cold and ungenial, and
yet the seed weak, light, or damaged, every chance
is against a good crop, unless autumn be unusually
favourable.

From this it will appear, that the more inferior
our seed is the earlier we ought to sow it ; that we
may in part compensate, by early sowing, the want
of strength in the seed. If the seed get a mode-
rately dry bed, there is no fear of frost killing it.
And as most of our last year's crop is unusually
light, especially on high grounds, I do believe that
farmers will find their interest in sowing as early
as possible, and as good seed as they can obtain.
I remain, Sir, yours truly, G.

P.S.— In oats, early maturity seems connected
with excellence of quality, and late maturity with
degeneracy. When a valuable new variety is in-
troduced, its chief merits are — the small quantity
of it needed to sow an acre — the early maturity of
the crop— and its superior mealing value. Less
seed is required, because it more vigorously spreads
its roots and multiplies its stems. Our potato oat
has gradually become later, and is every year ap-
proaching to the characters of our older varieties.
Thirty years ago, 5 bushels of seed were as suffi-

cient for an acre as 6§ or 7 bushels now are ; and
if we do not, on average soils, sow our degene-
rate potato oat a week or two earlier than we did
30 years ago, or as early as we then sowed " com-
mon oats," we have none of the former advantages
of the potato oat. The past seasons have increased
the degeneracy of our seed ; and, if we do not
strive to compensate this by early sowing and
plenty of well-dressed seed, we may fear another
light crop. Past years have left little in our
pockets to buy seed ; but if the above ideas be
correct, we ought always to take our seed from
the earliest soil we can get, for, ccrteris paribus, the
earlier the soil the more perfect is the sample.
Some think a mere change from clay to gravel, or
from gravel to clay, is enough. But remove
a seed or plant from a better to a worse soil, and
you deteriorate it. The natural soil of the oat is
warmer than any in Scotland. The nearer you
bring it to its natural soil and climate, the more
you improve it. If I had two samples of equal
weight, the one from a colder, the other from a
warmer soil than my own, I would expect the
latter to yield a better crop and more meal than
the former. On cold soils, the hull is thicker, and
the meal less than on warmer soils.

PIPE AND TILE DRAINING.

A correspondent, who signs himself " Clod,"
has forwarded us a long communication on the
subject of pipe and tile draining. It is necessary,
he says, that the earth of which the pipe or tile is
made should be of the strongest kind, and be hard
burnt, to stand against pressure from the "col-
lapsion" of heavy land, and to protect them from
the effects of frost. Our correspondent then al-
ludes to a discussion on draining at the farmers'
club, and says he protests against the opinion that
deep drainage is most beneficial to the heavy land
in the Hundreds of Essex, which requires three
horses to a plough, and says: — "The first and
grand object, I maintain, is surface draining
(which of course is shallow drainage). This is
effected on flat, or land so disposed by the upset-
ting practice of ploughing artificial falls for water,
requiring a very little manual labour, as the
scouring practice is made use of instead of the
more expensive dug water-furrows. The great
difficulty in deep subsoil draining land so situated
is this — that the drains in most instances would be
as deep as the open ditches, entailing an endless
expense therefrom, to prevent what is termed
mudding up, or stopping ; which would be exceed-
ingly injurious to the land, and a thorough waste
of money to those who so expended it. The ad-
vantages of shallow draining upon such land3 is
the small cost comparatively by which it is
effected, and from its proximity to the surface it
gives an easy and quick passage to the water con-
tained in all that is moved by the plough, and
which is all that is required upon these lands.
According to the depth of fruitful surface soil
should be proportioned the depth of your subsoil
draining, the leads of which should be with pipe
of two inches bore ; these are perfectly secure
from surface wear, and not endangered by the
collapsion of the soil. At one foot from where
the ground of the plough goes, the tributary
draining to these need only be ten to eleven inches

3o0

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

deep below where the ground of the plough goes
when making a summer fallow. These drains
when filled with percolating material, such as the
smallest stones or shells, are permanent and of
small cost in constructing and giving a most ready
passage to the main pipe drain for the water. I
would strongly recommend when the tributaries
are cut, the strong and impervious soil from them
should be cast aside, and the ten to eleven inch
drain, by three inches wide at the top and one at
bottom, should be filled with the most percolating
matter, as before mentioned, to within about one
inch of where the plough ground goes in the fal-
lowing process." This operation he admits is at
variance with the present practice, but he con-
tends it is the best, and the smallest stones he
thinks preferable. In conclusion, he remarks: —
" I would only add, that by deep draining you
are attempting to remove superabundant water by
the slowest, the most expensive, and disadvanta-
geous mode ; for to attempt to draw it through an
impervious subsoil, as all are that are in reality
heavy (excepting alluvial) is fruitless. The fore-
going remarks, excepting those which apply to
depth, will apply to land wherever found." —
Essex Herald.

EFFECT OF THE NEW TARIFF.

At a meeting of the Ward of Farringdon With-
out, in the City of London, called to oppose the
Income-tax, a Mr. Wood expressed himself on
the effects of the Tariff in the following terms : —

" The effect," he said, " of the changes to be made
in the eorn laws by the measure of the present govern-
ment was most important, and for this change he said
that the country ought to view Sir Robert Peel with
some degree of favour, although his object had been to
uphold the interests of the monopolist. The effect of
the change would be to reduce the highest price of corn
to 60s. ; and, surely, if the price of corn was reduced,
its consumption would increase, and so the return to
the Exchequer of the country would be materially en-
larged. But it was not on account of the corn bill
alone that the people ought to be in some degree satis-
fied. The new tariff made changes as important and as
interesting in their position, as any which cheap
bread could produce. Hitherto the introduction of
many articles of food from foreign countries had been
prohibited, and beef and mutton, as well as bread, were
weighed out by the monopolist at whatever charge he
chose to demand for them. But now we might look
with hopes to the continent, and ere long the oxen of
Hoist ein, the salt provisions of Hamburgh, and the sheep
of other fireign neighbours, might be expected to be seen
transported from the places of their pioduction to the
market at Smithfield, and the uorking man would in
these articles as well as in bread, feel the blesiings of
plenty — the consequence of reduced prices. (Hear,
hear)."
On this same subject, the Glasgow Courier says —
"It may not be uninteresting to state the terms at
which a most important class of provisions may be im-
ported from the United States of America, in the event
of the recently announced measure of Sir Robert Peel
passing into law. The following vidimus, therefore, has
been made up from the latest piiccs current, received
in the Rojal Exchange here, with the proposed duty,
hnd the current rates of freight added : —
New Orleans.
Best mess beef, 10 dollars per barrel

of 200 lbs £2 18

Duty, 8s. per cwt. .. .. 0 14 6

Freight, |d. per lb. .. .. 0 8 4

£3
3

4
6

6

S

£1
1

5

2

0
10

£2
2

10

10
0

£o
1

14

2

7
10

200 lbs. say at 4d. per lb.

Prime beef, 6 dollars per barrel . .
Duty and freight, as above

200 lbs., say at 3d. per lb

Cheapest beef, 3£ dollars per brl., £0 14
Duty and freight, as abo\e

£1 17 5
200 lbs., say at 2^d 2 10

Accoiding to the same table, best bacon ham sells in
New Orleans at 2|d. per lb., which, with l|d. added for
duty, and jd. for freight, makes its price delivered in a
British port, 4Ad. per lb.

In New \ork,bythe Prices Current of 19th Feb.
last, smoked beef sells at 3d. per lb., which 2d. added
for duty and freight, gives 5d. as the wholesale price in
the English market. New hams sell at 4d., and with
the same additions, give 6d. Pickled shoulders sell at
l|d., and with duty and freight, may be delivered here
at 3d. per lb.

In Montreal, Upper Canada, pork may be had in any
quantity, from 100 to 10,000 barrels, at 2§d. per lb.;
and from the trifling pmount of duty on exports from
British colonies, it is believed that, Inclusive of freight,
it may be landed in England at the addition of a penny
more, or 3^d. per lb."

The Free Trader (edited by Mr. Sidney Smith,
the Anti-Corn Law lecturer) anticipates advan-
tages from the proposed reductions of Sir R. Peel.

" Accordingly, fresh meat of all kinds is now to be
imported at a duty of a little more than three farthings
per lb. ; and taking the average weight of Normandy
oxen or cows at 80 and 60 stones respectively, a duty
of 20s. and 15s. per head will admit them at a tax of
a farthing and a half per lb. The freight from New
York of fresb pork is just a farthing per lb., the price
2d. ; so that we entertain no doubt whatever, that when
merchants have adjusted thtir commercial arrange-
ments, the Great Western will enable us to buy prime
pork in Leadenhall market at 4jd. per lb. in place of
73d., as at present. The victualling of all our ships
will now be provided by foreign provisions ; and the
Irish graziers, in place of sailing their beef and pork
for our marine, will be compelled to send it to Smith-
field market to be sold fresh. Last of all, the poor
man's ultimate refuge, potatoes, were taxed 2s. per cwt.
The new tariff reduces the impost to one-twelfth of the
old charge, or to a mere registration fee of 2d. per cwt."

The following announcement, purporting to
emanate from some extensive carcase-butchers in
Hamburgh, has appeared in a York paper: —

" HAMBURGH BEEF,&c.-TO BUTCHERS.
" In consequence of the proposal of Sir Robert Peel
very speedily to remove the Prohibitory Duty on Animal
Food exported from Foreign Ports to England, and in
future to substitute a very small amount of duty on the
same ; We take this opportunity of announcing to the
Butchers of York, that immediately after Sir Robert
Peel shall have carried this proposed measure into a
law, we shall be glad to enter into arrangements with
them for a regular supply of Beef, Mutton, Veal, and
Pork of the very finest quality. We are already in a
position to enter into a contract to supply any parties
who may favour us with thtir confidence, for the next
Twelve Months ensuing, at the following prices: —

Prime Beef .. .. 3s. 6d. per stone.

Fine German Mutton . . 2s. 4d.

Veal 4s. 3d.

Pork 2s. 8d. "

Tongues, Pickled . . 9?. per dozen.

We shall undertake to deliver the above to the parties
at their respective shops in York regularly every Fri-
day morning, free of all charges."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

351

CAUSES OF FIRE.

Mr. J. Murray has published a letter in a Li-
verpool paper on the frequency, causes, and pre-
vention of fire, which contains many facts well
worthy of attentive consideration. Among other
observations, he says : —

" There is far too little attention paid to the
locomotive engine on our railroads. The ignited
coals that fall below are often blown to consider-
able distance, carried into the adjoining fields,
and may, in contact with farming stock, prove a
serious evil ; and I have witnessed brushwood and
tufts of grass consumed by this means. A
green taper, coloured as it is by means of oxide of
copper, when blown out, acts on an aphlogistic
principle, and may continue to the end of the coil
in an ignited though flameless state, and, in con-
tact with combustible materials, may prove
seriously destructive. It has set a mahogany table
on fire — providentially discovered in time. Damp
rags, en masse, may spontaneously take fire, and
have consumed the premises. Linseed and other
oils, but especially that of linseed, have been the
fruitful sources of conflagration in cotton factories
and the warehouses of merchants. Nets dipped
in oil, and cast over the rafters in an outer shed,
set them on fire ; and a bale of cotton wool burst
into aflame from linseed oil being poured upon it.
Even animal matters, such as woollen, under such
circumstances, come within the precincts of dan-
ger. I find that strong red fuming nitric acid
will set fire to straw; and an accident of this
kind once occurred to myself. The vapour of
sulphuric ether, instead of being volatile, and as-
cending, as is generally supposed, falls to the
ground 'like water ; and accidents in the labora-
tory and shop of the druggist, from ignorance of
this fact, are by no means unfrequent. I am per-
sonally acquainted with three distinct cases,
wherein the premises were set on fire originating
in this source. Specks of bull's eyes in window-
glass may, on the principle of burning lens, ignite
inflammable substances brought within the limits
of their focus ; hence the curtains used in some
factories may he easily ignited : thus, too, a
water-bottle left in a window may in sunshine be
the means of setting premises on fire, especially
in a house shut rip during the absence of the
family; and I have seen a silk curtain consumed
to tinder by the concentrated rays of the sun, in
passing through the show-bottle in the druggist's
window. Spirits of turpentine will inflame if
poured out in the hot sunbeam ; and I am in-
formed by the distillers of tar and turpentine that
the head of the still cannot be safely removed for
30 hour3 after the fire has been extinguished, as
an explosion might be otherwise anticipated. Lu-
cifers, or congreve matches, are one of the fruit-
ful sources of fires. Those that are called Dutch,
containing phosphoric and having a very foetid
phosphoric smell, are exceedingly dangerous :
they may ignite spontaneously at the temperature
of summer heat ; and it may now suffice to say
that a recent conflagration has been traced to this
cause. The cigar and the pipe are pre-eminent
sources of modern conflagration ; and I have no
doubt that the seat of the Marquis of London-
derry, and the late one of York Minster, are en-
tirely attributable to the pipe or cigar used by the
workmen engaged in repairs. It is not generally
known that tobacco contains nitre, and that, like
touchwood, it continues ignited for hours. Fires

occurring from this cause are, I apprehend, too
notorious to need specific detail. It is clear that
the end of a cigar dropped among wood shavings
might be fanned into a flame by a current of air ;
and tossed from the top of a coach into an adjoin-
ing field, and carried by the breeze into a farmer's
stack-yard, hay-ricks and wheat-stacks may even
burst into a flame. I believe many a cigar smoker
is an unintentional incendiary.'

" Fires in farm yards also may originate from
quick lime left in a cart under a shed, and mois-
ture getting to it. Heat sufficient to cause com-
bustion is developed. The spontaneous combus-
tion of hayricks from the dampness of the hay, is
a danger to which the negligent farmer is often
exposed. In our present state of chemical know-
ledge it is idle to attempt to follow this phenome-
non through its course, or to explain the reasons
for the heat produced in fermentation. As water
must be present in fermentation it is probable
that it is decomposed, 'and it is commonly said
that the flame produced is the result of intense
chemical action ; but, as Dr. Thompson remarks,
(System of Chem., vol. iv. p. 364)—' All the phe-
nomena of fermentation lay for many years con-
cealed in complete darkness, and no chemist was
bold enough to hazard an attempt even to explain
them. They were employed, however, and with-
out hesitation too, in the explanation of other
phenomena ; as if giving to one process the name
of another of which we are equally ignorant,
could, in rcalitv, add anything to our know-
ledge.' "

LIQUID MANURE.

Sir, — I beg leave to state to you that, seeing the
had effects of the waste of the draining of manure
heaps, and being convinced that much of the sub-
stance of the dung was contained therein, I deter-
mined on applying it as a top dressing to a meadow,
which was effected in the following manner .- —
Measures having been taken to prevent the escape
of the water, an old tar barrel had a hole about
six inches square cut out at the bung; into this
was fitted a funnel made of wood, somewhat in the
shape of a hopper, having the bottom covered
with a piece of old tin perforated with holes, to
act as a strainer to prevent straws or any matter
which would choke the passage, getting into the
barrel. Two old felloes of a cart wheel, having
wedged-shaped pieces nailed on the outer side at
each end to keep them steady, were laid in a cart,
and the barrel having a hand-plug in the cock hole,
was laid on them. A trough a foot longer, the
width of the cart, one side of it being bored with a
double row of holes burned with a hot iron, was
then slung behind, and just under the cart; which,
when the cask had been filled with the dunghill
water, was then driven on the meadow — the plug
being withdrawn, the water flows out on the bot-
tom of the cart, and thence into the trough, which
through the holes distributes it in the manner of a
town watering cart. This apparatus is simple,
cheap, and effective ; and when done with, the
trough and the barrel can be put by, and need
not monopolise a wheel carriage for this particular
use.

In going over the ground, the cart should be
driven right up and down hill; as if it goes sideways

352

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

or across the hill, the water will not flow equally
from the holes, but will be in one end of the trough ;
and the track of the wheel points out to the
driver where he is to go next turn. The effect
with me has been the manifest greenness which
is now apparent on all the watered parts, which
shew a much superior colour to the adjacent spots
which have not been watered, and I am satisfied
that this is the most profitable way of applying
that which usually goes to waste.

I am, Sir, yours,

Januarius.

WEST FIRLE FARMERS' CLUB.

The club at its meeting in March continued the
discussion on the subject of under-draining. Mr.
John King in the chair. The conversation first
turned upon the cost of tile-draining, from which
it appeared that with the drains 18 feet apart there
would be 147 rods of draining in an acre — 16§
tiles to a rod, at 35s. per 1000 of the best tiles — an
inferior sort being obtainable at 30s. As to the
most advantageous material, a variety of opinions
seemed to prevail referable, according to our judg-
ment, to tbe various qualities of soil, and the com-
parative facility with which different materials
could be obtained. A very strong opinion was
entertained by many of the members in favour of
the use of turf on clay soils, on account principally
of its cheapness ; seeing that, if the soil were at
all fair, it might be done well, three spit deep
(about 27 inches), at 3Jd. a rod, or if the work
were untoward at all events at 4d.; well executed
tile-draining would cost (three or four spit deep)
from 5d. to 6d. Beach was spoken of very highly
by one or two members, on account of its being,
by its form, particularly well calculated to allow of
the percolation of water. In a convenient country,
wood might be very advantageously employed,
older being preferable.

While, however, the experience of the members
bore testimony to the success of various sub-
stances, no one denied that — though as a matter of
cheapness or convenience it might be expedient to
use chalk, stone, flint, turf or wood — the safest
and most durable materials were tile?, since they
did away with the danger incident to other drains
by the crumbling in of the cover in consequence
of decay or change in the soil from atmospheric
influence. We should observe that instances were
cited of turf being effectual after having been in
nine or ten years, and wood thirty and forty ; and
in other cases flint and chalk draining done twenty
years since were now quite useless, though this
failure might be attributed — as the chairman well
observed — not to any fault in the material so
much as to the manner in which it had been used.

A member corrected an error in the report of
the proceedings of the last meeting, as to the
direction of the drains. He did not mean to assert
that they should be made perpendicularly, as a
general rule, but only where the ground was
springy. It was further stated, on this head, that
the employment of one deeper main drain, the
others running into it, would, provided it were
sufficiently capacious to carry off the accumulated
water, be quite as safe as if each drain sewed
itself, while there would be the advantage of only
having one opening to attend to. Instances were
mentioned where, in taking the drains down a
field, a sort of flat was come to j at which place

they had become silted up, and this had been
remedied by putting in a large main drain about
three rods up the field, cutting the others asunder.
In no case should two side drains run into the
main trunk at the same point.

Experiments were described as to the depth of
the drains and the distance apart, from which it
appeared that no general rule could be laid
down upon the latter subject, so much depending
upon the nature cf the soil. Fifty years ago the
draining was quite shallow — a foot or eighteen
inches deep only ; then in a few years the pre-
vailing mode was precisely at the other extreme,
drains being,dug six feet deep and filled in with
boulders. The most extensive experience seemed
to favour as an average depth about from 30 to 36
inches.

During the evening, some very useful hints
were thrown out with regard to the manner in
which the work, in different kinds of draining,
should be performed ; among others, that it was a
very good plan, in dry seasons, to use plenty of
water, which rendered the digging much easier,
and at the same time determined the level in the
simplest method. Again, a better mode than that
usually adopted of cutting turf for draining was
mentioned — viz. instead of forming the wedge by
cutting off each side of the turf, to take off only
one piece, which is to be put at the top. The
wedge form was unanimously preferred to the plan
of cutting it with a shoulder. It was stated also,
that the chief matter to be attended to is the
soundness of the turf, which should be used in the
autumn or spring, when being quite dry, and
rammed in tight, it would not be liable to shrink.
In chalk draining it had been found that the
larger the chalk fin moderation) and the more
uniform in size, the better the drain answered.

A question being asked, how a spring on a white
sandy soil could be cured, a member stated that
he had, aftertrying every other remedy, effectually
got rid of a large spring in the middle of afield by
using beach, though at a great expencc, on account
of the carriage and the large quantity of the
material necessary to be used.

A member brought forward an instance of what
he considered to be an injury effected by under-
draining. This was a piece of meadow land — a
thin clay soil — very wet in the winter, being com-
pletely poached in the middle of the field. After
this was drained not so much crop had been ob-
tained, and the middle part instead of producing
well as before, was full of what is called " penny-
grass." On the other hand it was contended that
it would not be fair to attribute the change to the
draining, and a case was mentioned of two neigh-
bouring fields, one being manured but not drained,
the other being drained, and both producing a bad
crop.

The discussion was closed with the following
resolution : —

" That it is the opinion of the meeting, that the
practice of draining should be regulated by the
degrees of facility of obtaining- different materials
compatible with the nature of the soil ; and ex-
perience tends to show the equal success of either
chalk, flints, wood, turf or tiles, when properly
used, instances of complete failure appearing to
arise from ill-construction or injudicious applica-
tion of the material."

At the next meeting, to be held on Friday the
22nd of April, the subject for discussion will be —
"The general management of neat stock."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SECURING A CROP OF CARROTS.

BY Jin. JA.MES BROWN.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

D aucus Can-ota (Lin.) belongs to the class and
order Pentandria Digynia, and natural order Umbel-
tif'era — is a native of Britain, and found in light
sandy pastures and in waste dry places in almost.
every part of the kingdom. 1 be effects of cultiva-
tion have entirely altered the appearance of its
root, which is the part used. In its natural state,
the carrot is small, hard, and dry, of a white colour
and strong flavour. In its cultivated state, the
root-becomes large, succulent, and of a red or yel-
lowish colour.

We. have no certain information respecting the
precise time when carrots were first cultivated in
this country ; but Hume the historian says, that,
in the time of Henry the Eighth, "neither salads,
carrots, turnips, nor any other edible roots, were
produced in England.'' Previous to that time,
these vegetables were imported from Holland and
Flanders. That the cultivated varieties of the car-
rot did not originate in this country is pretty
evident from the above quotation.

The leaves of carrots were held in esteem by
the ladies of the gay court of Charles the First ;
for Parkinson, who was the botanic gardener of
that monarch, informs us that they wore them
instead of feathers.

The carrot is cultivated not only for the use of
the kitchen, but also extensively, in many parts of
the country, for the feeding of cattle ; and it is
found to be more nutritious than either turnips
or cabbages. It is extensively grown upon the
continent of Europe, for the use of horses, where
it appears to be more valued than it is in this
country. At the present time, it is rare to see a
crop of clean, well grown carrots in any garden
of this country ; while, upon the other hand, they
are often seen to thrive well under the manage-
ment of the farmer in the open fields. It is there-
fore principally to gardeners and cottars that I
wish to address myself in what follows. It may
also be useful to the farmer in so far as he culti-
vates this root for his own private use ; for, even
where agriculturists do not grow the carrot in the
open field for the use of their cattle, how often
have they been heard to express a wish that they
could manage to grow it in their garden for the
use of their own household ? Such men are well
aware that carrots generally grow perfectly well
in the fields, but not being in the habit of growing
them in the fields as a regular crop, they find it
inconvenient to adapt any certain spot in the field
for such a purpose ; and having a part of their
ground laid aside for kitchen cropping in a gene-
ral way, they feel disappointed that they are un-
able, generally speaking, to grow carrots so easily
as they can cabbages, turnips, and other such
crops. The disappointment is indeed great, but
by industry, the one crop is as much to be depended
upon as the other ; and I hope soon to see the
cottar as good a grower of carrots as the first-rate
gardener.

It is well known to all country people who have
the advantage of cultivating their own little gar-
den, that the carrot is very apt to be injured, and
often entirely destroyed while young by small
worms eating and gnawing the roots, particularly
when they grow in a soil having been long under

cultivation, as gardens generally are. Let it be
understood, that I only address myself to those
who cultivate ground having been repeatedly sa-
turated with manure ; for to go through the pro-
cess which I wish to recommend, would be super-
fluous' in new ground, unless we may except
trenching, which is commendable in all cases.
Here it will naturally occur to those who are unac-
quainted with the culture of the carrot, that its
being a native of this country and growing wild
along almost every hedge side, should render it the
more hardy and easy of cultivation. The contrary
is the truth. The effects of cultivation have ren-
dered its parts more sensitive, and upon that very
account it is the more susceptible of injury when
under bad culture. As a proof of this assertion,
we will observe as follows : —

Beet, although a native of the south of Europe,
is seldom, if ever, found ;o go back, or be attacked
by vermin in the root, as the carrot is. On the
contrary.it is in every respect easier to cultivate
than the carrot, although it is not a native of this
country.

The red-beet often forms as extensive a part of
the kitchen-garden crop as the carrot does, par-
ticularly with gardeners, and yet, so far as my own
experience goes, I have never found the beet go
back, or fail to do well ; while, at the same time,
I have seen an extensive plot of carrots entirely
fail upon the same piece of ground with the beet,
and under the same management in every re-
spect.

Now, why is it that the beet, being a native of the
south of Europe, is surer and easier of culture than
the carrot, which is a native of Britain ? The reason
is quite obvious, and may be accounted for upon the
following considerations. The root of the carrot,
in its natural state, as was before observed, is of
a tough or woody texture, while, in its cultivated
state, it has become succulent and fleshy ; conse-
quently the nature of the root is altogether
changed. Who, upon seeing that wild weed com-
monly called bird's nest, would take it to be the
true carrot ? It is nevertheless true. The beet,
on the other hand, in its cultivated state, is little
different from the same plant in the natural state.
No doubt it will be large or small, according to
the soil in which it is grown ; but, at the same
time, its natural good qualities are not improved
by being overgrown, while those of the carrot are
increased when overgrown.

Upon the shores of the Mediterranean, the beet
is found as good in quality when in its natural
state as in the cultivated garden. Here, now, we
have the desired point. The beet succeeds well,
because its primitive parts are not changed in a
state of cultivation ; while, upon the other hand,
the carrot is exceedingly liable to be injured by
bad culture, because its primitive parts are altoge-
ther changed in a cultivated state; therefore it is
that the nature of the carrot requires to be studied
before we can arrive at a safe and sure mode of
culture. Indeed, every part of artificial work
comes under the same rule ; for the more com-
plicated the parts of any machine are, the more
liable it is to be deranged, aud, consequently, the
more skill and attention are required from the
workman to keep it in proper tone.

Having thus briefly attempted to point out the
nature and origin of the carrot, and stated that it
is owing to its primitive parts being changed un-
der the hands of the cultivafor, that we must at-
tribute its liability to decay and accident, when the

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354

THE FARM KR'S MAGAZINE.

soil in which it grows is not in a state congenial to
its nature. Aii'i let it be observed, that every
plant which we cultivate, whether as ornamental
or useful, has a natural tendency to degenerate or
fall back into its primitive state, or, perhaps, to be
cut off nlcogether, if we neglect to observe its dis-
positions and requirements. As the principal in-
tention of what I am writing is to give a system of
culture, by which the carrot may be grown quite
free from injury by the worm — at least I have, by
the same method, grown them myself, where old
and experienced gardeners have failed to produce
the same — I will now commence here and give
the whole according to the course of my own ex-
perience, by which I hope cleaily to define the
principles of the system I wish to recommend.

At Mount Melville, in Fifeshire, where I served
my apprenticeship to the gardener profession, the
garden was quite new ; indeed, the first year that
I entered as apprentice, we were engaged in
trenching, draining, and levelling the whole. The
soil of which the garden was composed was be-
tween clay and brown loam, and rested principally
upon a clay bottom.

The first year that the garden was put under
crop, the carrots were sown upon a piece of ground
which had been partly forced to the depth of two
feet in the act of levelling the garden, and the sort
sown was the Altringham ; which sort is, in my
opinion, the best for general use.

About the middle of the month of August in that
year, 1 took a tour through the neighbouring gen-
tlemen's gardens (as is customary among garden-
ers^, for the purpose of collecting information
among those of the same craft with myself, and
also to compare the progress of the crops in each
garden I visited with those of the one in which I
served. In each garden that I visited, I particu-
larly remarked that their carrot crops looked ill ;
at least I considered that they all appeared so when
compared with our carrot crop at Mount Mel-
ville.

When I got home, I enquired the reason of the
gardener, why our carrot crop, above all other
things I had seen, was superior to that of our
neighbours. He answered me as follows : —

" All those gardens which you have visited to-
day are old, and have been long under cultivation.
Now, ground which has been long cultivated and
much saturated with manure is not in a proper-
state for the growing of carrots to any degre
of perfection. Upon the other hand you will ob-
serve that our garden is entirely new, and only put
under garden [culture this year for the first time.
" This spot," he continued, " where our kitchen
garden now is, has, I suppose, been under pasture
these fifty years past. Now, perhaps those old
gardens which you have visited today have lain
the same number of years under kitchen cropping,
and which cropping unavoidably requires the con-
tinual application of manure to stimulate the soil.
Again, where ground is so much manured, it be-
comes what is termed foul ; that is, along with the
great quantity of dung used in garden cropping,
insects in every stage of their being, and particu-
larly in their egg state, enter, and, consequently,
are dug into the soil along with the dung. Now
these through time multiply so extraordinarily,
that they attack the roots of plants in general
which grow in the soil ; and they appear to be
particularly fond of the root of the carrot, as it is
of a soft fleshy nature, and without any outer skin
hard enough to repel their attacks.

" You see that our garden has not yet undergone
these repeated manurings, and is therefore at pre-
sent what is termed clean ground, or new soil ;
or, more properly, it is not yet adulterated with
any foreign particles not naturally belonging to it-
self. Now, that 1 consider to be the reason why
our carrot crop is at present superior to that of
our neighbours."

In the same manner, I collected information in
the different places where 1 acted as journey-
man ; but in all the places where I acted as as-
sistant-gardener, after leaving Mount Melville, and
where, of course, I had the opportunity of seeing
the different methods practised by the different
gardeners who had the management, I could not
say that ever I saw a good crop of carrots, the
reason being, as 1 have already assigned, all these
gardens being old, and that of Mount Melville be-
ing new. 1 no doubt saw, where the ground had
been trenched, a few things resembling carrots,
but none that could be called good of their kind.

Therefore from experience I collected during my
journeymanship, I found that, in general, garden-
ers were unable to raise carrots in ground having
been long under cultivation. I pondered upon
the same in my own mind, and determined trying
a system for myself as soon as I had an opportu-
nity of putting it into practice. When I went to
Craighton, the seat of Henry Dunlop, Esq., which
was the first place 1 had upon my own account as
gardener, I inquired if they had had good crops of
carrots formerly in the garden. I was told they
had not ; and the garden being an old one, I natu-
rally anticipated the answer to my question. I was
told that they had a few at times among the onions .
As to the truth of what I have asserted, I may add,
that when I went to the place in the month of
November, there was not one carrot about it ; and
I had to buy a supply for the use of the family
during that winter. I may also here state, upon
the authority of Mr. Dunlop himself, that he had
not hitherto seen good carrots in the garden. I
thought myself rather fortunate in this instance,
as I hoped to have the credit of producing a supply
of that vegetable without being obliged to neigh-
bours, which is always a disagreeable circum-
stance.

Upon examining the ground in the garden, and
having pitched upon a spot for my carrot crop the
following season, J immediately set about pre-
paring the same according to the method 1 had in
view ; and before I enter into detail of that method,
1 may say a few words relative to what led me to
it. I had always observed that the vermin which
attacked the carrot were for the greater part near
the surface of (he ground ; that is, my experience
led me to think, that they, the insects, required to
be near the surface before they could come into
life, so far as to act upon the plants that grew in
the ground for food to themselves. Upon exam-
ination, I found very few of the live insects nearer
the surface of the ground than eight inches ;
therefore I concluded that the eggs of the insects
required to have the influence of both air and
sun before they came into life, although I make
no doubt that the eggs lying dormant at a greater
depth may keep their principles of life for many
years, and afterwards come into life when exposed
to the influence of heat and the action of the air.
From these observations, which I had made from
real experience, I concluded that the usual system
of trenching the ground for carrots, as a means of
renewing the soil, was useless, because the insects,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

355

although buried in a great measure in the act of
trenching the ground, had still the power of bring-
ing themselves to the surface when their proper
season of life came, when nothing else hut the open
soil, which is open and porous, was above them.
For a proof of what I here assert, only witness the
man)' failures of carrot culture after trenching the
ground in the common manner. The insects can-
not be said to be buried in the common way of
trenching, they are only mixed through the soil,
instead of being all upon the surface. Now, what
I aimed at was to have the ground trenched in
such a manner as to have the upper nine inches
of the soil, in which the insects lie, so buried in
the bottom of the trench, as to have no connection
with the newer part of the soil put above it in the
act of trenching, and this I did in the following
manner: — The piece of ground which I pitched
upon for the operation of trenching, for carrot
ground, was rather of a stiff nature, and at the
same time I found that it was in need of draining.
1 commenced about the first of December, and
drained the piece so far as I found necessary.
Draining is a particular point to be attended to
in the culture of carrots; the soil in which they
grow ought always to be in a dry sweet state, else,
however well the ground may be otherwise pre-
pared, if not dry, the crop will not succeed well.

The draining being finished, I commenced
trenching in the following manner : — I took out
an opening all along the one end of the plot,
wheeled and laid down the same opening taken
out, at the opposite end for the purpose of finish-
ing; this opening I made 3 feet wide, and 2 feet
deep ; next I marked off another trench of
the same breadth with the first and parallel to it.

This done, I dug up the top spit of the second
trench, and flung it into the bottom of the first open-
ing, and at the same time I shovelled clean up the
loose earth left behind the spade in the act of taking
off the top spit, and threw it also into the bottom of
the first. This I levelled in the bottom of the open-
ing, and after I had done so I went into the open-
ing and trode or trampled with my feet over the
whole, making it firm and compact. Thus I had
now, as I considered, the whole body of the soil
in which the insects lived on the second trench in
the bottom of the first ; and this treading which I
gave it in the bottom, rendered it not easily dis-
turbed in after-work upon the ground. I now
measured the depth of the top spit which I had
taken off the second trench, and found the same to
average nearly ten inches, while the same being
trodden in the bottom of the first, was compressed
by the treading to about 6" inches. Now, the
earth put in the bottom of the first trench, or open-
ing being trodden level and firm as a barn floor,
next wheeled in from the outer garden a compound
which I had previously prepared for the purpose.

The compound consisted of unslaked or powder
lime, two-thirds ; and of pure river sand, one-third,
properly mixed together; of this compound, I put
into the bottom of the first trench, and above
(which is the same thing), the trodden earth one
inch in depth. This 1 spread very evenly and
equally all over. I now required to be extremely
cautious in putting the rest of the soil above this
compound, so as not to disturb or displace the
same ; this 1 managed to do by breaking pretty
fine some of the soil before T put it in. I broke it
finely, and put it above the compound cautiously,
about two inches thick ; then I had the liberty of
throwing in the rest of the earth above this as I

would, without any danger of displacing the com-
pound. I now turned over the rest of the trench
to the desired depth, that is, 2 feet ; and in the
same manner I went over the whole piece of ground
until I had it all trenched, always putting in the
compound above the trodden earth in the bottom
of the trench ; and when I had all trenched, I
scattered over the level surface of the ground
nearly three quarters of an inch of the former com-
pound, and this I dug into the newly turned up
soil, and exposed the same soil to the frost of
winter by repeatedly digging and presenting a new
surface to the weather, while I had the opportunity
of frosty weather. Now, I was perfectly aware
that 1 had the vermin imprisoned in a manner for
ever, at least so long as the compound above them
remained undisturbed, for my idea was, that the
damp of the earth above the layer of lime and sand
would soon form the same into a hard crust, through
which the air could not penetrate, and consequently
through which the insects could not rise to the
surface.

I here beg to be properly understood. I do not
mean that the ground thus operated upon is now
to be clean from vermin ever after; no, every in-
telligent man will see the contrary. If the ground
were to remain clean after this, it would as well
remain clean in its own natural state, without any
trouble of ours. I have already observed, that any
piece of ground or plant, ornamental or useful, if
left to nature's laws, will eventually fall into its
primitive natural state. When the ground thus
acted upon, in the manner I have pointed out, is
put under some other crop, and the carrots taken
off, consequently dung is given to it, then, in a few
years, that new surface becomes old and unfit for
our present purpose. But, supposing a whole
garden to be gone on with in this manner, piece
by piece, year after year, might not the piece which
had lain for a few years be again in a proper state
to turn up for growing carrot, and thus a continual
round may be kept up, and also do good to the
garden for the other crops ? This 1 have not yet
proved, neither can I say how long the insects will
live when buried in the ground. Men of learning
may be able to solve this matter; for my part I
cannot. I can only speak from experience, which
is the best schoolmaster. However, if we could
properly ascertain the length of the life of these
vermin, which destroy the carrot, another new
era in their culture might take place.

In the month of April I pointed over, or slightly
dug, the ground previously prepared for the carrot
crop, choosing a dry day and the ground in good
dry order. The ground being dug, I drew shallow
drills, about an inch deep, and 18 inches separate.
In these drills I sowed rather thinly than other-
wise the seed of the Altringham carrot. I covered
the same with the rake, and over all I gave a slight
beat with the back of the spade, meant to answer
the purpose of the roller. I now watched the result
anxiously, for although I waspre'.ty wellconvinced
in my own mind that they would do well, yet my
credit in a certain degree depended upon the same.
When the young plants were about 3 inches
in height, I thinned them out to about 4 inches
apart from plant to plant, choosing a damp day for
the operation ; for, let it be observed, it is always
most proper to thin carrots in dull weather, and if
they be thinned in the time of rain, the result will
be the more certain. I have known carrots die under
the first strong sun after thinning ; they being
thinned in dry weather, and the ground being left

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356

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

open about their roots, the strong heat quite dried
them up. But to proceed — the crop of carrots now
under our notice grew rapidly after the process of
thinning, and about the end of October I had a
crop of carrots not equalled in that part of the
country. I had indeed seen larger roots, but as
a genera] crop they were allowed to be excellent.
There was no mark of worm or rust upon them,
and I had, above all, tbe pleasant satisfaction of
presenting my employer with a crop the equal of
of which (to use his own words), he had not
hitherto seen in his garden.

The next crop that I raised was at Craigston,
in the county of Aberdeen, where Mr. Urquhart,
the proprietor of the place, was well satisfied that
I had raised a crop in his garden by the same me-
thod, and also in an old garden where they seldom
or never had carrots for the use of the family be-
fore I went there ; which I learned from an old
gardener who bad acted in that capacity at Craig-
ston for upwards of fifty years.

The next place where I had my method put in
execution was at Dunskey, the seat of Colonel
Hunter Blair, where the garden was also an old
one, much the same in that respect as I had been
in formerly. In this garden I also raised excellent
carrots, and the truth is, that I nlways had good
crops where others had failed in raising anything re-
sembling carrots, an d this I always learned from the
gardener who had acted in the same places before
me. I now felt convinced of the utility of the
system I had adopted. I have found it answer the
desired end, namely, that of raising good carrot
in old cultivated ground.

In these pages I hope that I have explained the
method so as to be intelligible to every one, which
is all I want. Those who have a better method of
their own need not disregard the one I have
pointed out ; it is a humble attempt to render my-
self useful to those who have not a better method
of their own.

PRESENTATION OF TESTIMO-
NIAL TO MR. JOHN ROLFE,

OF WATTLETON FARM, BEAC0NSFIELD, BUCKS.

On Monday, April 4, the Testimonial and his
Portrait were presented to Mr. John Rolfe, by his
friends.

Tbe testimonial was a very splendid silver ink-
stand, which was formed by three frosted silver
wheat- sheaves, with agricultural emblems at the
base and sides, and was elegant alike in design
and execution.

The portrait of Mr. J. Rolfe was an admirable
likeness, and skilfully executed by a " native
artist," Mr. Steers, who amply deserve the enco-
miums lavished upon him.

At three o'clock, upwards of 150 gentlemen and
yeomen sat clown to an excellent repast, at the
White Hart Inn. C. G. Du Pre, Esq., M.P.,
in the chair, with Mr. John Rolfe on his
right hand, supported by C. Scott Murray, Esq.,
M.P., Major Bent, W. Lowndes (Chesham), B.
Way, T. Walford, J.Parton, — Rolls, J.Charsley,
M. Lovett, F. Wells, E. Weller, 0. Wethered, &c,
Esquires ; Messrs. Rolfe, sen., Weedon, Hare,
Boncey, Everett, Rolls, Moxori, Fladgate, Chown,
Cortis, White, Weller, Lucas, Taylor, Pigott, &c;
Wm. Weller, jun., Esq., vice-chairman.

On the removal of the cloth, the Chairman pro-
posed, in terms of much eloquence and spirit,
" Tho Queen," which was loyally responded to,
and the national anthem sung with fervent
chorus.

" The Queen Dowager," then " Prince Albert,
The Prince of Wales and Royal Family."

" Army and Navy."

Major Bent returned thanks in that strain of
warm feeling; which characterises him, and ob-
served that if our gallant troops in Cabool could
look through a telescope long enough to see how
the toast had been received by tbe yeomen of
Bucks, he was sure they would he inspirited to
push their bayonets three or four inches in ad-
vance."

The Chairman then said — " Gentlemen, 1 will
now proceed to the general business of the day."
(cheers). [The silver (testimonial) inkstand was
then placed on the table by Messrs. Pai ton and
Everett, and Mr. C. G. Du Pre proceeded] " Mr.
John Rolfe, it is now my duty, in obedience to the
wishes of the gentlemen present, and of many of
your friends and well-wishers unavoidably absent,
that I should offer to your acceptance this tiibute
of respect and esteem by which an extensive and
valuable circle of friends desire to express to you
their feelings of regard and respect for your cha-
racter— your respectability, ta'ents, and integrity
(vast cheering). I could have wished that the task
of so doing — pleasant as it is — had devolved on
some other better qualified than myself to present
this testimonial ; but I think I shall best perform
the duty I have cheerfully undertaken, by pointing
to the list of subscribers, and when in that you
find the names of 1'eers of the Realm, members
of the Legislature, gentlemen of the liberal
professions, merchants, agriculturists, tradesmen,
and, indeed, of all classes in society, and of every
shade of political opinion, I think that speaks more
eloquently of your merits and your worth than any
address, however able or eulogistic (loud cheers).
Yours, sir, must be no common merit — no ordi-
nary display of conduct and rectitude, which could
call for such a testimony of worth from such per-
sons, so varied in their situations in society,
in their pursuits, and their opinions (cheers).
Your avocation calls you constantly into all parts
of this county, and wherever you have been you
have left behind you but one opinion of your
merits — but one sentiment— that of regard and es-
teem for your high and honourable character
(loud applause). You have attained this by a con-
stant course of manly conduct, by always evincing
a sturdy independence, which is the best charac-
teristic of an English farmer (cheers). AVc are
assembled to-day for no political purpose, and I
shall only say that tho^e political opinions which,
right or wrong, you have once adopted, you have
consistently and unshrinkingly maintained ; and
yet, I fully believe, in spite of the zeal with which
you have advocated those opinions you have not
made one enemy f much applause). Hitherto you
have lived in a slate of " single blessedness," but
had you a family of children, you could not have
left them a better legacy than that which records
your own worth, honour, and reputation, and the
esteem in which you ate held by all classes of
society (cheers). At every meeting at which I
have had the pleasure of seeing you present, I
have observed that you have been called on to re-
turn thanks for the toast of " The British Farmer,"
and I consider this as ample proof of the esteem

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

357

and confidence in which your brother formers hold
you (cheers). I must express my own gratifica-
tion at being present today, an.l presenting- you
with this valuable token of approval and esteem,
and I hope that the same bountiful and benign
Providence which has extended to an advanced
period the life of your venerable father, will grant
to you similar length of years, and that you may
continue to possess, as I am sure you will, the re-
gard and esteem of the friends you have made in
your useful and honourable career, and that these
may be granted to you in health and prosperity,
and with the highest approval of all — that of your
own conscience.

The Chairman resumed his seat amidst tumults
of applause, which did not subside for a long time.
When silence was restored,

Mr. John Rolfe said — Mr. Chairman, friends,
and gentlemen, allow me to thank you for your kind-
ness and greet mark of respect, not only by your
presence this day, but for your very valuable pre-
sent. (Cheets.) It is not possible for any man
living to have higher compliment paid him than
your goodness has conferred upon me. lean assure
you it is most gratifying to me to think that my con-
duct through life has met with the approbation of
such a number of my neighbours and friends, as to
induce them to pay me this high and valuable com-
pliment. (Loud applause.) I do not consider my-
self in a general way as a proud subject, but I hope
you will excuse me when I tell you that I feel very
proud of this distinguished mark of your approbation.
But although I am proud of the very high compli-
ment you have been pleased to confer upon me, I
1 am not too proud to acknowledge my humble origin.
(Loud applause.) And I consider it right to do so
that others may not despair of succeeding in raising
themselves in the scale of society, as my father and
myself have done. In this country there has been
a wide field open to all, and no bar to prevent in-
dustry, frugality, and honest integrity meeting with
its just reward. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, my father
who laid the foundation of mv advancement in life,
was a day labourer; and I am most happy as we all
are to see him amongst us. (Cheers.) He remembeis
being hired as a plough-boy at 40s. a-year on Wat-
tle ton Farm, which 1 am happy to say' I can now call
my own. {Very loud applause.) He was a hired
farmer's servant under different masters, and in dif-
ferent parishes, which gave him the opportunity
(having a clear head upon his shoulders) of observ-
ing the different modes of cultivation and manage-
ment. He then came to Beaconsfield, and was em-
ployed as a day labourer under the late right hon.
Edmund Burke, of whom he always speaks as one
of the kindest and best of masters ; by him he was
employed iu various ways — as woodman, hedger,
and ditcher — also in ploughing, sowing, reaping,
mowing, and thrashing — and he was a first-rate
workman in all those branches. (Hear hear.) After-
wards, Mr. Burke employed him to manage hisstock
as cowman and shepherd, and by great attention and
good management he succeeded in raising a very
superior stock, with which his master was much
pleased, and took great delight iu it ; and nothing
appealed to give him greater pleasure than to take
his friends round his farm, to show them his man-
agement and stock, and to introduce them to my
father, and I need not tell you that Mr. Burke's
friends consisted of the first men in the nation of
that day, not only in the senate, but as men of large
landed property, with whom he had frequent oppor-
tunities of holding conversation in that branch

which he well understood, and he was much re-
spected, not only by Mr. Burke, but by his agricul-
tural and other friends. He obtaiued their respect,
not from cringing and playing the part of a syco-
phant, but by acting the part of a straightforward,
industrious honest, upright man, and making himself
valuable to his emj loyer by the value of his services.
( Cheers.) On the death of Mr. Burke, having saved
a little money, he had a wish to do something for
himself and become his own master, which he always
looked forward to. Consequently he took a little
farm under 50 acres, and by dint of industry and
economy, doing nearly the whole of the work our-
selves, he was enabled by degrees to increase his
business and raise himself to that respectable sphere
which I need not describe. (Cheers.) After this,
his neighbours and friends having a good opinion of
his judgment and integrity, he became extensively
employed as a valuator, to which profession he in-
troduced the humble individual who now addresses
you. ( Loud applause) . There is one fact my father
has often related to me, and which 1 shall feel proud
to relate. When ho was a little boy, before he was
old enough to go out to service he worked for Mr.
Burke at 4d. per day, and after he had established
himself in business and reputation, Mrs. Burke, the
widow of his old master, sent for him to make a
valuation of the estate, as she wished to dispose of
it. in her life-time, and he did so, and at his valua-
tion it was sold to Mr. Du Pre, the present posses-
sor. (Applause.) Therefore you see he worked
upon an estate as a ploughboy at 4d. per day, and
was ultimately entrusted to make a valuation of it,
and sell the same, which he did much to his em-
ployer's satisfaction. From what I have stated I
think you will agree with me, that I owe my advance-
ment in life to the manly, straightforward, honest,
and industrious course pursued by my father; had
he taken an opposite course, as too many unfortu-
nately do, it is more than probable that my brother
and myself should have been at this moment day
labourers. I am sure it is most gratifying to my
father to witness this distinguished mark of respect
conferred upon his son ; he has every reason, and
I am sure he does feel most grateful to our Supreme
Being for bestowing upon him the blessings of good
health for 78 years, and allowing his exertions
through life to be crowned with success. I have
not said anything of myself, indeed it would be
egotistical to do so ; neither is there any occasion,
because the compliment I have this day received
from your hands carries more substantial proof with
it than any man can possibly prove by speaking of
himself. (Loud approbation.) My father brought
me up to know how to do, and make myself master
of all kinds of work connected with agriculture.
When I went with one of his teams as ploughman,
I was very ambitious indeed to excel in that particu-
lar branch, and was the winner of 5 prizes out of 7
matches I contended in, although I put" myself in
competition with all the best ploughmen round this
neighbourhood. My father never expended much
money on my education ; I never went beyond a
comman day school in this place, at 6d. per week.
I remember it was once in contemplation to send
me to a boarding-school for a short time, but my
father was fearful it would give me too high ideas,
and as I had learned to read and write, he said I
could improve myself if I meant to be good for any-
thing, lie said lie considered the. most useful thing
for me to learn, was how to get my own living by
my labour, and if I should ever have sense enough
to' do without work, he would be bound I should

3:8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

have sense enough to know how to leave it off, and
without being bid. I consider my father was right,
and I feel very much obliged to him for adopting
the course he did — the rudiments having been laid
it was my own fault if I did not think proper to im-
prove myself. (Cheers.J I have before told you
that my father introduced me to the profession of a
valuator, and In that line I have been, as you all
know, very extensively employed — and with what
success I I have only to look around this room, and
to the list of subscribers to this testimonial. (Cheers.)
It is doubly gratifying to think my conduct has met
with the approbation of so many of ray friends who
entertain very different political opinions — including
noblemen, clergymen, gentlemen, and those of my
own sphere in life. I have the pleasure of seeing in
this room many of the gentlemen with whom I have
been engaged in the valuing business, and also those
bv whom and against whom I have been employed ;
no:hing, I can assure you, is more gratifying to ray
feelings than this fact. You have given me con-
vincing proof that my conduct so far through life
ha3 met with your approbation. I am not likely to
change ; but if I wanted anything to stimulate to
keep the same course, you have certainly this day
given me a most lasting stimulus. (Cheers.) I feel
myself deeply indebted to you all, and I shall never
be able to repay you except by the feelings of a
grateful heart. Gentlemen, allow me again to thank
you, and wish you in return for your kindness, the
long enjoyment of health, happiness, and every bless-
ing this world can afford. Mr. J. Rolfe resumed
his seat amidst loud and lengthened applause.

Mr. Cortis then proposed the health of Mr.
Rolfe, sen., the father of the valued guest and
fri rid. The toast was received with loud cheering,
and Mr. John Rolfe returned thanks for his father,
and begged to propose the health of the Chairman,
which was warmly welcomed.

Mr. Dv Pre returned his warmest thanks for the
reception given to him ; he was happy to be
amongst them that day. He was afraid that he might
not have filled the chair as fitly as he could have
wished, but their kind support made him hope
that he had done his duty to their satisfaction.
(Cheers.) He was much attached to the town of
Bcaconsfield, in which he had passed his earliest
days, and hoped there to be permitted to die. He
always entertained feelings of regard for Mr. Rolfe,
and those were increased when he saw the modest
manner in which he delivered his sentiments, and
attributed to his father the merit by which he had
risen to hispresent position in society. Mr. Do Pre
again returned thanks, and concluded amidst loud
applause.

"The Committee."

Mr. Everett returned thanks.

W. Weller, Esq., jun., then proposed "The
Honorary Secretary," who has rendered so much
efficient assistance.

J. Parton, Esq., in few words, but well con-
ceived and delivered, returned thanks.

B. Way, Esq., then proposed the health of a
man, one of the first noblemen in this country, and
of whom any country would be justly proud. —
" The Duke of Buckingham." (Very great ap-
plause.)

M. Loyett, E«q., proposed the health of the
Vice-Chairman, Win. Weller, jun., Esq. (Cheers.)

Mr. W. Weller returned thanks, and expressed
his high opinion of Mr. Rolfe, and his delight at
the result of the subscription which had been
originally proposed by his father, Mr. W. Weller,

of Amersham, and the late Mr. Cundee. Mr. W.
made a very excellent address, which was cheered
loudly.

Mr. Rolls proposed " C. R. S. Murray, Esq.,"
and that gentleman returned thanks, adding his
testimony to that of others, of the high character
and deserved esteem in which Mr. J. Rolfe was
held.

Mr. Weller, jun., proposed the health of " W.
Lowndes, Esq.," of Chesham, and that worthy
gentleman returned thanks.

The Chairman proposed "The Press," and
Mr. Rvde returned thanks, which was very kindly
received and very attentively listened to. He did
not take any notes of the address, but we quite
approve of Mr. R.'s discretion in abstaining from
the slightest allusion to politics.

Sir Gore Ousely's health being proposed,
was received with much applause ; anJ Mr. Rolfe
in reply observed that Sir Gore was a good land-
lord, a kind neighbour, and a charitable gentleman.
He had served his country abroad for many years
faithfully and successfully, and now lived at home
like " a fine old English gentleman," universally
respected for his affability, generosity, and charity.
(Cheers.)

Many other toasts followed, amongst them
" the health of Mr. Du Pre, sen.." of " B. Way,
Esq.," "The Duchess of Buckingham," and "The
Ladies of Beaconsfield." " Mr. Steers, the artist."

J. Charsley, Esq., (who acknowledged the
toast in an excellent speech), Mr. Boncey, &c,
Sec, and the party who enjoyed

" The feast of reason and the flow of soul,"

did not separate until late in the evening, after a
very agreeable and satisfactory day.

ON

AGRICULTURAL
CHEMISTRY.

(trom the Lancaster guardian.)

75. Azote and the Elements of Water. —
We have stated (section 17), that the combinations
of azote are shrouded in obscurity; but that they
are deeply interesting and important, (sect. 21.)
" After oxygen few substances are of more im-
portance in the economy of nature than nitrogen
(azote). Forming so great a part of our atmo-
sphere, it is scarcely possible to conceive that it
must not be subservient to other important pur-
poses besides that of merely diluting oxygen gas.
It is dissolved in the water of the sea, of lakes,
springs, and rivers. It enters largely into the
composition of some vegetables and of all animals;
and it is extremely probable that great phenomena,
now obscure, such as the renovation of the air,
rain, and respiration, would be solved by an ac-
curate knowledge of this gas." — (Davy's Works,
vin. 248.)

76. The progress of science has recently added
considerably to the list of vegetable substances
containing azote, at least in minute quantity. It
may be considered as proved, that all the youvg
organs of plants, without exception, all those parts
manifesting the greatest activity in the nutrition
of vegetables, all substances contained in the cir-
culating juices, especially in the ascending sap or
the fluid derived from the soil by the roots, are

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

350

abundant in azote, that an azotised matter is the
real origin of every portion of vegetable structure,*
and that the value of an organic manure depends
upon its proportion of matters furnishing azote,
or the preponderance of these matters over those
which merely furnish carbon. The agricultural
value of many inorganic substances depends also
in a great measure upon their property of for-
ming or absorbing ammonia from the atmosphere.
(Ammonia, we shall soon see, consists of azote
and hydrogen, — sect. 77). In short, to husband
azote is in a great degree to husband carbon also.
Coals, for instance, contain some azote as well as
much carbon, yet both are so fast locked up that
Coal dust is quite unproductive. Coals, however,
in burning yield carbonic acid to the air, and de-
posit soot in the chimney. Soot contrins salts of
ammonia ; it is an azotised product very condu-
cive to the growth of vegetables. Peat, again,
yields carbon in abundance, yet peat forms a poor
ungrateful soil until fertilised by azote or its com-
pounds.

77. [f chemistry, then, is to instruct agricul-
ture, the agriculturist will attend with patience
and docility to a puzzling lesson upon some combi-
nations of azote f with oxygen and hydrogen
(sect. 21), the elements of water. With oxygen
azote forms nitric acid and the nitrates ; with hy-
drogen it forms ammonia and its salts.

78. Ninuc Acid.— Hitherto the researches of
chemistry have not ascertained much that is clear
or practical, either as to the formation of nitric
acid from the atmosphere, or as to its influence in
agriculture, when combined with soda and potash,
to form the nitrate of soda and the nitrate of
potash. Sad it is to confess that the little we yet
know of the process of nitrification (or the manu-
facture of the nitrates) is principally due to the
science and application of the French chemists,
stimulated by the necessity of providing saltpetre
for the manufacture of gunpowder during the wars
of the revolution.

79. Whenever a discharge of electricity takes
place in common air (sect. 16), a minute portion
of nitric acid is invariably formed by a chemical
union of oxygen and azote. This fact was first
ascertained by Cavendish, in 1785. He succeeded
in forming nitric acid from its elements by trans-
mitting a succession of electric sparks during
several days, through a small quantity of air con-
fined in a tube. A trace of this acid in combi-
nation with ammonia has been detected in the rain
of thunder storms, produced probably in the same
manner (Graham 292j. Some philosophers are
of opinion that much of the nitric acid contained
in the nitrates afforded by different soils originates
from the combination of azote and oxygen by
lighning ; others deny the probability of this opi-
nion. We have no means of estimating the extent
to which this atmospheric nitrification proceeds
in the higher region of the air ; nor has human in-
genuity devised any means of profiting by it in a
direct manner.

80. Nitric acid is also a product of animal and
vegetable decomposition ; it is always thus ob-
tained in combination with lime, potash or soda,
in the form of nitrate of lime, nitrate of potash,

* Cette mntiere azotee, veritable originede toutes
parties de da plante, &c. — Dunas Statique, 29.

t L'un des plus beaux problemes del'agricullure
reside done ans l'art de se procurer de l'azote a bon
marche. — N. 28.

nitrate of soda, substances of great value to the
agriculturist, and at present the subjects of ex-
tensive trial. It is on the farm, however, and
not in the laboratory, that their merits must be
decided, not by the laws of chemistry, or by
chemical equivalents, but by the rules of that in-
dispensable and unerring science — arithmetic, and
by the equivalents of hard cash.

81. It has been proposed to construct nitre beds
in this country, for the purpose of obtaining sup-
plies of the nitrates for the use of the farmer.
Certainly a more valuable compost could not be
devised than a well-constructed artificial nitre bed,
But for the amelioration of the soil such a compost
would probably attain its greatest value long before
the formation of nitre. Such at least is the infer-
ence that one would draw from the received opi-
nions on this subject, viz., that " ammonia is the
general cause of nitrification on the surface of
the earth" (Liebig, 280). " The last products of
the decay of animal bodies present themselves in
two different forms — ammonia in temperate and
cold climates, nitric acid in the tropics and hot
climates. The formation of the latter is pre-
ceded by the production of the first. Ammonia is
the last product of the putrefaction of animal
bodies — nitric acid is the product of the transfor-
mation of ammonia" (Liebig, 72). The value of
ammonia to the farmer is indisputable ; it is, how-
ever, a very volatile and fugacious product in his
hands, neither agreeable to the senses, nor con-
ductive to health. Whenever, therefore, he once
comes into possession of this valuable agent, let
him employ it, and not foolishly lose the substance
in seeking a shadow, by waiting to obtain nitre or
nitrates. Those who seek more detailed infor-
mation on the subject of nitrification than can be
inserted here, will find many valuable remarks in a
paper published by Mr. Graham, so long ago as
March, 1827, in the Philosophical Magazine, p. 172.
The subject is still obscure, and we must limit
ourselves to a statement of what is supposed to be
well established, and in some degree intelligible,
otherwise there are many passages in Mr. Graham's
paper that would well deserve to be extracted.

82. Ammonia, as already stated, consists of
azote united to hydrogen. It is popularly known
as the volatile, alkali, spirit of hartshorn, sal vola-
tile, &c. It gives pungency to the contents of
smelling bottles. We need not at present
detail the mode by which the two elements of this
substance are combined in the processes of animal
and vegetable decomposition. The product — am-
monia— is found at the end of these processes in
various states of combination with carbonic acid,
muriatic acid, and sulphuric acid, and forming
carbonate muriate, or sulphate of ammonia. From
these combinations caustic lime, potash, or soda
CS. 67), expel the ammonia in its caustic and
most volatile state,

83. The salt commonly called sal ammoniac
(muriate or hydrochlorate of ammonia) is a com-
bination of ammonia with muriatic, or, as it is now
called, hydrochloric acid. If upon a portion of
this salt, slightly pounded, you pour some strong
milk of lime, or lye of potash or soda, the acid
Hnites forthwith to the lime, potash, or soda, and
the ammonia flies off. A slight degree of heat is
sufficient to expel all the ammonia, and it takes no
long time to escape without heat if water be not
present in great quantity to dissolve and retain it.
If the carbonate, or nitrate, or sulphate of am-
monia be employed instead of the sal ammoniac

360

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the same results are observed ; the ammonia dis-
appears and is lost. It is not, however, lost to
the world, it unites immediately with the carbonic
acid of the air and with vapour of water, and
alights with the next shower of rain to fertilize
the earth.

84; Two compounds then, nitric acid and am-
monia, the one a corrosive acid, the other a strong
and pungent volatile alkali, are the results of the
combination of azote with the one or other ele-
ment of water (S 21). Now, since azote consti-
tutes four- fifths of the atmosphere, and water
abounds every where ready to supply oxygen to
form the nitric acid or hydrogen for the ammonia,
one might have expected that science or chance
would have taught mankind how to combine these
cheap and abundant elements together at will, so
as to procure ammonia for the purposes of medi-
cine and the arts, and at least nitric acid for the
soldiers' saltpetre. Such, however, is not the case.
One of the greatest philosophers tl.is or any other
country ever produced, was occupied many days
with an electrical machine, in concerting the air
contained in a small tube into nitric acid (S 79).
It is still more difficult to form ammonia from a
direct union of its elements— nothing less than
thunder and lightning seem competent to the task
(>/!>). I he slow, precarious, obscure, and un-
healthy process of animal and vegetable decom-
position, must be resorted to as the principal source
of the acid and alkali. There are what may be con-
sidered magazines or storehouses of the other three
great elements, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, that
seem to have passed through some state of pre-
vious existence. Clouds, rain, rivers, and seas
supply oxygen and hydrogen combined as water.
Immense strata of marble and limestone yield ex-
haustless supplies of carbonic acid, in which, and
in the air around us, carbon is securely locked up
until vegetation applies its key. Mines of coal and
beds of peat minister carbon plentifully in a form
stil more available to our wants ; but there is no
such storehouse of azote ready for use. It exists
indeed abundantly in the air, but not in chemical
combination— it is not available ; we cannot seize
and bind it. Azote roves a chartered libertine
over the face of the globe, and if for a time it
enters the composition of an organized being, it
holds no abiding place during life, and after death
is still more impatient of its prison house. From the
cradle to the grave man breathes an atmosphere four
parts out of five consisting of azote, day and night,
asleep or awake; yet it is believed to "come as
breath and so depart." Animals are supposed to
respire atmospheric air, without being able to ap-
propriate a particle of its azote to supply their in-
cessant waste of this element. Nor, practically
speaking, do vegetables seem to obtain much of
the azote they all contain directly from the air.
It is said, indeed, that some plants possess the
power of appropriating this gas bv their leaves ;
and we see it gravely announced that a frugal far-
mer might improve his rotation by taking an oc-
casional crop of Jerusalem artichoke — a plant
found tobc eminently endowed with the faculty of
finding m the sky that indispensable but costly
azotic element which wheat in particular carries
off from the soil. Liebig, on the other hand says,
perhaps too exclusively, " We have not the slightest
reason tor believing that the nitrogen (azote) of
the atmosphere takes part in the processes of as-
similation of plants and animals."— (P. 70.)
85. Owing to the powerful affinity of ammonia

for water, its presence in the atmosphere must be
very transitory. By certain tedious processes,
however, rain water may be shown to hold, in so-
lution, some salts of ammonia — which is much the
same as proving that there was smoke in the air
previous to the shower. The discovery has been
made by an eminent chemist in Germany, and
confirmed, as might be expected, at Manchester.

8b\ In the manufacture of coal gas there is pro-
duced a considerable quantity of ammoniacal liquor
which is said to contain carbonate and bydrosul-
phuret of ammonia. It is obviously a material
rich in matters profitable to the agriculturist.

87. Guano, a substance imported from South
America, abounds in azotised matter ; so do bones.
It seems at first sight an omission on the part of
Sir H. Davy, still the greatest teacher of agricul-
tural chemistry, that he recommends the use of
bone more on account of its organic or azotised
ingredient gelatin than its earthy constituent phos-
phate of lime, which is at present more exclu-
sively sought after; yet, on inquiry, we may
perhaps find the one essential to the other. It
appears that dogs require bone earth to qualify the
famed gelatin, and we shall be led to believe that
a plant, in turn, will require the aid of its gelatin
in order to digest the bone earth.

88. It was a wise saying of Cato, the censor,
that a good farmer should aim to be a seller rather
than a buyer. A prudent man will, in the first in-
stance, economise and apply to use the various
azotised materials yielded by animals fed upon the
produce of his farm. It is only, however, by ob-
serving and comparing together the properties of
carbon, (25, &c.,) of azote, (17, 74J and the no
less energetic elements of water, (24, 74,) the ab-
sorbing powers of the carbonaceous and other in-
gredients of the soil, (32,) the processes of com-
bustion, (7, 8, 9,) fermentation and decomposition
— processes more nearly allied than may appear at
first sight — it is only, in short, as an interpreter of
nature, that the agriculturist can hope to become
her favoured minister.

89. Combustion, Reduction, Di composition, <S.c.
— 1. If a piece of iron wire be made red hot id
oxygen gas, it burns with splendour, and increases
in weight; the oxygen combines with the iron, and
an oxide of iron is the result. This oxide weighs
as much as the iron and oxygen together. 2. When
iron is violently heated in a smith's forge it burns,
in like manner, at the surface until it becomes co-
vered with a scaly oxide. In both instances a real
combustion takes place, oxygen is absorbed, much
heat and light are given out. 3. When iron is ex-
posed to moist air it soon rusts ; now, this rus'ing of
iron is as truly a combustion as either of the two
preceding instances, and, as Dumas remarks, heat
must be evolved also, though we cannot detect it.
Phosphorus, too, as we have learnt (16), undergoes
two kinds of combustion. 1. With much violence,
with light and great heat when we burn it either in
oxygen gas ("20) or in common air. 2. With a very
faint light, visible only in the dark, and without any
heat sensible to the thermometer, when we place a
stick of phosphorus in a wine glass standing in water
and invert over it a bell-glass. In both Instances
there is an union of phosphorus with oxygen, and a
real combustion. Thus we see that a combustion of
iron may take place certainly without light, and a
combustion of phosphorus may proceed, and light
may be given out by it, without any increase of heat
that is manifest to our senses, or the most delicate
thermometer.

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361

90. When charcoal is made red hot in the air,
light and heat are given out, and the carhon va-
nishes. In this instance it is the air that increases
in weight, and carbonic acid is formed (37). Again,
when we breathe, the air of the atmosphere parts
with oxygen in the lungs, the blood in the lungs
parts with carbon — where this carbon is actually
burnt, whether in the lungs or in the course of cir-
culation, is of no consequence to our inquiry. Car-
bonic acid is given out with the breath, as is shown
by the beautiful experiment of breathing through
lime water (58). Nor need we trouble ourselves to
inquire whether all the heat given out by warm-
blooded animals is the result of respiration, or in
other words of the combustion of the carbon in the
lungs. It admks of no doubt whatever that there
exists in the blood a carbonaceous matter capable of
combustion, and of giving out much hear by that
combustion. An ingenious French philosopher,
after comparing a man to a steam engine, proceeds
to state that the man requires two days of twelve
hours to climb the summit of Mont Blanc. During
that time he burns (i.e. consumes in respiration) on
an average between ten and eleven ounces of carbon
— or the equivalent of hydrogen. If asteam-engine
were employed to convey him thither.it would burn
• three or four times as much to do the same work.
So that, considered as a mere machine, deriving
moving power from the carbon consumed as fuel, a
mnn is three or four times more powerful than the
most perfect, steam-engine. (See Dumas's Statique,
43, or Graham's Chemistry, 1018.)

91. When a seid ol barley is sown the process of
germination soon commences. A little rootlet is
pushed downwards, and a leaf bud is pushed up-
wards— oxygen is absorbed, and the carbon in the
seed is consumed — burnt away. Of course no in-
crease of heat could he detecteJ in a single seed of
barley, but we know that by this act of germination
the seed does actually grow warm, because in the
process of malt-making grains of barley are made to
germinate in thick layers, and the consequence is
that the heat which could not be perceived in a
single seed or in a handful, is very evident in the
Large quantities accumulated by the malt-maker.
The loss of weight in the seed is also ascertained
with great precision by those acute observers, the
officers of excise. There is, therefore, in the ger-
mination of seed, and in the circulation of animals,
a real combustion compatible with life, with vegetable
and animal life.

92. Malt dried artificially, and then infused in
warm water, yields a wort to the brewer which he
causes to f-rment. In Ibis process of fermentation
carbon is combined with oxygen, heat is given off,
carbonic acid gas is generated— fermentation, then,
is another form of combustion.

93. New it is well known that wort cannot be
made to ferment without the addition of what is
calledyeast. Yeast is an azotised substance. Wheat
flour requires also the addition of yeast before it can
be fermented and made into bread. The juiceof the
grape, indeed, passes readily into a state of fermen-
tation without the addition of yeast or any other
ferment — but the juice of the grape is itself azo-
tised. The part performed by yeast in causing
fermentation is not well explained, nor is much
explanation required for our purpose. It contains
azote, or nitrogen — that is the main point.

94. It is of frequent occurrence that hay, imper-
fectly dried and hastily put together in large stacks,
undergoes such violent fermentation that it becomes
seriously deteriorated in value, sometimes quite

spoiled, and actually burnt or decomposed. Just
as the seeds of barley, when heaped too much toge-
ther, would become burnt and damaged, in the pro-
cess of malting, if neglected even for a short time.
It may be said that no yeast is added to the hay,
how does the fermentation arise? The reply is,
that in the juices of the herbage azote exists (760)
in a quantity sufficient to excite and promote fer-
mentation in the carbonaceous matters.

95. It has been stated (8) that if air be excluded,
charcoal may be heated red-hot for any length of
time without undergoing change. Water, however,
may be made to supply the place of air. If char-
coal be made red-hot.'in a tube of glass or earthen-
ware, and a little steam be driven over it, the two
elements of water unite separately with the burning
carbon — theoxvgen forms carbonic acid, and carbonic
oxide (73) with one portion, whilst the hydrogen
unites with another portion to form light carburetted
hydrogen, or marsh gas, known to the miners as fire-
damp. In every wet and stagnant ditch a similar
decomposition of woody matter is constantly going
forward. The carbon' of dead vegetables, which
collected and duly fermented, would yield with an
azotised compost both ammonia and carbonic acid, is
here worse than wasted ; for the emanations from
marshes, ponds, ditches, and fens, are deleterious to
animal life. Manure is wasted below, poison is ex-
haled from the surface by every stagnant pool—
every swampy field. Doubtless the sun decom-
poses, and the wind dilutes and disperses these pes-
tilential effluvia ; their effects upon mankind are
thus modified, or at least disguised, but poor sheep
speedily fall victims to the rot in low lands, and
other diseases seize homed cattle when first exposed
to wet and boggy mountain pastures, 'i o drain and
to improve the soil is at once to impart fertility and
to prolong animal lire.

96. Reduction.— The ores of iron, as extracted
from mines, consist of metal which appears to
have undergone some kind of combustiou (89) at a
former period. Reduction is a process just the re-
verse of combustion. It is the reducing the burnt
or oxydated iron into its metallic slate— unburning
it in short. Charcoal is employed for the purpose
— at a violent heat the oxygen is attracted from the
iron bv the charcoal, the latter is burnt and the iron
resum'es its state of metal. Phosphorus is reduced
in the same way. Phosphoiic acid (or phosphorus
and oxygen that have undergone chemical union or
combustion^) exists abundantly in bone when it is
found united to lime, forming Bone Earth or Phos-
phate of Lime. The operative chemist first rids
himself of the bone earth, then mixes the phos-
phoric acid with charcoal, heats the mixture in a
fierce furnace, and so reduces the phosphorus.
Charcoal, we see, is the substance of all work.
But we cannot reduce the charcoal from carbonic
acid any more than we can combine azote and oxy-
gen into nitric acid, except in the minutest quantity
and at a great expense. Wo cannot unburn carbonic
acid — yet a leaf of grass, a sprig of mint, aided by
sunshine, can effect that which baffles the most cun-
ning art of man.

97. Decomposition, putrefaction, or putrid fer-
mentation, begins to take place in azotised organic
substances, whether of vegetable or animal origin,
so soon as these are deprived of that life which
enables them to control the tendency of their ele-
ments— carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and azote — to
obey the laws of chemical affinity. The phenomena
of chemical decomposition are infinitely various in
the number, proportion, and combination of the

.

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various compounds that follow each other in rapid
succession, according to the temperature of the air,
the presence of moisture, the proportion of azote,
the admixture of sulphur, phosphorus, ccc. — the in-
fluence of light, of shade, the admixture of inor-
ganic substances, &c, &e. Under these influences
the elements of organised substances, separate one
from another to combine again two and two, tlirea
and three, &c. The carbon with oxygen departs, as
carbonic oxide and carbonic acid, with hydiogen as
carburetted hydrogen ; the hydrogen with oxygen
as water ; the azote wiih hydrogen as ammonia,
and as products allied to prussic acid : the sulphur
with hydrogen as sulphuretted hydrogen, the phos-
phorus with hydrogen as phosphuretted hydrogen,
&c, &c. These bodies again mingle together and
combine indefinitely — " the whole presenting an in-
extricable labyrinth in which actual science is bewil-
dered and lost, with all her boasted appliances of
precise apparatus, — a laboratory of death, but an in-
visible laboratory — Pandora's box whence have is-
sued all the pestilences afflicting every age of the
world, at the bottom of which we seem permitted to
descry dimly the hope of a theory." — (Raspail-
Chemie organique, 4193.)

98. In considering the influence of water, of
light, and of air, we shall have a future opportunity
of recording some facts bearing upon these unin-
viting subjects — Combustion, Reduction, Decom-
position— the last, after all, is only another word for
the first ; and there is much truth and beauty in the
views recently propounded by Dumas, who describes
the vegetable kingdom as an apparatus of reduction,
the animal kingdom as an apparatus of combustion,
the atmosphere amystericus chain of" connection be-
tween the one and the other. Vegetables, according
to this theory, absoib heat and accumulate materials
which they are empowered to organise. Animals
merely burn and consume these organised materials
in order to derive fiom them warmth and locomotive
power. The atmosphere forms the bond of union
between the two kingdoms, furnishing the four ele-
ments of plants and animals — carbon, hydrogen,
azote, oxygen. — (Statique Chemique.)

99. " Waving all common utility and vulgar ap-
plications, there is something in knowing and under-
standing the operation of nature, some pleasure in
contemplating the order and harmony of the arrange-
ment belonging to the terrestrial system of things.
There is no absolute utility in poetry ; but it givts
pleasure, refines and exalts the mind. Philosophic
pursuits have likewise a noble and independent use
of this kind, and there is a double reason offered for
pursuing them, for whilst in their sublime specula-
tions they reach to the heavens, in their application
they belong: to the earth ; whilst they exalt the in-
tellect they provide food for our common wants, and
likewise minister to the noblest appetites and most
exalted views belonging to our nature." — (Davy's
Works, ix., 360.)

100. — Ashes. — We have already alluded inciden-
tally, more than once (Sect. 8,9, 10, and 11), to
the existence of ashes in the residual matleri of all
organized substances, when the volatile matter and
the carbon have been burnt away. It would tend
only to protract and perplex our inquiries should we
attempt even to enumerate all the res'uluul substances
which ingenious persons have seen or imagined in
the 8shes of organized beings. Gold, for instance,
has been discovered in tamarind stones ; copper, in
coffee, to a large amount ; and arsenic, in the remains
not merely of poor M. Laffarge, but of many other
persons less unfortunate, it may be hoped, in their

domestic relations. Much more useful was the
observation of Sir H. Davy that flint or silex exists
in the stems of wheat, oats, and other grasses ; and
it is perhaps by a continued investigation of the in-
fluences exercised by even minute portions of some
inorganic or mineral substances upon the growth of
certain plants, that we can hope to establish the
practice of agriculture on a truly rational basis.
Our countrymen have contributed little to promote
such inquiries since the time of Sir H. Davy, but
continental chemists have done more ; of this the
pages of Professor Johnston, Liebig, Graham, &c,
bear abundant testimony.

101. About four years ago, Mr. Rigg published
the results of some interesting experiments " on the
influence of nitrogen (azote) on the growth of
plants." (Phil. Trans. 1838, p. 395-40S). He
notices the remarkable connexion between the
nitrogen and the residual, as he calls it, i.e. between
the azote and the ashes. lie point* out the iufluence
of both upon the growth of plants. He observes
" that in that part of the seed where germination
(91) takes place, nitrogen preponderates when com-
pared with its quantity in other parts of the seed;"
*' that those seeds of l/ie same kind which contain the
largest quantity of nitrogen, germinate the earliest;
that the quantity of nitrogen is largest in the spring
and diminishes with the season."

102. He finds more azote in the roots than in the
stems and trunks of different plants, and then makes
this important observation — " Not only is the nitro-
gen more abundant in the rootsof plants and trees;
the residual, aLo when compared with the quantity
in the trunks, will be found in excess in the roots.''
" Now, if we admit the principle, that nitrogen is a
powerful agent in favouring chemical action upon
vegetable and animal matter, and that this residual
is essential to the healthy performance of every
function of the roots, as well as every other part of
the plant, and forms, as it were, a most perfect skele-
ton of the whole, we have in these roots that which
will favour such action in an eminent degree, when
compared with the other part of the tree." ''The
sap wood is very differently constituted from the
more perfect part, the heart wood, an excessof nitrogen
being invariably found in the former." "The sap
wood more readily passes into a state of decay than
the heart wood. Here again the nitrogen and the
residual, being present in larger quantities in tie
former than in the latter, we have them exerting
their influence as promoters of decomposition."
" We have also the greatest quantities of nitrogen
and residual in those timbers which grow the quick-
est ; and further than this — for directly as the quan-
tity of nitrogen and residual, taken collectively, so
do we appear to have the decay of timber all other
circumstances being equal." "In Dantzic and En-
glish oak, the quantity of nitrogen and residual are
both very small. In American birch the nitrogen
and residual are in large quantities, and as is well
known, this timber decays very quickly.'1 " But
it is not enough for us to find a difference in the
proportionate quantity of nitrogen in the different
parts of the same plant or tree; we must also
observe that the quantity appears to be propor-
tional to the functions which the parts of the plants
have to perform in vegetation. For instance, if the
agency of any part of the plant be great in the scale of
vegetable physiology, so is the quantity of nitrogen,
and vice versa. So apparent is this, and so uni-
versal is the operation of this law over the whole
sphere of inquiry in which I have been engaged,
that we might almost consider this element, when

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3G3

coupled with the residual, to be the moving agent,
acting under the influence of the living principle of
the plant, and moulding into shape the other
elements.''

103. " Throughout the whole course of my expe-
rimental inquiry," says Mr. Rigg in another place,
"I have not met with one instance wherein we
have a large proportion of nitrogen and residual, that
we have not violent chemical action, and quick
growth of the plant, all other circumstances being
favourable." " I have not analysed any product in
a natural state wherein I have not found both nitro-
gen and residual." Mr. Rigg concludes his most
valuable remarks, of which the preceding extracts
form only a small part, by stating his object to be
" to draw attention to an element which, compara-
tively speaking, has escaped unnoticed, and to vin-
dicate the necessity of a most scrupulous attention
to those products which, though so minute in quan-
tity as to be with difficulty detected in our balances,
have, nevertheless, been wisely designed to dis-
charge the most important functions."

104. If, for the sake of experiment, we burn
wood, peat, or wood charcoal, and collect the ashes
they afford, we shall be very much surprised to find
them so light and no few. If we fill a wide-mouthed
bottle with the dry ash thus obtained, we shall find
that it will afterwards receive a considerable quan-
tity of water — we pour in water until it rises to the
bottle neck, and set it aside for a day or two, shaking
it now and then. We can then pour off a clear
liquid from the dregs at the bottom, can fill the
bottle with more water, and again pour it oft' clear,
once or twice. We shall thus divide the ashes into
two portions, the one soluble in water, constituting
the clear liquid, the other remaining as dregs at the
bottom of the bottle, undissolved or insoluble.

105. The clear liquor will be found to contain al-
kaline salts — the dregs or insoluble part to consist
of earthy matters. The clear liquor obtained in this
way from the burning of shrubs and trees is, in
some countries, especially in America, boiled down
until all the water is driven aw.iy from the alkaline
salts which are so converted into potashes ; if pre-
pared in another way they are called pearlash. This
affords a singular instance in etymology ; from the
two homely English words — pot and ash — we have
the English potash, and from that the Latin potassa,
for the alkali, and potassium, for the metal which is
the basis of the alkali. Wormwood is a weed
abounding in potash, and was formerly much em-
ployed as a source of the alkali, especially for medi-
cinal uses, which was then termed salt of wormwood.

106. Plants growing near the sea, and all kinds
of sea-weed, when burnt to a^hes, yield alkali
called soda. (Potash is sometimes called vegetable
alkali— soda, mineral alkali.^ Soda is the alkaline
basis of common salt ; and most part of the soda so
extensively employed in the arts is now obtained
from the chemical decomposition of common salt,
by processes frequently injurious to vegetation and
prejudicial to health.

107. Peaty lands are pared and burnt with consi-
derable advantage. In this process many ashes are
produced which, if left exposed in heaps to the
weather, resolve themselves into a soluble and an
insoluble portion, as described above (104), the con-
sequence of which is, that the soluble portion sinks
into the soil, and produces burnt and barren patches
in some places, in others rank and luxuriant growth,
instead of imparting uniform fertility, which it
would do if evenly spread over the field at an early
period.

108. A very large consumption of peat and fire-
wood is effected daily in many rural districts, and a
corresponding production of ashes is the result.
These are too little attended too ; they are heaped
up — generally near some open ditch or drain, into
which the soluble portion, by far the more valuable,
as far as it goes, is washed away bv the rain. There,
meeting with decayed vegetable — perhaps also ani-
mal— matter, it hastens their unprofitable and dele-
terious decomposition. The very property which
gives value to the soluble portion of peat ashes
when judiciously applied to the soil, renders them,
in this way, active instruments of mischief. Peat
ashes ought to be protected by a roof from the rain,
whenever they are found to afford much soluble
matter.

109. According to the views entertained by the
most eminent chemical authorities, it is the loss of
what constitutes the ashes of plants, and not, as was
believed by the best authorities down to a very re-
cent period, the loss of carbonaceous matter, that
impoverishes the field from whence a scourging crop
has been taken; and, of the ashes, the vegetable
alkali potash, it is contended, is the substance most
usually carried away, and the one which is most
slowly restored to the soil. It is an opinion very
prevalent with the owners ofland, that the way in
which the farmer disposes of the produce of his
fields, whether by consuming it upon the premises,
or by selling off hay, milk, straw, grain, potatoes,
&c, &c, will, at the expiration of the lease, tell
heavily, in one way or another, according as the
conduct of the tenant is fair and prudent, or the re-
verse. There are various systems established by
usage in different parts of the country, mostly
founded on experience, which ought not to be
lightly unsettled on theoretical grounds. Yet it is
obvious, that when the tenant can fully restore to
the land in one form those elements of fertility
which he has carried oft' in another, he will at least
maintain its condition unimpaired, whatever may be
his system ; and if he attend diligently to the me-
chanical state of the soil, he may perhaps effect
some improvement. But in every district, perhaps
in every field of every farm, there is an excess of
one, and a deficiency in another element of fertility.
This holds especially true of the numerous sub-
stances constituting the ashes of plants, and those
azotised matters which go to modify the juices of
vegetables.

110. Carbon, after all, is the staple of every or-
ganised matter. In 1000 parts of heart-wood of
English oak there are 424 parts of carbon, 567 of
water, azote 2, ashes 8. Wheat consists of carbon
410, water 560, azote 20, ashes 8. If the element
of water be left out of calculation, the relative pro-
portions of azote and ashes to 1000 of carbon were
found by Mr. Rigg to he as follow: — Young En-
glish oak azote 13, ashes 3, heart-wood of oak azote
4, ash 2, barley 46 and 30, wheat azote 45, ashes
20. These instances are adduced to show the im-
mense disproportion in quantity between the carbon-
aceous and other ingredients of vegetable sub-
stances ; not the disproportion in value — far from it.
The object of agriculture is to produce azotised
carbonaceous matters. Carbon forms the mass —
azote the quality; the ashes — the saline matters —
seem necessary accompaniments to the azote.
Carbon constitutes the bulk, azote the valuable
ingredient, in all vegetable substances : some sorts
of ash are requisite for some kinds of plants, other
sorts for others.

111. " The object of the agriculturist must be, so

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far as organic material is concerned, to supply
nitrogen, especially for sucb plants as the different
species of corn, which are incapable of deriving that
important element diiectly from the atmosphere.
The value of an organic manure may, therefore, for
practical purposes be considered as being measured
by the quantity of nitrogen which it contains.
(Kane's Chemistry, 1122.)

112. " It is not unusual to hear, from even intel-
ligent agriculturists, objections to the cultivacion of
certain plants, on the ground of their exhausting the
soil too much. A plant only exhausts the soil in
consequence of its forming, in proportional quan-
tity, some substance, the elements of which
are derived from the soil, and which consti-
tute in almost every case the valuable portion of the
plant. Wheat exhausts the soil, because it derives
therefrom a laige quantity of nitrogen which its
grain contains; but it is precisely tliat great quan-
tity which renders wheat more valuable in the
market than barley. When a plant exhausts the
soil, especially as to its nitrogen, it is for the pro-
duction of the substance which gives the plant its
commercial value and importance ; and hence the
quantity of manure necessary for the production of
an abundant crop is fully repaid by the improved
quality of its produce." — Ibid, 1124.

PLANTATION.

(From Johnson's Farmer's EncijclopcRdia).

[Mr. Johnson's valuable Encyclopedia is now near com-
pletion. The subject of the following urticle is one of great
importance to this country, and the manner in which it is
treated shows that Mr. Johnson's ability and energy in the
performance of the task he has undertaken are unabated ]

A piece of ground planted with trees, for the pur-
pose of producing timber or coppice wood ; and the
term is also applied to a collection of trees or shrubs
placed in the ground for their beautv or usefulness.

It is a theme highly important to the landholder,
and is one too interesting to the cultivator to be
passed over slightly in a work of this character.

For tl e correct consideration of the best mode of
forming plantations of timber trees, several circum-
stances must, of necessity, be taken into the planter's
account, of which the principal are — 1st, The com-
position of the soil; Sadly, The trees to which that
soil is best adapted ; Srdly, The elevation, or inclina-
tion of the land : an inattention to these three pri-
mary questions has been the source of much waste
of time, of labour, and of capital.

In the examination of this subject, I propose to
divide my account of the timber trees best adapted
to poor soils, into four classes; viz., those best fitted
for, 1st chalk soils ; 2ndly, for clay ; Srdly, for sandy
lands ; 4thly, for peat earths ; aud in so doing, I
shall conclude, that the land is planted in the usual
way without any addition of earths to render the soil
more permanently fertile, although I am well aware
what excellent results attend the efforts of those
planters who have thus, by altering as it were the
composition of their land, rendered it capable of pro-
ducing almost any description of timber. And in
this, as in all researches where veuetation is con-
cerned, nature is ever our guide and instructor. We
find indigenous on the chalks, the beech, the birch
and the ash ; the oak tenants the clay formation, the
elm delights in rich alluvial bottoms, and in warm
sheltered situations. To the sand is left the fir tribe,
the ash, and the birch ; which last most picturesque
tree will endure a climate, and vegetate on eoils, far

too cold and too barren for any other to exist in. On
the warm gravels, and on deep light loams, we find
the Spanish chesnut located : and if, on even the
peat, we only occasionally meet with a few strag-
gling mountain ash and Scotch firs, it is not because
the composition of the soil is too poor to sustain
a better description of timber tree, but that the soil
is usually saturated with water, too much impregna-
ted with the salts of iron for any plants to be succes-
sfully planted till that corrosive moisture is removed.

Then, again, as regards the temperature best adap-
ted to the tree, much too little attention is commonly
paid. The fir tribe I have ever found to delight in
dry cool elevations. I have generally failed when-
ever I have attempted to make the larch grow in warm
rich bottoms ; but there is hardly a dry spot in Eng-
land too cold or too poor for its successful cultiva-
tion. The planters of the poor elevated chalk ridges
of Hampshire have made the same remark ; they tell
you that both the larch and the Scotch fir ever
flourish most luxuriantly when planted on land with
a northern or eastern inclination. Now the larch is
a native of the Apennines and other cold districts;
the Scotch fir is found in the highest state of perfec-
tion on the shores of the Baltic, and in Norway.
The nurserymen well know that land with an east-
erly aspect is the most suitable for young larch. They
never prosper where the sun lays long upon them.
They evidently, therefore, prefer a temperature much
lower than that in which the oak and the Spanish
chesnut flourish best ; by far the finest specimens of
the first being found in the deep sheltered clays of
the south of England, while, in the adjoining rich
alluvial deposits, we notice the noblest chesnut trees.
ThusTortworth, in Gloucestershire, for instance, can
here produce, perhaps, the finest specimen in Eng-
land ; and on the deep sheltered volcanic matter of
Mount Vesuvius it is found in unrivalled vigour.

These facts should be more carefully attended to
by the English planter : he should consider the in-
equalities of his land and the habits of his trees, and
distribute them accordingly. Leaving the natives of
a temperate climate to the southern and western
slopes, he should devote to the northern declinations
the natives of a colder clime ; to them consign the
larch and the Scotch fir, the ash and the birch.

This last mentioned tree will, in fact, grow at a
greater elevation above the sea, and in a more nor-
thern latitude, than any other. As we approach the
Arctic regions, it is the last tree that remains to us.
Long after all others have departed it still flourishes.
In Greenland there is no other tree.

Then, again, as in all other questions where
plants of any kind are to be made to vegetate, the
chemical composition of the soil is a tolerably certain
criterion, when compared with that of the wood of
trees, to guide us in our selection of the species to
which that land is the best adapted : the earths found
in them by the chemist are sure to indicate the soils
on which they will flourish. Thus, the ashes of the
perfect wood of the oak contain mote than 38 per
cent, of soluble salts, and only 2 per cent, of silica
(flint) ; that of the fir (Abies), grown on granite,
only 16 per cent, of soluble salts, but 19 per cent,
silica. Now the fir flourishes very well on the
poorest silicious sands, but the oak will not grow on
such soils without a dressing of other earths. Car-
bonate of lime (chalk), when in excess in soils, is
less prejudicial to the growth of trees than an excess
of any other earth. Now the catbonate of lime is
precisely that earth which is most commonly found
in timber trees, and in the largest proportions. The
ashes of the wood of the oak, for instance, contain

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

365

about 32 per cent, of the earthy carbonates, tbe pop-
lar 29, tbe hazel 22, tbe hornbeam, 26 per cent.;
and that of tbe beech a still larger proportion. And
so almost universally does carbonate of lime and
silica exist in wood, that M. Einliof, an able Prus-
sian chemist, came to tbe conclusion that the plant
had the power of forming these earths when growing
on soils that did not contain then. ; they certainly,
however, are found to absorb the largest proportion
of carbonate of lime and silica on soils in which those
earths abound. Thus M. Saussure found in tbe
ashes of the fir, growing on a soil which contained
l'?4 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 46'34 per cent,
of this earth ; but in the ashes of the same wood,
produced from a soil containing 93 per cent, of
carbonate of lime, be found 63 per cent, of that
earth. And when the soil contained 75"25 percent,
of silica, tbe timber growing on it contained 13 49
per cent.; but when tbe soil was entirely free from
the earth, it was equally absent from the wood.
(Phil. Mag., vel.viii. p. 105.)

Tbe observations of the planter confirm entirely
those of the chemist. Thus, on the poor hungry
heath lands, such as those of Norfolk, Surrey, and the
north, which contain hardly a trace of carbonate of
lime, they find that by dressing land intended for
planting with chalk or marl, the growth of the trees
is very materially increased ; and more recently, as
in tbe forest ofDarnaway, in Scotland, the planters
have found the greatest advantage from placing only
a handful of lime (about four bushels per acre is
sufficient) in the soil under the plants : by this means
the young trees, they say, are forced j or ward, that is,
they are supplied with the carbonate of lime at the
very period of their growth, when their roots, from
want of extent and vigour, are least able to absorb
from the soil the portion of this earth so essential for
their healthy growth. And it is precisely such
heath soils as those to which I have alluded as being
so materially benefited by the application of lime,
chalk, or marl (which alsocontains chalk), that are
found when examined, in their natural state, to be
nearly destitute of carbonate of lime.

It is for the same reasons that, in the early state
of their growth, timber plantations are benefited so
materially by being manured with organic matters, a
fact well known to those who plant for merely orna-
mental purposes; and it is because all timber trees
contain phosphate of lime in very considerable pro-
portions, that crushed bones are found to be so ex-
cellent a fertiliser for them ; and hence one reason
why it has been long a well known fact, that by
burying dead animals under trees nearly exhausted
for waDt of nourishment, those trees will almost in-
variably be considerably revived, and send out their
shoots witli unusual vigour ; and how essential the
presence of phosphate of lime is to their growth,
may be judged of from tbe fact, that this salt con-
stitutes 4-5 per cent, of the ashes of the oak, ;55 in
those of the hazel, 16-7o of the poplar, 23 in the
hornbeam, 12 percent, in those of the fir.

These chemical examinations naturally support
the conclusions to which 1 have long come in my
own experiments, that in all plantations of timber
trees, both on tbe score of profit, and of ornament,
it is in almost all situations desirable to assist the
growth oftheyouug trees by a small addition of ma-
nure. On a large scale, this must be chiefly confined
to the use of the earths, either lime, chalk, or marl,
according to their respective local value ; and for
this purpose, a smaller proportion per acre of any
kind of manure is of much greater value than is
commonly supposed. I have usually under every

plant merely applied a small shovelful of tolerably
rotted stable dung, stirring it up with the mould,
and as these experiments were principally made on
a poor hungry gravelly soil, nearly destitute of car-
bonate of lime, I have usually added to the beech
plants, instead of the farm-yard manure, a small
quantity of chalk. The effect has been highly ad-
vantageous : my plantations have been very superior
to those of my neighbours (separated from my own
by merely a road) ; and this they accaunt for in
their way, by saying, "Oh, you took so much
pains with your trees, they were sure to grow."
The leading planters of England have neglected in
general this application of manure to plantations,
not from an ignorance of its importance to their
forest trees, but from not being aware of the great
value of it even in very small quantities to the
young trees. Thus, when rich organic manures,
in the proportion of two or even one ton per acre,
are applied under each plant in the way I have
described, they will produce a very decided ad-
vantage, and if the marl is rich in carbonate of
li i e, the same weight of that fertiliser will be suffi-
cient. A still smaller quantity of chalk is needed ; and
as I have before observed, in Scotland they have
found about four bushels of lime an abundant
addition, since they merely mix a handful of this
earth in the soil under each plant ; and in the
fine woods produced by Mr. Withers, of Holt, by
spreading a poor marl over his hungry black
heath soil, and then ploughing them in very deeply,
he merely added about twenty cubic yards per acre.

In preparing the land for plantations, the same
chemical examination of its composition well
illustrates the advantage derived by the plant,
from merely previously stirring the soil, since itis
evident that when the constituents of the young
trees are contained in it, in only very limited pro-
portions, in such case the more easily their roots
are enabled to penetrate in search of that neces-
sary nourishment, the more rapid will be their
growth. Previous trenching of the soil also con-
duces to the healthy growth of trees, in more ways
than one. It renders them less subject to injury
from want of moisture in the heats of summer,
the atmosphere more freely finds access to their
roots, and not only yields its watery vapour in
the wannest weather for their service, but its
gases, so essential to their very existence, are also
in a similar manner more readily absorbed.

1 have had many occasions to notice the advan-
tages of deeply stirring the land for timber trees.
In my early plantings, my larch and other timber
trees made but little progress, for I merely placed
them in holes dug in the soil ; I neither manured,
nor in any way prepared the soil. An experiment,
however, which I made some years since, — in
which by merely trenching the soil with the fork
in a clump of larch, Scotch firs, and birch to the
depth of about twenty inches, the growth of the
trees, which had for several years been extremely
slow, was in the succeeding years exceedingly vi-
gorous,— convinced me of the truth of the obser-
vations made by Sir Henry Steuart, Mr. Withers,
and others, of the great advantages of trenching
the soil, either by the spade, or by the common or
the subsoil plough.

The opinions and explanations given by the la-
bouring woodmen of the cause of the occasional
very luxuriant patches in extensive young planta-
tions accord with these conclusions. They tell
you that those favoured trees are on a deep tender
piece of land.

306

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The question being determined with regard to
the nature of the soil proposed to be planted, we
may next examine the kind of trees best adapted
to each.

On the clay soils will naturally flourish (under
ordinary circumstances) the oak, the ash, and the
Scotch fir : clays are not so well adapted to the
larch, which loves a dry elevated gravelly
or sandy soil, and larches I have ever noticed will
flourish better when mixed together than when
growing in masses of the same species, always
supposing that the firs are removed, as the more
valuahle round-headed trees attain to maturity.
The Scotch fir is an excellent nurse when young,
but it is, like the locust and the ash, obnoxious to
other trees, when it attains to any considerahle
growth. In the wet bottoms of this kind of land,
the ash and the birch will be found to flourish
luxuriantly ; the hazel and the hornbeam should he
its cherished underwood. In these remarks, 1 am
supposing that, the land is planted in the usual
way, neither improved by draining, stirring the
soil, or improving its staple by the addition of
chalk, marl, or calcareous sand. If the latter
modes are adopted, then on such soils almost
any kind of trees will flourish — the larch, the
beech, and the Spanish chesnut ; which last, be
it remembered, is not only to be classed amongst
the most elegant and valuable of timber trees, but
is also the most productive of underwood on soils
that are naturally, or made artificially, suitable to
its habits and food.

On the chalk soils, the beech, the ash, the
larch, the ever life-sustaining birch, and the Scotch
fir, are decidedly the best mixture of forest trees :
they are best planted together, and not in separate
masses. The beech, when planted in groups by
itself, does, it is true, very well in some peculiar
localities, but, generally speaking, it is best mixed
with other trees ; and they all, as I have before
remarked, flourish in a superior way best on the
northern sides of a hill, as in the great southern
chalk ridges of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, and
are benefited very materially by the deep stirring
of the most compact chalk soil, as will be readily
attested by those who have thus previously im-
proved the soil, or have witnessed the rapid, far
superior growth of the trees planted on an ava-
lanche of earth in an old chalk pit.

The cedar tree is much too little cultivated as a
forest tree in England, notwithstanding the great
value of its wood. This neglect is principally
owing to the general erroneous impression that it
is a very slow-growing tree. This remark only
applies to its early growth ; for the first seven or
eight years its progress is exceedingly slow ; but
after that period no tree can well grow faster, es-
pecially when it attains to about forty years of
age. 1 would instance those beautiful cedar plan-
tations made by Lady Derby, at the Oaks in Sur-
rey, which have there far outstripped all the other
forest trees, such as the beech, ash, and fir, that
were planted at the same time. It does well on
almost all dry soils, chalks, gravels, and even
sands.

On deep sandy soils, unless they are previously
prepared by deep trenching or manuring, or both,
it is idle to attempt to grow any of the round-
headed trees, except the birch. Yet the larch and
the Scotch fir on elevated, cool, dry situations,
will, after a few years of slow growth, often do
very well. In the warm bottoms, especially if
there is calcareous matter in the subsoil, the lime,

the beech, and the sycamore, will with care grow
tolerably well, particularly in sheltered situations,
and in such sites the Scotch fir is by far the best
nurse. The larch cannot stand the heat; it be-
comes covered with the blue mould, and with
mosses of several kinds.

On deep peaty soils in their natural state it is
next to impossible to plant with advantage any
description of timber trees. But if the water is
thoroughly drained from them, and a dressing of
calcareous matter applied, of which lime is the
best, then almost any kind of trees will grow with
only moderate care: the larch, the Scotch fir, the
ash, and the birch, in elevated situations, are the
best mixture, and in low sheltered positions, if a
dressing of clay can be applied, the oak and the
Spanish chesnut will prosper ; but in a soil which
usually consists of ono deep mass of organic
matter, surcharged with the red oxide of iron, or
its salts, and in which there is neither decompo-
sing matter nor uncombined earths, it is in vain
for the planter to expect a profitable result, unless
the peat is in some way or other prepared for the
reception of the trees : to expect these to grow
unaided in such soils — on lands upon which the
very native heath and moss are struggling for ex-
istence, is a conclusion which does not require
any illustration of its absurdity. The alder and
the birch make excellent underwood, even in wet
peaty soils : there is hardly any tree so profitable
for plantations near towns, in fact, as the birch ;
there is ever a constant and profitable demand for
the young wood by the turner and the broom
makers.

The last branch of the investigation — that of
the best mode of planting and of expence, is now
to be considered. Too little attention is usually
paid by planters in the choice of their plants, the
manner in which they have been reared, and in
the care of their removal : instead of attending to
the acquired habits of the tree, it is a very com-
mon practice for the plants to be bought of some
nurseryman, who has reared them in a warm rich
bottom, and then as a natural consequence when
the trees are transplanted to a cold poor hungry
exposed soil, a large proportion of them are sure
to perish, or, if they live, many become stunted or
stag-headed. That all these evils may be avoided,
with only ordinary care, is proved by the experience
of the best planters, who are careful to procure their
seedlings from land at least not better than- that
on which they are intended to be placed ; and is
further evidenced by the fact that when the soil is
prepared by either deep digging or manuring, or
both, then the mortality amongst the plants is
very small indeed — they need no further attention,
they equally set at defiance the extremes of heat
and cold, are very rarely diseased, and shoot with
uncommon vigour. This attention to the early
acquired habits of the plant is not entirely a mo-
dern observation — the early Italian planters were
careful in replacing the tree in the same position
as regards the cardinal points that it occupied in
its early growth. (Virgil, Ge>. ii. 269.)

There are other very common errors, of which
I have long noticed the ill-effects ; for instance,
the want of care with which the roots of the young
trees are deposited in the earth, and the unneces-
sary length of time which is suffered to elapse be-
tween the period when the plant is taken from the
nursery and replanted. I have always found the after
good efl'ect of causing the roots of the young plant
to be carefully arranged, and spread out before

/

TtlE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 307

the earth is thrown in upon it ; the usually heed- these preparations of the soil are made, the expense

less way in which the roots are thrust into the hole per acre will then, in many situations, stand as

and perhaps broken, or materially bruised in the follows : —

act of treading in the earth upon them, is of ne- £ s. d.

cessity very prejudicial to the young plant; and Ploughing deeply 2 0 0

then 8gain, a still more negligent practice, that of '20 cubic yards of marl or clay, or 10 of

ploughing in the young trees, is too often adopted chalk t 10 0

on a large scale, by which the plants are still more 3 cubic yards of dung at 6s 0 18 0

hastily deposited in the soil, and are neither fixed Trees, ploughing, &c GOO

with sufficient firmness in the ground or even

placed in an upright position. From these causes 10 8 0

I have witnessed some very decided failures ; and

there is certainly no economy in this hasty mode Subsoil ploughing will cost from 24s. to 30s. per

of planting: the trees perish in great numbers ; statute acre.

they linger for years without vigour, ha*e to be If the manure is omitted, as well as the earth,

replaced at a considerable expense; and In the and the ploughing, the outlay of 5s. per acre in

mean time the owners lose all the advantages lime, in the way I have noticed, will not be with*

which might have been ensured, from a more out decided advantage. I am quite convinced,

skilfully obtained rapidity of growth. therefore, that if all planters were to confine their

The grouping or mixture of trees is a question operations to a less extent of land, and prepare
which rarely engages the attention of the planter, and plant that ground well, they would reap a
although it is certain that, like the commonly cul- much earlier and richer harvest from the money
tivated crops of tbe farmer, some trees grow expended than they now do from a much greater
better when mixed with other kinds than when extent of ill-planted exhausted soil. Such are the
vegetating in plantations of the same species ; facts which I have noticed, in my own practice
that they have certain secretions, and excrete and in that of others, as most necessary to be at-
matters both by their roots and leaves, which are tended to in rearing profitable luxuriant planta-
noxious to other trees is certain. Thus, the ash, tions of timber trees on the poorest lands of Eng-
and more particularly the locust, is very obnox- land ; hardly any of whos^ soils, however, are so
ious to most trees. Then, again, the grouping to- barren or so elevated as not to be able to produce,
gether of certain trees is particularly grateful to with only reasonable care and expense, an ample
them all. Thus the larch is a very good neigh- return for the capital of the planter. It is a pur-
hour ; the Scotch fir, the birch, and the Spanish suit which is, in more respects than xnc, worthy
. chesnut grow very luxuriantly with it ; the oak, of the attention of the landed proprietor, since he
the elm, the hazel, and the hornbeam are evidently not only by his plantations adds to the beauty and
good neighbours. The Roman planters had re- income of his own estates, but at the same time
marked this habit of trees. Thus, they believed yields to the community at large great and impor-
that the elm was particularly grateful to the vine ; tant services ; its barren wastes are made to pro-
and they were so convinced of the existence of duce timber and underwood, the soil is gradually
what they called a sympathy between them, that rendered fertile, profitable supplies of labour are
they called the elm the husband of the vine. It afforded, its health is promoted, the very climate
was invariably their custom to plant them near of the district by a general system of plantations is
each other ; and as we are indebted to them for ameliorated, for its bleak hills are clothed, its
the introduction of the vine in England, and so stagnant swamps are drained.

hence in all probability came with them our first There is an excellent account by the Bishop of

elm trees. Llandaff of " The planting Cartmell Fell" (Com. to

The expense of these different modes of planting Board of Agr. vol. vi. p. 1.), and a paper "On
is next to be ascertained ; it is an enquiry which plantingTrees," by Mr. Hove, a Polish gentleman
will repay the planter. The favourite mode, that (Ibid. vol. vii. p. 281.) "On collecting and pro-
of digging a small hole and inserting the tree, is, paring the Seeds of Forest Trees, the Mode of
apparently, attended with the least outlay of sowing them, &c." by Mr. Adam, and other plant-
money ; in some instances it has been done for 41. ers.f Trans. High. Soc. vol. iii. p. 32!).) He advises
or 5/. per acre, or even less ; but such plantations Scottish planters to collect the seed of the white
arc very rarely profitable— the plants die, or barely larch (Phms lariw) in November, from trees of
vegetate for years, have to be renewed again and 20 to 40 years of age, at an elevation not exceed-
again, and the general appearance of the planta- ing 400 feet; that the seed-bed should be ma-
tion, overrun with weeds, or heath moss, or furze, nured with cow-dung, well mixed with the soil for
is very melancholy. About 40s. per aero more some time previously to sowing the seed, which
bestowed in deep ploughing or subsoiling, will should be in April and May ; the beds to be 42
make a strange difference in the rapid growth and inches in breadth, with intervals of 18 inches,
consequent early profit of the plantation, and The seed should be sown so that each square yard
moreover save materially the expense of the tiees ; of ground may produce 2000 plants, which in the
for the number of them' which perish in land thus first year should reach to a height of five or 6'
prepared for their reception is very small. inches. One third of the plants may be drawn and

In a still greater degree are these good results pricked out in rows at a distance of ten inches,
obtained by the addition of, say twenty cubic and the remainder left for another year. The au-
yards per acre of marl, or clay, or a still less tumii, Mr. Adam thiuks, is the best time for form-
quantity of chalk-, according to the nature cf the ing plantations.

soil, or lime, which may usually be procured for The seed of the Scotch fir (Pynus sylves(rk) is

an outlay of less than 30s. per acre ; or of two or gathered in the same way, and to separate the

three tons of well putrefied farm yard manure,— a seeds from the cones it is necessary to kiln-dry

shovelful under each tree in the manner I have them ; about ll£ qrs.of cones produce about 1121b.

before described. Now, supposing that even all of seed. The Scotch fir must stand two years in

368 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the seed-bed. Oaks are to be sown early in Febru- following i> a list of the prizes awarded to the sucee-s-

ary: the best acorns are to be had in Kent, the ful candidates :— For the Draining. (Twenty com pe-

brightest and heaviest being the most valuable ; titers..) The first prise, 3L, C. Baxter, of Sawtry, re-

they keep very well spread on a deal floor; and commended by Mr. Newton; the second 2/., \V.

may be placed in drills a foot apart, two inches Rohms R.seby, ,n the erapoy of Lord St. John ; the

, * . *\ i . •, . u . r ., third, 1/. 10-., J. Cooper, Riseby, in the employ ©I

deep, to be planted out when two or three years di(to the four,h> u £ F> Wpj ^ Woo(J Wa«to» ^

old. Ash keys are gathered in December or Ja- the enip!ov of Mr. Goodliff; the fifth, 1/., Mr. Hales.

nnary.and laid in heaps mixed with one thud of Lei«rhton,in the e-nplov of Mr.Thorpe ; the sixth, 15s.,

their bulk of sand under cover: they should be J. Dickens, Riseby, in the employ of Lord St. John j

turned over once or twice in the following year, the seventh, 10s., J. St nck,Mclchbourne, in the employ

and thus, after resting for twelve or fourteen of ditto. For the Hedging. (Twenty -*ix compe-

months, are ready for sowing in March, in drills a titors.) The first prize, 3/., VV. Lack, Newton, in the

foot from each other, and one and a qnar- employ ot Lord St. John ; the second, 21., Charles

ter inch deep. The seed of the Scotch elm D'ckcrson, Leighton, ni the employ of Mr. Mann ; the

t „ „ ,a u„„i,i v.n „«,.,., ,„„„ ,ft„. third, IMOs , William llodde, Lmng'ton, in the empoy

is npe in June, and should be< sown soon aftei: of M Me'asures lhe fourth, H., William Coles,

that of the beech> is gathered in Septembe , and Lei£rhttn)( ia l!ie employ of Mr. Thorp. All the un-

sown in the following March or April in drills one successfu! candidates in both classes icceived 2s. 6d.

and a half inch deep, 'lhe seed of the Spanish eac|1%_ Lincolnshire Chronicle,
chesnut are best procured from Spain : they may

be sown in February in drills four inches deep.

The horse chesnut seeds are to be sown in Octo-
ber : those of the weeping birch should be sown

as soon as gathered, and covered with earth half OJN L.AJMJ-UKA1JMJN (jr.

an inch deep. Those of the lime should be ga- „ T _•. , ,

TV i , • f\ i . r>„,i„..„ -,..« ,w.« Sin, — In vour papers ot late some very good letters

thered and sown in October. Poplars are pro- , - , ' y . , t t ■ r

"., . * ' Lave appeared on land-draining'. In making a lew
pagateU by cuttings. „0„, • ntM, remarks, I hope it will be for the benefit of the agri-
See also on the introduction of certain new . ,' { . .. , . , .. . ,° ,
„ ^ • e .i i /t u- i e - ..~i ., cultural population as well as their landlords. 1 do
forest trees in Scot and (1 ram. High. Soc. vol. v. . , '. , ' .. ... ,, . T . ,,

.. , ,, ., . , ..v . x,, ° .. .» /T1.. i most decided y agree with " An Upright Drainer,

p. 121) ; " Reports relative to Plantations (Ibid. . J b . . . >.° , . , '

v ipf> , „' T, /Ik-. , • _ QQ7N that a great proportion ot agricultural labourers

p. 155 ) ; by Mr. I homson (Ibid. vol. vi. p. la/) ; . . . , b , ' .' .. . f . . , ,

f. A v.' J • r>. .• »• i< r\ *i « t„.„i might be beneficially employed in the long dreary

"On Economy in Planting;' "On the Larch .° . . •' v .■> , b «• •■'

_,, ' Ti s .. 1A , fy , ..... i7„.„,,„" winter months, and no outlay can be more etnci-

P lantations of the Dunkreld and Athol Estates . . . . » , . -' . ,

,*"._, . ... ,r-\ << r> •..„! „t..„™ ently laid out on farms; and I also agree with your

(Ibid. vol. in. p. loo) ; " On preparing large trees ■> . . . . , . '. . °.. , ! ■-

• . j j j. i i . J-» u in,. M^.tot. correspondent in thinking that the landlord ought to

intended to be transplanted, by Air. Macnab ' .. . ° . . e ° .

/t. • , r.no\ « r\ • u :•. «._„„„ »• u„ tit- give as many tiles as the tenant is in want of ; ittheu

(Ibid. p. 283) ;" On pruning Forest-trees, by Mr. ° . -' , . . '

Vi ',„., y ' i ••• * -n a /n-7 ',u, u,. makes it come easy to both parties, as the labour is

Cree (Ibid. vol. in. p. 59 and 44/, and by Mr. , . ■> ' . .'.. , .

r. ,K ^nni quite equal to the expense of the tiles, and at times

a \ , p. .) ;• „(•„„„ ,„ more so. Your correspondent makes some most

For a description of the advantages of prepar- . . . , ' ,

^, , , J , . .. T ij „,i ': „ .i „ capital remarks as to young inexperienced persons

ine the land for plantations, I would advise the "J[. , , i ° • ' ,i t

5 , . . r 1ilU , n, wfj.i taking on themselves the serious outlay, as I am

voting p anter to consult the works ot Mr. W itheis, ,& , . . , , . -' , . .,

f, bF,i t D; / > r„w „<■<;• u„ ,Qfnn„.f firmly of opinion that land requires persons of skill

the exce ent Planters Guide of Sir Henry &teuart, ■> , ■ i t i i. . i „ „n

, , r , ,. ,, ,, , . :„.i*. „„f o „„, , „/- and sound judgment, and ought to be as well

and the Journal of the lioual Agricultural Society of . . '..», , ' , ., °. . ,

r I j a j x- .i, u • v, *^ ^i^„t i„ \ua acquainted with the land they drain as our t.hysi-

Encland. And tor those who wish to plant in the . i , r • .-

o" . , 4 „ „f „ ' i , ,«„ „„„ cians and surgeons are in iierfurming operations on

most simple way at an expense of only 10s per . . ° ... '. . , ° . \ ... ,.

1 '. ., r. r /t Vr. , sV_ the human frame. All good agriculturists will allow

acre, see a paper by Mr. Gngor ( 1 runs. Hiyh.boc. . .. ., b . ° .. . . ...

,.'...,,"„( „J ., • ? >; . „;„.„ „P that to tarm with water on the surtace is impossible ;

vol.m. p. 363). By this mode, which consists or .. . ... . , . '. '

,»,.'' . J , . . . , „ .„„x- „<? t. n and in manv instances you will find, where sheen are

merely making a hole, or raising the turf ot the „,. , . - ■> .... ' , . * .

J, tc • .i . .• .i,„ ,i„„fe .!,„ „ofi folJed in wet seasons, very little good arises to the

ground sufficiently to put in the plants, the esti- . ' -> . 6 . . . ,

& .j. o . t /-v.- u j- „„„„i *„ cien next crop, the whole of their manure being washed

mate is for a Scotch acre (svhich is equal to bloO t" . . . -i -m i

, s ' * away, more particularly in close sous. Now, on soils

squaie yaius; of that description draining would be found 10 he most

.„„ , . , ,„ ,„„ ," „' advantageous, not only for preserving the manure,

^00 one-year transplanted larches 1 9 k ^ ihe .heep ill a more dry and healthy

laOO two-year seedling do. . . . • •••••;•■■ • J J state_ai;i(10tlie drier *he are k ,t /the In0re tbey

500 one-year transplanted scotch fi.s.... 0 As to manuring lands that are wet and close

1000^ two-year seedling, do 0 draLn .( jg °tWi ,nanure and Iabour

Carriage of plants to the moor 1 2 gw ag half t,)e manure wo»,d be sufficient 0.

Expences of planting 3500 2 4 ^ tbe ];u)ds ha(, been proper!y drained) au*d in

^ , , „ . . 4/a r> many instances the manure might be dispensed with

Total expense per Scotch acre 10 0 alt0^(ber< Now, sir, as t0° the subject of land-

draining, I should be most happy to give any noble-
man or gentleman my time for one month to super-
intend the draining of some part of his estate free
HUNTINGDONSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SO- of expense, excepting travelling expenses, &c.,with
CIETY. — The annual exhibition for turf draining and tiles of my own construction, as I am perfectly satis-
hedging was held on Friday, 1st April, in a field in the tied money expended in land-draining is the best
occupation of Mr. VVarsop, near Alconbury Hill. The possible way of improving estates generally, as also
judges were Mr. Beart, Mr. Goodliff, and Mr. Wright, 0f substituting proper manures to the soils adapted
for draining ; Mr. Thorp, Mr. Bowyer, and Mr. Earl, tQ rece;ve thenl( as j am perfectly satisfied that one-
for hedging. In consequence of the unfavourable state ^ rf m v.))eat ma be own in <■ 0ld banpv
of the weather, the visitors were not so numerous as i._j« #i.«_ ,\,ara ;a ,, ,,,.„„,
last year. The work in both classes was done in a man- England than there is at present,
ner that reflected great credit on the competitors, and I •»• sir, your obedient servant,
clearly proved to all the utility of these societies. The boulhLynn, borjolk, March 11. J. Ihompson.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

369

CULTIVATION OF WHEAT.

Sir, — I this autumn tried au experiment on wheat
sowing : our crops of wheat in this district are
very apt in our clay soils on the banks of the Fortli
called Carie, to be thrown out in spring, by alter-
nate nights of frost and clays of sunshine, whereby
the roots, if the plants are not entirely destroyed,
are so injured that to support nature the plant puts
out side shoots, and there being no firm hold of the
ground, becomes what in England is called root-
fallen, and lodges Jong before the grain is ripe,
thereby producing grain of an inferior quality as
well as quantity. To endeavour to get the better of
these faults, t tried what drilling my wheat as
beans are drilled in our earns would do. I sowed
my wheat by a plough drawn by two horses five or
6ix inches deep, and covered it with the next fur-
row at ten or eleven inches breadth. I never har-
rowed it after sowing, and horse's foot never trod
on it. The wheat was covered by the deepest part
of the furrow ; and to my surprise and that of my
neighbours, the wheat thus sown and covered came
up sooner than wheat sown the same day in the
common broadcast way on some adjacent ground of
similar quality, and the fallow treated exactly the
same as to ploughing, liming, &c, through the
summer. As it is well known that wheat prefers a
stiff' soil to a loose one, I attributed the rapidity of
growth to the stiff" soil suiting the wheat mere than
the loose broadcast, for it not only came sooner, but
kept the start it got, and now, after heavy rains and
frost, looks better, the ground not being run toge-
ther and battered with the winter rains, as the
broadcast wheat is ; and having examined it during
severe frost, I found that the roots of the plant had
not suffered by it, whilst that sown broadcast had.
The roots of the drilled wheat were actually consi-
derably longer than the broadcast sown the same
day; I have, therefore, little doubt that I shall most
probably have a standing crop of wheat in place of
a lodged one, or at least not so soon lodged, and
that I shall escape the root falling from the spring
frost. It is well known that in England an instru-
ment called the pressor is used in light soils to firm
the ground, and also that sheep are often pastured
or driven over it for that purpose. Another advan-
tage of this plan of sowing is, that all trouble and
time of harrowing is saved ; and if sudden rain
comes on, the sowing is stopped at once, without the
risk of being half harrowed ; the ground is also
much more cloddy in winter, thus affording shelter
to the young plants, and an excellent cover for
grass seeds, if sown in a dry, bleak, frosty morning,
without harrowing, by the decomposition and fall-
ing down or mouldering of the ground as the day ad-
vances, and the effects of the sun are felt on it.
My experiment extended over two fields, compre-
hending about twenty acres ; and I harrowed part
of the one field, and 1 think the part unharrowed
looks better than the harrowed : however, time
will show which has succeeded best. I was thrice
stopped by rain during the sowing, but as I said
above, felt no inconvenience from it. I shall be
happy to hear any observations from yourself or
correspondents. Perhaps it is no novelty, the ex-
periment I have made ; but in this part of the
country drilling of wheat in the common way, and
sowing eight or nine drills at a time, and then har-
rowing, is common enough, and I frequently do it
myself ; but to drill it by ploughing down five or
six inches, as I have described, has not been tried
before, and most people thought it was so deep it

might be long of appearing. Indeed, some thought
it would never appear, but none were prepared for
the more rapid vegetation than the broadcast, nor
for its keeping the start it look at first, and which I
impute entirely to the firm soil in which it was
planted suiting the grain better than the loose. My
drill machine is fixed between the stilts of the
plough, and one horse is sufficient, the same man
ploughing and sowing, and no harrowing being re-
quired considerable labour is saved. As to the crop,
that cannot be determined till harvest, but I am sa-
tisfied with the experiment so far as it has gone.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
Stirling, N. B., March 8. W. M.

ON FATTENING CATTLE.

Sir,— Observing that since Major Moor called the
attention of the Committee of the English Agricul-
tural Society to the question of using barley in fat-
tening cattle, several modes of feeding have been
published, and enquiries made, boiling and steam-
ing being troublesome and expensive processes, and
not generally easily accomplished, I copy the
following from "Potts's Cyclopaedia" for the consi-
deration of your readers : —

" I found to fatten a pair of good oxen at Ville
Auburn, would take forty-five cart-loads of raves
and a ton of hav. When the raves were done they
give ground corn, with water enough added to form
a paste ; this they leave four or five days to become
sour, and then dilute it with water, thicken it with
cut chaff", and give it to the oxen thrice a day.

" At Bassie, the same. They assert that oxen
like it better for being sour, and that it answers
better in fatting them. They eat about a bushel a
day, weighing twenty-two pounds, and never give
this and liquor without chopped hay.

"The droves I met coming to Paris, to the
amount of twelve or fifteen hundred, were with few
exceptions very fat — fatter than oxen are commonly
seen in England in the spring. I handled many
scores of them, and found them well fatted.

" At Limogen the same process, but with the ad-
dition of a leaven to the paste, to quicken the fer-
mentation and make it quite sour. At first the oxen
will not drink it, but they are starved to it ; they
usually take it the second day, and after they have
begun like it much, and never leave a drop.

" Usarcb. — Use leaven, and given sour, as before
described.

" Between Brice and Cressenne they use maize,
and to make them fatten sooner and better they give
them every night, and sometimes in a morning, a
ball of pork-grease as large as an apple. It in-
creases the appetite, and the beasts perfectly devour
their food after it, and their coats become smooth
and shining. All here give salt plentifully."

From the foregoing it appears that corn-meal is
easily converted into a very proper state to be
taken up by the system, and that a fatly or oily
matter in a small proportion assists ; and thus, as
at present the cost of a ton of oilcake is equal to ten
quarters of barley, and the whole quantity of soluble
or nutritive matter, according to the table (May) in
the " Farmers' Almanac," of'barley is 920 parts in
1,000, and of linseed cakes but 151 parts in 1,000, it
appears there is twice the bulk of barley, and six
times the quantity of nutritive matter, as in a ton

2 B

370

T^E FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of cake of tli e same, cgst, a^d, pf t|ie, n,mrjt.iye matter

respectively —

R-Jijcjlii^c:. Saccharine. Gluten.

Uarley 79CT ' |'Q 66

Linseed 'cake* .'.".'. J|| U 17

In favour of barley 667 59 49

In another place I rpacl thaf lentils are preferable
in some respects to spring vetches, as they will
grow on poor brasby land, such as vetches will not,
are excellent as green fodder, and for bay to make
horses fat are superior to every other kind. When
designed for hajr they should be cut just after the
pods are formed.

They may be sown any time in April or in May,
as they come to the scythe quick, produce mucb
seed, and the straw will be relished by cattle.
A Member ok the Royal
Agricultural Society of England.

P.S. Lentils, I find, are called white or Egyptian
tares in some places.

REMARKS ON THOROUGH-
DRAINING AND SUBSOIL
PLOUGHING.

Sir, — There are few agriculturists who are not
aware of the advantages which are to be derived
from the thorough-drainage and subsoil ploughing of
wet clay ground ; but there are many opinions re-
garding the manner in which the drains ought to be
executed. In my opinion, the best and most effec-
tual method is by cutting the drains in a vertical
direction, and not horizontally, as recommended by a
great many theoretical and practical agriculturists.
I have given both the ways a fair trial, and have in-
variably found that wben drains are cut directly up
and down hill, the land is both quicker and more
effectually dried than where the drains are cut
across. In cutting the drains up and down hill you
intersect at right angles the different substrata of
sand and gravel, out of which the water flows, and
by thus cutting across tbe bed of the water you
thereby form a new channel or opening by which it
is immediately carried away, instead of leaving it to
find its way to the surface, where it completely soaks
the ground, and is thereby hurtful and injurious to
the cultivation of the land, and also to the growth of
plants.

In cutting the drains horizontally the ground is
neither so quick nor so effectually dried as wben the
drains are cut up and down ; and the reason is this,
on land where the declivity is great and the drains
cut parallel to one another, it very often happens that
one drain is cut several feet below the strata where
the water breaks out, and the next drain comes to be
cut a little above it, but not sufficiently deep to reach
the vein through which the water oozes out, it is
thereby allowed to run over the land just in the
same manner as before the drains were cut. After
land is tboroughly drained, subsoil ploughing should
invariably follow, as I have no doubt it will on the
farms of every good agriculturist. In subsoiling
the ground the plough ought to cross the drains at
right angles. When the land has been thoroughly
drained and subsoiled, it will be seen, if carefully
examined after a heavy fall of rain, that where the
drains have been cut in a vertical direction, the
ground will be a great deal sooner dry than upon land
where the drains have been cut horizontally ; and the

reason is plain and obvious. Upon the ground where
tbe drains are vertically cut and afterwards subsoil
ploughed, the land is rendered open and porous, and
allows the water to percolate freely into the ruts
made by the subsoil plough, which being at right
angles with the drains the water has only to run
from the centre into the drains at each side; now,
upon land where the drains have been cut across and
afterwards subsoil ploughed, tbe ruts will be in a
vertical direction or at rigbt angles with the drains;
and when the water percolates into these ruts, it must
run from tbe lower side of one drain until it reach
the upper side of tbe next before it gets into the
drains, and even then it does not always find its
way into the drains, especially on land where the de-
clivity is gi eat. The quantity of water being sometimes
pretty large it runs with considerable force, and in-
stead of finding its way into the drains (as it ought
to do) it flows over tbem, and consequently keeps
tbe ground longer in a wet state ; hence arises the
way in which the land is quicker and more effectually
dried by cutting the drains in a vertical direction
than horizontally.

There is also a good deal depending upon tbe filling
of the drains and the materials which are used for
that purpose. Some individuals recommend tiles,
and others stones. Tiles are a very good substitute
for stones, and answer tbe purpose exceedingly well ;
but where stones are to be had I would use tbem in
preference to tiles. Where stones are used the
drains ought to be cut at least two feet and a-half
deep, thirteen inches wide at the lip, and about five
inches wide at the bottom ; the stones used ought to
be broken so as to pass through a ring three inches
in diameter, and afterwards filled into the drains to
the depth of fourteen inches ; thus leaving sixteen
inches clear from the top of the stones to the surface,
which will be found little enough when the ground
comes to be subsoil ploughed. When the work-
man commences filling the drains he ought to begin
at the upper end of tbe drain and proceed down-
wards ; great care must be taken to keep the stones
from striking against the sides of the drain, which
will cause the loose particles of earth to fall down
amongst the stones, and thus stop the free passage
of tbo water ; but that may be easily avoided by
using the drain screen, a descriptien of which was
given in a late number of the Farmer's Magazine.

After the stones are put into the drains and the top
of them properly h veiled, they must be covered by a
thin turf (cut from tbe top of the drain when opened,
and carefully laid aside for that purpose) closely
beat down upon the stones, the workman taking care
that no small holes be left between, or at the sides
of the turf, lest any of the earth from the top get
into the drains, and thus completely spoil them.

The main or leading drains ought never to be
filled with stones until the small ones are all entirely
finished, as there is always a good deal of mud depo-
sited opposite the mouths of the small drains. The
main drains ought always to be cut several inches
deeper than the small ones, by which means the
mouths of the small drains will always be kept
clear. Some recommend cutting large main drains
and leaving them open, and others recommend
running tbe small drains into tbe open ditches
along the side of the fences, both of which ways
are detrimental to the drains, and a useless waste
of good land ; such open drains should seldom
if ever be seen upon land under the management of
good agriculturists.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

1st April, 1842. Cojjstantine.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

371

LORD JAMES HAY'S DRAIN TILE.

On Saturday, the 2nd April, Lord James Hay was
at Baldovan house, the seat of Sir John Ogilvy,
for the purpose of showing the method and ex-
plaining the process of making the concrete drain
tile, lately invented by himself. There were pre-
sent the Right Hon. the Earl of Mansfield and a
number of the neighbouring gentry and farmers.
Mr. Smith of Deanston, and a great many agri-
culturists from Fife, attended by special invitation.
Lord James began by mixing two parts of pounded
lime shells with three of sand and four of gravel, of
the size of beans and small marbles. The lime and
sand were first mixed, and a little water added now
and then, and the mixture turned frequently over
and beaten with the back of a spade, as in working
plaster, until the whole was properly broken, and
beginning to get a consistency, so as to smoothe
with the back of a trowel or spade. The gravel
was then added, and the whole turned several times.
The mixture, even after all this process had been
gone through, was comparatively dry, and every
one who saw it must have supposed that it would
not stick together. It was then, however, put into
wooden moulds of about afoot in length, and six
inches deep, in the bottom of which were inserted,
from a hole in the end, pieces of wood to form
the openings in the tile. The mixture was beaten
down in the moulds by two pieces of iron with
wooden handles to make it adhere, and so con-
structed as to give the tiles a circular shape on
the top. The sticks were then withdrawn from
tjie holes under the tiles, the moulds lifted up,
and the tiles left standing. The process is
exceedingly simple ; and any rami servants might,
in rainy weather, make tiles upon a smooth barn
floor. Lord James showed ether methods of
making his tiles, and one of these in the drain
itself. This latte'r method has been attempted to
be improved upon by Mr. Smith of Deanston, by
making the drain narrow at the bottom, throwing
some of the concrete mixture into it. placing an
elliptical-shaped wooden mould of three or four feet
long above that, then covering it over with the
mixture, and beating it hard together, as moulders
do in preparing for making a casting. The mould
is drawn on in the drain until it is nearly out of
the hole which it occupied, and the same process
is repeated, as formerly mentioned, until the mould
reaches the end of the drain. There are slits or
openings left in this pipe, about a foot from each
other, to let the water from the bottom and top into
it. These are made by slips of iron inserted in the
mould, and withdrawn before the mould is moved
forward. This would be an excellent and cheap
plan for making water pipes instead of lead or cast
iron, where there is no great pressure, and also tor
making drains upon strong clays in a dry summer,
but would not do where there is much wet, as the
mixture would be run away before it could get time
to consolidate. Three or four good days of dry wea-
ther will harden the tile, so as to fit it for being
put in any drain, and no weather will injure it after
that, however much it may be exposed.

We were quite delighted with the affability of
Lord James Hay, his readiness to answer all the
questions put to him, and his anxiety to get and
give information about everything connected with
the business he had been engaged in. He also
shewed himself a most expert workman, and did
the whole with his own hands, except what assist-
ance he got from servants in mixing the mate-

lials. lie handled the trowel and spade as if he had
been bred to it from his infancy, and been ac-
customed to get his bread by the sweat of his brow.
After all the out-door work was finished, the party
partook of a most substantial luncheon prepared by
Lady Ogilvy. Lord James Hay read a paper ex-
plaining the kinds of lime, sand, &c, best adapted
for making his tile. He has generally used Lord
Elgin's, which cost 4d. a bushel at Aberdeen, and
makes 120 tiles. Pounded lime answers better
than slaked lime, as the tiles dry faster, but lime
slaked the night before it is used will do well
enough for ordinary purposes. Lime, sand, &c,
which makes the best mortar, will make the best
tile. A set of moulds, &c, for making can be had
for about 30s., and furnished by James Gauld ;
application for the same to be made to Mr. David
Finlay, overseer to Lord James Hay, Seton House,
Aberdeen. After a few complimentary speeches,
the healths of Lord James Hay, Sir John and Lady
Ogilvy, the Earl of Mansfield, &c, were drunk,
and the party separated, gratified with all they had
seen and heard, and with the hospitality aud kind-
ness of Sir John Ogilvy.

BARLEY AND OATS.— Statement moved for by
Mr. Wodcliou«e, M.P., showing the average prices of
barley at tbe Cumberland market in the years 1S38,
1839, 1840, and 1811 ; and a similar return from the
port of Stettin for the same peri d as to oat* ; sgojing,
al>o, the rate of difference as between Copenhag n and
Antwerp, as regards barley, in the summary of the
answers received from He> Maj >ty's Con»uN tip to
the 20th of NowmbtT, 18+1 ; and the d ffermc.* as re-
gards oats tram the port of Stettin tV>r the same period.

The result is shown by the following figure* : —

1. Average Prices of Barley at the Copenhagen Mar-
ket in the Years 1833, 1S39, 1840, and 1841.

Years. Aveiage price.

s. d.

1838 15 9f per quarter.

1839 19 2

1S40 15 3

1841 16 Of

Aggregate average of 4 years 16 61

Average Prices of Oats at Stettin Market in the «ame

Years.
Years. Average price.

s. d.

1838 11 6 per quarter.

1839 12 6

1840 12 9

1841 11 4

Aggregate average of 4 years 12 0

Prices of Barley and Oats at Antwerp on the 20th of
November, 1841, as stated in a Summary of the
Answers received from Her Majesty's Consuls up to
that date.

s. d.

Barley.., 28 9

Oats 22 1

Rate of Difference between the four Years' aggre-
gate Average Price at Copenhagen and Antwerp as
regards Barley, and also between the four Years'
aggregate Average Price at Stettin and Antwerp as
regards Oats.

Barley.. .. 74| per cent, higher at Antwerp.
Oats .... 84 per cent, higher at Stettin.

2 b 2

372

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

A CALCULATION showing the Profit of a Lincolnshire Heath Farm of 1100 Acres of Land,
according to the present mode of cultivation, the produce being sold at ichat is generally considered
fair remunerating prices. The CAPITAL necessary for working the same to the greatest advan-
tage £770O,o?- £700 per hundred acres.

DEBTOR. £ s. d.

A year's rent, at 20s. per acre 1100 0 0

275 acres of turnips requiring 16 bushels of bones

per acre.— 4400 bushels at 2s. 9d. per bushel . . 605 \ 0
Carriage of ditto, toll bars, men's expenses, 36
waggon loads, half calculated as back carriage

18 loads, at 6s 5 8 0

275 acres of wheat requiring 69 tons of rape cake,

being 5 cwt. per acre at 77. 10s. per ton 517 10 0

Carriage of ditto, 34 loads, half being back car-
riage.— 17 loads at 6s 5 2 0

Rates and taxes 165 0 0

Wheelwright, carpenter, blacksmith, and whit-
tower 170 0 0

275 acres of wheat, seed, 3 bushels per acre. — 103J

quarters at 60s. per quarter 809 7 6

275 acres of barley, 4 bushels per acre.— 137 J

quarters at 35s. per quarter 240 12 6

CO acres of red clover, — 60 stone of seed at Us.

per stone 33 o 0

215 acres of white clover, &c. — 215 stone of seed

at 10s. per stone 107 10 0

61 J stone of trefoil, at 4s. per stone 12 6 0

6£ qrs. of rye-grass, at 45s. per qr 14 12 6

20 acres of tares. — 60 bushels at 7s. per bushel . . 21 o 0
15 labourers regularly employed from lis. to 136.
6d. per week for forty weeks, average 12s. per

week 360 0 0

15 labourers regularly employed for 12 weeks,

averaging 18s. perwsek.. . ." 162 0 0

15 boys at 6s. per week, for 52 weeks 234 0 0

18 men servants.— Wages 357., 257., 207., 187., two
167., two 147., three 127., three 107., and four

87. each 256 0 0

Board of the above, 187. each per year 324 0 0

35 quarters of malt at 37. per qr., 1057. Hop» 147. 119 0 0
5 women servants, wages 127., 10/., 97., 87., and

77. each 46 0 0

Board of ditto, 167. each 80 0 0

Extra labour required to hoe half the turnips
which the regular labourers have not time to

do. — 137$ acres twice, at 5s. per acre 34 7 6

137$ acres of wheat mowing and gathering at 7s.

per acre 4$ 2 6

137$ acres of barley mowing and gathering at 7s.

per acre 48 2 6

84 horses keeping at 207. each, including CO acres

of clover and 20 acres of tares 680 (> 0

3 hackneys keeping at 207. each and depreciation 69 0 0
Wear and tear of thrashing machine, winnowing

machine, drills, waggons, carts, &c, &c 100 0 0

Depreciation in value of cart horses, and loss of

ditto by death, veterinary surgeon, &c, &c. .. 140 0 0
Loss in sheep by death. — Sheep at 5 per cent. . . 87 10 0

Expenses attending markets, fairs, &c, &c 80 0 0

Average produce of wheat from 275 acres at an
average of 3J qrs. per acre, 893* qrs. Deduct
seed, 3 bushels per acre, 103$ qrs. Delivering

wheat, 790f qrs. at 6d. per qr 19 15 3

Average produce of 275 acres of Barley, 4J qrs.
per acre, 1306J qrs. Deduct for seed," 137$ qrs.
Delivering at market, 1168J qrs. at 6d. per qr. 29 4 3

70 beasts for the straw yard at 137. each 910 0 0

23 tons of oil cake for ditto at 117. 10s. per ton .. 264 10 0
700 lambs to eat the turnips that are not required

for the regular sheep kept, at 26s. each 910 0 0

Oil cake and culm for them at 4s. per head 140 0 0

Loss by death upon ditto at 5 per cent 52 10 0

Interest on capital, 77007. at 5 per cent 385 0 0

Profit to balance 863 18 3

.£9699 8 9

The bones and rape cake,

and expenses of carriage

must be considered as rent,

and would stand thus, say

£ s. d.

Rent lloo 0 0

Bones C05 0 0

Rape Cake 517 10 0

Carriage of both 10 10 0

Or £2 0

£2233 0
7 per acre.

0

Not taking the oil cake into
account given to the beasts
in the straw-yard, and
lambs at turnips, say

£ s. d.

Lambs on turnips
amount 140 0 0

Beasts at straw
ditto 264 10 0

£404 10 0

£ s.

1188 12

404 0

170 0

d.

6 wages.
0 board.
0 blacksmith fc.
other bills.

1762 12

6

5 0

9
0

u

15 labourers

15 boy t

18 men servants

5 women servants

20 extra men to assist in hoeing (

turnips and during the time of J

harvest.

73 total besides the tradesmen above alluded to.

CREDITOR. £\s. d.

By 275 acres of wheat at 3J quarters per acre,

893JJ qrs. at 60s. per qr 2681

275 acres of barley at 4J qrs. per acre, 1 306J

qrs. at 85s. per qr 2285

70 beasts at 167. each 1120

250 fat ewes, bred upon the farm, 22$lbs. per

qr., at 6d. per lb., and wool at 50s. each . . 625 0 0
250 fat shearlings, bred upon the farm, 251bs.

per qr., at 6d. per lb. without wool, 50s.

each 625 0 0

700 hogs, 191bs. per qr., at 6d. per lb. and

wool, supposing each hog to clip 81bs. at

Is. per lb., making together 46s. each.... 1610 0 0
Wool from 1250 sheep, 4 to a tod, 312$ tods,

at 2Ss. per tod 437 10 0

25 fat pigs, 25 stones each, at 7s. per stone,

87. 5s. each, fed upon hinder-end barley. . 213 15 0
Dairy. — 8 cows, say profit, (besides what is

used for the family) 40 0 0

8 young beasts bred on the farm 77. each ... 66 0 0

£9099 8 9

Profit brought down 863 18 3

The profit should be half of the direct rent as well as in-
direct rent, say £ »• d.

Rent 1100 0 0

Indirect rent .. . 1133 0 0

$) 2233 0 0

£1116 10 0 This is admitted by
Sir Robert Peel.

We the undersigned Occupiers of land in the neigh-
bourhood of Lincoln, have carefully examined this
document, and do not hesitate to say, we believe it to be
strictly correct.

Lincoln, March 18c/i,1842.

500
350
500
250
800
850
800

Thomas Greetham,

William Longstaff,

Paul Francis Pell,

John Brown and Samuel Slater,

Charles Clarke Pears,

William Brown,

George Waddington,

Edward Sparlbrd, Boothby,

W. Larabe, Aubmirn,

Ditto, ditto,

Edward Clarke,

William Lacy,

Charles Clarke,

Charles Tonge,

William Foster,

David Blackbourn,

T. and L. Wyles,

Edward Clarke,

Edward Gibbe6on,

Leonard Harland,

William Wilson,

Thoma6 Clarke,

William Seagrave,

John Greenham,

Francis Marshall,

Samuel Turner,

Messrs. Marfleet,

Frederick Straw,

John Ealand,

J. G. Stevenson,
Lincoln, March 18</(, 1842.
N.B. Market day. — Wheat at a nominal price ; belt
malting barley 25s. per qr. ; and best seed oats <W.,
stone, in anticipation of the proposed corn bill,
duty on malt is now about 90 per cent.

Acres,
occupier of 890
occupier of 1100
occupier of 1800
occupiers of 2 100
occupier of 900
occupier of 800
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of
occupier of 1200
occupier of 1200
occupier of 1150
occupiers of 1465
occupier of 370
occupier of 400
occupier of 300
occupier of 400
occupier of 1000
occupier of 500
occupier of 700
occupier of 339
occupier of 340
occupiers of 1130
occupier of 1350
occupier of 480
occupier of 720

the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

373

£ s. d.
1100 0 0

550 0 0

A CALCULATION shewing the Loss of a Lincolnshire Heath Farm, of 1100 Acres of Land,
according to the present mode of management, the produce being sold at the reduced prices, owing
to the passing of the New Corn Bill. The CAPITAL necessary for working the same to the
greatest advantage £6G00, or £600 per hundred acres.

DEBTOR.
A year's rent

275 acres of turnips, requiring 16 bushels of bones

per acre. — 4400 bushels at 2s. 6d. per bushel . .
Carriage of them, toll, men's expenses, 36 waggon

loads, half of which it is considered would be

back carriage. — 18 loads at 6s. per load

275 acres of wheat, requiring 69 tons of rapecake.

— 5 cwt. per acre, at 71. per ton

Carriage of ditto, 84 loads, half being back car-
riage.— 17 loads, at 6s. per load

Rates and taxes

Wheelright, carpenter, blacksmith, & whittower.
60 stones of red cloverseed, at 10s. per stone. . , .
215 stones of white cloverseed, at 10s. per stone.

61 J stones of trefoil, at 4s. per stone

6£ quarters of rye grass at 40s. per quarter

20 acres of tares, 60 bushels, at 6s. per bushel . . .
15 regular labourers, average 10s. per week for 40

weeks

15 regular labourers, average 15s. per week for 12

weeks

15 boys, at 5s. per week for 52 weeks

18 men servants — wages 80, 21, 18, 16, two 14,
two 12, three 10, three 9, and four 71. each....

Board of ditto, at 15/. 12s. 6d. each

85 quarters of malt, at 52s. 6d. per quarter,
91/. 17s. 6d.— Hops, 14/

5 women servvants — 12, 9, 8, 7, and 6/. each....

Board of do., at 152. each

Extra labour required to hoe half the turnips
which the regular labourers would not have
time to do. —137 J acres twice, at 4s. per acre. .

187J acres of wheat, mowing and gathering into
sheaf, at 6s. per acre

137^ acres of barley, mowing and gathering into

' sheaf, at 6s. per acre

34 horses' keeping, at 167. each, including 60
acres of clover

3 hackneys' keeping, at 16/. each, and deprecia-
tion .......

Wear and tear of thrashing and winnowing ma-
chines, waggons, carts, tackle, &c

Depreciation in value of horses, loss by death,
veterinary surgeon's charges, &c

Loss in breeding a flock of sheep at 5 per cent.,
deducting skins, &c

Market expenses, and at fairs, &c

Expenses in the delivery of 859g quarters of
wheat, at 6d. per quarter

Expenses in the delivery of 1237J quarters of
barley, at 6d. per quarter

70 beasts for the straw yards, at 11{. each ......

23 tons «f oilcake for them, at 10/. 10s. per ton. .

700 lambs for the turnips, beyond what the sheep
bred upon the farm can consume, at 28s. each.

Oilcake for them at 3s. 6d. per head

Loss on the lambs by death, at 5 per cent

Interest on capital 6600/., at 5 per cent

275 acres of wheat. — Seed 3 bushels per acre, 108£
quarters at 44s. 6d. per quarter

275 acres of barley. — Seed 4 bushels per acre, 137J
quarter at 25s. per qr

5 8 0

483 0 0

5 2 0

165 0 0

170 0 0

30 0 0

107 10 0

12 6 0

13 0 0
18 0 0

300 0 0

135 0 0

195 0 0

222 0 0

281 5 0

105 17 6

42 0 0

75 0 0

27 10 0

41 5 0

41 5 0
§44 0 0

54 0 0

100 0 0

130 0 0

75 0 0

32 10 0

21 9 6

30 18 9

770 0 0

241 10 0

805 0 0

122 10 0

42 0 0
330 0 0

229 9 0

171 17 6

£7825 13 3

LOSS brought down (at depreciated prices) new
bill 519 5 11

PROFIT of first balance sheet, at remunerating
prices, old bill 863 18 3

Making a difference of A.£188S 4 2

Therefore, supposing rent and the profit of the
first balance sheet to be each lowered in a re-
lative proportion, it would stand thus : —

Rent. .£1100 0 O..Rent 325 6 0

Profit at remunerating prices. . 868 18 3..Profit*255 8 1

The bones and rape cake, and

the expenses of carriage

must be reckoned as rent,

and would stand thus — say

£ s. d.

Rent 1100 0 0

Bones 550 0 0

Rape cake 483 0 0

Carriage of both.. 10 10 0

£2143 10 0
or 1/. 18s. 11 jd. per a.

15 labourers
15 boys

18 men servants
5 women do.

Not taking into account the
great quantity of cake given
to the beasts in the straw-
yard, and lambs on turnips
— say

£ s. d.

Beasts at straw, a-
mount 241 10 0

Lambs at turnips,

amount

122 10 0
£364 0 0

53 employed constantly

20 extra men to assist in hoeing
turnips, and in the harvest, be-
sides all description of trades-

— men.— See account of expenses ,

73 total. j

£

s.

d.

004

0

0 wages

856

5

0 board

170

0

0 blacksmith
and other
bills.

1530 5 0

CREDITOR. £ s. d.

By 275 acres of wheat, at 3J quarters per acre,

893J at 44s. 6d. per quarter 1988 11 6

275 acres of barley, at 4J quarters per acre,

1306J at 25s. per quarter 1632 16 3

70 beasis at 18/. each 910 0 0

250 fat ewes, bred on the farm, 22.jlbs. per

quarter, at 4£d. per lb., and wool, 37s. 6d.

each 468 15 0

250 fat shearlings, ditto, 251bs. per quarter, at

4$d. per lb. without wool, 37s. 6d. each. .. 468 15 0
700 hogs, 191bs. per quarter, at 4£d. per lb.

and wool, supposing each hog to clip 81bs., at

lOd. per lb., making together 85s. 2d. each 1230 16 8
Wool of 1250 sheep, bred on the farm, 812J

tod (4 sheep to a tod), at 23s. 4d. per tod. 364 11 8
25 fat pigs, 25 stones each, feu upon hinder-
end barley 164 1 3

Dairy.— 8 cows, say profit (besides what is

used for the family) 32 0 0

8 young beasts bred on the farm 46 0 0

LOSS to balance *519 5 11

£7825 13 3
• For every reduction of a halfpenny per lb.
on the above sheep, the loss would be in-
creased by 209/. 15s. 10d., and if calculated
at 4d. per lb. the loss to the farm for the
year would be 729/. Is. 9d.

It will be seen that the difference in amount
of the produce of this farm, between fair remu-
nerating prices for corn and mutton (not high
prices) given by the present corn bill, and the
new one amounts to thirteen hundred and eighty-
three pounds, four shillings and two-pence, leav-
ing a loss of five hundred and nineteen pounds,
five shillings and eleven-pence to the tenant,
which loss, deducted from the rent, leaves 580/.
14s. Id. b. only, to be divided
as apportioned* between the
landlord and tenant ; or it
makes the difference of the
whole of the rent, say .

And a\so from the profit ■
of the tenant 288

£ s.

1100 0

519 5

d.

0 Rent.
11 Loss.

£580 14 1 b.

. 1100 0 0

4 2

A. £1383 4 2

£580 14 1

And if the late rather high prices were taken into account,
there would be more than two rents differeut.
This farm (as well as a great many others) was a rabbit
warren, and probably let for 2s. 6d. an acre, and would be
totally unproductive in corn, were it not managed in the
spirited manner described ; and although profitable to the
landlord, tenant, and labourer, when corn is selling at the
prices specified, it is clearly shown, on the other hand, a
most serious loss must attend low prices, and evidently will
not only throw this farm, but all others, out «f cultivation,
that will not pay for cultivating, to the serious injury of the
landlord, the tenant, and the labourer, and eventually to all
productive classes.

374

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

We the undenigned Occupiers of la>id in this neigh-
bourhood, have carefully examined this document, and
do not hesitate to say, we believe it to be strictly correct.

Lincoln, March \Qth, 1842.

Acres.

Thomas Greetham, occupier of 890

William Longstalt', occupier of 1100

Paul Francis Pell, occupier of 1800
John Brown and Samuel Slater, occupiers of 2100

Charls Clarke Pears, occupier of 900

William Brown, occupier of 800

George Waddington, oci upier of 500

Edward Spafford, Boothhy, occupier of 350

*W . hnmbe, Aubourn, occupier of 500

Ditto ditto occupier of 250

Edward Clarke, occupier of 800

William Lacy, occupier of 850

Charles Clarke, occupier of 800

Charles Tonge, occupier of 1200

William Foster, occupier of 1200

David Blackbourn occupier of 1150

T. and L. Wyles, occupiers fl465

Edward Clarke, occupier of 370

Edward Gibbeson, occupier of 400

Leonard Harland, occupier of 300

William Wilson, occupier of 400

Thomas Clarke, occupier of 1000

William Seagrave, occupier of 500

John Greenham, occupier of 700

Francis Marshall, occupier of 380

Saul Turner, occupier of 340

Messrs. Mai-fleet, occupiers of 11 HO

Frederic Straw, occupier of 1350

John Ealarid, occupier of 480

J. O Stevenson, occupier of 720
Lincoln, March 18, 1842.
N.B. — Market day. — Wheat at a nominal -price ; best

malting barley , 25s. per quarter; and best seed oats 9d.

per shine, in anticiputimi of the proposed corn bill. The

duty on malt is now about ninety per cent.

LEOMINSTER FARMERS' CLUB.

A meeting of 'his institution was held at tlie King's
Arms Inn, on Friday, the 1st April. A greater num-
ber of members than usually attend were present on
the occasion. The subject discussed was " the best
method of managing hop lands.'' This being a hop
district, a great degree of interest was excited, which
drew together many of the largest and most respect-
able bop planters of the neighbourhood. With re-
spect to ploughing and throwing down, it was
generally considered that about Ladyday is the pro-
per time; but should the plantation be subject to
mould, it was recommonded that this should be done
in the autumn. It was also observed, that in
ploughing down, care should be tnken to
plough to the proper depth, so thai the roots are Dot
unbared deeper than is necessary for cutting.

Cutting. — This operation should be performed with
the greatest care and requires a practised hand. A
peculiar kind of knife is also requisite, which it is
the intention of the club to provide and recommend
for the purpose. It was also agreed that the last
year's shoots should be cut as level as possible, which
can only be acomplished by cuttting both sides of the
stock towards the centre. That the stock should
then be covered with a small portion of soil in order
to prevent the frost or air affecting the plantsjust
before they begin to shoot. If it is intended to ap-
ply compost (which the Club considered to be the
best manure for hoplands), the plant may now be
covered by it instead of the soil : lime should be
used in a great proportion in the compost. It was
then resolved — "That the plantation be in a healthy
state, it should be manured at least every third year,
in proportion of a common sized wheelbarrow full to
three stocks."

Pitching. — This part of the labour should he per-
formed as soon as the young shoots begin to appear.
It was resolved — "That the poles should be of a
uniform length ; that the length should be regulated
by the strength of the plantation, varying from twelve
to sixteen feet, or fouiteen feeton an average.'* The
Club recommended that they should be pitched on the
ground in a cratchlike form, to the depth of no less
than a foot. It was also suggested, that when the
rows were sufficiently wide, it would be better to
pitch the poles thus : —
a

* b b rather than longitudinally thus: f c c c c c

a d d

b b Tbe row of plants. d d The row of plants

greater facility being given for working the land
betwen the stocks.

Tying. — Resolved — " The number of bines trained
to each pole should be two or three, depending,
however, upon their present appearance and future
luxuriance." The great object being to select such
plants as promise to be healthy and most likely to
produce fruit ; care should be taken to remove such
bines as are hollow and unproductive. It was
unanimously agreed that this part of the cultivation
should be accurately timed, for if it be delaved until
the bine spreads along the ground, it is difficult to
change their creeping direction without injuring them;
at the same time it was considered advisable that
they should be sufficiently long to be attached to the
pole, without slanting them too much from the root.
It was also recommended that in cutting off the bines
that were rejected, one or more should be left to sup-
ply any deficiency that might be caused by accident
— these may be removed about Midsummer if they
should not be required. It was agreed that tbe plant
should be well rushed, particularly around the hot-
tern. The metting was also of opinion that as soon
as the bine is secured to the pole, the land cannot be
moved too frequently. The kerf, scuffler, and barr
rows, are in constant requisition in dry weather till
the first ploughing up, which should be given before
the midsummer, after which the kerf and harrow
should be again in use in order to keep the planta-
tion clear of weeds, and to obtain as fine a tilth as
possible previous to rowing up, which should take
place at this time. The second ploughing- should be
delayed as long as the the team can enter without
doing injury. The rows are afterwards to be '* spit-
tied" up and kept clear with a hoe.

Branching. — The removal of the lower branches
about a yard high from the ground must not be
neglected, care being taken that none of them be
covered in the rowing. Some planters prefer delay-
ing the completion of this process till the blossom is
fairly set.

Drawing the Poles. — The Club strongly recommen-
ded tl.euse ofhop-dogs in preference to hand-drawing
the poles, as they are less liable to be broken. It
was also agreed that laying them across the rows,
when cast from the crib; is better than placing them in
the reenes, the air drawing through them more freely,
and rendering them less likely to decay. At the
time of piling, which should be delayed as short a
time as possible, they should be carefully sharpened.
The best method of picking, curing, &c, was dis-
cussed at a meeting held in July last. At the next
meeting, on the 22nd instant, the subject selected for
discussion is — " The best method of managing and
rearing calves."

* a a Poles.

f c c c c c Poles.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

375

AYRSHIRE AGRICULTURAL AS-
SOCIATION.

A meeting of the committee of the General
Agricultural Association of Ayrshire, for the par-
pose of considering and reporting upon the various
matters undisposed of at last meeting, was held in
the Courthouse here on Tuesday, April 5tb, the
president of the society, Sir Chas. D. Fergusson,
Bart., in the chair.

THE ASSOCIATION'S ANNUAL SHOW.

It was resolved, after a full discussion, that the
annual show under the auspices of the association
should be held at Kilmarnock on the third Friday,
being the 20th day of May next, and that a depu-
tation of directors should be chosen to arrange
preliminaries, It was afterwards agreed that the
deputntion should he composed of all the directors
in the neighbourhood of Kilmarnock, W. H.
Craufurd, Esq., of Craufurdland, and Colonel
Kelso, of Dankeitu, chairmen.

A list of the premiums to be awarded at the show
was read by Mr. Ballantine, and a good deal
of discussion took place regarding those given for
dairy stock, and geldings, &c. The list, however,
was ultimately agreed to with some alterations.

It was intimated by Mr. Hamilton, Newhouse,
Kilmarnock, that the Kilmarnock Farmers' So-
ciety had agreed to give 51. in prizes, viz. :— 3/. to
the best five dairy cows from one stock, and 21.
to the second-best do., the winners of the Associ-
ation's prizes, with the exception ot the best dairy
cow, to be allowed to compete for the Kilmarnock
Society's prizes. After having been fully dis-
cussed it was agreed that as the conditions at-
tached to the prizes were such as to interfere with
the rules of the society, their adjustment should be
left to the deputation of directors at Kilmarnock,
who would meet previous to the show.

STALLIONS — SUFFOLK AND CLYDESDALE.
SIR JOHN A. CATHCART'S GIFT.

Sir Charles Fergusson said, that in compliance
with the request of the association, he had en-
tered into a correspondence with Sir John A.
Cathcart, in respect to the improvement of the
breed of horses. Sir John, after making sufficient
enquiry concerning the merits of the Suffolk
horse, wrote him (Sir Charles) as follows : —

" I have delayed answering your letter, until I
had ascertained from a friend of mine in Suffolk,
whether I could procure an animal of that breed.
* * * In regard to your question as to the
properties of the Suffolk horse, he is a thick-set,
compact, short-legged animal, and very active in
his paces. Whether he is the best cross for the
Ayrshire breed, I am not prepared to say, nor am
I bigotted to this breed of horses ; and if the so-
ciety agree that a Clydesdale stallion is preferable,
I will place 100 guineas at their disposal for the
purchase of one."

Several letters were read by the Secretary,
bearing on the question whether a Suffolk or a
Clydesdale stallion was best calculated to improve
the Ayrshire stock of horses. We append a few ex-
tracts from these communications : —

FROM W. M'ADAM, ESQ., BATH.

" 12th Feb., 1842.
" I was much surprised to see that at an agri-
cultural meeting in Ayrshire, last month, a pro-
posal was made to introduce the Suffolk horse as
a cross to the cart horse of the west of Scotland.

I perceive by last week's paper that some of the
Ayrshire farmers are also not quite satisfied of its
propriety. As a boy I was much among the
horses of the west of Scotland, and took much no-
tice of them and their powers from the year 1820.
I have been constantly employing cart horses on
the public roads in the north, and over great part
of England, and have turned my attention much
to the subject, the result of which is, that the best
animal for cart purposes in the United Kingdom is
the pure Clydesdale horse. The Suffolk punch is
capable of moving and standing under a very great
weight ; but he cannot, even without a load, move
above two miles and a half an hour without ex-
ceeding his natural pace, nor can he continue his
natural pace above eight hours out of the twenty-
four without injury to his health. They are never
used singly in this country ; and, when I insisted
on single-horse carts being used on the public
roads for economy, it caused the death of all the
horses of that breed, and we had to replace them
with horses crossed with carriage-horses, to in-
fuse into them some of that blood which the
Clydesdale horses possess naturally. It is a fact,
that the carting of materials for public roads is
done in Scotland at one-third less than in the
south of England, which I attribute partly to the
better description of cart, but principally to the
superior breed of cart-horses in Scotland."

FROM MR, liEOUGE HENDRIE, — — — -

" I consider the Suffolk horses first-rate drawers
in a cart, either single or double, but generally
they are slow. For ploughing they are not so
good as the Clydesdale breed. As for breeding, in
my opinion they do worse to cross with other
breeds than any kind of horses I know. If you
are going to have them, I would strongly recom-
mend your keeping the breed pure. Certainly
they are fine looking animals, and very easily
kept."

FROM W. M. FLEMING, ESQ., OF BARROCHAN.

" From what I have seen of the Suffolk horses,
I do not consider them at all equal to the Clydes-
dale breed for agricultural purposes ; and it ap-
pears to me that a cross with a Suffolk stallion
would be more likely to injure than to improve
our Ayrshire breed of horses."

Letters were also read from Mr. Campbell, of
Craigie ; Mr. Hamilton, of Rozelle; Mr. Ralston,
Dunduff; Mr. Hunter, Poteath; and Mr. Cunning-
hame, Lawfarm ; all, with th« exception of the
latter gentleman, unfavourable to the introduction
of the Suffolk stallion.

The opinion of Sir Charles D. Fergusson on
the question was as follows : — Considering the com-
parative want of information which we at present
labour under as to the qualities of the Suffolk
breed of horses, and, especially, how far they
might be suitable for the mode in which agricul-
tural labour in Scotland is conducted ; consider-
ing, further, that Mr. M'Adam, of Ballochmorrie,
who has had opportunities of forming a compara-
tive judgment of its usefulness for our purposes,
with which he is thoroughly acquainted, depre-
cates so strongly our introducing that breed into
the county ; and considering, moreover, that in
purchasing a thoroughly good Clydesdale stallion,
we can by no possibility commit any mistake ; lam
clearly of opinion that the latter of the two alterna-
tives proposed to us by Sir J. A. Cathcart ought
to be preferred, viz. — obtaining the one hundred
guineas for the purchase of a Clydesdale stallion.

376

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I know nothing about the Suffolk stallion myself.
The alternative now mentioned by Sir John did
not occur to him until the doubt had been sug-
gested, in consequence of what I had stated at the
meeting, whether the Suffolk would be suitable.

Mr. Ralston, of Dunduff, for various reasons,
and from what knowledge he could glean respect-
ing the merits ot the two breeds, was inclined to
believe that if the Suffolk horses were such as he
had heard them represented to be, they possessed
many faults that were already too prominent in
our draught horses.

The Marquis of Bute said, in as far as he
had been enabled to judge of the respective merits
of the two breeds, he should be decidedly in fa-
vour of the Clydesdale.

Mr. Hamilton, of Carcluie, said that in Sussex
it had been thought proper, for the improvement
of the breed, to get a Clydesdale horse for that
purpose, which was certainly to be considered as
a very favourable sign of their superior quality.

Mr. Wylie had had opportunities of seeing the
Suffolk horses. They were large and very power-
ful animals, and had many good points ; still he
was in favour of the Clydesdale. He had once re-
marked a very fine team in Suffolk, but on enquiry
he found it to be composed of Clydesdale horses.
(Laughter.)

Mr. Tennant was of opinion that the society
should go to Flanders for a horse, as no other
breed was likely to work the so much desired im -
piovement. Col. Fullarton's, of which mention
had been made at a former meeting, was a Flemish
horse, and had made a great improvement on the
Ayrshire stock. As the Clydesdale breed had
their origin in Flanders, it was his(Mr.Tennant's)
opinion that the only course the society could pur-
sue, with the certainty of a beneficial result, was
to procure a Flemish horse instead of a Clydes-
dale one, in whom they would find all the good
points of the latter, with many better besides.

Mr. Hamilton, of Carcluie, had seen the Fle-
mish horses at work, and admired the strength
and agility they possessed. He had often seen a
team of horses drawing a heavy load of wheat,
and they went invariably at a trot. It was his
opinion that they were invaluable as agricultural
animals, possessing strength, symmetry, and
weight, in a superior degree. lie thought Mr.
Tennant's suggestion was good, and, if followed
out, would have the effect of greatly improving the
Ayrshire stock generally.

It was suggested by Sir Charles Fergusson
that the discussion regarding the propriety of
introducing a Flemish horse should be adjourned
until Sir John Cathcart should be consulted on
the subject. It might be taken up at next meet-
ing, and in the interval all information respecting
the question which could be obtained, ought then
to be brought forward. As nothing could be done
this season in procuring a stallion, he thought that
deferring the consideration of the question would
rather be advantageous. Agreed to.

On the motion of the Marquis of Bute, se-
conded by Mr. Ballantine, of Castlehill, the
thanks of the association were unanimously given
to Sir John A. Cathcart for his very handsome
present.

Mr. M'Murtrie, the secretary, intimated that
202. had been given by a member of the associa-
tion, to be distributed In prizes for the best
cleaned farms. The premiums to be competed for
next season.

ON THE COMPARATIVE ADVAN-
TAGES OF RAW AND BOILED
GRAIN AS FOOD FOR FARM-
HORSES.

BY MR. JAMES COWIE, HALKERTON MAINS, KIN-
CARDINESHIRE.

Prize Essay of the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland.

(twenty sovereigns.)

Before proceeding to the more practical part of
the subject, I would observe, in regard to experi-
ments generally, that they cannot be conducted on
too extensive a scale, because, when unforseen dif-
ficulties and inexplicable anomalies present them-
selves, which often happen in the circumstances,
they may be regarded as probable casualties, which
do not affect the general results. Acting on this im-
pression, I put nearly the whole horses in my pos-
session on the experimental feeding desired, viz.,
four on each of three farms I occupy. They were
divided into three sets, in the following manner : —

FIRST SET.

Two horses fed on cut barley and beans mixed.
Two do. on same quantity and quality boiled.
Ages of these were 4, 11 ; 11, 10, years.

SECOND SET.

Two horses fed on raw oats and beans.
Two do. on boiled do. do.

Ages of these were 8, 11 ; 11, 12, years.

THIRD SET.

Two horses fed on raw oats.
Two do on boiled do.

Ages of these were 7, 9 ; 9, 10, years.

The barley and beans were given in the propor-
tion of four of barley to one of beans. Having no
bruising cylinders, I bad the grain «<t at a meal-
mill. It was soaked, or steeped in water, for twelve
hours, before being given to the horses ; but no more
water was applied than what was necessary simply
to damp the mixture. Each horse received a peck,
or about sixteen pounds of grain daily, with oat-
straw. The weight of the barley was 50lb., and
that of the oats 421b. per bushel. The object of the
Highland Society being to ascertain " the compara-
tive merits of raw and boiled grain," I resolved, in
selecting the particular kinds ©f grain for the expe-
riment, to use those on which horses are usually
fed, as more reliance on the results would probably
then be placed by the generality of farmers.

It ma)' not be improper here to remark, that, pre-
vious to the experiments, I was in the practice of
giving my horses one feed each alternately of raw,
cut, and boiled grain daily, so that none of them had
the disadvantage of a sudden change of diet. In
arranging the horses for experiment, I divided them
according to their tendency to keep in good, or fall
into bad condition when hard-worked, as carefully
and impartially as I could. At the same time I had
reason to believe that, in making tho selection, an
advantage was given, from certain causes, in favour
of those on the boiled grain. At each of the three
farms I appointed a man to take charge of serving
out the food for the horses, and I promised him as
well as the other horsemen, a gratuity, should my
directions be scrupulously followed. Having satis-
fied myself with the preliminary arrangements, my
greatest difficulty consisted in the mode by which the
relative condition of the horses at the beginning and
end of the experiments might be ascertained. To

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

377

Lave judged from tbe appearance of the animals,
however carefully observed, would have been, at
best, but guess-work ; and to have measured them
would have been liable to error, from various causes.
The difference between tbe first and second mea-
surements might have been so trifling, or so great,
that no satisfactory deduction could have been
drawn as to the amount of improvement, or extent of
falling off, in the animal, during the course of tbe
experiments; especially when we take into account
the impossibility of thereby ascertaining the internal
increase or decrease of tbe fatty and other matter.

To avoid all these sources of deception and mis-
calculation, I resolved upon having the horses
weighed, as tbe best mode by which their condition,
and consequently the precise effect of the different
preparations of tbe grain, could be ascertained. For
this purpose they were weighed in a public weigh-
ing machine, about the first of March, when they
were severally put upon the experimental feeding ;
and again, about tbe beginning of May, at which
time they were taken off it; a period which, both in
regard to length, and as comprehending nearly all
the season of hard work, afforded ample opportunity
for a satisfactory test. Each set of horses on tbe
three farms was kept at the same kind of work — one
man working a pair fed differently, so that no favour-
itism should be purposely or unintentionally exer-
cised by any party towards the horses, either in their
food or their work.

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By this table the results were as follows : —
Total loss of weight of 6 horses cwt.q>\ lb,

fed on boiled grain 3 2 27

Total loss of weight on cwt.qr. lb.

4 horses fed on raw do. 2 0 15

Deduct gain by cwt.qr. lb.

one horse.. . 0 0 10
Same state one do. 0 0 0

0 0 10

2

5

0

2 14 nearly

Average loss on each horse fed on
boiled grain 0

Average loss on each horse fed on raw

grain, bruised and unbruised 0 1 12 do.

The girths of the horses were taken, but it is not
deemed necessary to state them. One or two of the
horses fed on boiled grain perspired rather more in
their work than tbe others, and they drank less wa-
ter. Their dung was a little softer in consistence,
but there was no tendency " to purge or become
washy." The four horses fed on barley were more
severely worked than the others, and therefore re-
quired the heavier grain.

It will be seen that horse No. 10 lost only 51b.,
although fed the same as tbe other three. This is
accounted for by the fact, that he usually keeps in
better condition than any of the others. If he is left
out of the calculation, it is found that the average
weight lost on both sets of horses, the one fed on un-
bruised raw, and the other on boiled grain, is so strik-
ingly near, that, were tbe one condition of food as
easily and economically supplied as the other, it
would not matter which was used. The expence,
however, independent of the trouble of boiling tbe
grain, amounting to about l^d. on two feeds for each
horse, is such as to render it unadvisable to employ
other than raw grain. It is a fact, no doubt, that
considerable quantities of grain given in a raw un*
prepared state pass undigested, which afterwards af-
ford food to birds and fowls, or grow on being put
into the ground, as I myself have experienced ; but
it is equally true, that much of what is boiled likewise
passes undigested, though perhaps not in the same
proportion. The moist and slippery condition of
boiled grain makes it easily swallowed without much
mastication ; and tbe pyloric orifice of the stomach
leading into the intestines being always open, the
grain passes through the stomach before the gastric
juice has time to extract the nourishment from it.
Besides, it is possible that the farinaceous or saccha-
rine matter in tbe grain may in some way be injured
during tbe process of boiling, and its nutritive pro-
perties thereby lessened. The same objection applies
to the steaming of grain for food, as both seem to re-
semble each other in their faults and properties. Mr.
Stewart, an excellent writer on veterinary subjects,
says, " It is matter of indifference whether it be
cooked by steam or water."

From these considerations, suggested as they have
been by the similar effects which boiled and raw un-
bruised grain have in supporting horses, I would call
attention to tbe mode of bruising the grain, in prefer-
ence to either of the ways above described. The
busk of oats is a very obdurate integument. It is al-
most, if not altogether, indigestible ; and it is, more-
over, not subject, in tbe form of " sheeled seeds'*
from the meal-mill, to decomposition, aud has not,
therefore, been applied to any useful purpose as ma-
nure. Why most innkeepers and others prefer to give
to their horses oats having a strong thick husk, can-
not be accounted for on any principle that can coun-
terbalance the circumstance, that husks, being indi-
gestible, are go much useless matter to animals. The

378 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

thinner the husks and the larger the kernel, the more are accustomed ; and a trial of any of the plans could

nourishment must the grain possess. easily be made on this side of the Tweed.

Mr. Stewart, in speaking of the waste of grain The ordinary grains on which farm-horses are fed
from indigestion, says, — " In some horses, the quan- in Angus, Kincardine, Aberdeen, and the northern
tity that passes off entire is very considerable: it has counties, are barley and oats. Beans and peas are
been estimated at one-sixth of all Unit is eaten. But not inuidi used, probably because they are but parti-
the quantity is not certain, and there is seldom such a ally cultivated. Barley, a feed of which is usually
loss as this." I am of opinion that the estimate is quite given daily, is boiled along with potatoes or turnips;
within the mark. I have already stated, that with the oats are most frequently given without any pre-
the exception of one, those horses which were ted on paration. Barley, by itself, has been objected to,
boiled aud unprepared raw grnin lost in weight dur- perhaps without proper trial. Professor Dick says,
ing the two months which the experiments lasted, that it " either purges or deranges the stomach." I
about 70lb. each ; while the two horses which had cannot altogether coincide in this opinion, as I have
cut grain show a very different lesult, one horse hav- occasionally fed my horses on barley entirely, with-
ing retained his weight, and the other improved it by out observing any of the bad symptoms alluded to. A
101b. 701b. weight either added to, or subtracted change of food, however, is considered by pbysio-
from, an animal of 10 or 12 cwt., has a considerable logists desirable fur preserving tbe proper tone of the
effect both on his appearance and actual condition, stomach. It is certainly agreeable to the human pa-
Prom previous observation and recent calculation, I late, and should perhaps be also to that of the brute,
am convinced that the saving would be very const- Barley, oats, or beans, may be given separately or
derable, were the practice adopted of bruising or mixed. Yellow or Swedish turnips make an excel-
cuttiug grain to horses, instead of boiling or giving lent addition, aud most horses are very fond of them
it whole. Reckoning the loss by boiling or giving when given in a raw state.

the grain whole, at one-sixth,* we have a saving, by Before concluding, it mav be proper to remark,

bruising the corn, on each horse receiving 16 lb. that the bruised, and especially the cut grain, will

daily, of nearly 3 qrs. annually; which, on seven not keep long in the open air, as it absorbs moisture,

horses in that period, amounts to upwards of 20 and becomes musty, in which state horses refuse to

qrs., or the value, when converted into money, of an eat it. A week's exposure in damp weather will

ordinary farm horse. more or less injure it. It is known that, in order to

It is impossible, in the limits of this paper, to en- keep oatmeal safely, it is put into a " girnel," and

ter fully into the inquiry respecting the most proper well tramped down. The same plan must be followed

and economical food I for farm -horses ; I shall there- with cut or bruised grain, when prepared in large

fore only add a few remarks. quantities ; but it cannot be so firmly pressed together

In a communication with which Mr. Karkeek, an as .meal, and, consequently, the air is not so effectu-

eminent veterinarian, favoured me, he says, — "That ally excluded as may be required. The better plan,

in an English Farmers' Society of which I atria mem- as far as convenience will permit, is uot to bruise

ber, the subject of the cost of keeping farm-horses more than can be soon consumed,

during the winter was introduced, and the followiug The cutting of hay and straw is not practised in

experiments were tried. The calculations are made any agricultural establishment that I know of. Un-

for a single horse per day. less the straw-cutter were to be attached to the ma-
chinery of the thrashing-mill, and driven along with

No.l. d. it (which could be easily done), farmers generally

101b. chaffed straw, at 1/. per ton 1 would not be willing to bestow so much manual la-

101b. of oats, at 3s. per bush 9 bour as would be required. The process of cutting,

161b. of turnips, at 10s. per ton 1 giving sufficient quantities of the cut material to the

Expence of cutting and chaffing 0£ horses so as they may neither waste nor want, keep-

ing the manger clean, &3., are all supposed to in-

Hj volve a degree of trouble which not many farm-ser-

No.2. vants would be disposed to encounter.

161b. hay, at 3s. 6d. per cwt 6 The actual saving on cutting hay, and the labour

olb. of oats, at 3s. | er bush 4£ spared the horses in mastication, have been found to

161b. of turnips, at 10s. per ton 1 be very considerable ; and I do not despair of seeing

ultimately brought into practice, in every well regu-

**i lated farm-establishment, both this and the bruising

No. 3. of oats ; believing with Professor Dick, that, before

'28lb. of steamed turnips 3| foocl can yield proper nourishment to the animal, it is

71b. ol'ooals at Is. per bush 1 necessary that it be miriutely brokeh down and cooked

Expence of steaming 0.i either naturally or artificially. This must be done

161b. of straw, at 1/. per ton i£ before digestion can take place ; and the more effec-

"- tually we do this, the more easily and completely will

6§:* the nutritive parts which the food contains be taken

He adds-" I can speak positively to the feci, that I j4? the system, and by thus almost avoiding the possi-

have known the last plan, No. 3, pursued, and to sue- blllty of waste> tl)e a>llnlal wl11 be supported in tbe

ceed remarkably well. It is true, that the horses same condition at less cost.

perspired considerably while at work, but they kept J have °nly t0 express a hope, that my observations

their condition exceedingly well. I have introduced and experiments may be instrumental in drawing at-

these three plans, because they were highly recom- tentlon t0 a subJect oa wh,ch X ,,ave ""m"0'1 anxl"

mended by several practical farmers." ety> and bestowed much pains. It is desirable that a

These details are worthy of consideration. The little more attention be devoted to improving the con-
whole three methods, more especially tbe last, are on ih^0Jt> a"d addln? t0 ,he comfort, of the often abused
a less expensive scale than almost any to which we too much neglected, and noblestot allour domesticated
_ 1 quadrupeds ; whose docility, active habits, strength,

* I have heard Some practical men estimate the and endurance, render him so available to the pur-

loss at £d. or \\h. poses of the agriculturist.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

379

ON DRAINING.

Sin, — The modes of draining practised by seve-
ral of your correspondents, and the conclusions
drawn from its effects, entirely differ from that I
endeavoured to explain in ray letter inserted in
your Journal of April, 1841, page 289, to which
the letters of " Not at all an Upright Drainer"
and " Cin'cinnatus," in your Journal for this
month, particularly call my attention. The point
on which we are at issue as regards the position
of the drains, appears in some respects to be from
an indiscriminate application of one system to all
soils ; a conclusion which I draw from the general
want of a description of the soil in the letters of
your correspondents, without which we evidently
are at a loss in endeavouring to solve the diffi-
culty, the basis on which alone we can raise an
argument being deficient. Of the several different
systems of draining that I have seen, all may, I
think, be placed under two heads. The draining
of springs, or those lands where the water shows
itself on the surface in large bodies, or in marked
and easily defined positions, which is generally
termed Elkington's system ; and that of land more
evenly wet, where there is a continual oozing of
water, and from the position of the substrata no
probable rise can be named for its origin, but
passes in an evenly diffuse. 1 manner by gravitation
and capillary attraction from extensive beds of
earth over the whole or parts of fields, which may
be termed the frequent drain system, though in a
very different sense from its common acceptation,
both as regards the frequency and depth of the
drains, the system to which I more particularly
allude being that described in the letter referred
to. Taking an extensive view of the question,
the former system I should deem most often ap-
plicable to soils lying on the primitive, and the
latter to those on the tertiary formations ; or in
rather more definite terms, the former to those
soils lying on extensive beds of rocky or porous
strata, and the latter to those on mixed subsoils,
through which the water cannot pass in large
bodies, the varying nature and inclination of the
layers forming numberless filtrating channels in
which it is dispersed : these soils being by far the
most mixed, or what is provincially termed
" horsed," precluding in most instances the pos-
sibility of " cutting off water" by horizontal
drains, but there are of course exceptions, and by
experience alone can we hope to hit the right
mode. I have frequently seen in the same field both
' systems required, and when done followed with
equally fortunate results. I would not be under-
stood, in making these remarks, to in the least de-
gree affect the opinions given in my former letter,
but merely in reference to the enlarged view, for
the sake of argument, I now take of the subject.
I trust those who may have an opportunity of in-
specting both the upright and the horizontal me-
thods, either on their own or their neighbours'
land (provided it be effectually done, and at a
proper depth), as this is the best season of the
year for observing the benefit, will narrowly
watch the effect; and I would suggest that any of
your correspondents who may favour your readers
with their opinions bear in mind little good can
result from them, with respect to the position of
the drains, unless they give a description of the
soil, its inclination, the nature of the subsoil, and
the position of the layers to the depth at least of
the drains, the mote deep the better, should any

casual circumstance give an opportunity of ob-
serving them. By this means the attention of
many would be drawn to the subject, and I think
much good would result, although I do not anti-
cipate the possibility, considering the diversity of
opinion, of arriving at anything like a general de-
finite plan, according to the soil to be drained. I
do not say this in reference to any particular sys-
tem, but rather to a want of all system in the
general drainage of the country, arising chiefly, I
think, from not comparing the different modes
with the soil drained, by looking only at the sur-
face, and not examining the subsoil, and often by
allowing preconceived opinions to bias the judg-
ment and prevent the mind calmly deliberating on
the matter. It is certain if a field be wet we
cannot put in a drain of any description at any
place but it must do good, at least for a time ; and
with this many are satisfied — their plan has an-
swered, and they seek not whether the work, if
done in a different manner, might not have been
more effectual, more permanent, and perhaps not
more but less expensive.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
April litk, 1842. Agricultor.

NEW PATENTS. — Joseph Cooke Grant, of
Stamford, ironmonger and agricultural implement
maker, for improvement*; in horse-rakes arid hoes. —
Enrolment Office, March 8, 1842.— This improved
horse-rake consists of a short, but very wide quadran-
gular frame, mounted on a pair of wheels, and drawn
by shafts in the usual manner. Within the frame a
series of arms are placed side by side, throughout its
whole width ; each of the arms is driven into a cast
iron socket, and a bolt passing through the whole forms
a joint or axle on which they are free to vibrate. At
the opposite end of the arms is placed a carved tine or
tooth, the curve being continuous, and nearly con-
formable to the are described by the end of the arm.
Each of the arms is connected with a beam lying along
above them, and resting on suitable stops, by means of
short chain links or other free connexion, so that when
this beam is lifted, it raises the whole of the arms and
tines. This beam is attached to a pair of levers moving
on fulcra attached to the framework of the machine ;
the inner extremities or ends of the levers being at-
tached by means of connecting-rods to a second lever
or lever*, which are jointed to the front of the machine,
and passing over the whole, terminate in a handle
behind it. On pressing down this handle, the second
system of levers is acted upon, which raises the beam,
and with it the arms and tines or teeth of the rake,
which, from their peculiar curved form, readily free
themselves from any accumulations of hay, straw, &c.
A catch is provided for holding up the teeth when the
rake is travelling from one field to another. The horse-
hoe is constructed in a similar manner to the foregoing-,
the hoes taking the place of the tines or teeth and being
elevated in the same way. The elaim is — 1. To the
mode of connecting the arms of horse-rakes with the
axi-;( by applying the combination of cast iron sockets,
as described. 2. To combining the independent arm*
of horse-rakes with curved tines or teeth. 3. To the
application of the combined motion of two le\ers
working on different axes, in combination with the long
bar, 10 facilitate the lifting of the tines or teeth of horse-
rakes. 4. To the application of a lever to horse-rakes,
when so connected with a bar for raising the tines or
teeth, as to require the lever to be depressed in order
to lift the tines or teeth. 5. To the mode of applying
the compound lever action to the bar of a horse- hoe,
having independent amis as above described.

380

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

The Council assembled for the first time at the So-
ciety's new residence, 12, Hanover-square, on Wednes-
day, the 6ih of April, when a Monthly Meeting- was
held: present— His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
X.G.. in the Chair; Marquis of Downshire, K.P. ; Hon.
Robert Henry Clive, M.P. ; Henry Blanshard, Esq. ;
French Burke, Esq. ; Colonel Challoner ; James Dean,
Esq.; Humphrey Gibbe, Esq.; William Goodenough
Hayter, Esq., M.P. ; C. Hillyard, Esq. ; W. Kisher
Hobbs, Esq. ; Samuel Jonas, Esq. ; John Kinder,
Esq. ; George Kimberley, Esq., and William Shaw,
Esq.

Arrears of Subscription.

Colonel Challoner, Chairman of the Finance Com-
mittee, laid before the Council a list of the member* of
the Soeiety, whose subscriptions were in arrear for the
years 1838,1839, and 1840; and having stated that
two letters had been addressed to each of those gentle-
men—the first from the Council, and a subsequent one
from the Finance Committee, without effect, the Coun-
cil unanimously resolved : —

" That the President should be requested to address
a final letter to each defaulter, and in case of failure on
such application, that legal steps should be immediately
instituted for the recovery of these arrears."

Colonel Challoner reported the amount of capital
invested in the Funds as 6,711/., and the current cash
balance in the hands of the Society's bankers as 1,354/.

Meeting at Bristol.
The Duke of Richmond, as Chairman of the General
Bristol Committee, reported to the Council, that agree-
ably with the resolution of the Council at a former
meeting, the Committee had directed the insertion of
advertisements in seven of the London and six of
the Bristol paper* ; and having taken the result ob-
tained by that public notice into their mature conside-
ration, they had unanimously resolved to reeommend
to the Council that Mr. Manning's offer to execute the
whole of the works connected with the Pavilion ana
Show-yards at Bristol for the sum of 1,920/., including
all the various improvements suggested by Sir Robert
Smirke and Mr. Dean, should be accepted by the

Council. .. , . _ ...

The Chairman having detailed to the Council the
various points of this subject, which had engaged the
attention of the Committee, and enumerated the peculiar
difficulties attendant on the undertaking at the present
moment, the Council unanimously resolved : —

"That Mr. Manning of 251, High Holborn, should
be engaged to erect the Pavilion and Show-yards for
the Meeting at Bristol, and that the Secretary should
be authorised to enter into the required contract with
Mr. Manning to this effect on the part of the Society.

Insurance.

The Duke of Richmond also Lid before the Council
the Report of the House Committee, detailing the
progress of their proceedings in fulfilling the intentions
of the Council, communicated to them at a previous
Meeting, and concluding with a recommendation that,
at the proper time, an insurance should be effected on
the house and property of the Society, in the Farmers'
Insurance Institution.

On the motion of the Duke of Richmond, seconded
by Colonel Challoner, it was then resolved unani-
mously— .

" That the Society's house and property in Hanover-
square should be insured at the Farmers' Insurance
Institution, 346 a, Strand, London."

Arranoement of Documents.

Colonel Challoner gave notice of his intention to
move at the next Monthly Council, the adoption of the
following resolution ;-• .

" That the Journal Committee be requested, at their

first Meeting, to direct the placing of all Papers which
the Council may have referred to the said Committee,
and not used for the Journal, to be put into covers, and
laid upon the table in the Council chamber for the peru-
sal of the Members of the Council."

Publication of Prize-Essays.

On the motion of Mr. Shaw, the following resolution
was unanimously agreed to by the Council ; —

"That the Journal Committee be requested to take
into their consideration the propriety of directing that
all Prize-Essays shall be published in the Journal
immediately after the prizes have been awarded.''

Classification of Books, Specimens, etc
On the motion of Mr. Fisher Hobbs, the following
resolution was unanimously passed ; —

" That the House Committee be requested to class and
arrange all Books, Papers, Implements, Models,
Seeds, &c. for the inspection of the Members; and
that an alphabetical list be made of the same for
general reference."

Specimens of Wheat.
Colonel Le Couteur, of Belle Vue, Jersey, trans-
mitted to the Council a present of twenty-eight speci-
mens of wheat arranged in glass cases, and intended to
form a consulting index for the Council room. The
Council received these specimens, with their best
thanks to Colonel Le Couteur, and directed the cases
to be arranged with those of the specimens of diseased
wheat, presented to the Society by Professor Henslow,
at their last December Meeting, under the directions of
the House Committee.

Samples of German Wool.
Captain Stanley Carr, an Honorary Member of
the Society, residing in the Duchy of Lauenburg, trans-
mitted to the Society, through the President, an inte-
resting collection of specimens of wool taken from the
fleeces exhibited at Doberan in autumn last, at the
great meeting of German Agriculturists, which Mr.
Handley had attended, as the representative of the
Society. These specimens, classed and described by
M. Jeppe, of Rostock, amount to 368 in number, and
are beautifully arranged (on glazed black card-board)
according to assortment of fleece, degree of fineness of
wool, and loss of weight on washing, as well as ac-
companied by the name of the owner, the weight and
value of the fleeces, and other interesting particulars,
contained in M. Jeppe's Memoir of their illustration,
presented to the Council by Mr. Handley, at a previous
meeting:— the mode in which these specimens are se-
lected, and the general schedule of the arrangements
on this head laid down for exhibitors at the meetings
of the German Society, having been translated and
published in a recent number of " The Farmer's Ma-
gazine."

Spurrey and Flax Seeds.
Mr. Philip Barnes, of the Royal Botanic Society,
presented some New Zealand Flax Seeds (with the pod),
and also a supply of Spurrey Seed (of the smooth-seeded
variety) ; transmitting at the same time the following
account of Spurrey : —

"Spurrey (in Latin Spergula, French Sperne, Flemish
Spuvrie, and German Spergel) is a plant of !he Lin-
nsean class Decandria, and order Pentagynia, the
rough-seeded Spurrey being termed botanically" Sper-
gula arvensis," and the smooth-seeded " Spergula
pentandria." Spurrey derives its name " Sper-
gula'' from the Latin word spurgere, which
signifies " to scatter," because it scatters its seeds
abroad, to the great profit of the farmer in Holland,
who obtains from it meadows affording the most
delicious butter. The rough-seeded Spurrey is a com-
mon weed in sandy soils, and is in Scotland called
" yarr," and in Norfolk " pick-purse." In the Nether-
lands, and in Germany, it is sown on loam stubble, to
supply a bite for sheep during winter. It may be sown
and reaped in eight weeks, either in Autumn or Spring.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

381

It is said to enrich the milk of cows, so as to make it
afford excellent butter ; and the mutton from sheep fed
on it is preferable to that from sheep fed on turnips.
Poultry eat Spurrey greedily, and it is supposed to make
them lay a great number of eggs, whether given as hay
or cut green, or in pasture. Von Thaer observes, that
it is the most nouriihing, in proportion to its bulk, of
all forage, and gives the best flavoured milk and butter.
It has been recommended to be cultivated in England,
but it is not likely that such a plant can ever pay the
expence of seed and labour in this country, even on the
poorest soil ; or, at all events, as Professor Martyn
observes, we have many better plants for such soils."

The Council returned their thanks to Mr. Barnes for
these seeds and communication, and requested Mr.
Gibb» to test the merits oi the seeds by proper cultiva-
tion, and report to them the result.

Annual Country Meeting of 1844.

The Mayor of Southampton, (Peter Dickson, Esq.)
transmitted, through Mr. Cuthbert Johnson, and on
the part ef the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the
Council of the Borough of Southampton, the offer of
Southampton Common, consisting of more than 300
acres, for the purposes of the great Annual Meeting of
the Royal Agricultural Society ot England to be held in
one of the South Eastern counties of the kingdom, in
the year 1844 ; and was authorized by the Corporation
to assure the Council of the Society that they would
feel happy in affording every facility and assistance in
reference to the arrangements for that meeting ; the
town of Southampton being well known for the
excellent accommodation of its hotels and lodging
houses, and the Common, (of which the Corporation
were Lords of the Manor) only a short distance from
the town, and most beautifully situated : having all the
advantages of the South Western Railway, with its
luggage and cattle trains of all descriptions, as well as
the first class trains for conveyance of passengers from
London to Southampton, in the short space of three
hours.

The Mayor concluded his communication by assuring
the Council, that should they be pleased to select
Southampton for the honourable distinction of
the great meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society
in 1844, it would afford the Mayor and Corporation of
that town the greatest gratification.

The Council directed their best thanks to be returned
to the Mayor of Southampton for this communication,
and a copy of their resolution of Dec. 8, 1841, at the
same time transmitted to him, explanatory of the points
of information required by the Council, prior to their
taking into consideration the claims of any particular
town in a district as the place to be selected for the
annual meeting.

Colonial Agriculture.

Titus Smith, Esq., Secretary of the Central Board of
Agriculture of Nova Scotia, transmitted to the Council
a highly interesting Report of their proceedings made
to the legislature of that province, on the 12th of Febru-
ary last, at their first annual meeting ; at the same time
announcing, that they had on that occasion elected
the Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England as one of their Corresponding Members.

Joseph Templeman, Esq., Secretary to the Agricul-
tural Society of Newfoundland, transmitted to the
Council a communication on the part of that
Society, recently formed under the auspices of
his Excellency Sir John Harvey, the Governor ol the
island, detailing the objects and regulations of the new
institution, and expressing a desire to open, as soon as
possible, a communication with the Royal Agricultural
Society of England ; accompanying this request with
various documents on topics connected with the
capabilities of Newfoundland, in an agricultural point
of view.

William Evans, Esq., of Montreal, one of the Edi-
tors of the " British-American Cultivator," a periodical
work established for the improvement of Canadian

Agriculture, and published monthly at Toronto, trans-
mitted to the Society the two first parts of that publi-
cation, with a promise of the continued supply of the
future parts of the work as long as he was connected
with its direction, expressing the interest which he felt
on the subject of effecting such a communication with
the Society as would enable him to diffuse throughout
that portion of the British dominions the improvements
in agricultural theory and practice ascertained and pub-
lished through the medium of the Society.

The whole of these communications were then re-
ferred to the consideration of the Duke of Richmond,
with a request that he would favour the Council with a
report on the various topics to which they related.

Bones on Grass-Lands.
Sir John W. Lubbock, bart., V.P.R.S., having called
the attention of the Council to the importance of an
exact acquaintance with the circumstances under which
bones are applied as a manure to grass-lands, Mr.
Edward Billyse, of Haywood Farm, Cheshire, the
author of a communication on this subject, addressed
to the Marquis of Downshire, and published in the
second volume of the Society's Journal (page 91),
favoured the Council with the following additional in-
formation on this subject : —

"When the landlord furnishes the bones, the land
manured with them ought not to be mown after the
first year. The bones which the landlord supplies his
tenant wiih for his pasture-land are expected to retain
their fertilizing powers for upwards of 20 years ; and,
reckoning the money so expended at 4 per cent., and
the interest charged to the tenant 7 per cent., the land-
lord gets his principal paid back in about 2l£ years ;
and his land will then, I may venture to say, be 20 per
cent, better than when the bones were first applied.
But this would not be the case if the land was mown ;
eight or nine crops of hay would exhaust the bones,
and it would not, therefore, answer to the landlord to
furnish them for mowing lands excepting at such a rate
of interest as would pay him back his capital in eight
years ; and I should not advise it then, for in the event
of the tenant quitting the farm after having taken five
or |six crops of hay, it would be hard upon the new
tenant to have to pay the same for the last two or three
crops. It is when the tenant pays for tte bones that
I recommend them for mowing lands.

" The reason I give for advising that no stock should
be allowed to feed upon the land the year bones are
applied is, that the boues may get-iu well and soon,
as they do little or no good, so long as they remain
above ground. On the very poor lands, hard stocked,
they will not all disappear for two or three years. If
the bones are applied at the end of April, and the land
is not too poor to produce a crop of hay, I would mow
it the first year; and if applied at the end of August,
or at the latest at the beginning of September, then put
no stock on the land the following spring.

" The grasses I should recommend to seed land down
with, that is intended for bones, are the following: —
Dutch Cloverseed, 5lbs. ; Ril Grass-seed, 5lbs. ; Mea-
dow Fescue, 5lbs. ; Sweet Vernal, 3lbs. ; and Peren-
nial Rye Grass, 1 peck : to the statute acre. These are
the grasses which the Cheshire pastures are chiefly
composed of. Our principal stock are Dairy Cow3."

The best thanks of the Council were ordered to Mr.
Billyse for this communication.

New Barometer.
George Dollond, Esq., F.R.S., of St. Paul's
Church Yard, submitted to the inspection of the Coun-
cil an improved barometer for ascertaining the changes
of atmospheric pressure. The improvement effected by
Mr. Dollond in this important meteorological instru-
ment, not only obviates many of the common diffi-
culties incidental to mountain-barometers, and when
out of use and packed up becomes as firm and secure as
a walking-stick, but it embraces in its construction
many of the advantages of the stationary barometer or
weather-glass, as an indicator of changes taking place

;J32

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in the weight of the atmosphere. This improvement is
chiefly attained by a most ingenious contrivance in the
arrangement of the mercurial cistern, and the applica-
tion, for the first time, of an air-tight stop-cock, for
regulating the passage of the mercury into the cistern,
or enclosing it securely within the tube.

Mr. Dollond states the following as Ihe principal
advantages resulting from this arrangement : —

1. A true and certain state of altitude in the column
of the mercury from the highest to the lowest situa-
tion on the globe, without the necessity of applying
the uncertain and tedious corrections required in
ordinary barometers.

2. The uniformity of the observations, arising from the
free and unobstructed condition of the mercury ; all
the advantages of the open cistern barometer being
ihus attained without the attendant difficulty of
arranging the starting point of measure.

3. The enure exclusion of air from the inner tube or
cistern, and the consequent preservation of the sur-
surface of the mercury Irom oxidation.

4. The application of this new arrangement is capable
of application to barometers of any diameter, and
with exclusive advantages obtained by no other mode.

5. The perfect security in carriage, when the barometer
is either out of use, or required to be conveyed from
place to place.

The Council ordered their best thanks to Mr. Dollond
for the favour of this inspection.

On Feeding and Keeping Hoggets.
Samuel Robinson, Esq., Secretary to the VVrentbam
Farmer's Club, communicated to the Council the fol-
lowing result of a discussion at a recent meeting of that
club on the subject of feeding and keeping Hoggets or
Tegs during the winter months so as to prevent loss
from dropping: — " The gentleman introducing the
quevtiou, who had in former years been a frufferer to a
great extent from the above cause, had recently
adopted the plan of drawing his turnips two or three
day* previously to being used, and he was induced to
believe the system had proved effectual, as since having
pursued it, he had lost none on lands where in past
seasons his loss had been very great. It was, how-
ever, objected that this system was not decidedly
practicable, as it could not be generally adopted, par-
ticularly in frosty weather, and it was thought that as
much soil would be eaten with the food when the
turnips were drawn previously, as there would be if
allowed to remain in the ground. Another instance
was stated, in which no losses had occurred for several
years ; and here the plan adopted was that of allowing
the sheep to range on stubbles or pastures for a few
hours during the day. In many of the subsequent
statements made, the evidence was so conflicting that no
satisfactory conclusion could be arrived at, as the same
method of keeping had frequently in different cases
produced entirely different results ; high keeping had
invariably been productive of the greatest losses, and
it is rather remarkable that hoggets, badly kept, are
seldom subject to this disease. The land in the above
instances was considered quite sound for feeding
sheep, a portion being a good mixed soil, and in some
ca*es the greatest losses had been experienced on the
best land?. The system of feeding in troughs, recently
introduced here, had also failed a« a preventive, and
one gentleman who had adopted it had lost a great
number of his hoggets. A proportion of chaff or other
dry food is almost invariably given. The prevailing
opinion appeared to be that the principal cause of
dropping was from an excess of fluid in the gall, but
commonly called ' overflowing of the gall,' producing
scouring, and causing the death of the animal in a very
short time. These observations would apply more
particularly to hoggets, as but little loss from the above
cause was often sustained in keeping older sheep.— Not
havin"- the advantage of professional assistance at the
meeting, and in the absence of sufficient information on
the subject, the Club hoped that the Council of the Royal
Agricultural Society would be able, through their Vete-
rinarian Professor, to point out some specific remedy, as

a preventive to the serious losses frequently sustained
in that neighbourhood either by an improved method of
feeding, or some particular treatment, that would not
materially affect the condition of the animal."

The Council voted their best thanks to the Wren-
tham Farmers' Club for this communication, which was
referred to the Veterinary Committee.

New House-Ball.

Thomas Barton, Esq., of Threxton, near Watton,
Norfolk, transmitted to the Council a Horse-ball of a
novel nature, prepared by Mr. Chaston, Chemist,
residing at Watton, accompanied with the following
description of this new mode of administration by the
inventor : —

" Walton, Norfolk, April 4, 1842.

" Having invented a Horse-ball by which liquids,
such as turpentine, balsam of copaiba, &c, of an oily
nature, may be given in a pure state, and it being sug-
gested to me that sending one tor your inspection, I
should be informed the opinion as to its utility, I have
forwarded the enclosed through T. Barton, Esq.

"The ball-case itself being composed of a gela-
tinous substance, dissolves immediately it enters the
stomach. The one sent is filled with spirits of turpen-
tine, but if it had been intended to be given to a horse,
would only have been tied over with bladder, the cork
being used to ensure its safe travelling by post. I am
not aware that any thing of the kind has ever been
made, I therefore send it as a novelty. The balls have
not unfortunately the advantage of the copaiba capsules,
as the intent of them is to introduce the medicine into
the human stomach without the patient having the dis-
agreeable flavour of the copaiba.

" The ball or case will be the means of introducing
medicine only, without other liquids, which cannot be
when given a* a drink.

" Should any gentleman be able to suggest any other
advantage to be derived from its use, or any im-
provement that might be considered necessary, it will
much oblige."

This " ball" had the exact appearance of a common
glass phial filled with a liquid, corked and tied over
with bladder; and it was only on tapping it with
the nail of the finger that a person inspecting it could
be induced to believe that the charge he held in his
hand was not a phial of glass ; instead of being, as
its dull, hollow, and horny sound indicated, a bottle
of semi-transparent isinglass or glue, prepared in a
mould and dried. This gelatinous bottle could not, of
course, long contain any fluid of a watery nature,
which would slowly dissolve it ; but it would
permanently retain turpentine, balsams, or other
liquids which had no solvent action upon it ; while
in both cases the stomach would sperdily dissolve
the bottle, and set free its contents as desired.

The best thanks of the Council were voted to Mr.
Barton and Mr. Chaston for these communications,
which were referred to the Veterinary Committee.

James Stratton, Esq., of Manningfoid-Bruce, Wilt-
shire, communicated to the Council the result of his
trials in the model experiment on the growing of
Swedish turnips with different manures; John Mus-
kett, Esq., of Clay-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, transmitted
a paper on liquid manure ; Sir James Murray presented
his work on improvements in farming to be effected by
his " Oxygenated Fertilizer ;" and the Committee of the
London Library the printed catalogue of their Books:
all of which were received with thanks, and referred to
the Journal Committee.

Samuel Jonas, Esq., presented, on the part of Mr.
Giles, the artist, a framed impression of the coloured
print of Mr. Jonas Webb and his three prize rnms,
which obtained the premiums of the Society at the
Liverpool Meeting.

The best thanks of the Council were returned for this
present, which was directed to be suspended under the
directionsof the House Committee in the Council cham-
ber of the Society.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
13th of April.

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383

At a Council held in Hanover Square on Wednesday,
the 13th of April, present, his Grace the Duke of
Richmond, K. G. in the chair, Marquis of Downshire,
K. P., Earl of Lovelace, Thomas Raymond Barker,
Esq., G. Raymond Barker, Esq., French Burke, Esq.,
John Walbanke Childers, Esq., M.P.. E. U. Daven-
port, Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., W. Goodenough
Hayter, Esq., M.P., Sir John Johnstone, Bart., M.P.,
Rev. W. L. Rhara, M.A., and William Shaw, Esq.

Agriculture of the Netherlands.
The Rev. W. L. Rham, M.A., Vicar of Winkfield,
in Berkshire, laid before the Council the second part
of his paper, " On the Agriculture of the Netherlands,"
}he first part of which was printed in tl»e first part of
the second volume of the Society's Journal last year,
and on account of its interest and importance, lias al-
ready been translated into German, and inserted by
Professor Sprengel in his Monthly Journal of Agri-
culture, published at Cbilin, in Prussia. The author
gave, in his former paper — 1. An account of the geo-
graphical situation of the Netherlands, describing the
climate as similar to that of Kent or Essex, and its
temperature as warmer in summer, and colder in
winter than that of the central part of England ; the
quantity of rain which falls there not being so great as
in this country, but the snow covering the ground for a
much longer time; these circumstances causing a
material difference in the time of ploughing the land
and sowing the seed in spring. 2. A statement of the
natural quality of the soil of the Netherlands, with an
account of the various modes adopted for its ameliora-
tion and improvement for the purposes of profitable
cultivation ; the author ascribing the improvements
effected in the poor sandy heath soils of that country
to two important classes of operations, namely, first,
to the change produced in the mechanical texture by a
' judicious stirring, pulverizing, and admixture of the
different earths composing therr, thus adapting them
to the growth and pen«'tration of the roots of plants,
and the drainage of water from the land ; and, secondly,
to their impregnation with liquid and compost manures,
binding their loose texture by means of their humus, or
decayed organic matter into more consistent soils, and
affording that nutriment to vegetation which the carbon
held by those manures in solution is known to convey
to plants. 3. f\. description of the nature and use of the
various implements of tillage employed from time im-
memorial by the cultivators of the soil in that part of
Europe ; the author enumerating these, as the old Fle-
mish plough (lor light soils, without stones); the old
Walloon Plough (for the stilfersoils) ; the two-wheeled
Turnwrest Plough (for clover- leys or grass lands) ; the
Double-breasted Plough without a coulter(for smooth-
ing inter-furrows, straightening ridges, and throwing
the earth sideways between rows of turnips or pota-
toes) ; one-horse Harrows for loosened soil (for cover-
ing the seed, and finishing the pulverization of the
soil) ; the flat wooden Traineau, loaded with stones and
drawn by horses (lor levelling the surface of light soils
without compressing them, breaking the clods more
effectually than the stone roller) ; the rodded Hurdle
(lor the same purpose) ; the Mollebart (or shovel, for
levelling newly. trenched land) ; the Hainhault scylhe
(for cutting corn) ; the winnowing machines, scythes,
hoes, and rakes, being similar to those used in England,
thrashing machines being of little use, from the small
extent of the Flemish farms not requiring or justifying
the attendant outlay of so much capital.

In this Second Part, in continuation of his paper, the
author proceeds to give most interesting details on the
following subjects connected with Flemish husbandry.
1. On the system of rotation of crops adopted in the
Netherlands, as the result of long experience of its
value ; with distinct accounts of their modes of cultiva-
tion in the case of rye, barley, buckwheat, turnips, Bel-
gian large white carrots, beans, potatoe.5, flax, colsa, rape,
and hemp. 2. On the dairy management of Holland ;
the author entering into highly interesting information
respecting the dairy pastures and cow-houses ; the treat-

ment and care of thecows ; the construction and perfect
cleanliness ol the dairies; the mode of churning (by
means of horse-power, the revolution of dog-wheels, or
the application of human labour to a lever like that of
the common pump handle) ; the preparation of butter,
and the mode of its preservation in barrels, with an ac-
count ot the plan pursued for obtaining and purifying
the salt employed by slow crystallization trom sea
water; and a detailed statement of the various cheeses
made in Holland, either tor home consumption or ex-
portation. 3. A description of the cattle, sheep, horses,
and waggons of that country,

The author attributes the success of the peculiar
system of rotation of their crops to the abundance of
Ji juid and compost manure with which the Dutch im-
pregnate their arable soils, and thus furnish them with
so rich a permanent stock of nutritive matter as to
obviate their exhaustion by a succession of crops, which,
without such supply, would fail in their result ; to
lhe:r careful weeding; and to their deep-stirring of the
soil. The author gives an account of the system pur-
sued on a farm near Coutray, consisting of little more
th;in 100 imperial acres, where the following rotation
was strictly adhered to, and found to be very profitable.
The farm was entirely arable, and divided into six por-
tions ; No. 1, half in flax, and half in colsa ; No. 2,
wheat; No. 3, rye and turnips; No. 4, oats (five-
sixths of which with cloverseed, one-sixth left for pota-
toes and carrots) ; No. 5, clover and roots ; No. 6, two-
thirds wheat, and one-third beans. This rotation, the
author observes, could not be continued long, if the
manure were not very abundant. Flax and colsa
recurred only once in twelve years; wheat, nearly
every third year ; rye, turnips, and oats, once in six
years ; clover, once in six years ; potatoes and carrots
only in very small quantities, the soil being a stiffish
loam. Experience provtd to the farmer, that every
deviation of any consequence from this course dimi-
nished his profit. The land was abundantly manured,
and all the crops were in the greatest perfection when
the author visited the farm. This shows, in the author's
opinion, that where manure can be had in abundance,
the rule, which otherwise is advantageous, of not
taking two white grain-crops in succession, may be
deviated from without much danger of exhausting the
land, especially in rich loams ; that wheat may always
in such case be sown every third year, while clover,
flax, and colsa require longer intervals. The principal
manure consisted of night soil, and other rich manuring
substances from the neighbouring town, which, with
the sweepings of the streets and the ashes, formed a
very considerable addition to the manure made on the
farm. It will rather surprise the English farmer, ob-
serves the author, to be informed that on such a farm
thirty milch cows and heifers were constantly kept, and
that two paddocks, of a few acres' extent, for the cows
to take exercise in, about two hours each day, were the
only part of the farm not under the plough. The cows
had oil-cake, beans, clover, and roots, with cut straw,
the clover being nearly all consumed in a greenstate.

The urine tank was most capacious, being 20 feet
wide, 7 deep, and 50 long, divided by partitions. The
cow-house was washed out twice a-day, there being
usually a pump in the middle of it, with a stone cistern
under it, in which bean-meal was constantly kept
mixed with the water which the cows drank, and this
greatly increased the quantity of milk they yielded. The
author bears personal testimony to the admirable clean-
lines? preserved in every department connected with
the cow-house, the dairy, and the buttery, and gives
an interesting account of the various arrangements
for effecting this essential object. The rich soil,
he observes, gives no doubt a good quality to the but-
ter ; but this is not the only cause of its superiority.
The extraordinary cleanliness of every part of a dairy,
and the constant and abundant use of water— the bright
polish of the utensils, wherever there is any metal— and
the whiteness of the wood of the pail* and churns,
show the unremitted attention of the dairy-woman.
But the cleanliness is not confined to the place where

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the milk is kept. The stables, the cows, and even the
litter arc kept so clean, that it is a pleasure to walk
through them ; and the family often make one end of
the cow-house their usual sitting-room, having a fire-
place at one end, and always, atlexst, one comfortabje
bed for a labourer or servant, who constantly sleeps in
the cow-house.

The author describes the Dutch waggons as light in
weight, with a very narrow track to accommodate
them to the narrow roads on the tops of the dykes ; and
as a pole would be a great incumbrance in the act of
turning round within a very narrow space, a curious
substitute has been adopted, namely, a very short
crooked pole, which rises in front, and is moved by the
driver with his foot, as he wishes to direct the course of
the waggon to the one side or the other : a person un-
accustomed to the use of this contrivance, never being
able to drive a Dutch waggon, which requires great
judgment to steer it, while a drunken driver would be
discovered a long way oft' by the oscillation? of his
waggon, which frequently runs off the dyke, and is
overturned into the ditch on one side or the other, the
horses having no power to keep it straight when the
crooked pole has not a steady foot to guide the front
wheels. The Dutchmen always make their horses trot
in the waggon when not heavily loaded ; by which
much time is saved in haymaking and harvest, and the
horses being accustomed to it, naturally trot like car-
riage-horses when the load and roads permit.

The Council returned their best thanks to the Rev.
W. Rham for this communication, which they referred
to the Journal Committee.

Deputation to Ireland.
Edward Bullen, Esq., Secretary to the Royal Agri-
cultural Improvement Society of Ireland, addressed a
letter to the Council on the subject of the Annual
Country Meeting of that Society to be held this year at
Cork, in the week after the meeting of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England at Bristol, expressing the
hope entertained by the Irish Society that they should
receive much benefit and assistance from the persons
assembled at Bristol on that occasion, there being a
direct communication by first-class steamers between
Bristol and Cork ; and all members of the English
Society sending over their surplus stock, seeds, or im-
plements, to Cork, might feel secure of receiving every
assistance and attention on their arrival. — Mr. Bullen
stated that Cork was admirably adapted for a meeting
of the kind, having constant steam communication with
London, Portsmouth, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, and
Dublin ; that it afforded every accommodation for the
conveyance of cattle and visitors ; and being within
five hours' drive of the Lakes of Killarney, and in the
direct road to all the beautiful and romantic scenery of
the south and west of Ireland : strangers would be
be enabled, after the show had taken place, to visit
those different places, passing in their route through
the entire centre of Ireland, on their way to the meeting
of the Highland Society, to be held at Edinburgh on
the 2nd of August next.— Mr. Bullen concluded his
communication by informing the Council that the
greatest desire existed on the part of the agriculturists
of Ireland to improve the different breeds of cattle by
every means in their power, and to give every encou-
ragement to the introduction of improved seeds and
iaiplements from England, sincerely hoping that the
cordial co operation so auspiciously commenced be-
tween the two Societies would become permanently
established.

The Council unanimously resolved that a deputation
should be nominated to attend the meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, to be held
this year at Cork ; and that the Marquis of Down-
shire should be requested to act as the Chairman of such
deputation.

Soils, Models, and Books.

The following presents to the Society were submitted
to the Council, and received with thanks : —

1. A Collection of 217 soils and subsoils, with a cata-

logue explanatory of their nature and locality. Pre-
sented by John Morton, Esq., of Chester Hill, near
Stroud, Gloucestershire, the author of the well known
excellent work " On Soils."

2. A set of Cubic Measures, proposed for adoption in
lieu of the ordinary cyliudric standards, from their greater
simpliciiy and uniformity in calculation. The suggested
improvement being founded on the principle of a quart
being represented by a cube of 4 inches, a peck by a
cube of 8 inches, as tests or standard measures of
capacity, while their parts or multiples consist of even
numbers of cubic inches without fractions ; with a
rule gauge of 8 inches, for estimating, by the measure
of depth, the cubic contents of cylindric vessels. Pre-
sented by Thomas N. Parker, Esq., of Sweeney Hall,
near Oswestry, Salop.

3. A self-adjusting quicksilver Level, for engineer-
ing, surveying irrigation ground, &c. This level con-
sists of quicksilver freely coming to a level in a curved
or rectangular vessel ; floats of ivory of equal height
resting upon the two surfaces of the quicksilver, accom-
modating themselves in every position of the vessel to
the same level as that of the mercury, on the surface of
which they rest. The box is so contrived by the nozzles
in which the floats move up and down, and by means ot
leather enclosed within the other joints, as to retain
the quicksilver securely within it, even if turned up-
side down. When the instrument is used, the hori-
zontal line oflevel is taken by the naked eye, by bring-
ing the summits of the floats into a right line with
the distant object of vision. The inventor states that
these levels may be made for about 20s. each ; and
should it be found desirable to bring them into general
use, he freely and liberally grants any person the
liberty of making them for his own profit. Presented
by Thomas N.Parker, Esq., ol Sweeney Hall.

4. A Catalogue of the Museum of the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland. Presented by the
Duke of Richmond, President.

5. A complete list of the Members of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, to February lust;
printed by direction of the Farmer's Fire and Life In-
surance Institution. Presented by William Shaw, Esq.

6. The Transactions of the Agricultural Society of
India for the previous year. Presented by the Society.
The following information is derived from these Trans-
actions : —

Thrashino Machines in Upper India.

Mr. Tonnochy, Deputy Collector at Boolundshahur,
informed the Secretary of the Agricultural Society at
Calcutta, that an opulent Zemindar of his district,
Mahommed Ehadoollah Khan of Khanpoor, had re-
quested him to procure him a Thrashing Machine from
Eugland, and had placed in his hands the requisite
funds for this purchase. The Secretary of that Society
had accordingly taken the necessary measures to pro-
cure from Messrs. James Milligan of Carlisle, a three
horse-power Thrashing and Dighting Machine. Mr.
Tonnochy stated that such a machine would prove of
the utmost value to the agricultural interest of that
country ; nothing bearing more heavily on the agricul-
turist and retarding his progress in a greater degree,
than the time, labour, and expence attending the
treading process, which, for the Rubboe harvest alone,
occupied both men and cattle no less a time than from
forty to fifty days, with ruin staring the farmer all this
time in the face ; it not unfrequently happening that a
heavy fall of rain, or the early setting in of the rainy
season, either destroyed his grain by a general
flooding of the country, or so damaged it as
to render it unfit for the market, : in either case
disabling him from paying his rents. Mi. Ton-
nochy thought that a remedy might perhaps be pointed
out in the stacking system, but besides that the native
agriculturist and farmer is too poor to allow his grain
to remain on hand, and the rents are required to be
paid immediately after the crops are reaped, he must
of necessity thrash the principal, or Rubbee, harvest at
the season in which it was at present done ; being ever

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

385

after eternally employed ia ploughing for both the
Rubbee and Khureef harvests ; in manuring, sowing,
weeding, and irrigating, and in getting in the produce
of the Khureef, and in the same processes for a neutral
harvest, including sugar-cane, which ricli lands com-
bining other advantages yielded. Such being the case,
it might easily be seen of what importance the thrashing
machine must prove ; Mr. Tonnochy aiding, that he
could speak positively for his own country of Booluud-
shahur, that its successful operation at a single place,
and its capability of fulfilling the promise held out by
Dr. Jamieson, in the table given in his Dictionary of
Mechanical Science (which Mr. Tonnochy had consulted)
would be the means of its general introduction on the
estates of the great landholders, and that it could not
fail in due course to spread far and wide.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
20th of April.

At a Council held in Hanover Square, on Wednes-
day, the 20th of April, present— The Most Noble the
Marquis of Downshire, K.P., in the chair, Earl of
Lovelace, David Barclay, Esq., M.P., Thomas Ray-
mond Barker, Esq., French Burke, Esq., Colonel Le
Couteur, Edward D. Davenport, Esq., James Dean,
Esq., Humphrey Gibbs, Esq., Stephen Grantham, Esq.,
James Haughton Langston, Esq., M.P., William
Miles, Esq., M.P., W. Woods Page. Esq., E. W.
Wynne Pendarves, Esq., M.P., William Shaw, Esq.,
John Villiers Shelley, Esq., and George Wilbraham,
Esq.

Annual Country Meeting of 1843.

Burton Borough, Esq.. of Chetwynd Park, Shrop-
shire, addressed to the Council, through Sir Oswald
Mosley, Bart., a communication, placing at the
disposal of the society the whole of his landed pro-
perty, in the immediate vicinity of the railway sta-
tion and canals in the town of Derby, for the purposes
of the meeting of next year, should the Council decide
on selecting that place for the occasion. Mr. Borough
not only expressed the gratification which, as a life-
member of the Society, it would give him to offer the
gratuitous use of his land for any purposes required for
that meeting ; but most liberally signified his intention
of reserving this portion of his property, amounting to
28 acres, unoccupied until the time of meeting, and
foregoing during the interval the advantages arising
from its being let out as at present advertised on leases
for building.

The best thanks of the Council were unanimously
voted to Mr. Borough for this disinterested and liberal
offer, which was referred to the Monthly Council on
the 4th of May next, when the question of next year's
Meeting would be finally decided.

Improved Dibbling Machine.

William Adams, jun., Esq., of Great Barton, near
Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk, transmitted to the Council
the following communication : —

''April 15, 1842.

" Having seen in the Report of the Council meeting
on the 9th of March a description of a Dibbling
Wheel for mangel-wurzel, by William Mile*, Esq.,
M.P., and which consists of only one wheel, I send
you a drawing of a machine which we have used for
seven years with the greatest success, " never having
lost our plant" since we used it. It appears that the
only difference between it and Mr. Miles's consists in
our using two wheels, which are placed on an axle at
any distance apart under 34 inches. Now, if only one
wheel is used, and the handles are fixed like a barrow,
the man who uses it must of course follow the machine,
and walk on the ridge, or else by the side of the wheel.

" Ours having two wheels working upon two ridges
(27 inches apart), the man naturally walks in the fur-
row between them, and with a very little practice can
use two wheels as easily as one, and of course work two
ridges at the same time.

" We sow from 3 to 4lbs. of seed per acre, which
enables us to deposit from two to four seeds in each

hole, and which of course gives a better chance of a
plant than only one.

" I can only add our entire concurrence in this mode
of sowing that very useful root, above any other we
have yet seen tried.

" William Adams, Jun."

The drawing which accompanies this description of
Mr. Adams's improved dibbler, represents the machine
as having the appearanceof a detached pair of gig-shafts,
wheels, and axle : the shafts being strengthened in the
middle by having two iron transverse braces of a curved
form placed between them, and secured to the inner
side of each, the height of each wheel being 3 feet 6
inches, with a flat rim (3} inches broad), on which the
pointed dibs (of a sugar-loaf or mushroom shape, 2
inches long by li inch wide at the base) may be set at
distances of 14^, 16.J, or 18^ inches apart, as desired.

The best thanks of the Council were returned to Mr.
Adams for this communication.

Agricultural Improvement.
Sir Francis A. Mackenzie, Bart, of Cowan House,
Dingwall, N.B., addressed to the Council a communi-
cation (from the Chateau de Tnlhouet, in Brittany),
embracing various topics of suggestions in reference to
the improvements to be effected in Agriculture, through
the medium of Prizes, and the encouragement and
agency generally of Societies founded expressly for such
objects ; the writer entering at great length into a dis-
cussion of the best mode of promoting these improve-
ments. Sir Francis Mackenzie makes the following
observations on the subject of the little manual of
"Cottage Economy and Cookery," which Mr. Burke
has drawn up, at the suggestion of the Council, and
presented to the Journal Committee ; the rank which
different subjects hold in the scale of importance and
immediate utility as objects for encouragement by the
offer of prizes; and the advantage of a standard Code
of Agricultural Improvement : —

I. Food for Labourers.
" With regard to Mr. Burke's proposal of a cheap
publication, giving directions to our labouring classes
for nutritious and economical food, it is excellent, and
much required in England; where beer, white bread,
butter, and tea, commonly constitute their food, but are
neither nutritious nor economical. Our funds cannot
be devoted to a more useful purpose than in suggesting
comforts to our lower classes. Both the French and
Scotch excel the English in the nourishing qualities of
their food, and also in its economy ; especially the
Scotch, whose diet consists of oatmeal, milk, potatoes,
and barley, used as a soup or broth. Nothing can be
more invigorating than oatmeal as porridge, or baked
into cakes; and barley boiled in the Scotch mode, that
is, for four or five hours at least, is decidedly a healthy
and nourishing food. Enough of this broth, too, can
be made at one time for two or three days' consump-
tion, and laid by to warm up again, which increases its
economy. I do not give a preference to our Scottish
diet on my own authority ; it speaks for itself to every
one who will visit the well-fed districts of Aberdeen,
Moray, Forfar, Ayr, &c, in the strong-limbed, broad-
shouldered population of the Highlands of Scotland.
The Scotch fare is oatmeal-porridge for breakfast, po-
tatoes and oatcake for dinner, and oatmeal gruel or
barley-broth for supper : lard, onions, and pepper, with
vegetables, being added by such as can afford them to
the broth, and milk, treacle, or coarse sugar to their
porridge; but such luxury is not common, or at all
deemed necessary. No expense in the greater part of
Northumberland, or in any part of Scotland, is incurred
by the use of beer amongst labourers, water alone
quenches their thirst, even when engaged in the toils of
harvest or hay-work : and our Society would do well to
recommend that English farmers should give the value
of the beer as an allowance in money lor extra wage^
to their servants, who would soon learn that it could be
better laid out, and more profitably spent in procuring
little comforts for themselves and their families,"

2c

386

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

II. Subjects for Prizes.

1. Grain. — "I would place a new, earlier, better
more prolific kind of grain, capable of being grown on
inferior soils, as first in importance: since, on grain de-
pends the lives of nine-tenths of our immense popula-
tion ; and, let it be remembered, that one bushul of in-
creased produce in grain over every arable acre in
Britain, would add l.^OO.OOO quarters annually to the
present average of our corn crops.

2. Roots, Sjc.—" The second place should be assigned
to new and superior roots, grasses, or any kind of vege-
table food.

3. Implements. — " Superior ploughs, a perfect dibbler
or any other implements capable of performing the va-
rious operations necessary for tillage, best, and at least
cxpence, should decidedly in justice stand third, for
their benefits would be speedily felt all over our coun-
try : and I do hope that a committee will be appointed
to decide the merits of various ploughs; and prove, by
repeated trials on various soils, which will perform the
most and best work with hast draught. There are
many of our members both willing and perfectly com-
petent to form sach a committee, and to decide the
question at furthest within six months from the date of
their appointment.

4. Manures, tyc. — "Discoveries of new, valuable, and
economical manures : the destruction of the wire-worm,
turnip-fly, grubs, and remedies for the many other evils
which afflict even the best agriculturists, should come
next."

III. Code of Agricultural Improvement.

" What 1 wish to see executed, is what I proposed
two years ago, namely, a book on agriculture in all its
branches, composed and selected from all that is best,
and published under the sanction and authority of a
practical Committee of our Society ; with new editions
every second or third year, omitting what becomes ob-
solete, and adding all that is new and really useful.
Every man possessing twenty acres of land would read
this, and profit by it. One visit to a scientific Model
and Experimental Farm, such as 1 have more than
once suggested, would do the visitor more good, and
give him more valuable and practical information than
a winter spent in studying all the essays and pamphlets
ever published."

The best thanks of the Council were returned to Sir
Francis Mackenzie for this communication, which was
reserved for consideration until the time when the
new subjects for the Prizes of the Soeiety would be
brought before the Council for discussion and adop-
tion.

Colonial Agriculture.

On the report of the Duke of Richmond, the
Agricultural Society of Newfoundland was unani-
mously elected one of the corresponding Societies of
the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Farmers' Clubs.

The Cardiff Farmers' Club having called the atten-
tion of the Council to the question of Lecturers being
sent out by the Society to convey correct information
in a detailed and familiar mode on chemistry, botany,
geology, and other branches of agricultural science, to
the different Fanner*' Clubs established throughout
the country, the Council took this subject into their
mature consideration, and finally agreed unanimously
to the following resolution :—" That the Council
highly approve the establishment of Farmers' Clubs,
but cannot entertain the suggestion of sending out
persons to deliver lectures."

The Council received with their best thanks the
Annual Report of the Liverpool Mechanics' Insti-
tution.

John Manship Norman, Esq., of Slaugham Park,
Sussex, called the attention of the Council to the ap-
plication of Phosphate of Magnesia as a manure for
potatoes.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
27th of April.

NEW MEMBERS.

The following gentlemen have been elected
members of the Society during the month.

The Earl Somers, of Eastnor Castle, Gloucestershire,
was elected a Governor.

Ansell, Charles, F.R.S., (Actuary to the Atlas Fire and
Life Insurance Company) Northumberland House,
Tottenham, Middlesex
Ashwood, Edward, The Brakes, Leintwardine, Lud-
low, Salop.
Atkins, John, Winkfield, Bracknell, Berks.
Banning, Thomas, Snoddington Farm, Amesbury,

Wilts".
Barratt, John, Winterton, Brigg, Lincolnshire
Best, Edward, Wilnecote, Tamworlh, Staffs.
Bi-rcoe, Rev. W., Donnington R.ectory, Ledbury,

Herefordshire
Body, Win., South Brent, near Cross, Somersetshire
Bowes, Rev. Dr. Timothy Fysh Foord, Barton, Silsoe,

Beds.
Bradshaw, Job (Solicitor), Nottingham
Brown, John, Hardwick, Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Burgam, Henry, Bickerton Court, Ledbury, Hereford-
shire
Burgess, Henry, 29, St. Swilhin's Lane, London.
Cherry, Frederick Clifford, (Principal Veterinary Sur-
geon to the Army) Clapham, Surrey
Cope, Robert, Ross, Herefordshire
Cox, J. Guille, Court-de-Wyck, Yatton, near Bristol
Danger, William, Tedworth, near Andover, Hampshire
Danger, Thomas, Clifton, Bristol
Evans, William, Roath, near Cardiff, S. W.
Evans, William, Cliff Farm, Cowbridge, S. W.
Eyton, John Priys, Llanerch-y-Mor, Holywell, N. W.
Fitzgerald, Henry Thomas George, Maperton House,

Wincanlon, Somersetshire
Fortescue, H. R., Exeter College, Oxford
Fox, Henry Hawes, M.D., North Woods, near Bristol
Fredricks, Frederick, Dyffryn House, Neath, Gla-
morganshire
Gale, William, Grately, near Andover, Hampshire
Galton, Erasmus, Loxton Cross, Somerset.
Gooch, Stephen, East Horningham, near Noiwich
Gooch, John Kerr, East Haddingham, near Norwich
Goodwin, Captain Francis Green, Wigwell Grange,

Wirksworth, Derbyshire
Gwatkin, John, Vare-Benhan, Tregony, Cornwall
Harris, William, Brereton, Rugeley, Staffordshire
Henderson, James, (Editor of the Newry Telegraph),

Ireland
Hooper. Henry W., Tottington, Watton, Norfolk
Hughes, John, Laura Place, Aberystwith, S. W.
Jennings, Joseph Crew, Evershot, Dorchester, Dorset.
King, Benjamin, Shotley, Ipswich, Suffolk
Knight, Rev. Robert, Tytheg-ston, Glamorganshire
Ley, John Henry, jun.,Trehill, near Exeter, and House

of Commons, London
Lloyd, George Price, Plasyndre. Bala, N. W.
Ludlow, Mr. Sergeant, Spring Gardens, Charing Cross
Messiter, Henry, Wincanton, Somersetshire
Mogg, John George, Famydon-Gurney, Bristol
Mornington, Thomas, Sarnesfield Field Court, Here-
ford
Mullins, John Bicknell, Wyke-Champflower, Bruton,

Somersetshire
Murray, Sir James, M.D., Merrion Square, Dublin
Nock, Thomas, Bridgenorth, Salop.
Parkyns, Captain George, Chediston Park, Halesworlh,

Suffolk
Pidduck, George, Arnethenegelle Farm, Brayshing,

Bucks.
Pilson, Conway, (Editor of the Recorder), Downpat-

rick, Ireland
Plaxton, Richard, Cann Hall, Wanstead, Essex
Potter, Edwaid, Chisbury, Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
Potter, Thomas, Chisbury, Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire
Potter, William Horatio, 9, Spring Terrace, Wands-
worth, Surrey

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

387

Powell, Rev. Thomas, Turnaston, Hereford
Pritchard, George, Llannihangel, Abergavenny, S. W.
Robinson, Rev. J. Banks, Pen Park House, Westbury-

upon Trym, Bristol
Roach, N., Parkiston, Pembroke, S.W.
Rootes, Frederick, Casller End, Ross, Herefordshire
Shirley, Henry, Heron Court, Upton upon-Severu
Smyth, J. G., Heath Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire
Smyth, Rev. William, South Elkiogton, Louth, Lin-
colnshire
Spurling, John, Shotley, Ipswich, Suffolk
Tabrum, Lichfield, Boi* Hall, Ongar, Essex
Taylor, John, Langdon, Dover, Kent
Trethewy, Henry, Bredwardine, Herefordshire
Walton, William, Merdon Farm, Hursley, Winchester
Wheeler, John, Trippleton, Leintwardine, Ludlow,

Salop
Wood, Richard, Weddington, Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

TURNPIKE ROADS IN ENGLAND
AND WALES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — In the Farmer's Magazine for August,
September, and October, 1839, you did me the
favour to insert three letters on Turnpike Roads.
In the last sentence I promised to recur to the
subject ; my reasons for delaying the conclusion
were — first, that I might avail myself of the evi-
dence, and the Report founded upon it, of the
i " Commissioners for enquiring into the state of the
Roads of England and Wales ;" and secondly, be-
cause it was evidently impossible to draw the at-
tention of our ablest legislators from those politi-
cal contests, then requiring incessant watchfulness
and exertion, to the formation of a rational Gene-
ral Turnpike Act.

The pub ication of thntReport in 1840, and sub-
sequently of the appendix to it, and the still more
recent formation of an administration possessing
the confidence of a great majority of the intelligent
portion of the British nation, having removed
those obstacles, I now beg leave to redeem my
promise of recurring to the subject.

In pursuing this enquiry, I gladly avail myself
of that Report, by attempting a brief review of
the important matter it contains, taking the sub-
jects in the order in which they occur.

The 1st and 2nd pages contain the title and a
notice that the appendix is in the press : since the
appendix extends to 617 folio pages, the delay is
very excusable.

The 3rd and 4th pages give a copy of the Queen's
commission to the Duke of Richmond, the Mar-
quis of Salisbury, Lord Eliot, Lord Atherton, the
Hon. W. S. Lascelles, and E. A.Sandford, Esq , to
take into consideration the present condition of
the roads, the state of their accounts, the extent
of turnpike securities, and how far they are affect-
ed by railroads, and by the abolition of statute
labour ; also to give their opinion whether, by
an improved system, the roads may be better
maintained, without endangering the security of
the creditors.

The 5th and 6th pages contain a valuable expo-
sition of the general principle of law applicable
to Lighways and turnpike roads, and of the acts
relating to them.

The 7th page recites the existing General Turn-
pike Acts, which the commissioners truly de-

scribe as being " numerous and various in their
provisions."

Thus far there is nothing to call for special re-
mark, except, if it be not deemed presumptuous,
to express acquiescence and approval.

In page 8 are inserted 14 questions, which the
clerk of every turnpike trust was required, by an
act obtained for the purpose, to answer seriatim.
The replies, forming the appendix, contain a valu-
able mass of information, from which it appears,
as stated in page 9, that there are about —
22,000 miles ol turnpike road,
1,116 turnpike trusts,
7,796 toll-gates and side-bars,
3,800 local turnpike acts : *
and that, on the average of the last five years, the
total charge for repair (including improvement)
and management of those roads, amounts to
1,122,000/., being, on the average, 5U. per mile ;
and that the amount of the mortgage debt was, in

£

1829 6,579,000

1834 7,000,000

1835 7,100,000

1836 7,200,000

1837 7,300,000

1838 7,300,000

That the tolls for the last five years average
1,500,000, and the interest paid on the mortgage
debt averages 3OO,000f. per annum.

Then follows a most extraordinary observation:
— " In considering the above statement, the prin-
cipal points that have attracted our notice are — the
enormous amount of the existing debt, and the
rapidity with which, of late years, it has in-
creased, &c. So far from the debt being "enor-
mous," it is most extraordinary that the balance
of unredeemed expenditure in constructing 22,000
miles of road, with the toll-houses, bridges, cul-
verts, fences, &c, &c, and including above
2,000,000/. expended in procuring turnpike acts
(as was proved by evidence before the Parliamen-
tary Committee), should amount to so petty a
sum — not 350/. a mile— not a third of the actual
cost, if those roads had now to be constructed—-
the total amount not very far exceeding the cost
of the London and Birmingham Railway ; and so
far from the debt increasing, if there beany truth
in parliamentary documents, the debt is rapidly
decreasing. The Report of the Commissioners in
August, 1836, says — " The debts incurred at pre-
sent amount to nearlg 9,000,000/., with a proba-
bility of increasing every year, as they have done
for many years past." The Report of June, 1839,
says — " The present amount of debt exceeds
9,000,000/., and is annually increasing; whilst the
last report (that of 1840) states the debt to be, on
the 31st of December, 1838, only 8,345,267/. ; "f
whilst the large amount of debts paid oft' in 1839
are entirely kept out of sight.

* The existing acts cannot possibly exceed the
number of trusts — 1116, for no trust has more than
one act, and in some instances two or more tiusts
are included in one act ; thus it appears that fully
^,700 repealed acts are added. Is this done pur-
posely " to make up a show ? "

t Here again, even in this reduced amount, by-
gone transactions, arrears of interest, every loss
sustained in turnpike affairs during a century, have
been raked up, like the repealed acts. Is this also
u to make up a show ?"

2 c 2

388

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

This plain statement shows that the debt is
rapidly decreasing ; but, by an ingenious device
— by slurring over the intermediate Reports, and
falling back to the year 1829— by keeping out of
sight the comparatively prosperous state of turn-
pike securities about that time, and the consequent
improvement of the roads effected by liberal and
patriotic loans, by which the debt grew larger ;
and, on the other hand, the more recent depression
of turnpike securities, in consequence of which
improvements have been suspended in order to
pay off the principal ; by this unfair procedure on
the part of those who prepared the statement, the
Commissioners (whose honour, whose patriotism
and veracity are infinitely beyond suspicion or re-
proach), have been misled, have drawn erroneous
conclusions, have created groundless alarm, have
represented the debt to be rapidly increasing when
it is actually diminishing, have put a stop to de-
sirable improvement, have thrown many thousand
labourers out of employ, and in a material degree
have caused a great number of roads to be seri-
ously impaired, and in some instances to be nearly
impassable, as is fully proved by a number of evi-
dences in the appendix to the last Report.

The next remark is equally extraordinary and
peurile — namely, " We particularly desire to
direct attention to the increasing amount of
unpaid interest which in 1829 was only 821,586/.,
but in the year 1838 amounted to 1,123,623/."
Any schoolboy would tell us that adding
interest to principal increases its amount ;
but men acquainted with mercantile affairs or
monied concerns, will say that it is an absolute
folly to bring forward, as real claims, sums for
which there are not any claimants. The " long
and short" of the matter is simply this, that out
of 1,116 turnpike trusts obtained during a century,
84 pay no interest :* a very small proportion
when compared with investments in canals, rail-
ways, mines, joint-stock companies, and other
speculative concerns ; but of these 84 seemingly
unfortunate investments, several have proved be-
neficial to the parties who bear the fancied loss with
perfect composure : they have improved the value
of their estatesf by newly-formed roads far be-

* Those who lend money on turnpike securities
are perfectly aware of the risk they run, and that
their sole dependance is on the tolls of that identical
turnpike road, as is shown in the mortgage-bonds
issued by trustees under the act. As a compensation
for that risk, they receive 5 per cent., whilst govern-
ment securities and satisfactory mortgages scarcely
yield 4. The admitted payment of 300,000/. to the
mortgagees, whose bonds, as stated in the Report,
were, in 1838, 7,300,000/., exceeds 4 per cent, on
that amount. Fully nine-tenths of the creditors
receive, on the average, 4£ per cent. ; those less for-
tunate make no complaints — they know they have
no claim. How ridiculous to revive what is past
and gone !

t Page 84, in the appendix to the last report,
shows a debt of 73,000/. chiefly advanced, or rather
given, by the Dukes of Norfolk and Devonshire, at
the same time improving their estates far beyond the
cost of the road, and rendering a great public bene-
fit. In page 59 we find a similar case of judicious
expenditure by the commissioners of Greenwich
Hospital, improving their extensive estates and the
public convenience. This adds to the list of debts
49,000/. principal, and 26,000/. interest. In page
232 we find 35,000/. expended most judiciously in

yond the sums they advanced on the well-known
frail security of the tolls in mountainous districts.
Some — and these are to be pitied — have suffered
from new or rival roads or railways ; a few others
from sanguine or injudicious investments, but the
proportion of such cases is very small. The ad-
mitted statement of 300,000/. being regularly paid
in interest to the creditors, shews very satisfac-
torily that creditors to the extent of six millions
are benefited by their investments in turnpike
roads.

The Report proceeds to state that the debt
amounted, in the year 1829, to 7,304,803/.; and in
1838 to 8,345,267/.; shewing an increase in the
last nine years of 1,040,464/. And this is called
" an existing evil," which, if not arrested, " will
become one of overwhelming magnitude !" Truly,
it is an existing evil, that such extreme parsimony —
such a lack of public spirit — should have prevailed.
To the remark — " We see no reason to suppose that
the causes which have led to this progressive in-
crease will not continue in operation " — it may be
answered, God grant that the causes may increase
abundantly. Look at the increased consumption
of coals and iron, timber and cotton — at the erec-
tion of churches and chapels, villas and factories —
at roads and bridges newly formed, and others
widened and improved, being absolutely necessary
to vent the traffic so enormously increased ; look
at the vast increase of population, of food to sup-
port it, and more especially at the immense in-
crease of national wealth ; look not with the eyes
of a few interested persons, desirous of obtaining
large salaries,* for the attainment of which they
would demolish a system that has worked so well
— that has contributed so much to the convenience
of the people of all classes, and to the national
prosperity, without having added a shilling to the
national debt. But we have already shewn that
the debt is not increasing, but rapidly diminishing ;
and this is proved satisfactorily by the evidences
given in the appendix.

The Report alludes, in page 10, to the metropo-
litan and Scotch roads as examples of superiority ;
but it is silent as to the great advantages those
roads enjoy — the former from an improved con-
struction of cart-wheels enforced by law, the latter
by the prevailing custom of light one-horse carts,
with flat tires and wheels nearly perpendicular.
It is clearly shown, in evidence published by Par-
liamentary committees, that were such wheels used
throughout England and Wales, the roads would
be infinitely better, and maintained at much less
expense.

In page 11 the Report alludes, very truly, to the
injury done to turnpike trusts by mail coaches

opening a communication through a mountainous
district previously inaccessible. In page 40 we find
a debt of 78,000/., of which nearly two-thirds were
expended in opening a new road, of the greatest
possible utility, at the express desire of a Postmaster
General. Numerous similar cases might be cited,
clearly proving that the largest debts— those that
have most excited alarm — have been attended with
the best effects, advantageous to the public, injurious
to no person.

* See the 64th page of the Parliamentary Road
Report of 1838, or the extract from it, in the Far-
mer's Magazine for October, 1839, page 245, where
" the cat is let out of the bag," and a magnificent
list of places, salaries, and patronage is seriously
proposed.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

389

passing toll-free ; also by stagecoach and post-
horse duties ; but it ought in fairness to recom-
mend that in all respects, especially exemptions
from toll, turnpike roads should be put upon a
bona fide equality with railroads.

Part of the instructions included in the Com-
mission is to consider the exient to which the
securities beld by creditors on turnpike road bonds
have been affected by the abolition of statute
labour and the introduction of railroads, &c.
Respecting the extent of the abstraction of statute
labour, not a ivord is said, which is the more unac-
countable from its admitted importance in a for-
mer report, viz., " The difficulties of the turnpike
trusts have also been augmented by the abolition
of statute labour, and of the composition in its
place, the loss of which has been estimated at
about 200,00(M. per annum." And in respect to
the injury done by the introduction of railroads,
the Commissioners content themselves with re-
porting— '* We do not feel justified in offering any
opinion." Having abundant evidence in the
appendix of the serious injury done to many roads
by the abolition of statute duty, and in many other
roads of the great reduction of revenue occasioned
by iival railroad--, it would be more difficult to
justify their not giving an opinion on matters so
important.

The Report, in page 10, says — " It is absolucely
necessary to resort to some system of consolida-
tion." This is judiciously qualified in page 11;
but these observations, and the various suggestions
detailed in pages 11, 12, and 13, being founded
on data absolutely erroneous, if they be well
reconsidered and conclusions formed by conden-
sing the valuable evidence given in the appendix
to the last report, by 1,100 categorical replies to
the 14 questions put by the Commissioners, with
the addition of a searching enquiry into the
circumstances of those trusts that appear most
disastrous, the result will be, that the various
schemes hitherto proposed in the Parliamentary
Reports will be abandoned, because unnecessary,
contradictory, in many respects unjust, and alto-
gether impracticable. There is one simple reme-
dy, and only one, viz., to repeal all the existing
general Turnpike Acts, and in their stead to have
one, or rather two, brief, yet comprehensive, as
simple and clear, as " Peel's Criminal Acts" — one
act such as every coachman, carter, toll collector,
traveller, or person using the road, may buy for a
few pence, and understand it too ; the other should
recite the repealed acts, explain terms, and contain
all other matters connected with the powers and
duties of the trustees, and of those who act under
their authority.

Nothing can be more injudicious than to " con-
solidate the various laws affecting highways and
Turnpike Roads into one general act," as recom-
mended in the last report. Far better were it that
the "acts should be entirely distinct, though it is
highly desirable that the general character of both
should be the same."* CiNciNXATus.t

* See the last sentence in a short pamphlet pub-
lished by Longman, in 1834, and sold by Clarke,
stationer, Manchester — " Analysis of the Defective
State of Turnpike Roads and Turnpike Securities,
with suggestions for their Improvement."

f Observing in the last Farmer's Magazine for
April, 1842, that another of your correspondents has
adopted my cognomen, I beg to explain that I stand

AGRICULTURAL ADVANCE-
MENT.

TO THE EDITOR OK THE CUMBERLAND PACQKF.T.

Sir, — The attention which you have lately paid
to the advancement of Agricultural science, and
the different productions to which you have given
publicity in the columns of the Pacquet, respecting
the breeding and fattening of stock, cannot but be
duly appreciated by all who either have an interest
in or feci a desire for promoting the welfare of
those connected with the soil in this division of
the county.

As you have now opened your columns to some
extent for the purpose of conveying information to
the agricultural body, you will perhaps not refuse
the aid of such correspondents as may feel desi-
rous of communicating such information as they
may deem useful. I am as much opposed as any
man to those speculative and visionary introduc-
tions into the science of agriculture, which certain
theorists have attempted to dignify with the name
of improvements before they had ever tested them,
or were able to give to the public any practical
proof of their advantage; but I do think that
much good may be done, and the course of science
may be greatly benefited, by those who have
practically and experimentally proved the utility
of any discovery which they may have made,
communicating the result to their agricultural
neighbours and to the world at large.

Actuated by these views I shall occasionally
trouble you with a communication, when I have
anything to recommend which I may deem worthy
of being adopted by your agricultural readers ; and
in the present instance permit me to call their
attention to a practice which has not been gene-
rally adopted in this division of the county,
though those who have tried it have done so with
success. 1 allude to the application of liquid ma-
nure to agricultural purposes, a practice, though
not unknown in the north, which is far from
being so extensively adopted as it ought to be.
The application of liquid manure is quite com-
mon in many of the southern counties ; when its
merits become generally known I have no doubt
that it will be everywhere adopted.

In this part of the country, however, the va-
luable properties of liquid manure are not un-
known : they have been tried and found valuable
— the experiment with it has proved so successful
that it will be continued in future, which I con-
tend is an indisputable proof of its merit. Last
year, at Wilton, in the parish of Haile, a farmer
formed two heaps of coal ashes : on the one heap
he caused the chamber vessels, and such stale
liquids as he could procure, to be poured upon them
for a certain time, at the end of which both heaps
were equally spread in the same field, for a crop of
barley. The result was, that the barley grown on
the saturated ashes was double the amount of the
other in quantity, and greatly superior to it in
quality.

Though the value of mine and other liquid

godfather only to seven papers, entitled "The Far-
mer's Progress," Nos. 1 to 7 ; and three papers on
** Turnpike Roads in England and Wales; " which
I wrole expressly for the Farmers' Magazine, in
giaieful return for valuable information culled from
its useful pages.

390

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

manures may be, from a want of knowledge and
experience in their fertilizing qualities, but little
known in tbe north, the agriculturists of the south
as I have stated, are better acquainted with them ;
and the following extract from a scientific work on
Flemish Husbandry, will serve to show the high
estimation in which urine and other liquid ma-
nures aiG held by the inhabitants of other coun-
tries : —

The great auxiliary of the Flemish farmer is the
urine tank, wherein arc collected not only the
urine of cows and horses, but also the drainings
of the dung hills. The mine tanks are generally
sunk below the level of the ground, and have the
sides built of brick, and the bottom paved: they are
of various dimensions, according to the number of
cows and horses on the farm. Attached to the dis-
tilleries, where many beasts are constantly kept
to consume the refuse wash, there are very large
urine tanks of an oblong shape, divided by par-
titions into different chambers, so that the liquor
may be of the proper age when it is used, which
some farmers think ought to be six months.
Each chamber is about eight feet square and six
or eight feet deep : these are sometimes vaulted
over, but frequently only covered with loose
boards. As urine and the emptyings of privies
are sold wholesale and retail, there are many
large tanks near the rivers and canals, where the
dealers have sometimes great quantities in store.
Some of these consist of many square pits like tan-
pits, bricked round and the inside covered with
cement, which prevents loss by filtration. There is
generally in a corner of each pit a graduated scale
by which the number of barrels, or tons of liquid
in the tank may be ascertained by observing the
height of the surface. These tanks are generally
filled by boat loads brought from the large towns ;
and when the season arrives for sowing, in spring
and autumn, the farmers come with their carts and
tubs, and purchase as much as they may want.
The price varies from three to five francs (two
shillings and sixpence to four shillings) per hogs-
head according to the quality. In a small farm of
thirty to forty acres the tank is generally about
twenty feet long, twelve wide, and six deep, with a
paitition in the middle, and arched over, leaving
an opening for the pump, and another sufficient to
allow a man to go into empty out the earthy de-
posit which falls to the bottom. A trap door
shuts over this aperture to prevent accidents.
Sometimes the tank is round like a well, with
a domed top, and so deep in the ground that
it has a foot or two of earth over it. The
situation of the tank is either in the farm- yard
near the entrance of thecow-house, or immediately
behind it; sometimes it is like a cellar under the
building, but this is apt to cause a disagreeable smell
in the cow-house. We here describe those which we
consider the most convenient: the form and capacity
of the tanks vary greatly according to the means and
notions of the proprietors of the farms, but a tank
of some kind or other is considered as an appen-
dage indispensable to afarm as a barn or cow-house.
The farmer would as soon think of dispensing
with his plough as with his tank : and no expense
or trouble is spared to keep this well supplied.
The numerons towns and villages in Flanders afford
gteat help in the way of manure. The thrifty
housewife and htr active substitute, the maid,
know the value of what in our households is thrown
away or wasted and lost. A small tank, or a tub,
sunk in.the ground in some corner, contains all

the liquid which can in any way be useful ; soap-
suds, washings of dishes, &c, are carefully kept
in this reservoir, until, once a week, the fanner or
contractor calls with his tub on a cart ; and this,
mixed with the contents of privies, which are
frequently emptied, he keeps in large cisterns for
use or sale."

Indeed it is supposed, by a celebrated writer on
agricultural chemistry, that if all liquid manures
that could be procured, and all excrement that is
now wasted, were applied to the soil, animal
manure could in a great measure be dispensed with.
At all events, were liquid manure more generally
brought into use, which might be done with
great advantage to the farmer, animal manure
would certainly become more plentiful, and con-
sequently could be more easily procured.

Another celebrated writer on the subject of
agriculture (a foreigner) thus speaks of urine as a
manure : — " When it is considered that with every
pint of urine a pound of wheat might be produced,
the indifference with which this liquid excrement
has been regarded is quite incomprehensible."
This remark is strongly calculated to excite our
surprise, but it is equally calculated to excite our
experimental curiosity, and to induce us to satisfy
our minds as to the result. I will answer for it,
that whoever once tests the fertilizing properties
of liquid manure, they will adopt it, and never
cease its application in future.

When the value of liquid manure becomes ge-
nerally known, the demand for it will become
great ; but the supply can easily be rendered
adequate to the demand, be it ever so great.
Enough, however, may be collected upon any farm
to enable the cultivator to try the experiment; and
when his demands for it increase, there wi 1 be no
fear of their being supplied. What an immense
supply, for instance, could be obtained from every
town in the kingdom, independent of what might
be collected upon every farm-stead, from cattle
sheds, stables, chamber vessels, wash-houses ( for
even the contents of the washing tub are valuable)
and various other sources. Thus might much
matter, which is now only looked upon as a
nuisance, be turned to a good account, and be
rendered not merely useful, but highly valuable in
increasing the productive qualities of the soil.

These suggestions I have ventured to throw out
for the consideration of agriculturists. I know
that farmers generally are a cautious body of men,
and not liable to be induced to adopt foolish and
visionary experiments; but what I have recom-
mended is easily practicable, and can he adopted
at a very small expense. An experiment on a li-
mited scale will satisfy any one of them of its uti-
lity, and wherever an experiment of this kind is
once adopted, there is no fear of its ever going
into disuse. — I am, Sir, yours, &c,

April 14, 1842. Agricola.

WHOLESOME BEER— The Hop growers
will not escape in the New Tariff, although the
import duty on foreign Hops is not altered.
Quassia, a well known but pernicious substitute for
the Hop, now pays a duty of 8/. 17s. Cd. per cwt.,
which is to be reduced to 10s. per cwt. This
heavy duty was intended to be prohibitory, the re-
duction of the duty will operate as a premium for
using it, and the public may be poisoned at a
cheaper rate.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

391

PROBUS FARMERS' CLUB.

At the last monthly meeting of this institution,
a lecture on the sowing of rape as a preparation
for a wheat crop and as food for sheep, was deli-
vered to the members of the club by M. R. Doble,
of Probus. This is a sabject of great interest to
the farmer, since the rape plant is extremely
hardy, and as an annual crop, does not require a
very rich soil, its thick and fleshy leaves affording
to the sheep an abundant supply of nutritious
food, particularly at those periods when other
fodder is scarce. Air. Doble introduced his sub-
ject with a short and concise history of the rape
plant, shewing the manner in which it had been
occasionally cultivated in his neighbourhood for
some twenty years or more, for the sole purpose
of getting the land into a proper state for wheat;
yet it had never, he said, until the last season,
been tilled as a profitable crop for the feeding of
sheep. The usual plan had been to sow the seed
in the months of July or August, but the system
which he had adopted with success, and which he
strenuously recommended to the meeting, was to
have a succession of rape crops, beginning in
April, and sowing a certain number of acres
monthly until August. For the two first crops, he
recommended that the soil should be ploughed
either in March or April, with a plough known
here as a double plough— commonly known in
Kcntand else where as a turn- wrist plough, having a
skim-share attached, A plough of this descrip-
tion was shown to the members of the club, being
the invention of a Mr. J. Restarrick, of Gram-
pound. The greatest advantages derived from its
use, was, that it turned the rim of the soil under-
neath the furrow. Seed, he said, should be sown
in drills about nine inches apart, with bone dust
or some other granulated manure. He had used
Lance's carbonised humus mixed with wood and
coal ashes, in the proportion of two quarters of
each to an acre ; and this without any other ma-
nure had produced an excellent rape crop, and as
far as he could judge from the present excellent
appearance of his wheat, would prove quite suffi-
cient. The quantity of seed necessary to be sown
was from six to eight lbs. per acre. The maimer
in which he had prepared the land for the third
and fourth crops was as follows : — He first combed
harrowed down, and then deeply skimmed, and
after the land was well worked, burnt it. In two
cases, he said, after these operations he had
ploughed clean, whilst in another he only tor-
mented. In this last instance he had sown broad-
cast, without any manure, but the land was
strong, and had not been broken for ten years.
He did not approve of ploughing clean for rape
when the land was burnt, as by so doing, the
ashes were buried so deeply in the soil, that the
plants received no immediate benefit from them,
which was a point of very material consequence
— particularly in cases where little or no manure
was put in with the seed. With respect to
burning, he said that it was useless to burn unless
there was an excess of inert vegetable matter in
the ground ; the destruction of it then by fire was
most beneficial, but not in cases where the field
had been torn up within two or three years, as was
some time practised.

The lecturer, after dwelling on this part of his
subject at some length, then stated to the meeting
the result of the experiments which he had insti-
tuted on the feeding of sheep with rape. His first

field (5 acres) was sown on the 13 th and 14th of
May, the weather not permitting the tillage ear-
lier, and was stocked on the 2nd of July. The
second field (three acres) was sown on the -1st of
June, and stocked on the 2nd of August ; and the
third field (six acres) was sown on the 10th of
July, and stocked on the 21st of August. These
fourteen acres kept from 68 to 110 sheep to the
2nd of November, averaging 80 in number during
this period. On the 10th of August, he weighed
10 wether hogs, after feeding on the rape for some
weeks, and they averaged 14(>lbs. On the 21st of
September, he again weighed them, and he found
they had gained in the six weeks, 201bs each
sheep, averaging lb'filbs., and calculating, he said,
only I21bs. of that gain to be mutton, at (id. per lb.
they paid one shilling per week each for their
keep. According to this calculation, the 30 sheep
paid £70, being exactly £5 per acre for the four-
teen acres of rape. It should be added that these
sheep had been occasionally turned into a field of
glass during some severe wet nights, but as the
store ewes were put on the rape to finish what re-
mained, he considered that this was equivalent to
the grass consumed.

He then went on to shew the difference between
this method of farming and that commonly pur-
sued— 'thus, calculating the grass that would have
grown on these three fields, from the time they
were broken to mid-summer, the usual time of
breaking for wheat, to have been worth £l per
acre, and adding to this the extra labour of tor-
menting, harrowing, rolling, drilling, sowing, and
the price of the seed, to be £l more, it would
leave a clear profit of £3 per acre. In this calcu-
lation the lecturer had not taken into account any-
thing for the first ploughing and cleaning, as this
operation must have been done if no rape had been
sown.

Having thus explained in the most satisfactory
manner the method of producing a crop of rape,
as well as the value of the same to the farmer for
the feeding of his sheep, he pointed out some other
advantages ; and one of the greatest and most im-
portant was, the certainty of keeping his sheep and
lambs well up to the mark — thelatter in particular
requiring early maturity ; and it was a well-known
fact that the mortality produced among these young
animals by the diarrhoea, commonly called the
scour, was the consequence of weakness and ill
condition produced by poor keep. And another
which is worth mentioning, as it is particularly
interesting to the farmer residing on light sails,
that the folding of the sheep on the land, not only
rendered the soil more productive, but formed a
firm bed for the successive wheat crop ; it tended
also, he believed, to prevent the ravages of the
wire-worm, since it was well known that those
obnoxious worms were not injurious to the same
extent on light soils as on loose ones.

He dwelt on this subject also for some time,
particularly recommending the folding of sheep
on green crops, showing the immediate benefits
which the soil derived, and the permanent im-
provement afterwards.

After the lecture was concluded, a long and in-
teresting discussion ensued, in which most of the
points brought before the meeting by the lecturer
were highly approved of. Several of the members
had lately pursued the same system, and found it
to answer and pay exceedingly well ; indeed it was
the general opinion that he had underrated the
immediate profit gained to the sheep.

392

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

TRAINING HORSES.

Mr. Catlin, in Lis work on the manners and cus-
toms of the North American Indians, gives the fol-
lowing account of their method of taming the wild
buffalo calves, and wild horses : — " I have often, in
concurrence will) a well-known custom of the
country, held my hand over the eyes of the calf, and
breathed a few strong breaths into the nostrils ; after
which I have, with my hunting companions, rode se-
veral miles into our encampment, with the little pri-
soner busily following the heels of my horse the whole
way, as closely and affectionately as its instinct
would attach it to the company of its dam. This is
one of the most extraordinary things that I have met
with in the habits of this wild country ; and although
I had often heard of it, and felt unable exactly to
believe it, I am now willing to bear testimony to the
fact, from the numerous instances which T have wit-
nessed since I came into the country. During the
time that I resided at this post, in the spring of the
year, on my way up the river, I assisted (in numer-
ous hunts of the buffalo, with the Fur Company's
men), in bringing in, in the above manner, several
of these little prisoners, which sometimes followed
for 5 or 6 miles close to our horses' heels, and even
into the Fur Company's fort, and into the stable
where our horses were led. In this way, before I
left for the head waters of the Missouri, I think we
had collected about a dozen." — In the same way the
wild horses are tamed. When the Indian has got
him well secured with the lasso, and a pair of
bobbles on his feet, "he gradually advances, until
he is able to place his hand on the animal's nose,
and over his eyes, and at length to breathe in its
nostrils, when it soon becomes docile and conquered ;
so that he has little more to do than to remove the
hobbles from his feet, and lead or ride it into camp."

A Mr. Ellis chanced to read this account when on
a visit in Yorkshire, and forthwith resolved to try
the experiment. He and his friends were alike in-
credulous, and sought amusement from the failure,
rather than knowledge by the result— but two expe-
riments, all he was able to try, were both successful.
Here are the particulars of one of them : " Saturday,
Feb. 12, 1842.— While the last experiments were

being tried on the yearling, W. espied B , a

farmer and tenant, with several men, at the distance
of some fields, trying, mcst ineffectually, on the old
system, to break-in a horse. W. proposed to go
down and show him what effect had been produced
on the yearling. When the party arrived at the
spot, they found that B. and his men had tied their
filly short up to a tree in the corner of a field, one
side of which was walled, and the other hedged in.
W. now proposed to B. to tame his horse after the
new method. B. who was aware of the character of
his horse, anxiously warned W. not to approach it,
caudoning him especially against the fore feet, as-
serting that the horse would rear and strike him with
the fore feet, as it had ' lamed' his own (B's) thigh
just before they had come up. W. therefore pro-
ceeded very cautiously. He climbed the wall, and
came at the horse through the tree, to the trunk of
which he clung for some time, that he might secure
a retreat in case of need. Immediately upon his
touching the halter, the horse pranced about, and
finally pulled away with a dogged and stubborn ex-
pression, which seemed to bid W. defiance. Taking
advantage of this, W. leaned over as far as he could,
clinging all the time to the tree with his right hand,
and succeeded in breathing into one nostril, without
however, being able to blind the eyes. From that

moment all became easy. W. who is very skilful in
the management of a horse, coaxed it, and rubbed
its face, and breathed from time to time into the
nostrils, while the horse offered no resistance. In
about ten minutes, W. declared his conviction that
the horse was subdued ; and he then unfastened it,
and to the great and evident astonishment of B.
(who hadbeea tiying all the morning in vain to gain
a mastery over it), led it quietly away with a loose
halter.

"Stopping in the middle of the field, with noone
else near, W. quietly walked up to the horse, placed
his arm over one eye and his hand over the other,
and breathed into the nostrils. It was pleasing to
observe how agreeable this operation appeared to
the horse, who put up his nose to receive the ' puff.'
In this manner, W. led the horse through all the
fields to the stable yard, where he examined the fore
feet, and then the hind feet of the horse, who offered
no resistance — but while W. was examining the hind
feet, bent his neck round, and kept nosing W's hack.
He next buckled on a surcingle, and then a saddle,
and finally bitted the horse with a rope. During the
whole of these operations, the horse did not offer the
slightest resistance, nor did it flinch in the least
degree."

Two experiments are all Mr. Ellis has had an
opportunity of either witnessing, or hearing the re
suits of. But, as he states, these have been to him
perfectly satisfactory ; and, as he has no opportunity
of carrying them on, since he is unacquainted with
the treatment of horses, and neither owns any, nor
is likely to be thrown in the way of unbroken
colts, he has resolved to publish these particulars,
that gentlemen, farmers, trainers, and others, may
at least try so simple a plan, and thus test and deter-
mine its value. Mr. Ellis is of opinion that this is
the secret of the celebrated Irish horse- charmer.
He pretended to whisper to the animal, and played
with his head, and thus probably breathed into his
nostrils.

CALENDAR OF
FOR

HORTICULTURE
MAY.

Every opeiation of the season must, to a greater
or less extent, be governed by the natute of the
existing weather ; we may direct what ought to be
undertaken in every climate, at a given period ; but,
as of Becessity such directions must be prospective,
they can with strict justice be regarded only as
conditional.

The ground, while we write, has become arid by
the operation of a parching east wind, which, with
a steady current, has blown during several weeks
without any rain to meliorate its influence. Trees
swell their buds, some expand their blossoms, but
where is vegetation ? where the genial gales and
mild invigorating showers of April? A tempera-
ture in the shade of 4H° by day, even during the
influence of an unclouded sun, reduced at night by
ten or twelve degrees, if it continue a few days
more, will introduce the flowery May drear and
blank as the first week of March : thus our springs
deteriorate* Under these circumstances, we cannot
foresee what will be the condition of the fruit tiees;
we perceive fine bloom, abundant germs of fruit,
but what the issue may be is entirely hidden. We
have frequently seen the gooseberry and currant-
tiees more advanced in February than they were in
the middle of the present April : so much for the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

393

results of a wet and mild winter. Thus having
premised, and taken a retrospective view of the
garden, we suggest that

In the Vegetable Department,

Peas be sown twice : the first time, Knight's
green marrow; the second, any of the earlier kinds,
to come in about September.

Bean* — the Windsor, or hybrid variety, raised
between that an J the long-pod.

Sow early in the month carrots, to draw young;
borecole, broccoli, Brussels sprout — borecole, or
Scot's kale, for winter and spring; all the salad
herbs, and the admirable or union cabbage lettuce;
spinach twice. We object to the round-leaved, as it
is almost sure to fly up for flower ; whereas the
prickly winter spinach will continue to be in fine
condition for gathering from November to the end
of June; it might be tried late in May, to come in
before the August following.

Vegetable marrow may be planted from pots inlo
light soil over a mass of stable manure, either on
opui beds, or against south and south-east walls
for training. The third week will be early enough ;
and also to sow cucumber seed on a dry border over
a manured trench, for late fruit and gherkins. Sow
cauliflower for Michaelmas. About the first week,
sow in a warm, dry exposure, the first crop of dwarf
kidney beans ; in the second week, that of the runners,
either the white flowering, or scarlet, or painted
lady; and, in the fouith week, make the second
sowing of dwarfs — the dun and black-speckled are
excellent.

Plant the last potatoes ; draw earth to the ad-
vancing stems of the early varieties sown in trenches,
and lighten by the hoe or fork the surface soil of
those in level plots.

Transplant cabbage, savoy, Brussels sprout, and,
if forward, some of the Cape broccoli.

Asparagus beds may still be made in the first
week, as the season is late; or new rows added to
plantations already existing. The great error com-
mitted by planters consists in employing stiff" soil,
and being too sparing of manure. Being a native
of maritime shores, where, however, it never attains
any excellence, asparagus requires a light, sandy
earth, some salt, and abundance of rich vegetable
earth ; therefore, a trench should be opened for
every row, or double quincunxial row, two or
three feet deep, and filled with the softest grass-
turf chopped up, and incorporated with an equal
quantity, or a third more, of decayed leaves and
dunjr. Such bed is best prepared in autumn or
winter; but it may be formed and sown now, pro-
vided thiee or four inches of sifted, light earth be
laid on the surface ; in which, along the centre, a
row of good seed may be sown an inch deep, or
otherwise a row or two of two years' old plants set
an inch below the crowns, in alternating rank, giving
abundant and frequent watering. When the seeds
vegetate, or plants grow, water must be still sup-
plied freely, unless the weather be showery. If it
retain its present arid character till the opening
of May, it will be useless to sow or plant anything
without liberal irrigation. Seedlings, if the soil be
rich and genial, may be cut in three years. From
plants properly cultivated during two years, a fine
gathering can be taken in two years more, and of a
quality as to flavour which will rival all the fibrous
rubbish that is too often seen.

Artichokes ought to have been already digged,
suckers detached, and the strongest of them planted
for new beds in rich mellow soil ; but the weather

has been utterly nnpropilious ; hence, as May will
see the land in the condition of March, so soon a9
showers and western breezes are granted, let the
operations in question be early completed.

Fruit Garden.

We cannot give an opinion of the probable results
of a season so extraordinary ; but the gardener must
have his eye on the peach and nectarine trees, to fu-
migate or wash with tobacco-watei if the aphis (gnea
or black fly) take possesion of them, and then to
use the syringe or garden-engine very freely. If
mildew appear on the leaves, pure fbwers of sulphur
dusted over the mealy-like spots, or mixed with
water by means of a little soft-soap, or a few grains
of gum Tragacnnth, and forcibly syringed over the
infected trees, will arrest the fungus.

Vines must be carefully tended and trained ; of late
years no crop has been taken, for May has destroyed
the promise. Surely, after this continuous low tem-
perature, that month may for once redeem its charac-
ter, and combine with it the now absent showers of
April.

Of strawberries wo can firm no opinion, but they
ought to bear, this fruit having been deficient last
year. Raspberries, currants, and gooseberries are
likely to be in profusion.

Forcing Department.

The early grapes are colouring ; carefully, then,
remove every little green berry and any dissigbtly
stubs left of those footstalks of berries already
thinned. No ripening grape should bo cut away,
unless by oversight the clusters are left crowded.
Rust appears : we have many times been asked the
cause of this imperfection. Disease it i« not, nor do
we believe that the hair or hand of the thinner causes
it by abrasion ; it results from a peculiar action of
light, and is entirely from under our control, as the
browning or freckle of the human face exposed to a
burning sun. Shrivelling or shanking depend upon
a want of balance between the demand and supply of
nutriment — at least, we look in vain for any other
interpretation.

The peach-house must be guarded by early fumi-
gation against the inroads of the green-fly. Two
years ago we saw every bearing shoot of spring wood
entirely abraded by this pest, and the whole crop
lost. Persons commit a great error by leaving too
much fruit to ripen : the operation of stoning tasks
the powers of the tree, and if permitted to become
too severe by overbearing, a tree becomes so weak
as to fall an easy prey to vermin on the following-
year : one fruit on a shoot nine inches long is ample.

Flower Department.
About the middle of the month, all the parterres
for groups ought, if possible, to be entirely cleared
of the old soil (which would be very usefully em-
ployed in the shrubberies), and resupplied with new
pasture loam and leaf mould, with decayed cow-
manure, to the depth of eighteen inches. Mr. Lou-
don, from direct observation in a gentleman's garden
near Maidenhead, ably described the striking re-
sults of this practice, in 1834. He said not° one
word too much in its praise ; for every annual, all
the pedargunia, calceolarias, patunias, nemuphyta*.
verbena?, &c, &c, are improved thereby beyond be-
lief. But all persons have not soil and conveniences
at command ; however, it is possible to dress the
surface more or less with new soil, cow manure, old
leaves, &c. Better be too late than the reverse : we
remember the destruction of 500 bedding-out plants
on the morning of May 7, and again the rigour of

394

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

5 or 6° of frost on the 16th of the month, in 1839.
If, however, genial rains occur by that date, and
penetrate the surface, all danger may cease, and the
garden can then receive its summer decorations.
Under glass, in the plant-house, propagation-house,
stove and green-house, raise most plants by cuttings
as required ; inarch camellias, and stimulate the
growth of such a^ have passed flowering. Admit
nir freely in the green-house, more carefully in the
liot-house, for a current is inimical to tribes that de-
light in a strong moist heat. Propagate by cuttings
of the half-ripe wood, the beautiful ami fragrant
Cape jasmine (Gardenia). Persons should aim at a
good stock, for so miffy is the plant, that few can
retain a large plant. Cuttings strike freely with
care, and in the second year bloom well ; a succes-
sion should therefore be obtained ; this practice was
observed extensively at Claremont while the then
Piince Leopold made it bis residence.

In removing greenhouse plants to stand in the open
air, it would be wise to plunge all the pots over the
rims in a bed of moist sifted ashes or pit sand ; and
let the spot be shady ; the transition is seldom duly
appreciated.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

ON STEAMING FOOD FOR CATTLE.

Sin, —Probably some one of your numerous
readers will have the kindness, through the medium
of your very valuable paper, to inform me of the
quickest and most economical method of steaming
potatoes on a small scale, for cattle. Would it be
more advantageous to convey the steam by tube
from the boiler to the apparatus in which the pota-
toes are deposited, or to place the apparatus upon
the top of the boiler ? If by tube, should the steam
enter at the top or at the bottom of the apparatus ?
What length of time ought a boiler, 24 inches in
diameter, and capable of holding 20 gallons of water,
to be (when the steam is up), in steaming two sacks
of potatoes? If by tube, what diameter ought the
tube to be ? The following plan has been recom-
mended : — Insert G or 8 bars of iron through the
bottom of the boiler (size as above), each one inch
in diameter, and each extending six inches into the
fire and six inches into the boiler. Would such a
plan increase the steam, and in what ratio ? Will
Swedish turnips, when steamed, feed cattle or pigs
faster than when given in their natural state, and
to such an extent as to pay for the extra expense of
labour and steam ? Juvenis.

DRILL DIBBLING MACHINE.

Sin, — Having just real in tho "Farmer's Maga-
zine," for October, 1841 (old series), an account of a
drill dibbling machine, by Mr James Sideg, of Pit-
cairn Green, near Perth, I am induced to enquire of
you or any of your numerous readers for information
on the following heads, viz., the expense of the ma-
chine in London, with the rolls, and (if so made)
the cost without the rolls, as most farmers who are
in the habit of drilling on ridges are provided with
efficient rolls, and only require the sowing machine ;
and by only having it would be more compact, and
less expensive carriage. An early insertion of the
above will greatly oblige,

Yours obediently,

A Constant Reader.

East Cornwall, March 14th, 1842.

A correspondent says a portable ewe house was
exhibited at the Highland Society's show at Ber-
wick, and there is no notice taken of it in their
account of the meeting. Can you say by whom
they are made, and the cost, and where they may
be had ?

Sin, — Having seen, in a communication to your
February number of the Farmer's Magazine by "A
Member of the Royal Agricultural Society," allu-
sion to a one-ltorse chaff cutter of great power, I am
induced to solicit the favour of a more detailed
account of its construction, dimensions, &c, &c.
By acceding to this request, and, if favourable, by
mentioning where, he will confer a very gteat
obligation on Bucolicus.

Sir, — I should be greatly obliged if your corres-
pondent, Mr. John Warner, would answer the fol-
lowing questions respecting the growth of Linseed.
What kind of soil is best adapted for it, and
the necessary culture ? What time in the spring
should it be sown, and whether broadcast or drilled ?
What quantity of seed to the acre, and what time
it is generally lit for cutting, with the mode of
harvesting?

Would any of your chemical readers acquaint the
writer with any substance which would prevent
boiled Barley from becoming sour after it is cool,
which he generally finds is the case ? perhaps some-
thing might be added when it is boiling which
would prove a preventive.

A Leicestershire Farmer.

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL
QUERIES.

ON REARING CALVES.

Sir, — Having noticed that the query of your cor-
respondent with respect to the best substitute for
milk in rearing calves has not been answered, I have
taken the liberty of sending you an account of the
mode pursued by myself. It is not answering your
correspondent's question, but he may find that
linseed and wheat ground together are very useful
in rearing calves.

I never have reared any calves entirely without
milk. It possible for the first month, 12 pints of
new milk is daily given them, six at morning, and
six at night. Hay is placed before them in a small
rack, which they soon learn to eat. The following
fortnight six pints of new, and eight of blue (skim)
milk is daily given them ; the latter is much better
boiled, and when new, milk-warm, mixed with the new
milk. At the expiration of that time, I commenco
mixing porridge with the skim-milk, and entirely
leaving oft' tbe new. The porridge is made of boil-
ing water, and ground linseed and wheat. Stir the
latter into the water as it boils, until it becomes as
thick as good gruel ; when cool, it is fit for use.
Five stone of linseed to a bushel of sound wheat
ground together makes very good lining for gruel.
VVhen the milk fails, tbe gruel is given as a substi-
tute in the same quantity. A few cut turnips are
likewise given. This has been the general manner
in which I have reared my calves, and they turn
out well in the spring to giass. At times, being
much pressed for milk, I have been obliged to com-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

395

mence with porridge ; when the calves have been
very young, sometimes only a fortnight old, a little
new milk was always put into it ; the calves were
likewise kept at the pail a much longer time. I have
been in the habit of rearing from ten to eighteen
calves yearly for the last eight years, during which
period I have lost but five. Linseed whole, oil-cake,
and sago have been tried, but the ground wheat and
linseed were always found to answer thebest. Your
correspondent might try the linseed and wheat ; the
first month without milk will be the most trying to
the young calves. Oil-cake, beans, or oats » round,
should be placed daily in a trough, which they will
soon begin to lick, and it will keep their bodies
from becoming large. The wheat should be sound,
and above all, the serving of the calves should be en-
trusted to a trusty person. If the food is given
either too hot or too cold they are injured. New
milk warm, and regular feeding does much for them.
I have turned out finer calves than some persons who
have given much more milk, but have neglected
warmth, regularity of feeding, and cleanliness.
1 remain, yours' respectfully,
March 14. A Dales' Farmer.

Smith, of Deanston, in which he will find all the
information he desires according to the exact nature
of his soil. — I remain your obedient servant,

Lewis Shedden.
Bittern Manor House, Southampton,

ON WEANING CALVES.

Sir, — I am much obliged to your correspondent, A
Dales Farmer, for answering my queries. I agree
with him perfectly, that the first month is the most
trying (without milk) for young calves; for in-
stance, 1 have experienced great difficulty in keeping
their bowels regular. I have tried linseed jelly in
oatmeal gruel, and found it always loosened their
bowels, and if it had not been discontinued, it woffid
have brought on a scour, which very much iceahens
a calf, and it is a long time before they recover it.
The quantity of linseed, 5 stone of 8lbs. would be
401bs., (as recommended by the Dale's Farmer,) to
be ground together with a bushel of wheat, say 601bs.
The linseed would weigh two-thirds as much as the
wheat, which quantity must, I conceive, make it of a
very laxative nature or mixture ; but as your coi res-
pondent does not give it to his calves until they
are six weeks old, it is probable that their bowels
are firmer at that age, and not so likely to be affected
by it. He does not say ■whether a pint, or what
quantity is sufficient for a meal for one calf — I mean
the meal when ground, that is to be stirred into the
skim milk, or hay tea, which latter is what I must
give them with the meal. Is the wheat to be dressed
and the bran taken from it, and the husks from the
linseed, or not?

Yours, &c, A Subscriber.

P.S. If your correspondent would give his
initials and market town, I should be happy to give
him a line. The foregoing reply would have been
answered earlier, but it did not meet the eye of the
enquirer till a few days since.

Jan. 18, 1842.

DRAIN PLOUGH.

[We do not know if the writer of this letter is the
inventor of a drain plough, or if he be another per-
son of the same name. — Ed. M. L. E.]

Sir, — In answer to "An Essex Farmer," I beg
to state, that I have used a drain plough to cut,
drains 18 inches and 20 inches deep for laying in
tiles for the last five years, or more, and am often-
times using the drain plough before laying in turf,
wood, straw, clay, Sec, and can easily alter my
plough to cut a drain two feet deep for laying in
tiles. J. Pearson.

Crampton Hotise, High Halden, Kent, March 23.

ON DRAINING.

Sir, — In answer to a correspondent who in-
quires— " What is the best and most practical way
of furrow-draining stiffish soil, and whether the
same may be done to answer the purposes of carry-
ing away the under as well as the top water?" I
beg to state, that furrow-drains, at the depth of 24
to 27 inches, will be equally efficacious in taking
away under as well as top water. But as stiffish
land is too vague a term to judge of the exact dis-
tance apart the drains should be laid, I beg to refer
him to a pamphlet on Thorough Draining, by Mr.

ON FILLING IN DRAINS.
Sir, — Trusting that I shall not be found guilty of
any violation on the prerogative of such high autho-
rity as is given in your valuable paper of the 17 th of
January last, I would say, in corroboration of the
system of putting the subsoil first in when filling
drains, that for upwards of fifteen years I have prac-
tised that plan and found it answer well ; and of its
good and permanent effects over the field I have no
doubt, providing the operation be otherwise properly
done, by running the drains parallel to the ridges,
and of a proper depth and distance from each other.

A. C. S.

ON RAISING POTATOES FROM SEED.

Sir, — Some time ago I observed in your paper a
letter from a correspondent, wishing information as to
the best plan of raising potatoes from the seed. As I
have not seen any answer to that letter, permit me,
in this way, to inform your coriespoudent of a plan
I tried some years ago. I gathered a (ew ripe apples
and pressed out the seed, which I washed clean and
dried in an airy place. Next spring I put the seed
in a drill in soft ground, and which appeared to
braird well. In the autumn I took up the roots,
which were generally of the size of marbles, and
put them in a potato-pit till next spring, when I
planted them out whole, and in due season they
grew to ordinary-sized potatoes, and of good quality.

This experiment was upon a small scale, but I
have no doubt it would have succeeded to any ex-
tent. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Perth. A Friend.

BEE FEEDING.

Sir, — A few days since, one of your .correspon-
dents was anxious to know how to prevent his bees
from being drowned in their bee food ; I also lost
many till I adopted the following mode : —

I stretched some very open coarse white lace net-
ting over a water colour drawing plate, which has
six divisions, and is shallow ; into the middle divi-
sion I pour the bee's food for their breakfast before
I get my own. The bees walk over the clean net-
ting to enjoy their meal, sometimes forming them-
selves into rows along the edges of the food, which
it is pretty and interesting to see. I have never
lost a bee from the cause complained of since.

The space in the netting should be large, such as

390

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

will admit a crow quill ; if it is too small the bees
entangle the hooked part of their probosces into
the lace work, and suffer much inconvenience ; this
I discovered by using a magnifying glass, in order
to ascertain why several of my friends were pri-
soners and in great distress. — Your obedient ser-
vant, J. LE COUTEUR.
Belle Vue, Jersey, March 12th.

ON THE EFFECT OF CARROTS ON HORSES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In answer to a query in your excellent
paper of the 10th inst., respecting feeding horses and
carrots, I am unable to give your correspondent any
lengthened experience on the subject ; but since I
have oiven my horses (twelve in number) carrots, I
have not peiceived any ill effects from them, neither
have I ever heard the root accused of injuring horses
eyes before; but the chief reason of my replying to
your correspondent, is to inform him that the pars-
nip, a root having gieat affinity to the carrot, is
thought to have this effect, as he will perceive by
the following quotations from Quayle's Agriculture
of the Islands on the coast of Normandy, drawn up
for the consideration of the late Board of Agriculture.
Under the head, parsnip in the island of Jersey, he
says: — " Horses eat this root greedily, but in this
island it is never given them, as it is alleged that
when on this food their eyes are injured." Again,
in the island of Guernsey, he says: — " To horses,
parsnips are frequently given, and have the property
of making them sleek and fat ; but in working, they
are observed to sweat profusely. If new, and cut
sufficiently small, no other ill effect lesults, except
indeed, at oue period of the year, towards the close
of February, when the root begins to shoot ; if then
given, both horses and horned cattle are subject, on
this food, to an inflammation in the eyes, and
epiphora, or weeping ; in some subjects perhaps
producing blindness." Trusting the above extracts
may prove interesting to your correspondent,
I remain, &c,

A Devonshire Farmer.

FEEDING CATTLE ON CARROTS.

[to the editor of the doncaster chronicle.]
Carlton Hall, Feb. 9, 1842.

Sir,— Noticing a question in your last week's Chro-
nicle, on Feeding Cattle on Carrots, being a means of
bringing on the Ophthalmia, I beg to say, we have been
in the practice of feeding cattle with carrots very freely,
more particularly milch cows, and have never had any
thing of that disease amongst them, generally being
very healthy, and I certainly consider them very healthy
food for cattle and horses. Whenever they are amiss I
generally order them a few carrots. 1 am, sir, your
obedient servant, W. Bradley,

Steward to 11. Ramsden, Esq.

N. B.— I wish to further observe, I have never found
anything to produce so sweet milk and butter as
carrots.

Sir, — In reply to a subscriber's letter, dated
Taunton, wishing for the best mode of preventing
rough grass in a pasture where horses only are fed,
I would advise that road scrapings, or in absence of
which, any other good mould, be applied, having re-
peatedly tried it with success. — I am, Sir, yours, &c,

John Negus — A Subscriber.
Crimpleskam, near Dmonham, Norfolk, Feb. 16, 1842.

Sir, — In your paper of the 14th inst. a corres-
pondent inquires the best method of eradicating
coarse grasses from meadows. I beg to state for
his information, that a sprinkling of wood-ashes
will exterminate mosses and coarse grass from mea-
dow pastures. I have the honour to be, Sir, your
obedient servant, P.

Caithness-shire, N.B., Feb. 18.

WEEVILS.

Sir, — In reply to a letter in your paper this
week respecting weevils, the best plan that I know
for extirpating this destructive insect is cleanliness.
As soon as your granary is cleared and thoroughly
well swept, let it be well white-washed all over,
including the floor, with new slaked lime; it may
perhaps be some years before they are entirely de-
stroyed, but their number will be lessened every
time the lime is made use of, and their complete
annihilation will inevitably follow. Your's respect-
fully, A Miller.

Feb. 9.

ON DESTROYING RUSHES.

A Correspondent inquires, What will kill rushes?—
I have used muriate of soda, the common culinary salt,
for the purpose, with complete suceess. As much as
can be taken in a garden trowel on each bunch of
rushes, will cause them to rot and disappear during the
winter. May month is the best time to apply it; I
have done it after the grass has been cut for hay.
I remain, yours, &c.

Bodmin. William Miciiell, M.D., Cantab.

In answer to '' A Correspondent, *' respecting
rushes, as he has drained his meadow he should
mow them as often as they make their appearance ;
give them a good coat of wood-ashes or ashes from
a lime-kiln, coal-ashes, or good road scrapings.
After a short time, he will not find a rush grow-
ing in his meadows. I have tried the above on
very wet meadows, and always found it answer, and
the grass come very neat and good — in short, I never
found it to fail. J. T. M.

THE INCOME TAX.— As regards profits of
uncertain annual value, the following clause will
serve to exemplify the microscopical minuteness
of the scrutiny : we quote it as a specimen of tax-
legislation : —

" Third — Whenever the Commissioners shall, on ex-
amination, find that any lands occupied by a dealer in
or seller of milk, (which lands thall have been estimated
and charged on the rent or annual value,) are not suffi-
cient for the keep and sustenance of the cattle brought
on the said lands, so that the rent or annual value of
the said lands cannot afford a just estimate of the profits
of such dealer, it shall be lawful for the said Commis-
sioners to require a return of such profits, and to charge
such further sum thereon as, together with the chaige
in respect of the occupation of the »aid lands, shall
make up the full sum wherewith such trader ought to be
charged in respect of the like amount of profits charged
according to the first rule in this case.

THE FARMER'S FIRE & LIFE INSURANCE
INSTITUTION.— We are authorised to state that
James Roberts West, Esq., of Alscot Park, near Strat-
ford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, has consented to act us
an Honorary Director of this institution.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

397

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE, FAIRS, &c.

HOWDEN SPRING FAIR. -The attendance of
dealers at Howden Spring fair, on Friday and Saturday,
the 15th and 16th inst., was numerous ami respectable,
amongst whom we noticed some from London, and
others from the Midland counties; also several foreigners.
There is a great demand for good horses, both in this
country and on the continent, which ought to stimulate
the breeders and graziers to greater exertions ; as it has
been remarked by.dealers, that there was a great lack of
good horses at our recent fairs. Altogether there was
a fair quantity of business done. The finest horses were
principally sold well, at high price*, but those of an in-
ferior grade went off heavily, and the prices asked were
but in few instances realized. There was an abundant
supply of cattle on Monday, the 18th inst., and there
being a numerous attendance of buyers, a good deal of
business was done, but prices on the whole were on the
decline. The very priinest of fat stock varied from 7s.
to 7*. 6d. per stone ; steers, heifers, and drapes, sold at
reduced prices ; and in-calvers sold for less money by
51. in 20/. than at our last fair. There was only a mo-
derate show of sheep, hogs from 23s. to 30*., but they
were so limited in number, that a quotation can hardly
be made. At twelve o'clock the Howden Agricultu-
ral Society held their annual show, when a considera-
ble number of agriculturists were admitted, and were
gratified with a most splendid display of some of the
finest stock of the country. Several coaching stallions,
(supposed to be the best in the county,) were entered
and shewn for the premiums in that class. The show
for all other descriptions of horses was excellent, and
excited the most close attention ; and their general ap-
pearance was such as to reflect credit on their several
owners. The judges on the occasion were, Mr. Wil-
liam Torr, of Riby, near Brigg ; Mr. John Newton, of
Howbridge, near Malton ; and Mr. John Short, Mar-
tin, near Bawtry, who took great pains in exercising
their judgment, and gave general satisfaction. The
following is a list of the premiums awarded :— For the
best thorough-bred stallion, Mr. Smallpage, of Knot-
tingley, for Viator, 51. For the best coaching stallion,
Mr. Simpson, of Sandholrae, for Sancho, 5/. For the
best stallion for roadsters, Mr. P. Ramsden, for Phe-
nomenon, 1l. For the best carting stallion, Mr. James
Staveley, for Farmers' Interest (below par) 21. For
the best coaching brood mare, Mr. Easingwold, 2/. ;
the second best ditto, Mr. Thompson, of Armin, 1/.
For the best hunting brood mare, Thomas Clarke, Esq.,
of Knedliugton, 2/. For the best two or three- years '-
old coaching gelding, M r. Thomas Denby, of Rawcliffe,
2/. ; the second best, ditto; the quality exhibited was
below mediocrity and unworthy. For the best year-
ling coaching colt, Mr. Sayles, Blackwood, 2Z. For
the best one or two-yc.irs'-old coaching filly, Mr.
Thomas Watcrhouse, of Burnhill Hall, near Howden,
12. For the best bull above three years old, Mr. Pen-
rose, of Gribthorpe, lor Gribthorpe, 5/. ; second best
ditto, the Rev. J. D. Jefferson, for Sir Thomas, 31. For
the best cow in calf or milk, the Rev. J. D. Jefferson,
for Daisy, 31. For the best three-years'-old heifer in
calf, the rev. J. D. Jefferson, 2/. For the best two-
years'-old heifer, Mr. Smith, Drax, 21. For the best
yearling heifer, the Rev. J. D. Jefferson, for Hannah,
21. For the best fat cow, heifer, or ox, Mr. Moiley,
Eastoft, 21. For the best boar, the Rev. J. D. Jeffer-
son, 11. For the best sow, Mr. Smith Drax, 11.
Labourers and servants in husbandry.— To the labourer
in husbandry (who has not occupied more than half an
acre of land) who has brought up by his labour, and
placed out to service, the greatest number of children,
without receiving parochial relief : — Moody, of East-
rington, 2/. The Dinner.— At half-past three o'clock a
numerous and respectable company sat down to Dinner
at Mr. Bowman's, the Half Moon Inn. The Rev. J.
D. Jefferson, of Thickett Priory in the chair. The
judges were on the right and left of the chairman ; and

many other influential agriculturists, professional gen-
tlemen, &c, were also present. The dinner was sump-
tuous, and the wines excellent. The customary loyal
and other toasts relative to agriculture, with compli-
mentary speeches to the different breeders of stock, were
given and drunk with applause. Ssveral other appro-
priate toasts and sentiments were given, and the
company separated in good humour and hilarity at a
late hour in the evening. The whole of the proceedings
and conduct of the business in the field, the distribution
of the rewards, and the after conduct ol the officers of
the association, elicited from the judges their marked
and warm approval. In the united name of the
Howden-hire Agricultural Association, we publicly
return thanks to those gentlemen for their attendance,
as well as for their impartial adjudications.

ROMSEY.— The Spring Market Show of the Rom-
sey Agricultural Society took place on Thursday
se'nnight, when the display of stock was far superior to
that of the preceding year. A large number of prizes
was announced at this show to increase the competition,
and although, according to a new arrangement, all
candidates for premiums were obliged to be subscribers
of 10s., at least, to the society, there was no lack of
stock or spectators. The judges appointed for fat stock
were Messrs. Smith, Oliver, and Jas. Newman; and for
lean stock, Messrs. Fielder, Smith, and Jenvey. A
numerous and influential party afterwards dined at the
White Horse Inn, Sir J. B. Mill, Bart., in the chair.
The usual loyal and appropriate toasts were given, and
well received. The prizes were awarded as follows : —

For Fat Stock.— To the owner, being the feeder, of
the best fat ox, 3/.— Mr. J. Young ; ditto of the second
best ditto, 2/.— Mr. Thompson ; ditto of the best fat
heifer, 21. 10s. — Mr. Hurst; ditto of the ten best fat
South Down wethers, 21. 10s. — Mr. Clarke; ditto of
the second best ditto, 11. 10s. —Ditto; ditto of the ten
best fat sheep, of any breed, 21. — Mr. Weal; ditto of
the ten best South Down fat ewes, 11. — Mr. VVheable ;
ditto of the ten best fat South Down lambs, 21. 10s. —
Mr. Scovell ; ditto of the second best ditto, 11. 10s. —
Mr. Lowman ; ditto of the ten best lambs, of any sort,
2/.— Mr. F. King; ditto of the best fat calf, 11.— Mr.
J. Allsop; ditto of the second best ditto, 15s. — Mr.
Chandler.

Fon Lean and Breeding Stock. — To the owner of
the best stallion for agricultural purposes, 3/. — Mr.
Dawkes ; ditto of the best bull of any age, 31. — Mr.
Allsop ; ditto, being the breeder, of the best yearling
bull, 21.— Mr. G. King ; ditto of the second best ditto,
II. 10s. — Mr. Ayles ; ditto of the best cow, in milk, 21.

— Rev. Mr. Maurice ; ditto of the second best ditto, 1/.
— Mr. Gilbert ; ditto of the best two year old heifer, 1 1.
10s. — Mr. J. Allsop ; ditto of the best yearling heifer,
1/.— Mr. Walton ; ditto of the best Down ram, 1/.—
Mr. Pain ; for the best coop of South Down ewes, 21.

— Vir. Wheable; second best ditto, 1/.— Mr. Pain; for
the best boar, 1/.— Mr. J. Allsop ; for the best breeding
sow, 1/. — Mr. Pain; to the owner, being the breeder,
of the best yearling colt or filly for agricultural purpo*es,
21.— Mr. Clarke; to Mr. Clarke's shepherd, for the
best coop of sheep— a new hat ; to Mr. Scovell's shep-
herd, for the best coop of lumbs— a new hat ; for the
best two year old cob, by Pretender (given by Mr.
Walton), 21— Mr. Neil; for the best two year old
filly, by Pretender (given by Mr. Walton), 1/.— Mr.
F. King.

SALE AT MARTIN HALL.-At this sale of short-
horned stock, by Mr. Waite of this town, which took
place on Monday week, and was attended by his (jrace
the Duke of Newcastle, and a great number of noble-
men and gentlemen from the neighbourhood, the fol-
lowing were disposed of, at prices which were considered
to be much below their real value. The contemplated

398

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

alteration in the tariff is supposed to have occasioned
the depreciation in the value of the stock thus sold.

Cows and Heifers.— Lily, white, 9 years old, by a
bull of Mr. Hodgkinson's ot Torwarth — J. Drabwell,
Esq., llgs. ; White Lady, white, 7 years old, by Wil-
liam, dam by Frank— J. Topham, Esq., 32g>. ; Wan-
ton, white, 6 years old, by William, dam by Mariner-
Duke of Devonshire, 31 js.; Wilhelmina, strawberry, 7
years old, by William, dam by Frank— J. Drabwell,
Esq., 22gs. ; Grizzle, strawberry, 8 years old, by Wil-
liam, dam by Frank — W. Micklelhwaite, Esq , 34gs. ;
Winifred, strawberry, 7 years old, by William, dam by
Mariner— J. Booth, Esq., 2ogs. ; Cowslip, strawberry,
7 years old, by Comical, dam by Rough Robin— J.

Major, dam White Lady— Thomas Parkinson, Esq.,
36gs. ; Stella, roan, 4 years old, by Serjeant-Major,
dam by Frank— Messrs. W. Walker and Key worth,
26gs. ; Sappho, red and white, 3 years old, by Serjeant-
Major, dam a well bred short horn— H. Eddison, Esq.,

13gs. ; Speedwell, red and white, 3 years old, by Ser-
jeant-Major, dam Grizzle— Mr. John Dickinson, 21 gs.;
Vearling Heifer, roan, by Sailor Boy — Earl Manvers
9Jgs. ; Yearling Heifer, roan, by Sailor Boy, dam
Grizzle — W. Micklelhwaite, Esq., 26gs. ; Yearling
Heifer, white, by Sailor Boy, dam Lily — Earl Manvers,
llig-.; Heifer Calf, white, by Sailor Boy, dam Cows-
lip—H. WaUon, Esq., 7gs.

Bulls. — Sailor Boy, roan, 4 years old, by Serjeant-
Major, dam White Lady— Mr. Chadburn, 25us. ; Sin-
bad, roan, 4 year* old, by Serjeant-Major, dam Cowslip
— Mr. John Dickinson, 21|g*. ; Samuel, roan, 3 years
old, by Serjeant-Major, dam Winifred — Thomas New-
stead, E.«q., 26gs. ; Solon, roan, 18 months old, by
Saldanah, dam Grizzle— Earl Manvers, 3(>2gs; Bull
Calf, roan, by Sinbad, dam White Lady— E. Hodg-
kinson, Esq., 8gs.

Horses.— Grey Colt, 4 years old, by Mr. Short's
Arabian- E. Wilmot, Esq., 36gs. ; Chesnut colt, 3 yrs.
old, by a son of Old Matchless, dam by Hyacinthus—
E. Wilmot, Esq., 42gs. — JDoncasltr Gazette.

AGRICULTUR/VL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
APRIL.

In almost every point of view this has proved by
far the most propitious month to agriculture that has
been experienced for a very lengthened period ; in
fact, the oldest farmer living has no recollection of
finer weather for the time of year. From the 1st
till about the 23id, we bad a continuous series of
cold north-easterly winds, which, though they
necessarily checked the progress of the wheat plants,
as well as that of vegetation in general, afforded
those engaged in out-door farm labours an excellent
opportunity of finishing the operation of sowing
the spring corn, under — notwithstanding the want
of rain was complained of in some quarters —
favourable auspices. On the 21th, the wind
having suddenly shifted round to the westward
and southward, we were visited with some seveie
thunder storms, which exceeded in violence anything
— in the shape of atmospheric turbulence— we ever
before witnessed ; but, we are happy to observe, the
amount of damage caused by those visitations was
not of an extensive character. Since the latter day
up to the time we are writing, we have been favoured
with fine breezes from the east-south-east, with erery
prospect of some continuance. Several complaints
of the " chilled'' appearance of the young wheat
plants have reached us ; but, from the general tcnour
of the accounts from the whole of our grain districts,
we are led to conclude that no consequences of serious
moment are likely to arise from that circumstance;
holding, as we do, that premature luxuriance is by
no means a good indicator of full barns in approaching
harvests. Barley and oats are well above ground,
yet their growth has been severely retarded by the
cold nights, in some of which thin ice has been pro-
duced in most counties situate north of the Humber.
Both beans and peas have not looked so well as
could be wished, from the before-mentioned causes ;
still a few fine days and light showers would speedily
put them to rights. As most of the hands were
Otherwise engaged in the month's early part, the
quantity of grain of all descriptions submitted to
the process of thrashing was, comparatively speak-
ing, small; and this was a somewhat fortuitous cir-

cumstance for the growers. In the first place, the
limited receipts at most of the principal markets
causing prices to advance for the best parcels; in
the next, the absence of moisture and the drying
winds improving the condition of the wheats, and
thereby rendering them more valuable, to the amount
perhaps of several shillings per quarter. Ploughing
and sowing having been almost generally concluded
by the 2lst, the attention of the agricultural body
has been since chiefly turned to the stocks on hand,
and we are firmly convinced that for tome time
hence liberal supplies of good wheat — or, at least,
those of a description better suited to the purposes
of millers and others — will be found available. This
leads us to the consideration of the actual quantity
which is now in the barns and stack yards. Aware,
as we are, that to arrive at the truth in such matters
is a difficult task, we would fain hope that many
of the statements lately promulgated are too highly
coloured, and, consequently', require a little correc-
tion in their details. One test — which, by the way,
is not to say a conclusive one — of such quantity
may be considered the receipts of grain at the vari-
ous markets of consumption ; and, if those of the
present year be adduced in contradistinction to those at
the corresponding season in 1841 — we are now refer-
ing to those towns from whence the averages are taken
— it will be found they have exhibited a decided in-
crease; yet sales have been much smaller this spring
than were those noted at the same time last year ; aris-
ing,possibly, from twocauses — the large quantities of
foreign brought forwards and disposed of, together
with the absence of good heavy dry wheats of home
produce, fit for immediate conversion into flour, as
well as the caution which has been evinced by millers
and others in their purchases. We are free to admit,
from all that can be ascertained, that the supplies in
the hands of our farmers are not great. Notwithstand-
ing this admission we think that sumciciit will be
found, with reasonable aid from the foreigner —
which, in fact, we almost possess at this moment, in
the shape of the bonded supplies, and those on their
way hither from the Baltic and Bl.«ck Seas — to meet
every demand until the conclusion of harvest, unless
it should be a very late one. Of foreign wheat

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

399

under lock in the different ports of the United
Kingdom, we have now over half a million of
quarters; and nearly 200,000 quarters more may
be expected here during the summer. By the last
quarterly returns, we find that the imports of
forpign wheat were 200,000 quarters more than at
the same time in 1811; while the receipts of En-
glish oats were greater by about ;>0,000 quarters,
the latter showing clearly the large growth of that
article over previous seasons.

Our advices from the north of Europe have
conveyed somewhat dull accounts of the wheat
trade; indeed, speculators appear to have been
extremely cautious in transmitting orders to those
parts for additional supplies of grain, until matters
become more settled here. An impression seems
gaining ground that prices will rise abroad ere
long, and a better demand is looked forward to by
parties holding grain there. This, to a certain ex-
tent, may be realized, as there will ! e some induce-
ment for the owners of corn under lock — at least,
should figures rule about those at present obtained,
— to release their grain for home consumption
immediately the new corn bill comes into opera-
tion. And we might be permitted to ask, what
will this newly fangled measure do for us ? We
answer — and we defy contradiction — that, instead
of an increase, it will be productive of a decreased
growth of wheat in this country for years to come.
In our humble judgment, it should always be the
endeavour of " the powers that be,'" to afford that
protection to all classes of the community as will
enable them, under the pressure of excessive taxa-
tion, to enter into fair and honourable com-
petition with others : indeed, it might be
added, such is a right which no one can deny,
and which ought to be made a prior claim to
almost every other consideration, lint in the pre-
sent instance Sir Robert Peel seems to consider
such claim — and this we say in spite of his oft-
repeated declaration to "protect agriculture" — to
be of the most minor importance, and, moreover,
has now brought forward a measure which in the
course of a few years will be the means of pro-
ducing ruin — positive ruin — to a large number of
the yeomen of England. Were it only the corn
bill that farmers have to dread, so much mischief
might not be anticipated ; but an opportunity will
be afforded, by the tariff allowing the importation
of live stock, for the Flemish, French, and German
graziers to inundate our markets, in the course of
time, with such supplies of both beasts, sheep, and
pigs, as will run prices down here to almost or
cmite the continental level. Is this, we will ask, a
" protection" to British agriculture? Some, per-
haps, will say these measures are the offspring of
" an error o! judgment ;" but we would not allow
such an idea to agitate our minds for a single mo-
ment, and would sum up our honest conviction that
Sir Robert Peel has yielded in the most extraor-
dinary manner to the "pressure from without,"
to the ravings of the corn law agitators, or, in
other words, to the wishes of those who had
united themselves to overthrow and destroy the
interests of that great and useful class upon whom
we are, or at least ought to be, dependant for our
supplies of the principal necessaries of life.

In Norfolk and some of our southern counties —
but more particularly in the former quarter — the
supply of turnips and other pabulum for stock has
become extremely scarce and dear. This has
been felt as a great inconvenience, and many
stock-masters have been compelled to send their

beasts and sheep to market in a half-fat condition,
greatly to their loss and disappointment. The
lambing season is now concluded, but we regret to
observe that large numbers of both ewes and
lambs have died from the prevailing epidemic,
which is still raging, though in a milder form than
was the case last year. The beasts have suffered
severely, yet the account we have to render of
them is certainly more cheering than that as re-
spects sheep.

There was a very fair demand for good English
and foreign wheat, at rather improving curren-
cies towards the middle of the month ; since then
it has ruled dull, not only at Mark-lane, but also
at Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham, and in the
Yorkshire markets, with full average quantities
offering, while the figures have lately given way
from Is. to 2s. per qr. Malting barley has mostly
sold at full prices— grinding and distilling sorts
being noted cheaper. The malt trade has ruled
steady ; the same may be said as respects that
with beans and peas ; but oats have been selling
at unusually low quotations, on account of the
abundant quantities brought forward. Hay and
straw, when good, have been held at higher rates.
In other farm produce little has been transacted.

Our Scotch letters inform us of fine weather
having been experienced for the sowing of spring
crops, nearly the whole of which are now in, so
actively have the Scotch farmers employed them-
selves. The grain plants are not very highly
spoken of; si ill they have not suffered materially
from the cold winds. Good sound wheat has
sold freely ; all other grain slowly at but little al-
teration in prices.

The seed time has been nearly concluded in
Ireland with the land in fine order ; while the
corn has appeared well above ground, and exhibits
a good and healthy complexion, considering the
coldness of the temperature. Very little has been
transacted in corn, and the rates have had a down-
ward tendency.

The following is our usual monthly statement
cf the supplies and prices of fat stock, exhibited
and sold in Smithficld cattle market during the
month. The former have been, compared with
those of April 1841, considerably on the increase,
as will be perceived by the following tabular state-
ment.

April, 1841. April, 1842. Comparison.

Beasts 9,812 .. 11,282 .. 1,470 more.

Sheep&Lambs. 86,200 .. <J8,530 .. 12,330 „
Calves 700 .. 734 .. 34 „

Pigs

',360

2,635

i/o

The above large increase \ in the arrivals,
which have been chiefly from Norfolk — the
number of Scots and home-breds received from
that county having amounted to no less than
7,400, at least two-thirds of which "have been
of very middling quality, arising from many of
those who graze in that important county having
been compelled to rid themselves earlier than
usual of much of their stock from the shortness of
keep. From Scotland, nearly 800 Scots have come
to hand by steam and sailing vessels, chiefly in
poor condition from the same causes. The receipts
of lambs from the Isle of Wight have been limited,
viz., only about 400, but they have turned out to-
lerably prime. The immense supplies of slaugh-
tered meat up to Newgate and Leadenhall markets,
from Dundee, Aberdeen, and Perth, as well as
from different parts of England, together with the

400 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

supplies in Smithfiehl being more extensive than their own consumption, and that Denmark alone is
for which purchasers could be found, has pro- an exporting European country to any extent, ana
duced an unusually heavy inquiry for each kind that to only about 7,000 head a year there is not
of stock, and prices in consequence have suffered certainly much ground for fear of reduction in this
a general abatement of quite 4d. per 81bs. Nearly article. The finest and most extensive supply of cat-
three-fourths of the sheep have been out of their tie is, no doubt, to be found in South America south
wool, and the past may be considered a very un- of the Equator ; but the quality of the meat that can
profitable month to the grazier as regards this be brought from thence is such as will not bear
market. In store stock little has been transacted, comparison with our own cured meat, after the tor-

„., „.„-*„ , », ofTt, mer bus been a two months voyage; and let it be

A tffff M?E.f?i?<2,?AT STOCK «Mh?toi ">"■• ''» mi"d '"' "'» P°'l»" °f lhiPs' >K"S' *"

JJjta,, April «, ■«., «.« Mma.„ April ,5, g«--™ ^•=-~*2; J-"-^

4f per 8Ms.ro sink the offals. will form a large portion of our home consumption.

April 26, 1841. April 25, 1842. i give no opinion of the wisdom of the measure, but ,

s. A. s. d. s. d. s.il. on)y as t0 its probable effects. I now come to the

C>ar3e& inferior Beasts 3 4 to 3 8.. 2 10 to 3 0 SUDject of the report, and will first notice the wheat

Second quality do 3 10 4 2 .. 3 2 3 4 0n ground ; and to do so must first recall to remem-

Prime large Oxen 4 4 4 6 .. 3 6 38 brance tbe season we iiavejust passed through. At

Prime Scots, &c. ...... 4 6 4 8 .. 3 10 4 0 the beginning of the year ratber more than half, I

S53SS5£^f ■■ i 3 8-: 3 8 hi w'*^**7^™**^***

Prime coarse woolleddo. 3 10 4 6 . 3 10 4 0 middle of February, and not before, of any conse-

Prime Southdown do.. quence ; further progress was made in the begin-

( out of wool) 4 2 46. .38 40 ning of March ; the land was again, from wet, in an

Do. in the Wool 4 8 5 0..4 2 4 6 unfit state, I think I never remember it worse ; to-

Lambs 60 70. .58 68 wards the latter end wheat sowing again commenced,

Large coarse Calves ..5 0 5 4.. 4 0 4 10 and is now nearly finished. Of that got in well in

Prime small ditto 56 5 10 .. 5 0 54 the autumn on the strong soil and dry situation, the

Large Hogs 40 4 8.. 44 48 piant js g00jf and although backward, and showing

Neat small Porkers .. 4 10 5 0 .. 4 10 5 u ^ effect Qf ()je co1d ^^ may do v&ry we,, . bu(.

supplies. 0p t|ie j)0rtion pUt in bad on heavy deep soils, a good

April 26, 1841. April 25, 184?. deal was destroyed pnrtially, and in situations liablo

Beasts....... 2,400 2,871 to be flooded, entirely. The plant is also deficient

Sheep and Lambs^ ... . 22,800 23,700 and ,00,.ing. bad> after potatoes and otber summer

p.R * 47Q 334 crops; that which was put in in February came up

= pretty well, but in many instances was injured by

As before stated, the quantities of dead meat tbe deluges of wet in March, and on stiff soils is

offerin0- in Newgate and Leadenhall markets have now bound up by the very drying cold wind we have

been to an almost unprecedentedly large extent, baci lately, and will want rain ; this, with what has

which, as a matter of course, has caused much been sown recently, will require more moisture than

heaviness to prevail in the demand, at drooping wjh be beneficial to the forward wheats, or it will

quotations, which have been much lower than be verv tbin ; on the whole, as far as our opinion

those at the same time last year, as will be per- can b ^"given, the prospect is by no means more en-

ceived below. couraging than the two past years. The late dry

Per 8lbs. by the carcass. weather has been very propitious in preparing tbe

April, 1841. April, 1842. land for barley and oats; but on the stiff soils, rain

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. must now be waited for. A good deal has been done

Beef from .... 3 2 to 4 0 .... 2 10 to 3 6 in the Moors, where, up to within these few weeks,

Mutton 3 (i to 4 4 .... 3 0 to 3 10 it could not be worked with horses ; for this land, the

Lamb, ,.'. 5 b" to 6 10 ... 5 6 to 6 6 season cannot be too dry. Beans are coming up

Veal ....... 5 0 to 5 f> .... 4 2 to 5 2 pretty well, but will soon want rain. I have made a

porj." 4 2 to 5 2 .... 3 10 to 5 0 good many inquiries, and have made use of my own

The arrivals of slaughtered meat from Scotland observations, as far as I have had opportunity, and
and distant parts of England, have been about 800 can from the facts before me come to no other con-
carcases of beef; 12,000 do. of mutton ; 2,000 do. elusion than that the stock of English wheat is much
of veal • 13 800 tlo. of pork ; and 560 do. of lamb, less than at this period last year ; and how can it be
' ' * otherwise with such a deficient crop? 8 to 10

bushels per acre, is I consider a low estimate of the
SOMERSETSHIRE. falling off, even in comparison with the previous

It is very tempting when changes are making year, besides the fact that it takes nearly 1 bushel
affectum agriculture, in writing reports, to go out more than last year to make a sack of flour. The
of the way into the field of politics, leaving almost cheapness of potatoes, and the state of the country,
untouched the subject of the report. This has been may have lessened the consumption in England;
the case latelv in some of your original communica- but it is now very doubtful if we shall not have a
tions to my disappointment, and in making a slight scarcity of potatoes after seed time.it taking 8 sacks
allusion to contemplated changes, I hope to avoid a per acre for that purpose ; and their cheapness has
lorn* digression ; but it seems whatever effect the evidently lessened the stock very materially, and is
alteration of the tariff may have, rumour has been rapidly doing so in the way of food for pigs, as more
busv in fixin- on a reduction even below the present than a usual number have been raised this year and
rates of prices" cm the continent. Now, if it be correct have not been cut oft by any disorder, as last season,
that Holland Belgium, France, and the German con- Our supplies of wheat are now falling off ; indeed,
federacy do 'not a°t present produce enough beef for had the condition been otherwise than very bad, at

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

401

bo time was the supply beyond the demand, although
the farmers have had unusual inducement and
plenty of time to bring it to the markets. Of corn in
mow, there is more than a usual quantity of oats at
"this season ; a good deal of barley and beans have
gone out of the farmer's hands, hut more of wheat than
any other. By this time last year millers and bakeis
were more in stock; the latter in particular were
much freer buyers, and held larger stocks at this
period." Except in Bristol, (and there the stock is
trifling,) there is not 100 qrs. of free foreign held in
the county, and very little more than that quantity,
calculating that in the miller's hands; but they will
be able to go on some time longer on our own sup-
plies, but expect at higher prices. I may quote
wheat at 7s. to 7s. 6d. ; red, 7s. 3d. to 7s. 10d., and
8s. for extra white, 63 to 641bs. per bushel, such be-
ing very scarce. The condition is much improved,
but still the weights are light in comparison with last
year. Flour, 4?s. to 48s. per sack, with a better sale.
Beans have been a better sale lately, and the supply
greatly fallen off, 3s. 9d. to 4s. 3d/ Oats are also in
short supply, but if the price was to get up we have
some quantity on hand, 2s. 3d. to 2s. 9d.; barley,
3s. to 3s. 9d. ; expect a demand for seed as soon as
we have rain. Our clovers are very good, and the
early sown vetches ; but our keep is now getting very
short, and much more hay will be consumed than
was expected. There will be most likely a better
sale lor poor stock on an alteration of weather, but
high prices must not be expected for them as for
fat. Fork and bacon have gone down to 7s. 9d. to
7s. 8d. the former, and 5d. to o^d. by the side per
lb. for the latter. Cheese has also declined from
6s. to Ss. per cwt., but the supplies are bv no means
. While the tariff is being settled, we must
expect anything hut life in the provision trade. It
has been extremely cold for the season this two or
three days past. Yesterday a kw slight storms ;
again appears settled for dry.— April 1 3.

DURHAM.

For the last month the weather has been very
cold and ungenial for the season, accompanied with
high and nipping winds, which has had the effect
of keeping vegetation extremely backward. The
early-sown autumn wheat presents a withered ap-
pearance, and in many instances exhibits a thinness
of plant. We have frequently observed that early-
sown is more liable to lose plant in the spring, than
wheat sown at a more advanced period of the sea-
son : the latter end of February was most favour-
able for sowing spring-wheat. A large breadth
was committed to the ground, both on fallows—
where it could not be sown in the autumn, from the
wetness of the season — and also upon turnip land :
it has seldom fallen to our lot to experience the
seed deposited in the ground under more favourable
auspices ; consequently the plant assumes a strong,
healthy, and vigorous appearance, and should we
be blessed with fine and genial weather, a fair ave-
rage crop may be reasonably anticipated. There is
nothing left to save the industrious British farmer
but good seasons and good crops. For the last six
s we have had very defective wheat crops, and
the seasons have been of that extreme and unge-
nial character, that a large portion of the produce
irf the soil has been destroyed ; and in the later
districts those visitations have been truly awful.
Under these circumstances, the farmer has been
saddled with all the odium in obtaining high prices

for his produce, when, in fact, probably he ha
been remunerated for the capital he lias had em-
ployed. The cold and hea^ y land sown with spring
corn has worked unkindly, and the seed has not
had that reception which we have frequently wit-
nessed, the land being cold and sour at the bottom.
Clover and the early grasses are very backward ;
they will not afford a bite for the ewes and lambs.
Ewes are short of milk, and require a good supply
of corn to keep them up. Turnips are nearly con-
sumed, and keep of every description is very short.
Stock of every description can scarcely be turned
into money. Cattle that were bought in for stall-
feeding at our fairs in October are not worth the
money now, and all the meat given away. So
much for that great free-trader and enemy to
British agriculture, Sir Robert Peel : he has caused
such a glut in our markets by his new tariff, that
every one seems alarmed and panic-struck. We
would much rather had Lord John Russell, with
his 8s. per quarter fixed duty, than Sir Robert and
his new tariff. His proposed duties on spring corn
are ruinously low. Brother farmers — We have
made a bad bargain in Sir Robert Feel : he cer-
tainly possesses wonderful abilities, but we will not
give him credit for his judgment. Our prospects
are the reverse of cheering, and exceedingly
gloomy ; he wishes to levy a further tax upon us,
and at the same time to deprive us of the means
of paying it. There seems a less quantity of Wheat
than usual in the hands of the growers, as far as
cur observation extends ; we fear a large import-
ation of foreign wheat will again be required before
harvest. — April 1G.

WEST CUMBERLAND.

Throughout the whole of the month of March, which
was one of the wettest and stormiest lor the season
that we ever remember, the operations in the fields
were very materially retarded — scarcely any oats were
sown, and very little land cross-ploughed, or at all
prepared for potatoes. Indeed the ground was so
thoroughly saturated with rain as to a^ect in a great
degree both wheat and seeds upon cold lands, and both
of them appeared to be very puny and unhealthy,
which at that time gave them anything but a pro-
mising aspect. Since April came iu, however, we
have experienced a very agreeable change of weather,
which is nov dry and genial, aud the general aspect of
the wheat crops and the pastures have very much im-
proved. Indeed the wheats are now beginning to come
forward with vigour, and are curling u.jon the ground ;
the early soils promise well, and even those on cold
lands are much improved both in colour and condition.
The same remaiks will abo apply to seeds. Since the
favourable change took place in the weather there has
been the greatest bustle and activity displayed in the
fields ; and as every farmer seemed t : be waiting for
the arrival of fine weather, the oat-sowing wai perhaps
never in the memcry of man c >ropleted in so short a
period. The land was in the very best possible condi-
tion for harrowing— neither too wet nor yet too dry

ia a fine m-=a!y sta'e, and the seed oats were got in be-
fore it became hardened by the power of the sun. J here
are some lew patches of oats above ground, and
the face of the country, for the period of the -eason,
seems by no means unpromising. Some poriions of
stock have; been turned upon fattening pastures, where
the situations are warm and sheltered, and the land
has been winter-Freed. The markets for lean stock
have lately been very much depressed, and a convide-
rable reduction in price has taken place, whilst lat
stock have, so far, maintained their position ia the
market without any diminution whatever. Fork has
declined in price considerably, 'ihe markets for grain

2 D

402

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in this district are not very plentifully supplied, and as
the stocks at the warehouses are by no means large,
the grain trade at present is looking upwards as far as
prices are concerned. The farmers in this part of the
county view with considerable alarm the ministerial
proposition of allowing cattle to be imported into this
country at a low rate of duty, which they consider will
be almost ruinous to them when coupled with the de-

cline which must inevitably take place in the price of
grain the moment the new corn bill becomes the law of
the land. Beiug thus deprived iu a great measure of
the protection so long afforded them, and upon a faith
in the continuance of which they took their farms,
there is no doubt but they will experience very great
difficulties and sustain heavy losses under the opera-
tion of the tariff and the new com law. — April 16.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL.

The wheat markets throughout the United
Kingdom continued in the same state of inactivity
during the last month which they exhibited
in the month of March. The supplies in none of
them of wheat of home growth were larger than
theconsumption actually required, and the deli-
veries by the farmers were generally of that inferi-
ority in quality which, under the existing system of
legal protection, from necessity enhances the duties
payable on foreign wheat when entered for home
consumption. This state of the wheat trade at pre-
sent forms perhaps a powerful, and at all events a
conclusive argument, against any material altera-
tion being made in these laws, and it is therefore
a subject of much regret amongst the agricultural
classes generally, that the legislature should have
passed any measure which most undoubtedly
must act very prejudicially. Since the alterations
have been mooted in Parliament, the state of the
wheat trade has been satisfactory neither to the
producer nor to the consumer; the anticipation of
changes in any department of human indus-
try being always attended by injurious conse-
quences to all classes, until all doubts on the sub-
ject be removed ; and, in an article so important
to all as wheat is, all proposed changes are doubly
injuiious, more particularly when they are per-
fectly unnecessary. During the last four years we
have had only one wheat crop which reached the
average standard, both in quality and also in
quantity, and yet at the present moment excellent
and wholesome bread is sold in the metropolis
itself at l£d. per lb., and the wages of labour have
at the same time, excepting in some instances to
the contrary, been very fairly maintained. For
those cases of want of employment, or of reduced
wages, which no doubt do exist, the cause evi-
dently is to be found in a decreased consumption
of various articles of manufactures at home. A
succession of bad harvests has deprived the agri-
cultural interest of the means to pay for that large
quantity of goods which is generally consumed by
them when their circumstances are more flourish-
ing. In this cause no doubt has originated a part
of the commercial and manufacturing distress at
present complained of, but a far greater portion of
these complaints has arisen from the virtually
free foreign corn trade, which a succession of bad
grain crops at home has, most unfortunately for
all interests in the United Kingdom, rendered ne-
cessary, and which has within these few years ab-
stracted from the wages of labour, or rather from
the means to pay for productive employment, up-
wards of twenty five millions sterling in specie
alone, which have been remitted to foreign na-
tions in part payment for foreign agricultural pro-
duce, and which is a total loss to the real wealth

of the British Empire. No barter trade with
those foreign nations, from which we have during
that period received such immense supplies of
foreign grain, can by any possibility draw this
silver and gold back again into the British Em-
pire. It is now employed abroad in the cultiva-
tion of foreign fields, and in encouraging foreign
manufactures, foreign commerce, and foreign
shipping, for farther competition, in our own mar-
kets too, with every article produced by the skill
and industry of our own people. Money, we re-
peat, remitted to foreign nations and communities
for food, returns not again into circulation in this
country, and it is therefore injurious in the ex-
treme to our productive labourers, when any cir-
cumstances render a traffic of this descriptioa
necessary ; and yet we are morally persuaded that
the new corn bill must perpetuate this national
evil, for it must open a wide door for large im-
portations of foreign agricultural produce of
various descriptions being annually poured into
our markets for consumption, and the necessary
consequences must be a farther contraction in the
amount of money in circulation amongst the in-
dustrious classes of society, rendering the interest
on loans of it still dearer than it is even at the
present moment, limiting all improvements
both in agriculture and in commerce — in-
deed, putting a final stop to many enterprises
now in progress, and now giving productive
employment to many thousands of families,
eventually throwing many workmen entirely out
of employment, and ruinously reducing the
wages of those who may be placed in more
favourable situations. No reduction in the value
of food can, in any manner, recompense the vast
majority of consumers for the evils which a vir-
tually free trade in grain, and in all other articles
of agricultural produce with foreign nations, must
inevitably entail on them ; not even if our fields,
like those in Poland and Silesia, should be cultivated
rent free. Polish and Silesian wheats can be pro-
fitably imported into the United Kingdom, even after
payment of the maximum duty of 20s. per quarter.
Under the new corn-law, when our average prices
for English wheat fall to 50s. per quarter and under,
this is the extreme protection which the new law
extends to the agricultural interest at home. Polish
wheats in all the British markets, always bring about
10s. per quarter higher prices than our middle qua-
lities ; and, therefore, when the latter are only
worth 50s. per quarter, the former can be readily
sold at 60s.; deducting the maximum duty from
which, leaves 40s. per quarter to the importer, from
which he has only to deduct 5s. per quarter farther
for freight and charges from the Baltie Sea, and
still there remains, even under the most unfa«

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

403

vourable circumstances, room in abundance for a
lucrative foreign wheat trade. This, we repeat, is
not a proper protection to our home wheat growers,
and the alterations now making in our corn-laws
must be followed by consequences in the extreme
prejudicial to the best interests of all classes in the
British empire. We repeat, indeed, this act should
be called an act for the encouragement of foreign
agricultural pursuits, for the increase of foreign
manufactures, and for the benefit of foreign ship-
ping and of foreign seamen, at the expense of the
British nation. No necessity demands this change
in our internal polity. Our population has not
increased nearly so rapidly as agricultural im-
provements have increased during the last half
century ; and had proper protection continued to
be extended to capital, science, and talent now em-
barked in agricultural pursuits, our home agricul-
tural produce before another quarter of a century
can pass away must have been amply sufficient
for the support of a far greater population than we
now possess, with upwards of fifty millions of
acres of land now under cultivation of some de-
scription or other, and of twenty-five millions of
acres capable of culture, but at present nearly un-
productive. Some fatuity surely must have dic-
tated the bad policy of encouraging foreign agri-
cultural improvements, at sacrifices so very ruinous
to the future prosperity of the British empire, as
are those now about to be made to the prejudices
of a few master manufacturers, and out of which
no benefit whatever can arise to any of her Ma-
jesty's subjects. With capabilities at home of
supporting eventually three times our present
population, it must be a most anti-national policy
which compels that extensive, and we may truly
add, that cruel system of transportation to the
colonies, of the most valuable members of British
society ; we mean people possessed of property,
but not sufficiently large to enable them to support
themselves and their families in that land which
has given tbem birth, which is now going forward
from the northern parts of Great Britain, and
from every district in Ireland. To hold out due
and substantial protection to property embarked in
agricultural improvements, would have retained
within the empire the greatest portion of these
valuable emigrants ; and they would eventually
have added to the nation's wealth, by the improved
cultivation of their native soil. The prospect,
however, of competition with wheats grown in
Poland and elsewhere, where rents for cropping
lands are entirely unknown, in our markets of
consumption, deters the small capitalist from in-
vesting his property in farming pursuits at home,
and he is consequently induced to expatriate him-
self to the colonies. A different policy would at
all times, and under all circumstances, speedily
render the British islands entirely independent of
any of the necessaries of life being imported
from abroad ; and a doubt cannot be entertained
but that the result of proper legal protection being
held out to the improvement of our fields at home
would, before many years can pass away, render
us even a corn exporting nation. The only
real wealth of nations, a productively employed
population, would then be found within the United
Kingdom, and abundance at home would in-
deed then make us an united people. The new
corn law however is, as we have already
said, in every way favourable, at the expense
of British farmers, to the foreign land pro-
prietor, and approaches to the system of a free

corn trade so nearly, that the shade which pre-
ceded its actual enactment, caused the supplies of
foreign wheat and flour, either already in bond or
on their passage to this country, to amount to
little short of one million of quarters ; and this
quantity, large though it be, will, in every proba-
bility, be yet doubled before the close of this year.
Tbis immense weight hanging over our markets,
and ready to be poured into them for consumption
so soon as the entries can be made at the various
custom-houses throughout Great Britain under
the reduced duties which will be charged when the
new law comes into operation, is at present attended
by consequences not in any manner satisfactory to
the importers themselves, and eventually it must
produce very injurious effects on the property of
the growers of wheat within the British empire.
In this position of the wheat trade it is impossible
to form any correct opinion of the future value of
any description of agricultural produce, and con-
sequently no speculative operations have for some
time now been entered into, unless in the purchase
of bonded grain. Even in this, however, no ex-
tensive business was done during the last month,
and the prices obtained for this description did not
indicate, either on the part of the sellers or purcha-
sers, much confidence in improved prices hereafter.
Indeed, so long as the home supply of grain gene-
rally is threatened with the addition to its amount
of the large quantities of foreign grain already
landed under her Majesty's lock, and of numerous
other cargoes now on their passage from foreign
parts, little or no animation can be expected to
occur in the grain trade here. When the new
corn bill actually comes into operation, a de-
pression generally in the value of grain may natu-
rally follow ; and, in this event occurring, a cor-
responding depreciation in rents of land, and in
farmers' capital now embarked in leases, must be
the necessary result of this change in our com-
mercial system, from which not one solitary benefit
can arise to any class or interest within the Bri-
tish empire. It is so far satisfactory, however, to
be able to state that the winter-sown wheats con-
tinue to exhibit a healthy appearance, and are
generally even already luxuriant. Of spring-sown
wheats it is rather too early yet to say much, as
the season, for the time of the year, certainly can-
not be called a forward one; but still no com-
plaints being made against them, we may be per-
mitted to form a favourable opinion of the coming
wheat crop generally. The breadth of land in
spring wheat this season is very considerably
larger than usual ; and this will be a great national
advantage should the new corn law only extend
sufficient protection to the successful cultivation
of our own fields. Of this, however, strong doubts
are entertained in various well-informed quarters •
and should the event realise these doubts, a large
growth of British grain may not be attended by
favourable results to the community at large. On
the contrary it may, if met by large supplies of
foreign grain in our markets, be attended by a
considerable depreciation soon afterwards occur-
ing in the value of agricultural property of all de-
scriptions, and thus may a still farther limit le
placed to the productive employment of all the
industrious classes within the United Kingdom ;
more particularly to that of the manufacturing in-
terest, for such an event must tend again farther
to diminish the home consumption of manufac-
tured goods and thus farther to restrict the em-
ployment of manufacturing labourers than it is

404

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

even at the present time of depression. Indeed,
the cotton manufacturers, in anticipation of a ma-
terial reduction being soon eifected in the value
of bread andmeat, havealready, in many instances,
reduced the wages of the manufacturing labourers
— thus sufficiently confirming our often repeated
predictions, that their object in demanding an
open trade with foreign nations in agricultural
produce of all descriptions, had no reference
whatever to any improvement in the condition of
their workmen — but that their sole desire was to
increase their already overgrown fortunes. To
these gentlemen, however, the income-tax, at all
events, is important and salutary in so far as it
will reach to a certain degree the capital invested
in their trade, which a property tax alone could
never have done ; and if any consolation can he
offered to the landed interest for the inquisitorial
nature of an income-tax, it certainly may be
found in the justice which it must do to the reve-
nue, by drawing from the master manufacturers'
pockets their full share of an impost which neces-
sity certainly justifies in the present unsatisfactory
stare of the British empire.

The intelligence received from the United
States of America since our last publication comes
not later down than to the beginning of last
month, and it is not of much consequence to those
engaged here in agricultural pursuits. Flour con-
tinued to be purchased to a considerable extent
at higher prices, and to be forwarded to Great
Britain. The reduction in our import duties has
been, of course, taken in these transactions into
the calculations of the American wheat and
flour proprietors, and it will be a boon conferred
by the British legislature on American producers,
and not on British consumers of agricultural pro-
ducts. The alteration in our corn laws, and our
new tariff of duties on cured provisions, had
caused much activity amongst, and given universal
satisfaction to all American landed proprietors.
All the predictions of Mr. Webster, and of Mr.
Curtis, made when these gentlemen visited Great
Britain, are about to be fulfilled ; and yearly here-
after must American landed speculations and
American agricultural pursuits be increased. The
cultivators of the rich and fruitful banks of the
river Obio will in future find ample encourage-
ment in the sale of their produce in the United
Kingdom for still further agricultural improve-
ments, and an immense change must take place
here in our internal polity before our farmers can
compete in cheapness with those of foreign nations.
From the large corn- shipping ports within the
Gut of Gibraltar, the advices received to the time
of our present number going to press are as usual
in due course of post. The information previously
received there from England had caused a consider-
able degree of animation in the corn trade in all
those markets, and improved prices were the very
natural consequence. Were Englishmen actually
made of gold, they could not nearly satisfy the ex-
pectations so universally entertained by foreign
wheat t rowers of the mighty and numberless advan-
is to be reaped by them fiom finding consumption
in Great Britain for their wheat crops, as this article
is not in general use amongst the great majority of
their own inhabitants. From the Black Sea, from
Egypt, from the Adriatic Sea, and nearly from all
the upper and lower ports in the Mediterranean,
large shipments of wheat for this country had
already been made during the present season, at
prices, however, much higher than the prospects o

the wheat trade here at any time justified ; and as,
in the present state of Europe, there are at present
no other markets open to wheat consumption, being
all eu-irded by corn protective laws, excepting those
to be found in this country, a considerable farther
importation from the south may be confidently calcu-
lated on before the close of the present season ; and
this trade being, we may say, a forced one, a consi-
derable loss of money may probably be its result to
the speculators. The future bad consequences of an
open trade in wheat between this country and
foreign nations, cannot be better illustrated than by
the late and present most extensive importations of
wheat from the south of Europe. The distance is
long, and the voyage is precarious, the expences are
heavy, and yet speculators in abundance have been
found to embark their property in this department
of commerce with all the dangers attending it, more
particularly with the chances of heating, and of
damage on the passage to this country. The ©bject
in view, however, to them is important. In all these
states improvement in agriculture is the only thing
wanted to their prosperity. For this they are will-
ing to make many sacrifices, and the alteration in
the corn laws of Great Britain now opens a wide
field indeed for increasing the real strength and
greatness of all foreign corn producing commu-
nities.

The information received from the various grain
exporting markets witbin the Baltic Sea is also in
due course of post, and is of the same description
generally as that is from the south of Europe,
to which we have been just now alluding. At
Dantzig and Elbing the value of Polish wheats
was much higher than the state of the grain frade in
this country justified, and consequently the business
transacted there, since our last publication, was not
so extensive, as, under different circumstances, it no
doubt would have been. The Polish Jew merchants,
by whom the wheat trade between the interior and
the ports of shipment is chiefly managed, thought
52s. to 54s. per quarter a fair value for the best
qualities of wheat, but the export merchants were not
of the same opinion. Still, whether these prices be
maintained or not during the shipping season, large
arrivals may be expected here from these ports before
the conclusion of the present corn season; for, even
under the worst of times, the maximum duty of 20s.
per quarter to be charged on foreign wheat, under
the new law hereafter, when our prices fall under
51s. for the average, is no protection whatever in
our markets to British wheat growers against the
finest samples of high mixed Dantzig wheats; and
accordingly, by using proper precautions in making
their purchases, the speculators in foreign wheats of
the best description may and will hereafter carry on
a profitable trade with this country.

From Rostock, Stettin, and all the lower ports in
the Baltic Sea, the advices latterly received are
equally extravagant respecting the prospects of the
wheat trade with this country. Silesian wheat,
weighing- 601bs. per bushel, was held in both these
places at 51s. per quarter, and 54s. was the price
demanded for the finest qualities. Taking freight
and transit charges at 5s. per quarter, the calculations
of profit made by those who purchase at these high
rate3 must be reared on the expectation of a material
reduction being made in the rates of our import
duty, as soon as the new corn law comes into active
operation. At Hamburg, and at all the ports in
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, without the Baltic
Sea, wheat prices continued equally high with these
at Stettin, Wheat at Hamburg- of the finest qualifies

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

405

Lad been sold at 53s. per quarter free on board ; but
the business was not extensive at that price. The
prices of spring grain were more moderate in pro-
portion. Some parcels of the best descriptijns of
barley bad been sold at from 15s. to 17s. per quarter.
In oats, likewise, at Tonningen, Leer, Emden, and
Bremer., business bad been done to a considerable
extent at from 8s. to lis. per quarter, and the
freight to Hull and London were from Is. 3d. to
Is. (id. per quarter. Great hopes were entertained
of a brilliant trade being- speedily opened with Eng-
land in this article ; brilliant to foreign proprietors
because they will be paid for their property in specie,
and brilliant to the foreign shipowner, and to the
foreign seaman, because the oat trade in future will
be carried on under the foreign flag. We may be
mistaken in our notions re-pecting payment for these
supplies of food, not being made under the new corn
laws, by exchanging for them various articles
of British manufacture, and of other products of
this country. A year or two, however, must now
test the truth or falsehood of all our principles on
this important subject. Our only object in advo-
cating protection to agricultural pursuits and im-
provements at home, is a sincere desire to maintain
in future the wages of labour now, and heretofore
received by the industrious classes, whether they be
employed in commerce or in agriculture; but we
fear much that the general prosperity of manu-
facturers and merchants cannot receive any benefit
from the sacrifice of the property of the landowner
and of the farmer. Herein, at all events, are no
party feelines, lor with asubject of such general mag-
' nittule they should never be permitted to interfere.
If the wheat trade has bean in an unsatisfactory
state, however, during the month of April, that of
barley has been much more so during the same
period. The supply of qualities fit for the maltster's
use has, from necessity, been unusually small ; but
still it has been more than sufficient for malting
purposes, although the weather generally has been
cool, and in every way suitable to malting operations.
The consequences have been gradually drooping
prices, and much difficulty in malting barley sales,
Hven at materially reduced rates. The state of the
crop last season caused the great proportion of the
barley, when brought into the several large markets
for sale, to be light in weight, and in every way
inferior in quality ; indeed, so much so, that the
distillers, throughout the season, have found it ne-
cessary to make a selection in their purchases even
of secondary qualities for distilling purposes. The
depreciation in the value, therefore, of the inferior
descriptions has been considerably larger than that
was which occurred in malting samples ; and, in
fact, the barley grower has had nothing to console
himself with for a bad crop of bailey, since the con-
clusion of the last unfavourable harvest season. The
brewers' trade is not in a satisfactory state. The
distillers' trade bis been the reverse of flourishing
now for several years past; and the barley farmers,
from necessity, Buffer from this unfavourable state
of the barley manufacturing trades ; and until some
legislative remedy be applied to these evils, the
barley department of agriculture must continue an-
nually to decay. It has been so repeatedly our task
to call the attention of the public to the st&te of the
malting trade, that to renew the subject, we can
again only repeat our often expressed sentiments
regarding the great injury which the high rate of
duty, charged on each quarter of barley when ma-
nufactured into malt, and the Excise mode of im-
posing that duty, do to the best interests of the

barley land proprietor and of the barley farmer. In
consequence of the heavy duty charged on malt, the
quantity of fine barleys used for this purpose is an-
nually nn the decline, instead of increasing, as it
naturally should do, wit!) our annual increase in
wealth and in population. In the season 1840 and
1841, for instance, little short of half a million of
quarters of barley was used less in malting- than had
been the annual consumption of the few previous
seasons ; and in the present malting season, we very
strongly suspect that the deficiency at its close will
be found even more considerable than it was in that
one to which we are now alluding. The quantity of
malt at present manufactured for all purposes is now
reduced under five millions of quarters annually, of
which less than four-fifths are now consumed by the
licensed brewers. The beer which it is possible to
extract from this small quantity of malt, cannot be
equal to one-half of the quantity which under
better principles would be necessary for the con-
sumption of that portion of our population possess-
ing the means to pay for this almost necessary of
life. Un ler a more liberal system of taxation, how-
ever, the consumption of beer might be extended in
a certain degree amongst the entire population, in-
creasing their comforts, and rendering them con-
tented with their condition in life. Ten or twelve
millions of quarters of barley would be annually
wanted for malting purposes within a few years after
the reduction of the malt duty from 20s. per quarter
to Is. per bushel ; and even then the consumption
of beer, amongst twenty-seven millions of people,
would not be very extravagant. After reducing the
protective duties'against the importation of foreign
barley so materially as the new Corn Law does, r m\
after imposing a property-tax and income-tax on
the agricultural interest, to have remitted one-balf
of the malt tax at any rate would have been doing
only common justice to that already by far too hea-
vily taxed portion of her Majesty's subjects ;
would have improved the amount of the malt-tax
actually paid into the Treasury ; would have enableld
the Chancellor of the Exchequer to remit at leasV.
one-balf of the present expences of the Excise mailt
service; and would have much added to the coml-
forts and contentment of the people generally)
Should this change ever occur in the malt duty, these
benefits will, in a few years afterwards, be reaped
by tke community in general ; and to bring into
cultivation two millions of acres of land, at present
producing only rabbits, or totally useless, which the
growth of the additional quantity of barley would to
a certainty require — would improve the rents of
land ; would employ many additional agricultural
labourers; and the profits thus obtained, would do
much more than liquidate the increased expenses
which the additional consumption of beer would
render requisite. Sir John Barleycorn is an ex-
ceedingly ill-used personage by his own country-
men. He contributes, at present, nearly one quarter
of the national expenditure, even under the absurd
restrictions under which lie is at present placed by
law. This patriotic knight is most anxious to con-
tribute still more effectively towards the public
revenue, and towards the general prosperity and
individual happiress of his fellow subjects ;
but the opinions of modern, not moderate, states-
men frustrate his good intentions. Under mode-
rate rates of duty, and a proper system of excise,
the nefarious and demoralising trade of the smug-
gler of foreign spirits may be entirely suppressed,
and the health and constitutions of the people
A. may be placed out of jeopardy. Nothing can be

406

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

more ridiculous than different rates of duties being
charged on the neutral spirit manufactured in the
three divisions of the British Empire. To reduce
the excise charge in England on home-made
spirits to 5s. per gallon, and to raise the charge in
Scotland and in Ireland to the same figure, would
make a material and most important improvement
in the business of the home distiller, and in a
short time would suppress the trade of the home
and foreign spirit smuggler. To the operations of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer also this altera-
tion would be attended by many important advan-
tages. He would obtain duty on all the foreign
spirits at present illegally consumed in England,
and would by these simple means add one million
sterling, at least, to the public revenue. He would
likewise open the channel for an additional con-
sumption of half a million of quarters of grain
more than the existing demand by the home dis-
tillers requires, and thus he has the power of doing
a positive national good. Another great public
benefit may also be gained by liberating the recti-
fiers of home-made spirits from several worse than
useless restrictions, by which their science and
talents are at present confined in the production of
rectified spirits. They have already, no doubt,
made wonderful progress in improving the articles
of their rectification, even under the great difficul-
ties with which the excise laws at present compel
them to contend ; but the quality both of British
brandies and of British gin, superior as it no doubt
is already, may still be materially improved by the
law permitting the rectifier to sell by retail those
strengths of spirits which are most suitable to the
palates of the consumers, and to the science of
himself. The preference is now universally given
to English gin over Dutch Geneva. They find the
one wholesome, and equal, if not superior, in fla-
vour to the other ; and, under proper encourage-
ment, British brandies may also speedily supersede
the consumption of the best brandies manufac-
tured in the south of France, even amongst the
numerous consumers themselves, in the highest
'.valks of British society. Amongst the middle and
humbler classes, the preference is already given
to British over foreign brandies, even under the
restrictions now impused on the rectifier ; but
the judgment of these consumers is certainly not
so much to be depended on as that in higher life is;
for their opinions may in some respect be preju-
diced by cheap prices, whilst superiority in quaiity
alone can influence the opinions of the noble and
the rich. Radical changes, however, in the malt-
ing trade, and in that of the spirit distiller and
rectifier, are absolutely necessary to the prosperity
of the cultivators of barley fields ; and the quan-
tity grown must annually be less, until some alter-
ation or other in the present system can be ef-
fected. During this season a great deal of barley
land has been converted into wheat fields, in con-
sequence chiefly of the prevailing opposition now
existing amongst farmers to the reduction of the
duties heretofore levied on foreign barley when
entered for home consumption, which none of
them conceive to be any adequate protection to
their property. In Norfolk, which is the best bar-
ley county within the kingdom, this feeling is
nearly universal, and those lands which admitted
of the change have been this spring sown with
wheat instead of barley. The seed barley, how-
ever, generally has been got into the ground in
good order throughout the country, and propitious

weather hereafter is alone necessary to the pro-
duction of a good crop for the quantity sown this
season, which is considerably under the usual
amount.

The transactions in the oat trade, during the
month of April, have not been in any respect in-
teresting, and the business done has been limited
to the actual consumption. Although the supplies
generally have not been large, still the quality of
the greatest portion of them has been so very in-
ferior, that prices have been regularly on the de-
cline, with the exception perhaps of a few choice
parels, which were taken away for particular pur-
poses. Some of the arrivals from Ireland during
the month have been so much damaged by the
weather at the time when the harvest was gather-
ed, that it has not been possible to dispose of them
at a price above 12s. per quarter in London ; from
the balance of which, after the freight and ex-
penses of transit are deducted, and also the charge
at home for cleaning, kiln-drying, and rendering
them fit for the voyage, the Irish grower will have
little left to pay rent, tithe, and farming expenses
with. In addition to the damage done to his inte-
rest by the elements, he has likewise been subjected
to contend with all the bad consequences which
even the shade or ghost of the new corn bill has
already inflicted on the agricultural interest in
Ireland in particular. In that division of the
United Kingdom, for several years past, the at-
tention of the farmers has in a most particular
manner been directed to the cultivation of oats,
and a great deal of both industry and capital has
been expended in the annual increase of the
growth of this important article of agricultural
produce. The alteration in the corn laws has
already in part placed a bar to any further im-
provements of this description, and accordingly
the seed sown this spring is much less than it has
been for several years. The Irish farmers are
fully convinced that foreign oat proprietors can
supply the east coast of Great Britain far cheaper
than they in Ireland can do, and consequently it
is considered by many of them both useless as
well as unprofitable to direct their attention any
longer to this previously most profitable and im-
portant branch of Irish agricultural pursuits. To
convert their tillage lands again into pasture the
new tariff of duties prohibits, and many of the
farmers, consequently, have quitted their fields
and emigrated to the Canadas, taking with them
their families and their money. This is a great
loss to agricultural improvements in Ireland, and
surely the cultivation ot our own fields should not
be sacrificed to the Utopian and theoretical prin-
ciple of reciprocity in commerce, and of a baiter
trade being ever established amongst civilized and
enlightened communities. By the transfer of our
oat trade from Ireland and Scotland to Denmark,
Sweden, and to the north of Germany, a heavy
blow will be given to our coasting trade and to the
best interests of British seamen. A great portion
of the oat-carrying trade will in future be trans-
ferred to foreign ships and flags, navigated by fo-
reign seamen, and British money will be paid to
them for their labour. This must be the result of
removing that degree of protection which the corn
laws have since 1815 given to the producers of
oats in Ireland and in Scotland, and which the
new corn law most assuredly must withdraw ; for
an inadequate protection is much the same in its
effects as no protection at all would be.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

407

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

April 25.

Per Qr. Per Qr.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, red .. 50 58 White 64 68 72

Irish 44 50 54 Do... 50 5S 62

Old, red — — Do — —

Rye, old 34 36 New 36 38

Barley, Grinding 25 26 Malting 27 30 Chevalier 30 32

Irish 23 25 Bere .20 21 24

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 56 62 Brown.. 50 54

Kingston and Ware .... 56 62 Chevalier 63 —

Oats, Yorksh. & Lincolnsh., feed 20 22 23 Potato ..23 25

Youghall and Cork black 16 18 Cork, white 17 18

Dublin 16 17 18 Westport 17 18 19

Waterford, white 16 17 Black 15 17 18

Newry 21 22

Galway 11 13 15

Scotch feud 17 20 22 Potato.. 23 26

Clonmel 20 22 Limerick 16 17 18

Londonderry 22 23 Sligo .. 16 20

Beans, Tick, new 27 32 Old.... 35 40

Peas, Grey 31 82 Maple.. 31 34

White 34 35 Boilers. 34 37

Seed, Rape 36/. 40/. Irish.. 32*. 34/. per last.

Linseed, Baltic 48 56 Odessa 60

English Bed Clover.... — — per cwt.

White —

Mustard, White 15 — brown 15 16 per bush
Tares, old ... . 28 30 new 36 44 per qr.
Flour, Town-made 58 — Suffolk 46 — pr sk. of 280 11)8
Stockton and Norfolk, 45 —

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 50 56

Hamburg 46 48

Rostock 46 48

Barley 16 20

OATS.Brew 17 19 Feed... 14 16

Beans 20 24

Peas 22 26

Flour, American, per brl 28 30 Baltic.. 29 —

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending Wheat. Barley. Oats. IRye. Beans. Pe as

March llili ....

18th

25th

April 1st

8th

lath ....

Aggregate average
of the six weeks
which regulate
the duty

Duties payable
in London till
Wednesday next
inclusive, and at
the Outports till
the arrival of the
mail of that day
from London . .

Do. on grain from
British posses-
sions out of
Europe

59 11
59 9
58 4

57 8

58 2

59 10

58 II

27 9
27 0
26 6
26 2
26 2
26 11

26 9

28 8 22 10

5 0

19

1!)
IS
17

is

lfl

18 9

6

19 9

2 0

33 11
36 4
83 5

32 11

33 10
32 6

33 10

19 9

81 10
30 8

29 9

30 0

29 7

30 11

30 6

24 3

3 0 3 0

31 2

22 9

3 0

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
April 22nd, 1842.

s. d.

Wheat 59 10

Barley 26 II

Oats 19 2

Rye 32 6

Beans 30 11

Peas 30 5

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, April 23rd,
1841.

s. d.

Wheat 03 8

Barley 32 4

Oats 23 1

Rye 35 8

Beans 39 3

Peas 87 10

PRICES OF SEEDS.

April 25.

The Cloverseed season is now fast drawing to a close ;
to-day there were still a few buyers at market, and in
retail full prices were paid for the finer qualities. In

other kinds of seeds there was scarcely anything passing,
and quotations remain nominally unaltered.

Linseed, English, sowing 50 55

Baltic — — crushing 46 50 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 50 52

Large, foreign.... — —

Clover .English, red .... 65 85 white — — per cwt.

Flemish 65 85 do.. — —

New Hamburgh ..61 81 do.. — —

Old do 55 75 do.. — —

French 71 91 do.. — —

Hempseed, small 36 41 large.. 46 48

Coriander 10 16 old.... 16 18 per cwt.

Mustard, brown, new .. 10 14 white.. 9 13pr.bush.

Trefoil 16 35

Rapeseed, English new.. 36/. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42 Scotch 18 40

Tares, winter — — New.. 4 5

Canary, new 68 70 fine 75 80

Carraway.old 50 52 new 48 49 32

Linseed Cakes, English.. 101. 10s. toll/.

Do. Foreign. . 8/. to 8/. 10s.

Rapeseed Cakes 0/. 5s. to 6/. 10s.

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, April 25.
The fine weather has already led to an increase of
business, but as yet prices have not moved so as to
justify us in any alteration of our table of rates. There
are no backer? of the duty higher than 150,000J.

East

Kent,
s. s.

Bags,

1838

—

Pocks

1838

—

Bags

1838

Nominal

Pocks.

1838

Nominal

Bass

1839

—

Pocks.

1839

80 . . 90

Bags

1840

100.. 110

Pocks.

1840

100.. 110

Bags

1841

130 . . 150

Pocks.

1841

130 . . 180

Mid.
Kent.

s. s.

Nominal
Nominal

80 . . 90
100 ..110
100.. 110
130.. 150

130 to 168

Weald
of Kent,

Nominal
Nominal

74
90
90

90
100
100

110.. 130

Sussex.

Nominal
Nominal

70.
90 .
90 .

90
100
100

Farn-
ham.

Num.
Norn.

108.. 120 200 230

WORCESTER, April 23.— We had a fair supply of
Hops here to-day, principally of last year's growth,
though there were a few small parcels of old Hops in
offer, which, however, attracted but little attention,
owing to their inferior quality. The lS41's were nearly
all disposed of, but the planters were compelled to sub-
mit to low prices to effect sales. The following are the
present rates : —

184l's .... 95s. to 120s clean, 126s.

1839's.... 70s. to 84s Ditto., 90s.

1837's .. . 45;. to 65s.... Ditto., 70s.

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, April 25.
The arrivals during the past week are as follows :
— From York-hire 1 1 15 tons, Scotland 810, Devons60,
Jersey 1 10, Kent and Essex 530, total 2625 tons. The
weather is much warmer, with fine rain, which will
assist the growth of vegetables. The wind is also favour-
able to the arrival of vessels, which has brought a
supply into the market. There is a steady demand for
best samples, and such are likely to centinue in request
for remainder ofseason.

present prices as annexed.

s. s.

York Reds 70 to 80 per ton

Scotch do — 70

Devons, late — 75

Jersey Blues 60 —

Kent Kidneys 65 —

Kent and Essex Whites 50 55

Yorkshire Shaws for planting — 70

Yorkshire Prince Regents for planting^.. — 65

408

THE 1'AKMEH'S MAGAZINE.

WOOL MARKETS.

BRITISH.
April 25.

Down Teggs 12 to 13

Half-bred Hogs 12 10 13 10

Half-bred Wethers 11 12

Leicester Wethers 10 11

Down Ewes and Wethers 10 11

Greasy 0 6 10

Merino 10 10 1110

LEEDS, April 22. — We cannot report any improve-
ment in this branch of trade during the present week.
IIop=, especially, are rendeied still more dull of sale,
owing1 to the continued use of cotton instead of English
wool for the warps of worsted goods. The manufac-
turers generally complain of the unremuneraling state
of trade ; and therefore are limiting their purchases of
clothing as well as combing wool as much as possible ;
which must have an effect on tha prices given to the
growers at clip time.

LIVERPOOL, April 23.
Scotch. — The demand for Laid Highland Wool con-
tinues in the same languid state that we have been
obliged to report, for many weeks past, the trade only
taking what they require for their immediate wants.
There is little or no demand for white Highland. There
continues to be nothing doing in either Crossed or
Cheviot Wool, and in the absence of demand, we keep
our quotations as before.

s. d. s. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs.. 8 0 to 8 6

White do. do 11 6 12 0

Laid Crossed do. .unwashed.. 9 0 10 0

Do. washed do 9 9 11 6

Do. Cheviot unwashed do 10 0 12 0

Do. washed 13 6 17 0

White Cheviot, washed 20 6 22 6

FOREIGN.

CITY, April 25.— The imports of Wool intw Lon-
don during the past week have been limited to 1S3
bales, 118 of which were from Germany, and 65 (rom
Turkey.

The public sales which commenced on Thursday last
were brought to a close to-d;iy. They comprised about
4.000 bales of all descriptions, a good proportion being
Colonial. Of this latter, say GOO bales were skin Wool,
which does not go so high as the clipped fleece, but
Wools above 16d. per 11). have realized an advance of 5
per cent, on the previous rates, according to the judg-
ment of parties experienced in the market. The at-
tendance throughout has been very large, and the bid-
dings have been brisk, a most favourable circumstance
in the existing posture of affairs, and which seems to
indicate a feeling "of increased confidence among the
manufacturers and the trade generally. Subjoined we
our usual report of the principal sales on each day.
The East India did not go off very well.

Messrs. Southey and Son opened the sale with 1,380
bales, 543 of which were Van Dieman's Land, 164
Australian, 21 Port Philip, 35 Cape, 157 German siipe,
290 East India, 51 Odessa Merino, 119 Buenos Ay res,
&e. The Port Philip Sheeps brought Is 4d. to ls.4,§d.,
the Lambs' Is. 4|d., and Locks' lOd. ; the Van Die-
man's slips realized ll|d. to Is. 3d., the Lambs' Is. to
Is. 5|d., and German Lambs' Is. S^d. For the Aus-
tralian Sheeps' the rates were for very inferior samples
as low in some instances as 4^., 6d. and 7d., but the
better sorts ranged from Is. 3d. to Is. 9d. per lb. Sheeps'
in the grease brought lOd. to 10|d., Lambs' Is. 7d., and
skin Wool lid. to ll£d. per lb. Cape brought. Is. to
Is. 9d. for Sheeps' washed, and for unwashed Od. to
6|d. per lb.

"Messrs. Lord and Hall, on the same day, put up 121
bales of Australian, mostly skiD Wool, whicli brought
Is. to Is. 3d. per lb., and in some instances as much as
Is. 5d. 251 bales Spaui^h were partly withdrawn, the
demand being very limited ; the Sheeps' Wool obtaiucd
is. 6d., and the Lambs' Is. 3d. to Is. 4d. per lb.

On Friday Messrs. J. T. Simes and Co. ottered l.Oly
bales Colonial, and 366 bales Foreign, comprising 302
Australian, 381 Van Dieman's Land, 3 South Austra-
lian, 15 Port Philip, 318 Cape, 250 East India, 98
Spanish, and 38 Buenos Ayres, Merino, &c. Van Die-
man's skin Wool realized lid. to Is. 2£d., in the grease
7id.to Is. id., Lambs' Is. Id. to 2s., and Sheep's wa«hed
Is. id. to Is. 7d. per lb. Australian Sheeps' obtained
Is. l^d. to Is. 10jd., ia the grease 7^d. to 10d., skin Is.
to Is. 4gd., and Lambs', of which there was but little
choice, Is. 4d. per lb. Cape brought I0.\d. to Is. 7^.
for Sheeps', and Is. Id. to Is. 10.U1. for Lambs'. Port
Philip Lambs' went at Is. 3i'l. to "is. 4d., Sheeps' at Is,
2d. to Is. 5id. ; South Australian, all in the grease,
Sjd., East India 2|d. to 7^d., Buenos Ayres lM. for
damaged, up to 83d., and Spanish Is. 3d. to is. Ud.

The Saturday's sales were by Messrs. Marsh and
Edenborough, and Messrs. Hazard and Ferry. The
former brokers put up 542 bales, viz.— 40 bales Aus-
tralian, 270 Van Diemau's Land, 230 Cape, and 2
Jamaica. At this sale Australian realized lljd. to Is.
7^d. tor Sheeps' washed, and 9^d. in the grease ; Van
Dieman's Land 7d. to Is. 8d. for Sheeps', and 11^1. to
Is. 8d. for Lambs', Sd. to Is. 2|d. for samples in the
grease, and lOd. to Is. l§d. for skin; Cape Sheeps'
lOd. to Is. 4|d., Lambs' is. 3d., and Jamaica 9d. per
pound.

The auction of Messrs. Hazard and Ferry, 389 bales,
concluded the series, comprising Cape, Australian,
German, &c. The same briskness was exhibited to the
last, and prices were supported.

Accounts from llhein.s of the 17th inst., state that a
tolerable business had been doing in Neapolitans at
previous rates. Flannels sold easily. Merinos were
calm. Shawl goods were purchased, but not at satis-
factory prices. Combing Wools were quite neglected.
At Elbceuf, on the 15th inst., affairs were very dull,
both the manufacturers and dealers being disheartened ;
the first on account of not being able to sell except at
low rates, and the other bt cause he could not ease oil
his stocks ; this was attributed to over-production.

At Genoa, on the 9th inst., business in woollens was
not brisk.

From Aries (France), we learn that the speculators
in Wool seemed alarmed, as they were not able to get
the prices they had contracted to give last year, and
had therefore desisted from further operations. The
market was very dull, and a fall was expected ; Lunbs-
wool, however, had been in great demand. However
great may be the quantity of the clip, the quality, it is
thought, will not be first-rate.

Wool on which the Home Consumption Duties have
been paid at London, Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull,
duriDg the last week : —

This Year
previous to
last week.

WOOL
London : —

Spanish,

Australian, do. .
Other sorts, do.

Liverpool ...

Bristol

Hull

....lbs.

I07.2S7

793,140

3,283,695

l,(i!)->,836

19,523

1,183,078

Same

in the
last Year.
520,372
1,749.819
8,1S

3,2:50,848

16,500

2,009,3J5

PRICES OF MANURES.

Subjoined are the present prices of several sorts of
manure : —

Bone-dust, 21s. 6d. per qr. of 8 bushels
Half-inch Bones, 21s. 6d. per qr. do.
Rape-dust, 24s. per qr. do.
Rape Cake, 61. 6s. per ton.
Rags, 4?. to <il. 10s. per ton.
Graves, 5l. to 51. 10s. per ton.
Gypsum, 38s. per ton.
Salt, 11. 0s. dirty, 11. 15s. clean, per ton.
Soap ashes, 10s. per ton.
Hunt's New and Improve,! Artificial Manure 13s, 4d.

per qr.
Willey Dust, <il. 4s. per ton.

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 34, Norfolk-street, Strand, London.

s

V

-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1842.

No. 6.— Vol. V.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

A Devon Bull Calf, bred by, and the property of, Mr. M. Paull, of Compton,
Pauncefoot, Somerset, and for which the first Prize was awarded to him at the meeting
of the Royal Agricultural Society at Oxford.

PLATE II.

GOING TO COVER TO MEET THE DIFFICULTY.

WHEEL AND SWING PLOUGHS.

Sir, — I beg to be allowed to offer a few remarks,
through the medium of your journal, on the recent
experiments upon the draught of ploughs, and par-
ticularly those instituted by the Marquis of Tweed-
dale and the Ayrshire Agricultural Association, and
reported in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture ;
and those by Mr. Handley and Mr. Pusey, reported
in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England.

The principal points desired to be ascertained
were — the forces of draught of several varieties of
wheel and swing ploughs, and the comparative merits
of those implements in ploughing lea and stubble,
light and heavy soils.

It appears to me that there has been a great want
of method in the manner in which experiments on
this subject have hitherto been conducted ; so much
so, that the results brought out do not, in any case,
warrant a categorical decision upon any of the points
sought to be determined. Had the several trials
been made upon a plan of greater unity, the practical
solution of the questions involved in them would,
long before this time, have been greatly advanced;
but, at present, the evidence produced by the sepa-
rate parties is conflicting and incomplete; and I do
not think that any person would be safe in depend-
ing much upon the conclusions to be drawn from it,
more especially that portion of it which favours the
general substitution of wheel ploughs for swings.

The practical importance of such experiments can
scarcely be questioned. Their value, indeed, may
be inferred from the fact, that they have been zea-

OLD SERIES.']

lously entered upon by a great number of the most
distinguished agriculturists in England and Scot-
land ; and, as they are likely to be at intervals re-
peated, till the public become satisfied with the
accuracy of the practical results deduced, it shall be
my purpose, in the mean lime, to throw together a
few hints upon the points in question.

It may often be observed that experiments are
repeated, and theories propounded, upon the same
subjects from year to year, by successive inquirers,
without their advancing a single step towards any
determinate practical solutions of the points investi-
gated ; but, on the contrary, by the very mass of
evidence which they accumulate, enveloping the
subject in much greater obscurity.

Now, in popular questions like the present —
popular, so far as a very large class of the commu-
nity is concerned — I would trace the unsuccessful
issue of successive experiments, in by far the greater
number of cases, to the fact of the real gist of the
evidence adduced not having been brought with
sufficient prominence and simplicity before the
public mind, by which the comments of intelligent
practical men might be elicited ; and, by this means,
enabling us to determine what had actually been
proved, and what we should be warranted in setting
out with in future inquiries, as a sort of first pos-
tulate.

I subjoin, in a tabular orm,t ne results of the
experiments which have been specially referred to,
so far as they relate to the force of draught. From
the data given, any person may see, almost at a
glance, what conclusions those experiments war-
rant.

2 E

[Wo. 6.— VOL. XIV.

410

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I. Experiments by Mr. Pusey.

Third Trial.

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II. Experiments by the Marquis of Tweeddale.

First Trial.

Hart's, 1 wheel

Ransome's F F, 2 wheels.

Yester, No. l, swing

Yester, No. 2, „

Scoular's swing

Second Trial

Unit's, 1 wheel

Hunter's swing

Curries' ,,

Pester, No; 1 , swing. . .

« Yltmciu's awing ,

Dry
Field.

Clay.

201

28

26

34

201

27

21

31

22

31

Dry
Land.

Clay.

22§

31

30

39

27

3.5

28

31

25

35

Iladden's swing 27 36

Kirdwood's swing 26 35

Neill's swing 27 35

Coltman's swing 24J 32

Yester, No, 1, swing 22 26

III. Experiments by the Ayrshire Agricul-
tural Association.

Lea. Stubble.

Dry
Soil.

Clay.

Wilkie's swing

Ditto

Ditto

Ransome's F F, 2 wheels

Ditto, as a swing

Palmer's Patent, 2 wheels

Ditto, as a swing

Swing Plough, Paton, London

Sussex Turn Wrest . s

Wilkie's ditto, (Wallace.Galston).

IV. Experiments by Mr. IIandley.

Sandy Loam,
Stubble.

Rutland, N L, 2 wheels 19£

Bedfordshire, 2 wheels 23£

Lincolnshire swing; 24

38

23

37

24

40

0

321

21

32i

20

40

22

0

20i

40

22

48

0

46

0

Lincoln Heath swing

241

I shall leave it to those interested to follow out
for themselves, a minute scrutiny and analysis of the
above tables of results ; I purpose to trace out a few
comparisons only.

In Mr. Pusey's experiments, Harts' one wheel
plough maintains a superiority throughout, at the
depth of 5x9, excepting in the 5th trial, where the
ground was damp. In that case, Ransome's swing
surpassed it by 6 stones ; and had King's swing
been tried, it would, most probably, have shewn
even a smaller draught than Ransome's.

By the same experiments, the two last wheel
ploughs are shewn to be Hart's and Ransome's. In
the first trial, they are equal ; but in the second,
there is a difference of one stone, and in the fourth
of no less I ban 10 stones in favour of Hart's. The
second trial was upon a blue clay, and the fourth
upon a strong loam, and it does not therefere seem
easy to account for this difference, the more espe-
cially as we find Hart's, in the seventh trial, on a
" clamp moory soil," exceeding Ransome's in point of
draught to the extent of 2 stones ; and yet the latter
could not be worked at all in the fifth trial.

Again, the two best swing ploughs are shewn to
be Ransome's and King's. In the second trial, the
draught of the latter exceeds that of the former by

4 stones ; whereas, in the fourth trial, the former ex-
ceeds the latter by 3 stones ; and it will also be
noticed that the plough which has the greatest
draught in the fourth trial has also the greatest in
the seventh ; thus differing in principle, apparently,
from the foregoing example of the wheel ploughs.

That the comparative results brought out. do not
bear relationship to a common principle, ns we
should have expected that they would, may be
further shewn by the following additional examples
from Mr. Pusey's experiments : — In the first trial,
the one wheel plough of Hart's is 3 stones less than
the one wheel plough of King's ; in the second trial
they are equal ; and, in the third trial, the former is

5 stones less, and in the seventh trial, 7 stones less
than King's. Now, on the other hand, in comparing
the wheel ploughs of Rutland and Ransome this
variation is not found to arise, excepting in the se-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

411

concl trial. In the other trials with these two last
ploughs, the same relative difference of draught as
that winch they shew in the first trial, is continued
throughout.

It will also be observed that the relative difference
of draught between King'suheel plough and swing, in
the first trial, is maintained in the seventh ; while
that between Ransome's wheel and suing is newly
doubled in the seventh trial.

Upon the whole, however, it must be admitted,
that in the case of light dry soils, as shewn by the
first and third trials of Mr. Pusey, the wheel ploughs
exhibit a superiority in point of draught to the ex-
tent of a few stones ; but in point of draught only.

By Mr. Pusey 's 8th, 9th, and 10th trials, it will
be seen, taking a general view of the results, that,
as the depth of ploughing is increased, the wheel
ploughs increase very rapidly in the relative amount
of draught, in comparison with the swing ploughs ;
and as this applies to Ransome's and King's swings,
which are the counterparts of their wheel ploughs, it
may be thought to have a tendency to shew that the
superiority in point of draught, where the depth was
only 4x5, arosT from tlie adoption of wheels;
though even in this eighth trial, however, when com-
pared with the first trial, we find discrepancies shew-
ing themselves between some of the wheel ploughs
and swings to the extent even of one and two stones
in Javour of the latter; and which circumstance
further tends to confirm the notion that the experi-
ments were unsystematically conducted, and the
draughts inaccurately computed.

In the Marquis of Twe'eddale's experiments, the
, one wheel plough of Hart's is equalled by the Yester
No. 1 swing, throughout. Presuming that this
plough of Hart's was, in point of lightness and
draught, at least equal to theoneusedby Mr. Pusey,
the Marquis's swing must be held to he superior to
it ; as we seem entitled to conclude thatin ploughing
wet clay, or heavy loam, or where we increase the
depth of ploughing, the swing plough of the Mar-
quis's would carry out that superiority of swing
ploughs to wheel, which Mr. Pusey's experiments so
distinctly indicated to exist in such oases. But,
further, it will be seen that Ransome's F F two
wheels, which kept so close upon Hart's in Mr.
Pusey's trials, falls far behind in the Marquis of
Tweeddale's experiments ; and, from this fact alone,
I should think we are justly entitled to say that the
Hart of the Marquis's was certainly equal to the
one employed by Mr. Pusey; and' that his lord-
ship's Yester No. 1 swing was greathf superior to all
thepL-ughs tried by Mr. Pusey, both icheels and swings.
■ The Marquis also compares his Yester No. 1 with
Coltman's swing, in four trials ; and, in all of them,
his lordship's shows a very decided superiority.

The other ploughs tried by the Marquis of Tweed-
dale are alJ, apparently, inferior to the Yester No. 1.
In none of the trials made by the Ayrshire Asso-
ciation do the wheel ploughs shew a superiority ;
while in ploughing stubble they are proved to be in-
ferior to the swing ploughs.

In reference to Mr. Handley\s experiments, I
would only remark that, had he employed counter-
parts of the Rutland and Bedfordshire wheel
ploughs as sivings in the stubble in which he made
his experiments, in the same manner as the Ayr-
shire Association employed counterparts of Ran-
some's and Palmer's wheel ploughs, I have no doubt
but he would have found the swings to be lightest in
point of draught.

Those examples are, I should presume, sufficient to
shew the imperfection and inadequacy of the mode

adopted by the several parties for making an efficient
and accurate comparison between wheel and swing
ploughs.

Both the Marquis of Tweeddale and the Ayi shire
Association state that the quality of the work per-
formed by the wheel ploughs was inferior to that
of the swing ploughs ; while the ad verse of this is
alleged by Mr. Pusey and Mr. Handley.

By the experiments of the Ayrshire Association.it
is made obvious that a similar construction of plough
is not equally well adapted for lea and stubble, The
plough which is best suited for laying over lea at
a proper angle, renders the draught in a free soil,
and in deep ploughing of fallow, unnecessarily great,
by the load of earth which hangs upon the breast cf
the mould-board. To obviate the disadvantages
thence arising, it may be mentioned that Mr. Hart,
has lately constructed a plough with two shifting
mould-boards of different shapes, adapted to different
qualities of land.

The Marquis of Tweeddale puts it forward as a
concession made to the English ploughs in his ex-
periments, that they had the crown of the ridge.
Now, it is stated by Mr. Pusey, in reference to his
second set of trials, that the Rutland two-wheel
plough, when tried in the low part of a ridge, stood
at forty-four only, but that when taken to the top
of the ridge, it rose to fifty stones — thus shewing an
increase of six stones. This fact should be kept in
view in future experiments, though in general it will
likely be found that the crown of the ridge will give
a less draught than the low part of it.

It has been determined bv Mr. Handley, and by
the Ayrshire Association, that the draught does not
increase in proportion to the increase of weight ; for
instance, it is stated by the latter that the plough
No. 3 was 21bs. lighter than No. 4, and was 7 1st.
heavier in draught ; also, that the same No. 3 was
3?lbs. lighter than No. 2, and was 3st. heavier in
draught.

It may be remarked also, that the foregoing tables
shew that the draught does not increase according to
the squares of the depth.

The general uniformity of results which the tables
exhibit in so many instances, as respects both heavi-
ness and lightness of draught, afford ground for be-
lieving that the principle on which the experiments
proceeded is sound, and that a better arranged plan
of working it out is all that is required to enable
agriculturists to turn it to a practical use.

To me it appears obvious that, until the Highland
Socisty of Scotland and the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England take up this question, it will never
be decided. The former society refused to enter
upon it on the ground that the members of it had
" hitherto obtained their information by experiments
of agricultmists." This answer cannot be viewed
as satisfactory. Suppose the modus operandi which
has brought forth the results given in. the above
tables, was to be extended to every county in England
and Scotland, the result would be, that in one dis-
trict a Hart's 1-wheel plough would be accounted the
best — in another, a Yester No. 1 swing — in another,
a Rutland N.L. two- wheel — in a fourth, a Ransome
swing — and so on throughout the country ; and all
this, too, might take place upon a soil characterised
by the name of a " sandy loam," or a " loamy
sand ; " while in each district most probably the
composition and texture of the soil would be fourd
to be different.

It may be observed, in reference to this latter
point, that thoroughly practical writers now hesitate
to adopt theories based upon experiments made on

2 e 2

412

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

soils in different districts, where the chief ingredient
in such theories is derived from assuming the quali-
ties of such soils to be correctly indicated by the
distinguishing appellatives attached to them through-
out the country ; and much caution on this head is
especially necessary in reference to questions like
the present, where the information is required to he
so very accurate and minute. But, moreover, the
nicety and intelligence requisite for conducting
such experiments, the time which they occupy, and
the expense which they create, combined with the
amount of prejudice to be overcome— in tmgland as
regards the swing ploughs, and in Scotland as re-
gards the wheels — render the task what it will always
be found to prove in the hands of private parties, both
an ungracious and an abortive one.

It cannot be doubted but that it is an important
object for agriculturists to ascertain the best general
construction of plough for different districts, soils,
and sorts of work. The question has been long
agitated, but, from the manner in which it has usu-
ally been entertained, and from the discrepancies
which always appear in the results of experiments
on the subject, the two countries of England and
Scotland are even now prevented from interchanging
those improvements in the construction and appl£
cation of the plough, which have been demonstrated
to be for their mutual benefit.

In Scotland few agriculturists, comparatively,
know anything of King's or Ransorne's swing
plough, or of the Yester No. 1, and fewer still use
them. Yet, these show a very decided superiority
over all the other swing ploughs with which they
were put in comparison ; and the last, as compared
with the ploughs of that presently popular maker,
Wilkie, shows a lightness of draught which would
certainly warrant its being substituted for his, could
the experiments be depended on.

Though the great practical importance of such ex-
periments ought to insure their being taken up with
ardour throughout the country, still there is that
degree of intangibility about "them which will al-
ways make it a matter of considerable difficulty to
get their results brought home to agriculturists as a
body ; and to obtain for them, even to a moderate
extent, that impartial consideration and candid recep-
tion which their importance may deserve.

Agriculturists have no other means of accurately
testing the value of such experiments except by
personally applying the dynamometer, or by wit-
nessing its application by others, or by putting faith
in the decisions of their more intelligent neighbours.
Now, the proverbial distaste which farmers in gene-
ral have to the application of science to agriculture,
will make either of the first two modes a barrier to
their getting at the truth ; for the fact of its being
ascertainable through the application of a scientific
instrument only, would be a sufficient reason for
rejecting it.

The third mode is the only feasible one through
which an influence can be produced upon the minds
of farmers ; and it will only be by zeal on the part
both of district societies ' and of intelligent and
energetic individuals, that we can hope to have this
question regarding the draught of ploughs and the
comparative merits of wheel and swing ploughs, satis-
factorily and speedily settled. In my opinion, how-
ever, we cannot have much hope in the subject
being taken up, even by district societies, in the
manner that it should be, until we see it vigorously
countenanced and supported by the two°leadin"
societies of the countrv.

It is true, as remarked by the Highland Society

when putting forth their declinature to enter upon
this investigation, that the generality of experiments,
and the extension of improvement, may be left in the
hands of enterprising agriculturists individually.
In the majority of cases no one could hesitate to
admit the force of this. It is applicable, for ex-
ample, to the introduction of an improved variety of
grain — to the adoption of an improved mode of
cattle feeding — or to the economising of expense by
the substitution of machinery for manusd labour ; the
results of all which are palpable, and their value can
readily be appreciated by any one. But in the case
of ploughing, an increase in point of draught, to the
extent even of 10 stones, supposing the total draught
to be still considerably within the strength of the
animals employed, would not^be observed upon the
working cattle at the time; while its comparative
effect upon them at the end of a busy season's
ploughing would, without doubt, be very greatly
to deteriorate their value.

The plan which I would propose for arriving most
speedily and most surely at a knowledge of (he imple-
ments best adapted for the different kinds of ploughing
is, that the Highland Society of Scotland, and the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, should respec-
tively purchase an equal number of swing and wheel
ploughs — say from six to twelve of the best models ;
that these should be successively sent to a few of
the best agricultural districts in each country to be
tried in competition on days advertised, with the
most popular ploughs in such districts, under the
superintendence either of local societies or of a few
zealous and intelligent landed proprietors and
farmers ; and that where a local plough showed a
superiority over any of the ploughs belonging to the
Society, that such plough should be purchased by
the Society. And that this course should be pursued
till a satisfactory series of trials had been made in
six of the best districts in euch country. That there
should then be a series of fnal trials made in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh and London respec-
tively, more immediately under the eye of the prin-
cipal members of the two leading Societies; and
that those ploughs which might meet with unanimous
approval should be placed in the Societies' Museums,
from which models could be furnished to members,
or to local societies, at a fair price. And should
such models be found, at any future time, to be ex-
celled by any ploughs not previously tried, that those
also should be purchased ; and that, with such addi-
tional ploughs, and those already in the possession
of the Society, further trials should be made at in-
tervals under proper superintendence ; end, finally,
that full details of all such trials and experiments
should be regularly and carefully reported in the
journals of the respective societies.

Little or no expense would be entailed upon the
societies through these proceedings, as subscriptions
would readily he obtained to defray the expense of
district trials, and the ploughs themselves could al-
ways be sold at their full value.

It likewise appears to me to be most essential that
articulate instructions should be given respecting
the special points to be attended to, in conducting
the experiments. Sufficient attention has not been
given to this branch hitherto ; Mr. Pusey's experi-
ments, for instance, relate almost exclusively to the
force of draught, which is only a part of the neces-
sary inquiry.

The following are some of the points which ap-
pear to me necessary to be attended to in conducting
the experiments — more especially, if they are meant
to be conducted carefully, and seriously with a view

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

413

to agricultural improvement — and not merely as
matters of scientific recreation : —

1. The construction of the implement should be
particularly set down, such as hollow curved mould
board; full and straight mould board; whether the
mould board be of wood or iron ; the width of the
plough's sole; length from heel to point of share ;
acuteness towards point of share ; height of beam.

2. Not more than two ploughmen should be em-
ployed throughout each set of experiments, one of
whom shall have been accustomed to wheel ploughs,
and the other to swings ; and they should be tried in
the morning when they are fresh ; and at the termi-
nation of a day's ordinary labour, when the draught
is likely to be increased by a greater leaning, or
pressure, upon the stilts.

Note. — It is stated by Mr. Handley, in reference
to the varying skill of swing ploughmen, that
he took off a skilful one, and put on an infe-
rior one, though above an average, and that
the draught was increased six per cent.

3. The dynamometer of Slight on Regnier's prin-
ciple, should be employed. It is said to produce
less vibration than any of the other pointers, and to
be the most easily calculated from.

4. All the ploughs to be tried should be previously
used to some extent, so that all roughness and ex-
traneous matter may be wrought off them.

Note. — The necessity for this was shown by
Mr. Pusey's first experiment with Ransome's
F F Swing. It was found to be 6 stones
less draught after the mould board had been
cleared of tar. It is known also that when a
mould board is new and rough, it accumulates
earth upon it, and thereby increases the
plough's draught.

5. The ploughs should all be tried at different
depths — sav, 5 x 8, 6 X 9, and 7 x 10.

Note. — Both the Marquis of Tweeddale and
the Ayreshire Association complain of the
lowness of beam in the English ploughs, by
which they got choked up, when an attempt
was made to increase the depth of furrow.

6. Two intelligent parties should simultaneously
take a note of the draughts.

Note. — It would be well to note also the vibra-
tions in the dynamometer. They are some-
times very great, and through the medium of
them, the nature of the soil may be guessed
at. The excessive vibrations which some-
times occur may arise, most probably, from
the succession of impulses produced by the
varying composition and tenacity of the soil
at particular points.

7. The comparative forces of draught should also
be noted in ploughing lea and stubble, clay and tur-
nip soils, when dry, moisi and wet.

Note. — Mr. Pusey remarks, in reference to
ploughing clay, that the Scotch ploughs were
considered to labour under a disadvantage by
having iron mould boards, to which the clay
strongly adhered.

8. The experiments should be made in similar
parts of the ridge ; and that two bouts of the plough
be considered sufficient; and the draught should be
taken when the plough follows its own furrow only.

9. The nature and quality of the work should be
specially attended to, viz :

1. The cleanness of the furrows.

2. The position and adaptation of the furrow
slices, and whether they are set up with a bold
or with a sharp shoulder.

Note. — Wilkie's plough, for instance, is held

in repute for turning up the furrow with a
bold shoulder.

3. The breadth, depth, and thickness of the furrow
slices.

Note. — It should be particularly noticed whe-
ther the plough has moved flat upon her sole,
and turned over a rectangular furrow slice ;
because, if the plough has not done this, and
the furrow slice be found thinner at the lower
side than at the upper side, the draught will
have been less than if the work had been pro-
perly executed.

4. The equable evenness of the bottom of the
furrows.

Note. — In the Marquis of Tweeddale's experi-
ments, two of the ploughs employed, made
their furrows with curves in the bottom.

10. The quantity and quality of work perfoimed
in a given time should likewise be particularly at-
tended to.

Note. — The Marquis states that the wheel
ploughs of Ransome and Hart did their work
best when going slow.

11. The tempering of the iron3 should also be
observed and described, and the angle at which the
coulter is set should be noted ; because in stubble
land, or in land much infested by roots and weeds,
the amount of draught is greatly dependent upon the
rake to which the coulter is trimmed.

Note. — Mr. Stephens, in Part 5 of " The Book
of the Farm" (just published), states that
he has frequently ascertained, by the dyna-
mometer, that the accumulation of refuse upon
the coulter increased the draught of the
ploughs from 26 stones — their ordinary
draught when clear — up to 36 stones ; and
that immediately on the removal of the ob-
struction, the draught had fallen to an average
force of 26 stones.
This does not, of course, refer to ploughing lea,
where the coulter must be set at a higher
angle than in cases such as the above, to pre-
vent the ridges from having a ragged and un-
tidy appearance.
It is admitted that there are particular species of
work which cannot be properly executed by wheel
ploughs ; while there is no species of labour but
what can be efficiently performed by a swing plough,
though occasionally with a somewhat increased
amount of draught. The wheel ploughs have been
proved inapplicable to the proper tillage of an un-
equal surface, and they are found unsuited to the
cross-cutting of dead fallows where the surface is
rough. — " In crossing steep ridge and furrow, the
action of the ascending wheels raises the share out
of the furrow; while, in descending, it plunges it
deeper into the ridge." Nor are they adapted to the
ploughing of wet or damp land, more especially if
it be tenacious. In this case, a great increase of
draught is occasioned by the clogging of the wheels,
though this evil has been lessened, to some extent,
by the invention and adoption of scrapers.

In stony land, great difficulty has been expe-
rienced in managing wheel ploughs by "persons
who could manage ploughs well."

Wheel ploughs are also liable to serious objec-
tions on account of their greater complexity ; also
from the loss of time which they occasion in the
frequent adjustments required, seeing that the depth
of furrrow cannot be altered without altering the
height of the wheels ; and it is well known, in prac-
tice, that the furrows even in one ridge are never all
of one depth ; and the ploughman being regulated

414

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

on this point, to a certain extent, by the eye alone,
as he proceeds along- the ridge, the adoption of
wheels renders the necessary adjustment and adap-
tation, in such circumstances, utterly impracticable.

There will always be a ditlicultv, too, from the
share and coulter acting as conflicting forces to the
wheels. The improvement by casting and case-
hardening has, it is thought, in some degree, tended
to diminish this.

J3ut, above all, it may be asked, how is a radical
defect in the share — such as its dipping too much
below the line of the sole, and which cannot be reme-
died but at the smithy — to be found out, where wheels
are adopted'! The ploughman lias no means of dis-
covering this defect, for the tendency of the share to
sink is not felt at the stilts. In the wheel alone is cen-
tred the entire counterpoise to the share's downward
tendency and effects : thus, through the instrumenta-
lity of the very device adopted to lessen the draught,
may its force be enormously increased, and a double
tax, perhaps, be levied upon the strength and ener-
gies of the working cattle, without the chance of out-
finding it out.

Whereas, in swings, the tendency of the plough
up or down, to the riglit or to the left, is instantly
felt by the ploughman ; not a single motion, nor in-
clination of the implement occurring;, but what he is
immediately made cognizant of through the medium
of die stilts.

The universal applicability of the swing plough is
one of its most important recommendations, and it
is an advantage which cannot be too highly prized.
It is the only kind of plough suitable to the general
purposes of a faim, and which is especially ap-
plicable to the circumstances of that numerous'class
of comparatively small farmers who are spread over
this country. It is to the fact of the exclusion of
swings from amongst that class throughout England,
that we may justly and truly trace the wretched
inequality of tillage upon their farms througheut
the different seasons of the year. Let any one com-
pare Scotland from Aberdeenshire, southward, and
the northern parts of England, where swing ploughs
are almost exclusively employed, with the remaining
eight-tenths of England, in which wheel ploughs
prevail, and the indubitably great supeiiority of all
the different branches of ploughing in the former
over the latter, will be evidence sufficient to any
impartial mind.

The evil of using both wheel ploughs and swings
upon a farm, the one for light and the other for heavy
work, would be, that the ploughman who handled
both would inevitably become imperfect in the
management of either : the weight which he might,
with apparent impunity, throw upon the stilts of the
wheel plough, would unfit him to use the swing with
that light manual adjustment of grasp, that precision
and nicety, "with that feeling in his palms and
readiness of perception," which it is the pride of the
Scotch ploughman to acquire, and without which
no ploughing, with any implement, could be adapted
to the ever varying texture and composition of soils,
to their inequalities of surface, to unsteadiness of
draught, to the lie of the ridges, and to the various
kinds of tillage ; to few, or none of which circum-
stances, does the wheel plough admit of being readily
and efficiently adjusted.

The advantage of a lew stones in point of draught,
in favour of the wheel plough (about which there
has been so much contention) does not appear to be
worth a moment's estimation, in comparison with
the general advantages which are sacrificed by its
adoption. Throughout Scotland, two horses are

found adequate for all kinds of ploughing in the
ordinary cultivation and management of the farm ;
and in the tables of the Marquis of Tweeddale, and
of the Avreshire association, we find the draught of
the Scotch ploughs as high as 39 and 46 stolies, and
yet the horses employed performed their wolk with-
out being distressed. " In the countries Ivhere twinjj
ploughs are used," observes Professor Low, *' they are
drawn by two horses, yoked abreast, and are capable of
perfonninff, by easy labour to the animals of draught,
almost every species of tillage which the plough is re-
quired to perform."

It is shewn by Mr. Pusey's experiments that
when the depth of ploughing was encreased
beyond 5x9, the swing ploughs in most cases
equalled, and in some surpassed, the wheel ploughs
in point of draught — the difference alternating from
1 to 3 stones ; and as " the medium depth of good
ploughing may be held to be 7 inches," it is thus
evident, even upon the shewing of the English agri-
culturists themselves, that the best wheel ploughs do
not exhibit, by ihe dynamometer, a superiority over
the swings. In Scotland it is proved by daily ex-
perience, that " a good (swing) plough, with a pair
of horses, can easily plough from eight to nine incites
deep.'"

The strong testimony of the Marquis ofTweeddale
on this head is very important, and ought to have
great influence with all practical agriculturists: —
" One satisfactory thing that I have to notice, is,"
says his lordship, "that I have never found the
Scotch horses wanting in strength to perform any
work required ofthem when yoked tonScotch plough
on Small's principle, and I shall be very unwilling to
give up using this kind of plough until I find one
that is as well adapted /'or all hinds of ploughing, and
which will cause less exertion to tho animals of
draught."

It may be further added, in confirmation, inferen-
tially, of the superiority of swing ploughs, and of
the improved system of tillage of which they are
accessorily productive, that the average amount
ploughed in England, throughout the ye::r, is only
three-fourths of an acre in the day, and that too, with
three and four horses in the plough ; while, in Scot-
land, with only two horses, the average amount
ploughed is one acre in the day.

It has been stated that a swing plough cannot be
kept steady in hard ground ; that she is apt to be
thrown out, and is alternately either riding upon heel
Ot point: and on this head, Mr. Handley writes that
" in stubborn ground, rendered so by drought, the
bite of a wheel plough was found to be effective,
while the swing plough could not be held into its
work; but of course," he Continues, " in the former
case, the share tens set sharp in the ground and the
draught chain at the highest notch of the hake, which
made a heavy pressure upon the wheels."

Now, Mr. Handley hero supplies all the reason
required for rejecting wheel ploughs even in such
circumstances; for, had the swing plough used by
him possessed the two only desiderata — " its share
sharp set in the ground, and its draught chain at the
highest notch of the hake" — it would have been
equally easily held in the ground as the wheel
plough ; and it Would besides have had this decided
advantage, that its draught Would not have been in-
creased " by a heavy pressure upon the wheels."

I conclude this communication by quoting, on the
above subject, a lew additional passages from the
treatise of Professor Low — " The tendency to rise
out of the ground can be corrected by giving an in-
clination downwards to the point Of the share; and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

416

to counteract the tendency whicb the plough has to
go deep into the ground, the line of draught is to be
lowered by means of the bridle, so that it shall form
a greater angle. The same effect will be produced
by shortening the traces of the horses attached to the
draught. In like manner, by means of the bridle,
the point of draught can be shifted to the right or to
the left. This adjusting of the plough's motion is easy,
and is performed by the ploughman until he feels
that tbe plough continues to swim fair, to use his own
technical language, that is, until he feels, which he
does at once, that it continues to move horizontally
forward without any tendency to turn to the riglit
or left, or to rise from the earth, or to sink into it.
A well-constructed plough of this laud, therefore, needs
no wheels or other devices to steady its tftoiioA, the effect
being produced by merely altering the line of draught."
I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,
Liverpool, May 18. William Scott.

ON WEANING AND REARING
CALVES.

Sir, — As some enquiries have appeared in your
paper upon this subject, I propose giving you a
few practical observations deduced from mine
own experience, which I confess is not of long-
standing, for previous to the year 1830 I had not
made the attempt, nor was it practised in this
county, farmers having imbibed an opinion that lean
stock might be purchased cheaper than it could be
reared ; but the example having been set by per-
sons competing at the agricultural exhibitions,
added to the observations disseminated by the pub-
lic speakers, it has since become an almost general
practice — especially among the smaller occupiers ;
and when the small amount of capital requisite to
carry it on is taken into account, it will be found as
profitable as any other branch of farming, and per-
haps is the easiest and almost only mode whereby a
farmer with limited capital can obtain good stock ;
as, from inadequate means to purchase heifers or
cows at prices ranging from fifteen to twenty pounds
each, he may have gone on from year to year with-
out making an attempt to rear them on his own
farm, when by an outlay of about ten pounds a year
he might have produced sufficient stock in three
years for an average-sized occupation. The high
price of lean stock has also stimulated others to ex-
ertion, as it must have been apparent that if by pro-
ducing an animal thegrazier obtained little or no pro-
fit, that the breeder must have obtained more than his
fair proportion ; and from the northern districts
being enabled to convey their fat meat readily to the
London markets by the aid of steam, they have re-
tained most of their best animals for grazing in
those districts where breeding had alone been long
carried on ; and unless the southern counties hud
commenced rearing, a deficiency must have arisen,
which to a considerable extent was the case, and the
excessive competition at fairs and markets for lean
stock having increased the price to such a degree
that the animals, after being stall-fed, have not
realized more than prime cost, to the great injury
and almost ruin of the grazier.

Taking this view of the subject, I have been in-
duced to direct my attention to rearing stock upon
mine own farm, and have to-day had the satisfaction
of inspecting upwards of sixty heads, all under a

year old, and in the most thriving condition, arid
produced with only a single loss — many of them at
the present moment worth seven pounds each, and
the whole open to inspection at any time to those
who may be inclined to see them.

My piactice is to wean them all the year round ;
that is, whenever a calf suitable, from mine own
cows (which I prefer), or by purchase, can be ob-
tained ; and as two methods are carried out upon se-
parate farms, 1 shall describe each, and show then-
comparative merits. Upon my home farm I keep
from fifteen to twenty short-horn cows, for suckling-
calves fatted fi-r the London market. The supply
of calves for that purpose is brought to the neigh-
bouring markets ; this gives me an opportunity of
weaning those from mine own cows ; and from keep-
ing a pure short-horn bull, I can better depend upon
them. Upon this point much of the future success
must depend, as it frequently happens that calves
purchased and treated exactly the same as those
produced at home, from not being well bred, are
worth less by five or six pounds at two years old.
The calves intended to be weaned are allowed to
suck the cows after the fatting calves have done,
and to take the milk from the stale cows that have
not calved for a long time, such milk being almost
useless for fatting purposes. A pint of milk ob-
tained in this way is more beneficial than four pints
of skimmed milk would be if given by hand. The
calves are tempted to eat — if in winter— sliced
white or Swede turnips, cabbage, rape, or any vege-
table that can be procured ; and after a short time
sliced mangel wurzel is added, of which they are
very fond, and it is exceedingly nutritious and
suitable to them in a young state. At all times they
are liberally supplied with sweet meadow hay,
bran, or pollard, and a small quantity of oilcake,
and rock salt is always placed within reach. Great
care should be taken to keep them well littered with
clean wheat straw, and during fine or mild weather
they should be allowed daily to go out into a dry
pasture,

They will not require milk longer than four or
five weeks, and supposing they have from three to
four pints a day, with half the quantity in the fifth
and sixth week, it will not amount to more than
eight or ten shillings at the utmost, and ought not
to be taken so high, as tho cows are benefited by
them. The quantity of food consumed during the
first three months is very small indeed, and until
they are nine months old they will not consume
more than two sheep each, upon an average; but
the food should be of the best and most nutritious
character, the oilcake not exceeding half a pound
each the first two months, and not more than one
pound at any time afterwards. Swedish turnips
and mangel wurzel, sliced, and given together in
equal quantities, are better than any other descrip-
tion of food, especial care being taken to. have warm
sheds and enclosed yards for the purpose, without
intermixture with other descriptions of stock.

The other process adverted to is upon a farm
where dairying is carried on. The calves there are
supplied with the skimmed milk during the months
of March, April, and May : a pint of linseed meal
is boiled in about two or three gallons of water, the
best meadow hay is also boiled in water, and these
liquids are mixed with the milk in about equal pro-
portions, and given to the calves'of the warmth of
new milk twico or three times a day, and the same
treatment as to food as in the other case. No oat-
meal gruel should on any account be given, being
exceedingly injurious to them if used in any quan-

41G

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tity. In the commencement of my practice I
spoiled nearly all my calves by using it as a substi-
tute for milk. If calves are weaned in tbe spring,
they can be fed on lucerne, grass mown — especially
Pacey and Italian grass ; oilcake and mangel wurzel
should be reserved for the purpose, as if kept from
tbe air and light it will remain good for many
months. The calves should not be allowed to go
into water, and must be kept in a building darkened
as much as possible, but well ventilated during the
heat of the day to prevent the flies tormenting them,
and let out during the night only into the feed, and
not allowed to be out during wet weather, nor
should any food be cut whilst the rain or dew is upon
it; and great care should be taken to supply them re-
gularly with food, and always to allow them sufficient,
as, should they become stinted at this period, they
will seldom recover it entirely, however well tliey
may be kept afterwards. The calves intended for
oxen should be castrated at from two to three
months old, and the heifers not allowed to be with
the bull calves until eighteen months old, as in-
stances have been known of their producing calves
under twelve months of age.

If I can supply any further information that I
may have omitted in this hasty sketch, I shall he
happy to do so ; and in conclusion have to state that
short-horn calves, if well managed, will be worth
from six to eight pounds each at one year old, and
from twelve to sixteen pounds each at two years
old ; the first cost of the calves from two to three
pounds.

Farmers in estimating profits seldom take the
amount of capital employed fairly into considera-
tion, and rather calculate their profits upon each
head than upon the amount invested.

Oxen kept high on turnips and oilcake, &c,
Lave not realized more than thirty-three per cent,
upon the prime cost in six months' keep; and taking
the past three years as a criterion, not so much.
An ox worth fifteen pounds lean would thus pro-
duce twenty pounds fattened. Five calves of the
best quality may be purchased at the same sum, and
during the six months would require about the same
quantity of food. Tbe remaining six months at
grass, at seven shillings and sixpence per week,
would be nine pounds, and upon producing seven
pounds each at a year old, would leave a balance in
their favour of eleven pounds, being upwards of one
hundred per cent. This calculation is pretty near
the truth, but not having been deduced except from
general observation, is given only upon a broad prin-
ciple, but the accuracy of tbe statement is given
rather against the weaning than in favour of it ; for
supposing that the calves would not consume more
food in twelve months than two fattened oxen
(which I think they would not), the cost would be
equivalent to twelve months' keep of one bullock at
ten pounds profit, whilst the calves would realize
twenty pounds, or two hundred per cent.

As to the comparative merits of tbe two systems,
the former is decidedly to be preferred, as the
calves go on without any check whatever, until ac-
customed to other food ; but great care is necessary
by the other mode, as it is not advisable to give
them liquids in large quantities, but raiher to give
those which are most nutritious.

The best time to commence weaniug is in Octo-
ber and November, especially upon" farms where
turnips can be procured plentifully, as upon them
united with the mangel wurzel but little trouble and
comparatively little expense is incurred, especially
if one of Gardeners' slicing machines are used for

cutting them. The linseed jelly is made by putting
half a peck of meal into twenty gallons of cold
water, boiling it one hour ; twenty pounds of hay to
twenty gallons of water ; to be kept stirring and
boiled a quarter of an hour. These liquids should
be mixed and well stirred together whilst warm,
and about two gallons of the combined liquids to
one of milk given to the calves, so that each calf has
about one gallon and a half daily.

To preserve the mangel wurzel, it should be put
into clamps, not more than six feet wide at bottom,
and to the height of four or five feet, to be gradually
brought to a point, so as when finished to represent
tbe roof of a building, packing the roots carefully
with the crowns outwards. It should then be co-
vered with straw, and subsequently with earth, leav-
ing the top open about the space of ono foot for a
few weeks, until the approach of frost. Tbe whole
should be then well secured, and in severe weather
thatched over with loose straw or long manure from
the faim-yard.. Mangel stored in this way will keep
well until July in the following year, and improve
by keeping.

Swede turnips should be pulled in November, and
the roots with the earth attached be suffered to re-
main. The leaves should be wrung (but not cut)
off. Hurdles should be placed six or eight feet
apart, and filled between with the turnips when dry.
Other rows may be placed, hurdled so as to admit
the air freely. The whole should be covered and
partially thatched over, and in severe weather tbe
sides should be secured with manure or loose straw
carted from the farm-yard, or they may be clamped
in small heaps in the field and covered with straw
and earth, taking care not to put more than ten or
twelve bushels in a heap, to prevent fermentation.

Italian rye-grass will come in early in tbe spring,
and should be sown in August upon land well ma-
nured and in good tilth. A rod will produce from
150 to 200lbs. early in May.

To this will succeed common meadow grass ; a
second cut from which can be obtained from that cut
early, and with the assistance of lucerne a supply
will thus be obtained tbe whole year.

I hope you will excuse the length to which I have
extended this article, and remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Robert Baker.

Writlle, 16th May, 1842.

DESCRIPTION OF AN IMPROVE-
MENT ON THE LEVER TURNIP
SLICER.

BY MR. JOHN WALLACE, KIRKCONNELL, KIRKCUD-
BRIGHT.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

The importance of the practice of slicing turnips
for the feeding of cattle and sheep, cannot be more
strongly evinced than by the numerous methods
which have been attempted for obtaining the ob-
ject. It is perhaps not very complimentary to the
mechanical skill of the day to observe, that the
early modes of slicing were by the hand lever, and
that after going the round of all sorts of revolving
and reciprocating machines, we return again to
the levers. The machine here described is of that
class, and though it has existed for some years,
Mr. Wallace has produced an improvement that
renders it much more effective in operation than
formerly. The accompanying cut, fig. 1, is a view

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

417

in perspective of the improved machine, and fig.
2 a transverse section shewing the position of the
cutfers. It consists of a stock a />, fig. 1, two feet
ten inches long, and about (J inches hroad, formed
of two pieces of hard wood connected hy an iron
har a c, which is repeated on the opposite edge,
and the whole bolted together as in the figure.
The two pieces forming the stock being withdrawn
from each other so far as to leave a rectangular
opening bounded on the two ends by the pieces of
the stock, and on the two sides by the iron bars,
which, to the extent of the opening, are thinned
off to a sharp edge, and thus form the two exterior
cutters d e, as seen in the section, fig. 2. The
stock is supported at a height of two feet upon
four legs. Two cutter blocks, /and g, are appended

to the stock by mortice and tenon at the respective
ends of the .opening, and are further secured by

the bolts of the side bars. Into these blocks the
remaining cutters, /* h and i i, are inserted in cor-
responding pairs, and also secured by bolts. The
cutters thus arranged, forma cradle-shaped recep-
tacle, into which the turnip is laid to be sliced, k I
is a lever jointed on a bolt at A:, and armed with a
block m, studded on its lower face with iron
knobs, and which fits loosely into the receptacle.

In operating with this machine, the workman
takes hold of the lever at I with the right hand,
and having raised it sufficiently high, throws a
turnip into the receptacle with the left ; the lever
is immediately brought down by the right hand,
the knobs preventing the turnip from sliding back-
ward or forward, and the force of the hand upon
the lever pushing the turnip against the edge of
the cutters, separates it into slices by one stroke.
The cradle-shaped arrangement of the cutters form
the principal part of the present improvement,
and distinguishes it from the old form, in which
the edges of the cutters are at one level with the
surface of the block. By the new arrangement of
the cutters, in admitting a free escape to the slices
free of compression between the cutters, the force
required to press down the lever has been very
greatly reduced.

The advantages of this form of slicer are — 1st,
the certainty of cutting turnips free of even the
smallest portion of waste, a property which few of
the revolving machines possess in such perfection ;
2nd, its cheapness, the price being only from 26s.
to 30s ; 3rd, its portability, being easily carried
about by one person, or it may be mounted on
wheels at a small additional expense. It has the
disadvantage of being only capable of cutting
slices, and therefore not so well adapted for sheep
feeding, but it is quite as expeditious as some of
the revolving machines, as a man and a boy will
slice 10 cwt. of turnips in ten minutes with this
machine.

418

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF
THE SOUTH WILTS AND WAR-
MINSTER FARMERS' CLUB.

FIRST QUARTERLY MEETING

Was held on the 30th of Apiil, when it was de-
cided to Lave a ploughing match, and a committee
was chosen for the purpose of carrying it into effect
during the present year. The secretaries showed a
Statement of the Finances of the Club, and the Com-
mittee were requested to come prepared at the July
meetino- with a recommendation of the rewards arid
premiums to be offered at the Annual Meeting.
The first subject for discussion wag " Oil Drills."
An intelligent member, who brought tills forward,
s;iid, he had drilled for many yearS, arid ltad derived
much benefit from such a practice) (battle lihd used
the horse-hoe with much succes§ ©ft his fttrm, prin-
cipally a light soil, in the spring— wbieli was an
efficient and economical means of cleaning it : and
that, in his opinion, there wasi a saving of seed in
pursuing such a system — in wheat of at least half a
bushel per acre, and in barley of as mUeh as two
bushels. "With regard to the produce, lie bad gene-
rally grown more in grain when drilled than when
sown broadcast, although a smaller proportion of
seed was used; the straw, however, be admitted,
was generally deficient. The same system applied
equally to turnips, vetches, &c. Many members
present seemed to concur in this practice as a desi-
rable one; but some dissented from it, arguing that
the broadcast principle produced as much corn, at
less expense ; and that although it frequently oc-
curred that more grain was sown than when the
drill was used, it was not necessary; and that an
equal quantity of seed would yield quite as favour-
able a result. Much discussion arose as to which
was the best as well as the most economical system
to pursue, the drilled or broadcast; but the members
present not having made correct calculations on the
point, no resolution was agreed on, reserving the
subject for a future meeting.

Second subject — " The Diseases of Sheep, par-
ticularly Giddiness."

The member who introduced this subject said, he
was anxious to obtain information, rather than offer
it, as to the cause and cure of giddiness in sheep ;
the disease being one of much aggravation to the
farmer, who frequently suffered much pecuniary loss
by not knowing how to treat it efficaciously. A
gentleman of the medical profession being present,
was called on for some explanation — and stated he
knew but little of the diseases of animals, but thought
there was a much greater resemblance between them
and the diseases of the human subject than was
generally supposed. He believed the disease in
question was similar in its character and conse-
quences to that known as water on the brain ia the
human species ; like that, he understood, it more
frequently attacked young subjects. He was not sur-
prised to hear that the cases were almost universally
fatal, as from the nature of the disease he should
expect that to be the case. It was doubtless in-
flammatory affection of the brain, or its membranes,
speedily terminating in an effusion of fluid. Even
in young children, though watched as they are by
their mothers, it but too commonly escaped early
notice, and when the disease was once established,
he regretted to say, any treatment availed but little.
In cases of giddy sheep, he had known the trephine
used, and the effused fluid evacuated ; but bad

never heard of a case terminating in recovery. This
is just what he should expect, as the delicate struc-
ture of the brain was too much disorganised by the
disease to admit of its being restored to a healthy
state. He feared he could give them but little hope
of their arriving at any satisfactory treatment ; in-
deed, unless the disease was detected in the early
inflammatory stage, before effusion bad taken place,
when copious bleeding might avail, be really thought
there Was nothing to be done. As to a prevention
§f(he disease, this be thought would be best dene
by keeping the animal in the best state of geueral
health possible, but even with that many cases must
§rj(SUfi He thought breeding in-and-in likely to
Increase the number of cases, as tending to produce
degenerate stook.

Many membets present felt the subject in ques-
tion to be one of great importance, but were not
enabled, from their experience, to adopt any satis-
factory resolution relative to it.

THE PLOUGHING MATCH
Took place on Wednesday, the 26th of May, on
the farm of Mr. Joshua Whitaker, near Bratton, and
was attended by a large and respectable body of
gentlemen, yeomanry, &c. Much competition was
excited, and the weather being favourable, the field
presented an animated appearance. The following
is the report of the judges : —

We, the undersigned, having been appointed the
umpires to decide on the respective merits of the
ploughmen at the above ploughing match, award the
several premiums, bounties, &C, offered by the
Society, as follows, viz. : —

First Class.
No. 9. George Snelgrove, servant to Mr. Joshua
Whitaker, '2b. 35m., first premium, 40s.

No. 8. Thomas Presley, servant to Mr. William
Sly, 2h.40in., second premium, 30s.

No. 2. Edward Townsend, servant to Mr. John
Osborne, 2h.20m., third premium, 20s.

No. 7. Thomas Neale, servant to Mr. John In-
gram, 2b. 35m., bounty, 10s.

No. 14. Uriah Stedman, servant to Mr. William
Sly, 2b. 35m., bounty, 10s.

No. 15. James Kick, servant to Mr. John Coles,
2h. 35m., bounty, 10s.
Twenty-one competitors.

Second Class.
No. 24. William Shore, servant to Mr. William
Sainsbury, oh. 25m., first premium, 40s.

No. 23. James Miles, servant to Mr. John In-
gram, 3h. 10m., second premium, 30s.
No other competitor.

TmnD Class.
No. 26. John Wheeler, servant to Mr. Jonathan
Grant, 2h.45m., first premium, 20s.

No. 27. Lewis Newman, servant to Mr. Joshua
Whitaker, 2b. 45m., second premium, 15s.

No. 25. Jamts Knight, servant to Mr. Thomas
Chandler, 2h.35m., third premium, 10s.
No other competitor.

Twenty-six ploughs having started, we consider
the whole of the work done by them to be well
executed, particularly the ox-plough, No. 24, and
those numbered 25, 26, and 27, held by the boys
under eighteen years Of age. We recommend the
bounties as above, and a donation of 2s. 6d. each, to
all the unsuccessful ploughmen.

(Signed) John Lush,

James Tayler,
Thomas Burge.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

419

SECOND QUARTERLY MEETING, 30th July.

Pursuant to notice given at the precedent meeting-,
it was resolved — " That the prizes offered to the
labouring classes in agriculture, shall in future he
given in money, instead of articles of furniture or
clothing." It was also agreed — " That a certificate
hhall he given to each successful candidiite in such
class, testifying the reason why the premium is
awarded. Such certificate to be framed and hungup
in the cottage of the labourer receiving it."

The committee here introduced their statement
and recommendation for the rewards and prizes to
be offered at the Annual Meeting ; showing also the
state of the funds, which fully justified their spend-
ing as much in premiums as in the former year. A
bill of advertisement was then framed, on nearly a
similar principle to that of last year, with some
additions, owing to the kind contributions of indivi-
duals who directed special premiums to be added in
their names to the general ones. Messrs. Sidford,
Joshua Whitaker, and John Marsh were selected for
judges.

ANNUAL MEETING, 27th August.

The second exhibition of stock for the pveiniums
offered by this Society, took place in a field near
Pcrtway-house, Warminster, and attracted a large
concourse of spectators.

The show of stock was a large one, and exceeded,
both in number and quality, that of last year. The
sheep were much admired, particularly the rams
sent by Messrs. Beaven and Mills, which wore of
, the South Down breed ; and there was a good com-
petition in horned cattle and pigs, which called
forth the best judgment of the persons appointed to
decide their merits. The horses were not superior,
but it is hoped that previous to the next meeting
some steps may be taken to ensure an improvement
in this class. The candidates for labourers' prizes
although numerous, were not so general aslastyear;
and we beg to hiut to our members, that some classes
were not filled up, consequently several premiums
offered for labourers could not be awarded ; we trust
at the next meeting there may be more competitors.
At three o'clock about one hundred and thirty gen-
tlemen dined together at the Town Hall ; the chair
was taken by Wm.' Wyndham, jun., Esq. of Dinton,
who was supported by Harry Biggs, Esq., the Rev.
Arthur Fane, and many of the magistrates, clergy,
and yeomanry of the neighbourhood ; about twenty
labourers also dined.

The Following Premiums were awarded :—

For best ram of any age, to Mr. J. Beaven,
jun., Gore Farm £2 0 0

For best 4-tooth rain, to Mr. Thomas

Mills, Fi* heldean 110 0

For best 2-tooth ram, to ditto 1 10 0

For best ram lamb, to ditto, bounty of . . 0 10 0

For ten best ewes of any age, to ditto . . 2 0 0

For ten best 2-tooth ewes, to Mr. John

Lush, Warminster 2 0 0

For ditto, to Mr. James Beaven, jun.,

Gore Farm, bounty of 1 0 0

For best cart stallion, to Mr.S.F. Knight,

Upton Scudamore 2 0 0

For best cart mare and foal, to Mr. E.

Moody, Maiden Bradley 2 0 0

For best bull, to Mr. William Jefferys,
Maiden Bradley 2 0 0

For ditto, to Mr. Stephen White, War-
minster, bounty of 1 0 0

For best cow, in milk and in calf, to Mr.

Samuel Jeft'erys, Maiden Bradley .... 2 0 0

For ditto, to Mr. Stephen White, War-
minster, bounty of. . 10 0

For two best heifers, in calf, to Mr. W.

Jefferys, Maiden Bradley 10 0

For ditto, to Mr. Stephen White, War-
minster, bounty of 0 10 0

For best pair of working oxen, to Mr.

William Sainsbury, West Lavington.. 2 0 0

For best boar, to Mr. William Jeft'erys,

Maiden Brad ley 1 0 0

For best breeding sow, to Mr. William

Sly, Warminster ...i 1 0 0

Three men or women who have contributed
most towards the support of their parents.

Benjamin Grant, Winterborne Stoke ... . 2 0 0

John Mogg, Pitcombe 2 0 0

Three men or women who have brought up the

largest family without parochial relief.

James Gray, Boreham, six children .... 2 0 0

Samuel Haines, Boreham, six children .. 2 0 0

Four men or women who have brought up the

largest family, with the least parochial relief.

John Taylor, Upton Lovell, ten children 2 0 0

James Eden, Pitcomb, — twelve children 2 0 0

Simon Bond, ditto, — six children 2 0 0

Three shepherds, according to their respective
degrees of merit.
George Toogood, servant to Mr. W. King,

Stourton, 1st prize 2 10 0

Joseph Mabbott, servant to Mr. Jonathan

Phillips, Monckton Deverill, 2nd prize 2 0 0
Thomas Hall, servant to Mr. E. Moody,

Maiden Bradley, 3rd prize 1 10 0

Robert Dunford, servant to Mr. J. Ran-
dall, Devetil, a bounty of 0 10 0

John Smith, servant to Mr. W. Jefferys,

Maiden Bradley, ditto ,.. 0 10 0

Stephen Blake, servant to Mr. W. Sly,

Warminster, ditto 10 0

Daniel Kill, servant to Mr. T. S. Whiting,

Codford, ditto 1 0 0

Four men for length of service with the same
master, or with father and son in succession.
John Draper, servant to Mr. William

Sainsbury, West Lavington 1 10 0

Edward Mold, servant to Mr. Harry

Biggs, Stockton 1 10 0

Ambrose Brown, servant to ditto 1 10 0

John Compton, servant to Mr. John

Davis, Fisherton-de-la-mere 1 10 0

John Moody, servant to Mr. John Ball,

Corsley, bounty of 0 10 0

James Newman, servant to Mr. Joshua

Whitaker, Bratton, ditto 0 10 0

Six women for length of set-vice with the same
master, or with father and son in succession,
being out-of-door labourers.
Mary Penny, servant to Mr. John Davis,

Fisherton-de-la-mere 10 0

Betty Harding, servant to ditto 1 0 0

Four men for length of service on the same
farm, although with different masters.
Robert Dunford, servant to Mr. John

Randall, Deverill *. 1 0 0

Thomas Dunford, servant to Mr. Isaac

Flower, Knooke 1 0 0

George Barnes, servant to ditto 1 0 0

420 THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

John Newman, servant to Mr. Joshua THIRD QUARTERLY MEETING— 29th Oct.

Whitaker, Bratton £1 0 0

John Goodfellow, servant to Mr. F. At this meeting the implements purchased at

King, Chilmark, bounty of 0 10 0 Liverpool, consisting of a horse-rake, and three

John Payne, servant to Mr. John Hough- ploughs, were awarded as follows : —

ton, Boreham, ditto 0 10 0 1st. — The L. L. Plough, to Mr. M. J. Festing, of

Four women for length of service on the same Maiden Bradley.

farm, although with different rarsters. 2nd.— The Turf-paring Plough, to Mr. H. S. Brown ,

Ann Penny, servant to Mr. Frederick n f"0"1,8'0"- , ., m . „ . ,

King Chilmark ...... 1 0 0 ^rd.— -The Horse-rake, to Mr. T. H. Phipps, Leigh-
Mary Snelgrove, servant to Mr. Joshua . ,ton~i.?use,:T , ™ L ,, .., .., „

Whitaker, Bratton 1 0 0 4th-~ The N" L- Plo"gh> to Mr. W. Wyndham,

Sarah Wheeler, servant to Mr. William Dinton.

Brown, Winterborn Stoke 10 0 The Chairman then proposed that another sub-
Mary Mountey, servant to Mr. William scription should be opened, for purchasing new

Jefferys, Maiden Bradley 1 0 0 implements at the Annnal Meeting of the Royal

Six labourers' wives who shall produce the best Society, to be held at Bristol. A letter was here

testimonials for character and conduct, in read, announcing Mr. E. Squarey the successful

every respect, during the last seven years, candidate for Mr. Ravenhill's premium, viz.: —

according to a certificate to be framed by " The best examination in Sir J. Herschell's pre-

the society. liminary discourse on the study of Natural Philo-

Elizabeth Hobbs, servant to Mr. Joshua sophy, 5/." A member present, on Mr. Squarey's

Whitaker Bratton . 10 0 behalf, acknowledged the gratuity, and said that he

Sarah Gilbert, servant to Mr. William was requested by Mr. Squarey to present the 5/. to

Brown, Winterbornc Stoke 10 0 the Society, to be expended in some article for

Betsey Everley, servant to Mr. William the general and permanent use of the club.

Parham, Sutton Veny 1 0 0 The first subject— " Paring and Burning, —was

Ann Sims, servant to Mr. William Jef- brought forward by one of the largest farmers and

ferys Maiden Bradley 10 0 most intelligent members of the Society ; he stated

Grace Shepherd, servant to Mr." 'John his opinion that nearly all soils were capable of it,

Lush Warminster . . , .... 100 with the exception of sands, and described the

Maria Smith, servant to ditto! ......... 10 0 fertilizing properties of ashes ; recommending that

ATjrpTjrTTj „..,„,„ r>oT-ii/iiTTii/f turf should be always removed where plantations
KhV. AK1HUR rANt S I REMIUM. were made, and the converting such turf into ashes
Two such agricultural labourers as shall ob- instead of allowing it to rot : his calculation was,
tain the best character for religious and that one acre of turf, burnt into ashes, was worth
moral conduct, from the clergyman of their quite 30/., after all expenses of labour, &c, and
respective parishes, and for sobriety, indus- suggested as a proper quantity 250 bushels pel-
try, and honesty, from their employers. acre, mixing with it about two quarters of bone-
A large Bible and Prayer-Book each, value fifteen dust. This mixture was more desirable than using
shillings. either separately, as the ashes tended materially to
John Moody, servant to Mr. John Ball, Corslev ; force the plant in its early stage, rendering it less
and George Barnes, servant to Mr. Isaac Flower, liable to the ravages of the fly ; whilst the bone-
Knooke. dust told more commonly in ripening the plant and
The judges stated that they considered the show bringing it to perfection. Other members spoke
of cow-stock and of sheep to have been very good, in confirmation, and the following resolution was
the excellence in competition for the former hav- aSreed on : Resolved—" That paring and burning
ing rendered their decision a matter of some diffi- 1B more beneficial than ploughing and rotting ; but
culty. In the extra stock they noticed a bull nine the subsequent cultivation should be on the alter-
months old, and a boar and sow, belonging to Mr. nate system, the first crop being in most cases a
William Sly, of Warminster ; and also three rams, green cr0P- That the land should be pared as
belonging to Mr. William Sainsbury, of West La- th,n,y as possible, and if so it does not reduce the
vington, as deserving especial commendation. quantity of the soil, is preventive of the wire-
In the course of the evening the successful worm' and may be repeated with advantage as
labourers were admitted to the dining-room, where oft_en as a new ruS is produced.'
they each had a glass of wine, and the amount of Second subject.—" The best time for cutting
the premiums awarded them. In consequence of corn' and the best method of doing so.
the absence from home of the Rev. Mr. Eliot, Mr. The member who brought this subject before
Ravenhill's premium could not be awarded ; it the club' advocated its being cut at rather an early
was accordingly deferred to the next Quarterly Period, and when in a moderate state of ripeness.
Meeting, as also was the distribution of the imple- In discussing the advantages of mowing as com-
ments purchased at Liverpool, at the Annual Meet- Pared to reaping, some difference in opinion arose
ing of the Royal English Agricultural Society. The as to how far this practice was advisable on all
chairman announced that Mr. Phipps offered two s0lls ; and a member suggested as a general rule,
premiums for the year ensuing ; viz.— that corn on flint soils might be left longer before

t?«- .kw :*.*.»,*,„*.;«.. • . .i • v.l it was severed, with advantage than on chalk soils.

bor tue introduction into the neighbour- t> , j ,« rA, . , . , 6 , , , . . ,

h.Mji «r *v,o KQof „„. i • r a Resolved — " That wheat should be cut in a mode-

chine newly - invented ma- rate state of ripenesg> . e when the milk ,g get |n

For thesecond-b^Vdi'tto.' .'.'.'.'.':::::::;: 2 the(,DOS.t ?m'\?e era'ns' and. tbat,tbe Prevailing

custom is to allow it to remain too long before cut-
Harry Biggs, Esq., of Stockton House, was unani- ting ; that less loss on an average will arise from
mously elected chairman of the club for the year cutting too early than too late. Thatclose-cutting
ensuing. wheat is desirable ; and that some plan, either

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

421

hewing or mowing, would be preferable to reap-
ing, the stubble, if left on the land, being useless,
and expensive to remove."

It was then, on the motion of W. Wyndham,
Esq., resolved — " That a ploughing-match and
sheep-shearing shall take place in the year 1842,
and that the secretaries do apply to the proprietors
of land within the district of the South Wilts and
Warminster Farmers' Club, for subscriptions to
defray the expenses of the same, and the prizes to
be given to the successful competitors."

FOURTH QUARTERLY MEETING,
28th Jan., 1842.

The club commenced the evening by altering
certain of the rules, for which purpose notice had
been given at the last meeting, and decided that
the Annual Meeting shall in future take place in
July instead of August ; and that the hour of
taking refreshments at the Quarterly Meetings be
four o'clock instead of six. The chairman, Harry
Biggs, Esq., stated that it was his wish to offer a
piece of plate as a premium at the next Annual
Meeting, requesting the members present to sug-
gest in what way it would be most acceptable to
the club ; after some discussion, the following
was agreed upon : — " To the member of the club
exhibiting at the next annual meeting, the best
thirty stock ewes, ten of each age, viz. six, four,
and two-tooth ; to be bred by the exhibitor, and
not to be fed with cake or corn after the 1st day
of May preceding the exhibition. The condition
not to be considered."

First subject — " The advantages of Stall-feed-
ing" became then a matter of debate, and was
supported by a gentleman who, although a con-
siderable owner of the soil, is likewise a practical
farmer, and greatly interested in all branches of
agriculture. After speaking of the advantages
he thought likely to accrue from it, particularly on
the hill farms in our district, and which from
his own experience he felt to be the case, he
quoted numerous remarks from a letter received
by him from a friend, well known as a promoter
of the system in Wilts, bearing out his views on
the subject. The following is extracted from the
communication : — " That common dung is one
of the best fertilizers, and that the quality of such
is most improved when cattle are best fed. That in
Norfolk, where small flocks of sheep are of neces-
sity kept, the system of stall-feeding is very general,
for the purpose of procuring manure, the stock
realising little other profit. With regard to ma-
nure from sheep, doubtless great benefit was pro-
duced from it, but some objections arose by keep-
ing an overstock of sheep— particularly in the
winter season, when the fold was of little value on
the land, comparatively with summer folding. If
such was the case, would it not be better to place
sheep ia yards and bartons, using leaves, &c, to
make dung during the winter months! One of the
disadvantages in a large flock of sheep, was the
difficulty of finding sufficient green food or good
hay from February until April, consequently flock
masters were often put to great expense in long
and severe winters, and found it almost impos-
sible, with the best management, to prevent bad
condition in the flock. This, perhaps, may not ap-
ply to the generality of seasons, but only to
particular ones : but when the latter occur, and
food is purchased, the farmer can never be repaid
for the outlay occasioned. Some of the ends
which apply to the over-stocking with sheep, do

not attend the feeding of cattle when carried on
to a moderate extent, as in case of failure in food
cattle need not be purchased, or they may be sold
oft' at an early period, according to the means for
their maintenance on the farm. With regard to
the profit of stall-feeding, he did not think much
was gained separate from the manure ; but he had
no doubt the animal, when sold, would realise a
sum sufficient to clear all expenses attending its
keep, management, &c.,and the dung made would
be wholly profit ; indeed, he would recommend
every hill farmer who may occupy three or four
hundred acres of arable to keep at least twenty
head of cattle constantly feeding in stalls, as he
felt assured he would derive much benefit from
adopting such a system."

Much was said to prove the desirableness of
stall-feeding, as it insured a better description of
manure from the food commonly given to animals
when so treated, and allowed the farmer not only
to obtain abetter quality of dung, but a larger
quantity than when animals were permitted to
range at large. Some members questioned the
propriety of the practice as a general one, and
more particularly in reference to sheep, although
they admitted wool was improved when this ani-
mal was kept in sheds.

The following resolution was agreed on : —

" That stall feeding is desirable for hill country
and other farms, tending to improve greatly the
mode of making manure by converting a greater
proportion of straw, consequently enabling the
farmer to have a larger quantity of manure for
the future production of green crops."

Second subject. — " Rotation of crops."

It was stated by a Hill farmer that his system
of cropping was generally the following, on a four
field system, viz. barley, vetches, turnips, wheat,
varying the green crops occasionally, and sowing-
grass once in eight years ; that he considered
bake land was often forced to produce a larger
proportion of corn than it could well bear ; and
that in his opinion the more green crops were
grown on bake land, the more the soil itself would
be benefited, and a larger quantity of stock might
be kept on a farm. Some observations were
made as to cropping stiff and heavy soil, but this
district being chiefly confined to light soils, it was
resolved, "that the best rotation of crops is that
which introduces the greatest quantity of green
food, as it enables the farmer to maintain the
largest number of sheep, and recommends such
change as may be most conducive to the various
soils."

The secretaries then produced a statement of
the account during the year, which was approved
and ordered to be printed.

The following subjects were entered for discus-
sion at the next quarterly meeting, and the meet-
ing dissolved : —

"The best mode of cultivation for green crops,
particularly turnips."

" Which is the best and most profitable mode
of managing a hill farm, the four or five field sys-
tem."

The committee of the South Wilts and War-
minster Farmers' Club, upon presenting this, the
second annual report of the transactions of the
society, feel called upon to congratulate the mem-
bers upon the steady realisation of the objects for
which they are associated.

422

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Upon referring to the proceedings, it will be
seen that at the several quarterly meetings, sub-
jects of great practical interest and importance
have been under consideration ; and the discussions
which have arisen, must have proved highly useful
in assisting the members to arrive at correct views
and opinions upon them.

The state of the funds enabled the committee to
offer such a list of premiums for stock at tbe Annual
Meeting, as produced an exhibition highly credit-
able to the club ; and they again had the satisfac-
tion of distributing many liberal rewards among
the deserving peasantry of the district.

In the last annual report a brief notice was taken
of a newly-discovered manure of great fertilizing
power, since which a patent has been obtained by
the inventor, Mr. Daniell. A preparation of the
manure has been exhibited to the committee of
the Royal Agricultural Society of England, consist-
ing of noblemen and gentlemen immediately en-
gaged in agricultnre, and of great scientific atiain-
ments, who have been satisfied that the elements
of which it is composed are all distinctly beneficial
as contributary to vegetation. It has also been
brought to the notice of the Ashmolean Society,
in Oxford, from whose report the following is an
extract :—" March 7th — Professor Daubeny exhi-
bited a specimen of Mr. Daniell's New Patent
Manure, which is stated by the inventor to consist
of ammonia, pulverised wood, and bituminous
matter. As the materials from which this new
kind of fertiliser is drawn appear to consist of in-
organic matter exclusively, Dr. Daubeny pointed
out its discovery as an instance, among others, of
the means which nature has placed within our
reach, forincreasing the amount of vegetable pro-
duce proportionably to the increase of mankind,
and so maintaining the necessary ratio between
subsistence and increasing population. By the
discovery of this manure, and other such agents,
agriculture will be enabled to keep pace with the
increase of population, if the latter be not stimula-
ted by unwise regulations."

Mr. Daniell's growing crop of wheat last year,
the fourth in succession, was inspected by the pre-
sident and the members of the club, who all ex-
pressed their conviction that such a result could
have been obtained only from manure of extraor-
dinary power, The same land is again put to
wheat, for the fifth year in succession ; and
may be viewed at any time by members of the
club.

A private subscription among our members has
brought into this part of the country severnl new
agricultural implements, selected by a committee,
at the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society,
at Liverpool, as being well adapted to the agricul-
ture of our neighbourhood. A similar subscription
list for the present year has been opened, to which
many names are already affixed ; any member
wishing to join it, may do so by applying to Mr.
Vardy.

It is hoped that this may prove one mode by
which the attention of our cultivators may be
successfully directed to such newly-invented ma-
chines, as can be beneficially used upon our farms.
In furtherance of this object, and doubtless with
a desire to impress upon our members the bene-
fits to be obtained from advanced knowledge in
agricultural mechanics, a valuable and influential
member of our body has offered to give two pre-
miums at the next annual meeting, for the intro-
duction into the neighbourhood of newly-invented

machines. An instrument for measuring the
draught of ploughs, " The Dynamometer," has
been purchased by the club ; it will be found very
useful at our ploughing matches, and such of our
members as may be desirous of testing the merits
of their own pluughs at home, may obtain the loan
of it for that purpose by addressing to either of
our secretaries a written request signed by any two
of our subscribers.

Several agricultural periodicals continue to be
taken in for circulation, and a few additions have
been made to the library; and should any mem-
ber wish to promote the purchase of any agricul-
tural publication, on application to [either of the
secretaries, itwi'l be proposed at the next meeting
of the club.

The ploughing match which took place in the
spring of last year was highly satisfactory, and
elicited much competition. At the Quarterly
Meeting in October, Mr. Wyndham, of Dinton,
proposed that a ploughing match and sheep shear-
ing should take place, in the year 1842, and that
the secretaries should apply to the proprietors of
land within the district, for subscriptions to de-
fray the expenses of the same, as well as the prizes
to be given to the successful competitors. This
popular and acceptable proposition was carried
unanimously, and our secretaries are about to ad-
dress an application to the influential landholders
of the district, who we cannot doubt will cheer-
fully and liberally respond to the call thus made
upon them by Mr. Wyndham. We here take oc-
casion to announce a communication which has
been recently made to the tenantry of the Mar-
quis of Bath, that the trustees of that property will
double the amount of every premium and reward
which any of their tenants, or any branch of their
families, or any labourer in their service, may ob-
tain from this club.

In conclusion, the committee desire to im ,
upon the members that although some good
been effected, yet much more remains to be ac-
complished. The success we have hitherto en-
joyed should stimulate us to still further exertions.
We must lose no opportunity of increasing the
numbers and resources of our society. It is true,
we thankfully admit, we already number among
our members, with comparatively few exceptions,
all the intelligence and influence of our neighbour-
hood ; but as our plans become matured and per-
fected, and also better known and appreciated, we
feel assured that support which is now general,
will become universal, and that the few who yet
look on in doubt or indifference, will then cheer-
fully yield us their assistance.

In a purely agricultural district, such as this,
where all must be either dependent upon, or pe-
culiarly interested in, the prosperity of the agri-
cultural classes, it should be a sufficient induce-
ment to state, that our club is formed for the col-
lection and diffusion of sound practical agricultu-
ral information ; to bring under review before our
cultivators every new and improved process in
husbandry, that such of them as shall, on mature
reflection, appear suited to our soils and situations ,
may be gradually and beneficially introduced. The
farmers in all other districts are eagerly availing
themselves of the aids which science now offers
to agriculture. In South Wilts there is still a wide
field for agricultural enterprize anil improvement :
and if our efforts are prudently directed, the career
of our cultivators must still be for ages progres-
sive,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

423

In distributing rewards to our deserving la-
bourers and their wives, we seek to raise the stan-
dard of morality among them, and to increase and
cement those kindly feelings between the employed
and their employers which have for ages made
England's peasant his country's pride ; and we,
who have had the happiness to witness the honest
rustic joy with which these rewards have been
accepted, and in particular the eager gratification
manifested when a clergyman's premiums of bibles
and prayer books were awarded at our last annual
meeting, must gladly admit the expectation that
our endeavours will not be in vain.

The committee feel that these are objects to
which the coldest heart cannot continue insensible:
they are objects which merit and must obtain
universal approbation ; they are worthy of all the
care, and all the pains, which the most exalted
in rank or intelligence can bestow upon them,
for they embolden us to hope that our society, if
its proceedings are guided by energy and wisdom,
may become an important engine for raising the
social condition of our people, and, under provi-
dence, of promoting the religious welfare, the mo-
ral improvement, the intellectual advancement,
and the physical benefit of our fellow men.
For the committee,

t' 5w™ .„„ \ Honorary Secretaries.
1. Chandler. | '

MAIDSTONE FARMERS' CLUB.

April 21.

"The Summer Cultivation of Hops" was the
subject appointed for the evening's discussion.

The Chairman, C. G. Whittaker, Esq., thought
(hey had better start from the polling, proceeding
to the tying, nidgetting, digging, hoeing, manur-
ing, and so on up to the picking. In his district
they polled with a line, and generally began about
the same period. He would be glad if Mr. Elvy
would favour the meeting with the results of his
experience and observations.

Mr. Elvy said as some one must begin, and as
he probably grew as many hops as most of the
members present, he would briefly state what he
knew on the subject. The modes of cultivation
in Mid Kent and the Weald differed considerably.
The grapes in the Weald were generally polled
four to a bill— the Goldings in Mid Kent generally
three. He used four, tying two bines to a pole.
Some put two poles, tying three bines to each. He
liked both plans, and hardly knew which was best.
Mr. Ellis, he believed, poled by line — it was pretty
to the eye, but there was no advantage in it ex-
cept when the nidget was used a good deal. The
principle of the late Mr. Miller was to pole as
nearly upright as possible, thinking that when the
poles were out of the perpendicular they wete
more acted on by the bine. He placed them 21
inches apart, and he (Mr. E.) contir.aed to do the
same with his Golding hops. It was better, he
thought, to pole too soon than to run the risk of
knocking the bine about. As to digging in the
summer, this was much practised at Farnham, and
in East Kent- He never did so, but dug late in
order tu avoid it. He did not horse-harrow or
nidget, preferring a man and a hoe. The land
ought to be moved sufficiently to get a good crumb

on the surface, and free it from weeds. He
thought much mischief was occasioned by a deep
nidget with two horses. In tying, many made a
mistake in choosing the rank bine which came
earliest— he invariably sent men before the tyers
to pull it out. He always used rape dust as a
summer manure— about a ton to an acre, opening
the ground and putting in half a gallon to a hill.
He could give no information on the subject of
mould or blight, nor how to remedy them. Some
persons had attempted to rid their grounds of the
flea, by using soot, others by lime, and some by
catching them in a box. (Laughter). The latter
mode he should think would not be found much
more efficacious than the former. Mr. Elvy con-
cluded by saying that he had stated his practice
without reserve, and he trusted other gentlemen
would follow his example, and make known any
information they possessed for the general benefit
of the club. (Cheers).

Mr. Spencer asked if Mr. Elvy grubbed a
mouldy piece ?

Mr. Elvy said be never suffered a piece to be
mouldy more than two years.

The Chairman said it was not a safe practice ;
since he knew a piece which in the years '16 and
'17 was desperately mouldy, but in '18 was quite
clear.

Mr. Barnes said it would be very desirable if
any member could state the causes of mould.

The Chaikman thought that one cause was
tying the rank bine, and that rags and horse
manure had a tendency to produce it.

Mr. Elvy said as he had observed the mode of
cultivation pursued on the continent, perhaps the
members would like to hear something about it.
(Hear, hear!) Almost all the hop land abroad
was confined to low, boggy situations. They
always had one pole to a hill, and manured every
year with dung. The earth was raked up to a hill,
leaving a'furrow each way. The poles were usually
twenty-five feet high, and had hops from top to
bottom. The plantations were generally very
small — from a quarter of an acre to an acre aud a
halt. The largest piece he saw was at Liege, con-
sisting of eight acres.

Mr. R. Golding (Hunton) said it was his in-
variable rule to pole by line, and to lay the line
one way one year, and at right angles the next.
On the clay he thought summer digging very in-
jurious, by letting in the drought, but not so on
the rock.

Mr. Whiting, the hon. secretary, stated that
having some months since received communica-
tion from a correspondent on the subject of the
mould in the hop, he had applied himself to all the
sources of information within his reach, with a
view to prepare a paper for their guidance on the
nature and causes of mould. He regretted, how-
ever, to say that even the best vegetable physiolo-
gists appeared to possess very little satisfactory
information respecting the nature of the minute
fungi, of which what was generally called mould was
composed. On the particular fungus which con-
stituted the mould of the hops he had not been
able to obtain any practical specific information,
and the only conclusions at which he had arrived
had been principally from analogy. The seeds of
the minute fungi called mould were so exceed-
ingly small as almost to escape detection even
with a microscope, and were supposed to be con-
tained, in a latent state, by almost every sub-
stance, and to remain latent until they were placed

424

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in circumstances favourable to their development.
The presence of much humidity and the presence
of very little light were said to be two conditions
hiehly favourable to the rapid development of
mould, as might be seen by placing cbeese, flour,
bread and other substances under such circum-
stances. It would be for the members as practi-
cal men to judge whether they could by any means
admit a more free circulation of air and a greater
ouantity of light into their hop grounds, so as to
diminish what had been satisfactorily proved to
be two main causes of the development of mould.
He had observed that the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety had offered premiums for the best essays
and different subjects of this nature, and had pub-
lished some most valuable papers on the parasite
plant which affected the clover crop, by Mr. Cur-
tis on the turnip fly, and by Professor Henslow
Che believed a " man of Kent") on the diseases
of wheat ; and he (Mr. W.) would suggest whe-
ther as soon as their funds would admit of it, it
would not be advisable for the club to offer to
contribute 51. towards any premium the Royal
Agricultural Society might be disposed to offer, for
the best paper on the mould in hops.

The suggestion appeared to be favourably re-
ceived by the members, but will of course be the
subject of discussion by the committee.

The Chaikman said that as to damp, the Weald
of Kent was much damper than Mid Kent— yet
the latter suffered much more from mould than

the former. , . . . .

Mr Whiting said electricity might have some-
thing' to do with it, for which a rocky soil was a
better conductor than a hard clay.

Mr Beard stated that be occupied some land
on and some below the hill. He poled by line,
which was useful in keeping the poles straight,
when a boarded plough was used to throw the
earth up. He always pulled up all " nipey' bines,
am! nidgeted deep with two horses. He had some-
times used the nidget where the bine was coming
into hop, and when it brought up fibres from the
roots ; and he thought when he did so, the hops
erew out largest. He had a piece of late hops,
which seemed as if it could do nothing. He dug
three alleys up the middle of the piece, two spit
deeu-every hill on the alleys produced a bushel
of hops— the others not a peck. (Hear, hear!)
He thought deep tilling could not be injurious—
though the grape hop would not bear digging as
well as the Golding. In proof of this Mr. Beard
mentioned an instance where part of a piece of
hops, the whole of which threatened to be
mouldy, was nidgeted deep and dunged. The re-
sult was so marked that it was observed by
strangers in passing through the ground, the hops
being much larger and finer where the nidget had

8°Mr. Pack said, when he lived at Loose he had a
piece of hops very subject to mould, which he dug
up early, and two or three times after it was out
in fruit. The mould stopped, although his neigh-
bours had it all round, and he grew a fair crop.
He considered the mould was produced by a dense
hot atmosphere.

Mr. Elvv knew an instance of a directly oppo-
site nature.

Mr. Hatch always was anxious to get a tree
circulation of air iiv his hop gardens— (Hear)—
and with that view he always polled with aline.
A fine surface crumb he thought essentially neces-
sary. Generally speaking, he thought they were

not particular enough in tying — the rank bines
were luxuriant in appearance, but produced no
fruit. He had suffered a good deal from mould,
and had tried many means to prevent it. He
thought it was as much in the root as in the bine.
The nettle tribe was very subject to mould, and if
it made its appearance in the hedges it was sure
to get into the bine. He was inclined to agree with
some, that the only remedy was the mattock. As
to manures, it frequently occurred that you could
not manure all the winter. It was then advisable
to gorge the hops — running a trench down the
alleys and round the hills. Rape dust was thought
to be most beneficial — applied at the rate of a ton
to an acre — but he had tried it, and saw no benefit
at all from it. He thought it advisable to move
the ground, while the picking was going on, to
get colour. He had often planted dead hills in the
summer, by laying down a bine from a neighbour-
ing pole, which had answered extremely well.

The Chairman said this was a very useful sug-
gestion, which was quite new to him.

After a desultory conversation respecting the
advantage of a free circulation of air,

Mr. Barnes had always been of opinion that
there was some omission with regard to poling.
On strong grounds it was of little consequence
where they began, but on others, no other atten-
tion paid to hops was so important as that which
was devoted to the strength of the hills in placing
the poles. They often saw a weak hill made still
weaker by being poled with too large poles.
(Hear). The distance also ought to be rather
greater than that usually adopted, and the poles
should be extended as far as possible, because the
bottom part of the bine was not fruitful for the
hops. He thought there should be as much dis-
tance between the poles as between the alleys.
Helpers were often put up which were too large,
and thus the hill was weakened. He considered
that poling, if overdone, had a most injurious
effect. The next process was chopping— that was
to chop round the bills with a mattock, which was
done at an expense of eightpence or ninepence
per 100. After that the nidget was put in. He
bad seen Mr. Elvy's mode, and thought, for bis soil,
it was the best that could be adopted. But hops,
like every thing else, required to be treated ac-
cordingly to the nature of the soil in which they
grew. {Hear, hear!) His opinion was that the
use of the nidget should be continued till the land
was worked down as deep as it was intended to
go, and then continually ascend ; by this means,
a fine pulverized soil was obtained. Next came
rolling, and then tying. The rank bines should
be taken out by a confidential man. With respect
to manures, lie was quite of opinion that if suffi-
cient manure could be got on the land in the win-
ter, no more was wanting ; but in the Weald it was
very rare to see a hop garden over manured. He
had seen rape dust used with very considerable
benefit in the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, but it
would not act in a dry summer, its fructifying
qualities not being elicited until it came to a sort
of mould. In reference to the effect of different
manures on the mould, he had seen a striking
proof of the agency of rags in producing it. This
disease generally prevailed when the hops were
most luxuriant, and affected the Golding more
than the Grape hop. There were very few Goldings
grown in the Weald, and generally speaking the
Weald was exempt from mould. In reference to
digging, when this had been done to check over

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

4-20

luxuriance, he had known it produce fire-blast, if
followed by warm weather. In the Weald fre-
quently moving the land tended to encourage
drought, in consequence of the stiff nature of the
soil ; but land which was finely pulverized,
digging would no doubt keep moist. After all,
the cause and cure of mould was a mystery, and
it would be very desirable if experiments were
tried, from which some beneficial result could be
arrived at. If the cause could but be discovered,
no doubt the remedy would readily suggest it-
self.

The Chairman stated that he had a solitary hill
in his garden which was never mended — there
were no hops near it — yet in mouldy years this
hill was always mouldy also.

After some further discussion the following re-
solution was unanimously agreed to : — ■

"Resolved, — That in the opinion of tins meet-
ing, in polling hops, it is of importance to adopt
the length of the pole to the strength of the hill,
that every hill may be provided with support ac-
cording to its powers; that it is therefore of im-
portance to begin polling, in even and strong
grounds, with the strongest parts, so that the
weakest may have time to show their bine, in
order that each hill may have proper poles allotted
to them. It appears to be the general opinion
that the use of a line in polling is beneficial for
the after cultivation, as rendering the bines less
liable to injury ; that deep culture in the early part
of the summer is decidedly advantageous on mosc
soils ; that it is desirable to pull out the rank pipey
bines previous to tying. With reference to mould,
it appears to this meeting that this disease has
been experienced under all systems of manage-
ment, whilst all systems of management have
sometimes escaped it, under apparently similar
external circumstances as those under which they
have experienced it. An opinion prevails exten-
sively, however, that rags as a manure are pecu-
liarly favourable to its development, and a dense
atmosphere favourable to its progress, and also
that its causes exist more in the nature and con-
ditions of the soil than in the kind of hop."

It was, however, determined, as several gentle-
men had not had an opportunity of stating their
sentiments on hop cultivation, to afford them an
opportunity of so doini; at the next meeting. The
subject proposed for subsequent discussion at the
next meeting is — The best kind of live stock, includ-
ing rearing, fat tiny, feeding, 6fc. ; and at the June
meeting — The best mode of hay-making.

R1CHMONDSHIRE FARMER'S
CLUB.

In issuing the Quarterly Circular, your Com-
mittee avail themselves of that opportunity of draw-
ing the attention of the Society to their increasing
strength and importance, numbering now since
its first formation, which took place only in July
last, 116 Members, and 15 proposed for election at
the meeting in May, and of reminding those Mem-
bers that on their individual exertions its future
prosperity mainly depends.

Since printing their last circular your Committee
have agreed with Mrs. Metcalfe for the use of two
rooms for one year, commencing from the 1st
March last, for the purpose of forming a Library,
to be open to Members from 9 a. m. till 5 p. m.

every day except Sundays, for the purposes of
reading and writing.

The Yorkshire Gazette, the Yorkshireman, the
Mark Lane Express, with the Journals of the
Royal English, the Highland, and the Yorkshire
Societies, (and Forsyth's Principles and Practice
of Agriculture, in 2 vols. 8vo, presented by Mr.
Wade,) are the only works as yet possessed by the
Society, but increasing funds will soon enable your
Committee to purchase some of the most standard
works connected with Agriculture.

Your Committee would also draw the attention
of the Members to the Register Office for Farm and
and other servants, which, in conjunction with
the Committee of the Richmond Agricultural As-
sociation, and in conformity with a resolution
passed at the last Annual Meeting, they have been
enabled to establish for the district of Richmond ;— ■
and from the manner in which it has been support-
ed and recommended by individuals in a private
capacity, they feel assured that it only requires
the exertion of the same parties in a public man-
ner, when in want of servants, and when indivi-
dual example is of the greatest consequence,
speedily to abolish the objectionable custom now
in use, by which they will ultimately save them-
selves both trouble, annoyance and expense.

THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECTS IMS-
CUSSED AT THE LAST THREE MEETINGS, AND
THE DECISIONS RESPECTIVELY RECORDED
THEREON.

In February, the subject was, " The merits of the
various artificial manures, and the best method of
applying them to Spring-sown Corn."

The Decision — " That the various artificial
manures, such as rape-dust, nitrate of soda, &c,
&c, possess considerable merit ; and that when
suited to the manure, the drill is the best method
of applying them to Spring-sown Corn :" intro-
duced by Mr. Outhwaite.

In March, the subject was, '* The best method
of preparing land for a crop of Turnips."

The Decision — "That it is advisable to plough
the land intended for turnips in autumn, if it be
dry ; but if the autumn proves wet, that it is better
to defer ploughing till spring, great stress being
laid upon the ploughing the land in a dry condi-
tion. That the woik to be done in spring must
depend on the nature and cleanness of the land ;
but it was unanimously agreed that the work
should be left alone, until the land was in a dry
condition. That the common harrow should be
used as little as possible, and the drag harrow was
strongly recommended. That the manure should
be led out, anil prepared during the winter, to be
covered up immediately it is laid in the rows, and
the rows made during the day should always be
sown before leavingthe field at night :" introduced
by Mr. Lister.

In April, the subject was, "The most advan-
tageous method of applying the funds of the local
Agricultural Associations for the general benefit of
the agricultural interest, and more particularly as
applied to the improvement of arable lands."

The Decision — " That the funds of local Agri-
cultural Associations will be most beneficially
expended in the purchase of implements, in offering
premiums for the most improved seeds, and the
best modes of cultivation, and in printing prac-
tical essays upon the art of husbandry, &c, in ad-
dition to the premiums now so generally and ex-
clusively offered for specimens of live stock:''
introduced by Mr. R. M. Jaques.

2 F

426

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The following are the subjects appointed for
discussion during the three ensuing months, on
Thursday, the 19th day of May, " The best method
of Draining Land: " to be introduced by Mr.J. Clarke
of Aldboro'.

On Thursday, the 16th day of June, " The hest
method of Making and Repairing Roads" — to be
introduced by Mr. Lister.

On Thursday, the 21st day of July, "The best
method of reaping Corn"— to be introduced by Mr.
Severs.

Hour of meeting for the committee at half-past
five, p. m. The general meeting at six, p. m.
precisely. R. M. Jaques,

Chairman and Secretary.

St. Trillions, 2nd May, 1842.

REPORT OF THE RUGELEY
FARMERS CLUB.

In presenting their first annual report, your com-
mittee venture to hope that the object ol the soci-
ety has been in part attained; viz., imparting the
results of practical experience and experiments.
Your committee congratulate you on the prosperous
state of the funds of the society, and on the gra-
dual increase in the number of members since the
formation of the club. Your committee call your
attention to the list of works in the library, which
will be increased by any new agricultural work
which may be approved by the Book Committee.
The committee beg to notice the very liberal do-
nations that have been received in aid of the funds
for the formation of the library, including, amongst
many others, five pounds each from Lord Ingestre,
J. D.W. Russel, Esq., and W. M.T. Smith, Esq., the
chairman.

In reviewing the subjects discussed during the
year, your committee recommend that the fol-
lowing papers be read at this meeting — viz., Mr.
Yates's remarks on the cultivation of the Swede
turnip; Mr. M.Turner's, in part, on under draining,
and also on the rotation of cropping strong
land ; Mr. Dickin, in part, on ploughing strong
land; and Mr. Wyleys, on winter keeping farm-
horses — which have been selected from those read
at the monthly meetings, by a gentleman not a
member of the club, but very competent for the
duty he has undertaken, and without his knowing
who were the writers of the different papers.

At the first meeting of the club., the best
Mode of Cultivating the Swede Turnip on Strong
Land was proposed, and the meeting were of
opinion that a crop of Swedes might in many
cases be grown, and the land afterwards sown
■with wheat, in lieu of always making a dead
fallow.

At the second meeting, the subject was on the
best Mode of Cultivating a Strong Land Farm.
After some discussion it was resolved, that the
subject embraces so wide a field for useful dis-
cussion, that it is desirable to divide it under the
following heads.— the best mode of Draining ; of
Ploughing ; and the best Rotation of Crops.

At the third meeting, the best mode of Draining
was proposed : the member introducing the sub-
ject stated he considered that nothing was so
conducive to the health of man, and of animals,
ns under draining, from the great improvement it
made in the atmosphere and climate, lie stated

that from the experience he had had, he was in
favour of cross draining, at intervals of five
yards. It was argued in opposition to cross drains,
that failures had occurred in numerous instances,
after nearly half the value of the poor cold clay
lands had been expended, in cross drains: that
the best mode of draining this description of land
was upright or furrow drains, at intervals of five
yards, because if the drains are upright they have
only to draw two and a half yards each way, but if
cross drains at intervals of five yards, they must
draw five yards. It was admitted by all the mem-
bers present, that strong land was more injured by
surface than deep water, and that from eight-
teen inches to two feet was the proper depth
for the drains. The meeting, after a long discus-
sion, resolved, that the best mode of draining
strong land, is upright or furrow draining.

At the meeting in May, the best method of
Ploughing a Strong Land Farm was proposed and
discussed.

In consequence of the harvest the meetings for
June, July, and August, were adjourned.

At the meeting in September, the best Rotation
of Crops for Strong Land was proposed. The
member who introduced the subject divided it into
three classes ; first, the poor cold clay lands on
a retentive subsoil ; second, the more mixed
description of strong lands ; and lastly, the best
strong lands. The meeting were unanimously of
opinion that taking two white straw crops in
succession on the first and second kind of land was
a most injurious system, and they recommend the
following rotation: —

Class 1st.
1st year, Fallow.
2nd year, Wheat.
3rd year, Seeds.
4th year, Do.
5th year, Oats,
Beans.

1st;

2nd

3rd
4th
5 th

Class 2nd.
year, Part Turnips,
part Fallow,
year, Barley, part
Wheat.
1 year, Seeds,
year, 2nd Seeds,
year, Oats, Beans,
or Peas.

It was resolved to adjourn the conversation, on
the rotation of crops for the best quality of strong
land, for a future meeting.

At the meeting in October, the Rev. Thomas
Bonney gave a lecture on the study of Grasses,
with observations on such as are suited to per-
manent pastures and alternate husbandry.

At the meeting in November, the subject was
on the value of Liquid Manure. Your committee
recommend to the notice of the meeting the great
benefit which is derived by Mr. Willday of Athes-
tone, from liquid manure: a few members of the
club were allowed to see his experiments in the
autumn of the past year, and were much gratified
with the results, which appeared to them, to have
made his farm very productive and profitable.
After a long conversation it was resolved, that this
meeting is of opinion that liquid manure is most
valuable, that it is very frequently wasted from the
bad construction of farm yards; they recommend
that it should be preserved in tanks, excluding
air, and applied either by irrigation or with carts
for the purpose.

At the December meeting the best and cheap-
est Mode of Keeping Cart Horses during the Win-
ter Months was proposed. After several plans had
been discussed, it was resolved, that the best and
cheapest plan of keeping cart horses during the
winter is to give to each horse 401bs. crushed

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

427

grain, l|cwt.hay,and 3qts. boiled linseed per week,
all mixed together, the expense of which will vary
from 9s. to 10s. each horse per week, according to
the marketable value of food.

At the meeting in January, the discussion was
on the best plan of Stall Feeding Cattle : the
member proposing the subject recommended
cleanliness in the sheds before you commence
feeding, promoting in a great measure the health of
the cattle by attention to this one subject.

Your committee recommend that the subjects
for discussion at the monthly meetings of the club
during the year be decided upon to day.

Your committee regret the absence of the chair-
man, Wm. T. Smith, Esq., from this meeting, and
more particularly regret the cause cf his absence
The committee suggest that Mr. Smith be re-elec-
ted chairman, that Mr. Turnor be vice chair-
man, and the secretaries be re-elected ; and that the
following gentlemen form the committee for the
year 1842 :— Mr. Yates, Colton ; Mr. Jos. Dickin,
Coiton Hall ; Mr. Ward Lixall ; Mr. Blurton,
Dunstall ; Mr.W.Fowke, Rugcley; Mr. Rice, King's
Bromley; and Mr. Cook, Longdon.

The committee desire to express, on the part of
the club, the obligation they are under to Mr.
Oldham, for his kindness in taking the chair.
For the committee,

Jas. Wyley, janr. Secretary.

RUGELEY FARMERS' CLUB.

SUBJECTS FOR IUSCU8SI0N, 1842 — 1843.

1842.

June 9th. — The best mode of making summer fal-
lows. To be proposed by Mr. Uicken.

July and August. — No meeting on account of the
harvest.

September 8th. — On the selection of seed wheat and
the best mode of preparing it. — Mr. Wyley.

October 6th. — What is the best rotation of crops for
the light soils in this district? — Mr. W. T. Smith.

November 1 )th. — On the best mode of sowing corn.
—Mr. J. Cooke.

December 8th. — On the best mode of making farm
yard manure, and the most profitable way of ap-
plying it. — Mr. Yates.

1843.

January 12th. — How to produce a good crop of tur-
nips, and the most profitable mode of consuming
them. — Mr. Ward.

February 9tb. — Annual meeting.

REPORT OF THE ILLOGAN
FARMERS' CLUB.

Your Committee, in presenting the Second An-
nual Report of the lllogan Farmers' Club, congra-
tulate yon on the increase of your numbers, but
more ou the progress made in the turnip culture — •
not only on the greater breadth sown, but also on
the improved manner in which that crop is putin ;
the whole being drilled, and very many using the
horse-hoe. We cannot give too much importance
to this crop, which may be considered the princi-
pal source of manure, on which depends the im-
provement of the farm, and consequently the im-
provement of the farmers' circumstances. We
notice too with satisfaction the discontinuance in
many instances of that disgrace to agriculture,

the taking of two white crops in succession ; it is
happily giving way to the more enlightened and
beneficial mode of the alternate system ; but we
should be wanting in our duty did we not explicitly
state, that in this part of good hus' andry we
have much to do, and beg to hope that in another
year we shall see the alternate system universally
adopted : we press this the more, knowing it is not
more reasonable than beneficial. In conclusion we
most earnestly press upon the members — especially
upon the younger part of them — the necessity of
reading attentively the various books in the library
on agricultural subjects. This will afford you light
in your progress, and you will get to understand
why " knowledge is power ;" and it will be,
at the same time, the means of increasing your
pleasures in the prosecution of one of the most
useful as well as the most healthful and innocent
of the occupations of men. We proceed to lay be-
fore you a condensed report of our labour for the
year.

At our first meeting in April we read our first
report, and laid down rules for the prizes of the
year.

At our next meeting in May, we agreed upon a
ploughing match, which came off on the 5th of
June, when the following individuals won the
prizes : —

£ s. d.

1. William Benney, servant of Mr. Hich-

ens, of Fairfield — clean ploughing 1 10 0

2. Sampson Paskerville, servant of Mr.

Carthew, of Tregajorran — do -,.■>., 15 0

1. James Elicry, servant of Mr. Paull, Te-

hidy, Barton — combing 1 10 0

2. Thomas Minnard, servant of W. Rey-

nolds, Esq., Trevenson — do 15 0

3. Thomas Davey, under sixteen, son of

Mr. Thos. Davey, Little Naneekuke,

— combing 15 0

In June we discussed the " best method of pre-
paring for and putting in the turnip crop." It was
resolved that early ploughing was best, as early as
possiple after harvest, and that an arish was pre-
ferable to a ley field. Much of the success of the
crop depended upon the land being well worked
and cleaned. The seed should be drilled, for the
following reasons : — The turnips are more easily
cleaned ; the regularity will give a greater quan-
tity in the same space, and the crop will appear
much neater.

Thick sowing was recommended as a good se-
curity against the ravages of the fly. The best
distances between the drills was thought twenty-
four or twenty-seven inches — less than twenty-
four would not allow the horse-hoe to work-
freely. They should be cut out twelve inches
apart.

At our meeting in July we discussed the subject
of "cutting and saving hay." Resolved that
early cutting is to be preferred to late, for the fol-
lowing reasons : — The quality will be better; the
weather is generally finer ; the after-grass is more
abundant ; and the field will be left in better
heart. It was considered the sooner the hay was
made after cutting the better.

In August the subject of " cutting and saving
corn" was considered ; but it was thought from
its importance that it would be better to dis-
cuss it further at our next meeting ; consequently
at our meeting in September it was fully consi-
dered, and the club came to the following conclu-

2 f 2

428

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

sions : — That wheat should be cut before it was
quite ripe— if so, the sample will be better, and
the grain will not be so liable to grow in wet wea-
ther. Bailey should be left till ripe before cut —
the grain should be yellow. In uncertain weather
it was thought a good plan to take the barley up
after the scythe. Oats should be cut just in the
same state as wheat, when rather green. White
oats should be cut a week sooner than black.
Oats should be floored sometime before bound.

The reaping of wheat was preferred to the
cutting of it with the scythe. When reaped it
was placed in better order for binding, and there
is less waste. In fine open weather wheat might
be shocked with advantage, but in this variable
and very uncertain climate it was thought safest
generally to be put in arish mows.

The subject of the "best method of prepara-
tion for the tillage of wheat," was deferred till our
next meeting.

Owing to the severity of the weather there was
no meeting October 4th.

In November the deferred subject of " the best
method of preparation for the tillage of wheat"
came before us, and we concluded that the plough-
ing for wheat should commence as early as May.
By early ploughing there is a better chance of
burning the weed, &c. ; and the land will have for
a longer period the fertilising influence of the
air and sun. The land should not be much pul-
verized, being left rough it will shelter the young
plant; and preserve it from the blast and wash of
of winter. It should be rolled early in the spring.
To prevent the ravages of the wire- worm, pressure
was considered the only known remedy ; this may
be effected by the feeding of sheep, pigs, or cattle,
or by driving a loaded cart over the part of the
field affected.

To prevent smut and other defects in the wheat
crop, it was agreed that the application of salt and
lime to the seed was the best remedy; 31bs. of
salt wetted, with about a gallon of lime to 24 gal-
lons of wheat.

The annual meeting was held at the Bassett's
Arms, Poole, on November the 22nd, when about
50 members sat down to dinner — John Bassett,
Esq., President, in the chair. After the usual
toasts, &c, the secretary was called upon for the
awards of thejudges, which were as follows : —

£. s. d.
Mr. John Burgess, Trengove, Lady Bas-
sett's 1st prize for Swedes 5 0 0

Mr.Hichens, Fairfield— 2nd do 3 0 0

Mr. Bath, Nance — 3rd do. for pasture

turnips 2 0 0

Mr. Thos. Carthew, Tregajorran, the

club's 1st prize for Swedes 3 0 0

Mr. Henry Paull, Highway — do. 2nd

prize for do 1 0 0

Mr. Thos. Davy, Nancekuke — club's 1st

prize for pastures 2 0 0

Mr. John James, Great Nancekuke —

club's 2nd prize for do 10 0

A prize given by William Reynolds, Esq., V.P.,
of five pounds to the fanner whose buildings and
fences ore kept in the best order, was awarded to
Mr. James Paull, of Itosewarne.

'I he judges in their report observed that great
improvement had been made in the agriculture of
ihe neighbourhood ; and as lllogau had surpassed
most others in her cottage gardening, so the far-
mers bid fair to take the same position in agricul-
ture.

At the meeting in December, was discussed —
" The best mode of storing turnips, and the most
advantageous way of consuming them," and it was
agreed that the turnips should be taken up in No-
vember, provided the weather would permit, and
be placed in heaps of from four to six feet wide,
and from two to three feet high ; and of any con-
venient length, to be confined on the sides by fag-
gots of furze or other convenient material, and to
be covered with reed to exclude the rain. The
evening being far advanced, it was thought best to
consider " The most advantageous wayi of consu-
ming turnips" at the next meeting in January,
when the subject was fully considered ; and it was
concluded that the best way of consuming the
crop was by carting one half to thefarm-yard, and
folding sheep on the other half — the turnips to be
drawn and cut for sheep. The consumption
of turnips by sheep on the poorer and more distant
parts of the farm, was thought the most judicious
and economical, if not the only way in which these
lands can be brought into a state of fertility.
Carting turnips on grass lands, and eating them
off with sheep, was considered an easy way of top
dressing, and a judicious method of sweetening
the pasture, as well as permanently improving the
soil.

In February Mr. Karkeek, of Truro, V.S., gave a
lecture on the horse, which was as remarkable
for its research as for its practical utility, and
shewed very clearly that it was equally the interest
as the duty of every farmer to keep and treat his
horse well. The lecturer strongly recommended
a cross with the Arabian, in order to improve the
breed of our horses, and that all foals should be
well kept, especially the first two years.

At the meeting in March, in consequence of the
lamented illness of Mr. Reynolds, V. P., the dis-
cussion of the " Best rotation of crops as applica-
ble to the neighbourhood," was postponed to the
next meeting in April.

April 25.

WITNEY FARMERS' CLUB.

This institution has been occupied the last two
monthly meetings in discussions upon the " rota-
tions of crops." Mr. J. Clinch, jun., introduced
the subject by remarking upon the absolute neces-
sity of a correct knowledge upon this subject, and
that the constant attention of the farmer to the
cropping of all description of lands was of perma-
nent importance. He said —

" I purpose to speak in the first place of the
nature and vital principle of vegetation, and to
show its effects on soils, and then to take a cur-
sory glance at the various qualities of the soil.
The vegetable world is a world of living beings
gifted with various organs, but deprived of sensa-
tion or the power of moving from place to place.
The vital principle they possess, is propagated in
most instances from one individual to another by
means of the seed, which possesses in itself all the
characters and properties of the parent plant.
Here I may just remark that, unlike animals in a
state of nature, if certain food or treatment does
not suit their tastes and habits, they cannot move on
to a more favourable locality. 'Ihe plant, wherever
it happens to be placed, is doomed to live on such
quality and quantity of food as it can obtain from
the spot of soil on which it vegetates; and should
it be a soil which has been previously occupied

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

429

by a plant of the same species, it is rank and poi-
sonous, with the excretions from the roots of its
former occupier."

The speaker went on to illustrate tins point —
examining the chemical properties of plants, and
their food, and the effects produced by light, heat,
and water. Speaking of the excretions, he said —

"I shall confine myself to those of the roots,
for on this fact hongs the absolute necessity of a
constant rotation of crops. The roots of all plants
give off a peculiar matter, which would be dele-
terious and hurtful to them if they had not the
power of ridding themselves of it; this truth has
been established by experiments."

Some interesting experiments of M. Macaire he
then detailed to the meeting — shewing how plants
throw off matter which would be prejudicial to
their healthy vegetation, and shewing, also, that
such excretions are capable of supplying salutary
nourishment to other kinds of plants.

" This fact perfectly explains the advantage to
lie derived from a continual rotation of different
crops in the same soil to increase its productive-
ness. An apple-tree will not flourish in the same
spot where an apple-tree has just before grown.
Wheat will not follow wheat, and this not so much
from the soil being exhausted of its nutritive pro-
perties, as from its being poisoned by the excre-
tions of its former occupier.

" The nature and quality of the soil claims great
consideration in the rotation of cropping ; and al-
though, in some instances, certain courses were
recommended and laid down as rules by expe-
rienced agriculturists, he considered that the com-
parative value and character of the soil under cul-
tivation must determine the course best to be
adopted, and that it is impossible for any general
course of cropping to be laid down: the farmer
who keeps the crop as far distant as possible in
the rotation from that with which it was before
sown, ""will find it much the best kind of manage-
ment."

A question arose regarding some instances of
cropping, in which certain ground had been planted
the same for a number of years without any failure.
The chairman and several members taking part in
the discussion, these instances were allowed to be
the exceptions from the general results. That in par-
ticular situations as regards drainage — that in some
deep loams, where the nutritive properties might
not be exhausted; the results of rotation might
not be of importance for a period of time.

The Chairman called upon a member as to his
experience in the rotation of crops upon deep soils.
Mr. Porter said, that although the usual course
was to plant wheat after clover or other seeds, he
preferred laying down seeds in the wheat, and
taking beans after the ley. That for a green
crop a thick sowing of vetches previous to the
wheat crop, but he condemned the planting of
wheat on the back of clover after being mowed
twice the last crop seed. The results of his own
practice he laid before the meeting.

The subject being adjourned and brought forward
at the monthly meeting in April, the chairman
(Mr. H. Bateman) commenced by remarking upon
the observations of the previous meeting, and pro-
ceded to explain thepractice of cropping on the heavy
clay soils of Worcestershire. He then confined
his remarks to the common stonebrash soils, of
which the district is chiefly composed. He said,
although the remarks of the previous meet-
ing on this subject were purely to impress the

cultivators of the soil that a proper rotation of
crops to ensure the well-doing of the farmer must
be attended to, he wished the subject would assume
the shape which or what system of cropping or ma-
nagement will best ensure the prosperity of the oc-
cupier of the soil ; that is, the greatest return for his
capital, skill, and industry. The exposition which
he offered to the meeting, he said was partly the
result of experience, partly from observation, and
the rest from calculation ; he conceived it to be
impossible to arrive at absolute facts without com-
paring experimental results, which would take
more than the time allotted to man to live — espe-
cially as seasons will baffle the most skilful culti-
vator. His calculations were made upon a farm
of 300 acres, rent 25s. per acre; 260 in cultivation
—20 sanfoin, 20 grass — shewing the relative ad-
vantages of the four-field and five-field systems.
These calculations were placed before the meeting.
The chairman then, in combating the objections
generally raised to the bean or oat crop, viz. — its
expensiveness, drew a comparison between the
cost of producing an acre of wheat and beans, or
oats in the market — supposing the ploughing in
each case to be equal ; and then a comparison be-
tween the produce of an acre of beans or oats, and
the additional quantity of mutton or other stock
realised by artificial means upon the four-field sys-
tem. Mr. Porter considered that upon deep soils
it was necessary to feed the seed crop; upon light
soils feeding might not be so good.

Mr. Pratt said that he had noticed the reverse of
this ; that the following crop was better where the
clover was seeded than where fed : he contended
that light and poor soils could not be farmed upon
a four-field system. Mr. J. Gillett, B. N., had fed
off twice one part, and one part fed once had
seeded ; the latter was the best in the succeeding
crop. He could not agree in opinion with the
chairman as to the five-field course, but not having
made any exact or particular calculations, he could
not go into the argument. Upon any other descrip-
tion of soil than the stonebrash, worth 25s. per
acre, he was satisfied the chairman was incorrect
in his calculations; that the pulse crop in his state-
ment was too high in produce; that upon some light
soils peas and beans would not produce anything
some seasons.

Mr. Stratton, Mr. Bush, and other members
took part in the discussion, which terminated upon
this resolution : —

" That it is of the first importance to the inter-
est of the farmer that a rotation ofcropping should
be attended to, and that upon soils of the descrip-
tion of stonebrash, value at or about 25s. per acre.
The five-field system is of more advantage than
the four-field course of cropping ; but upon very
light soils, and also upon highly productive lands,
other systems of cropping might be more advanta-
geous both to occupier and proprietor."

NEW CLOVER.— The two new clovers have been
attracting attention in France, concerning which we
find some information by M. Vilmorin, in the "Bon
Jardinier." One is the Hybrid, and the other the Ele-
gant. Elegant clover was for some time considered
identical with one called T. hybridum, cultivated in
Sweden ; when, however, growing together, the differ-
ences are striking ; the latter is larger in all parts than
the former, and the colour of its flowers is a brighter
rose, shaded with white in the centre, while the elegant
trefoil has rather dull reddish rose blossoms, coloured
alike in every part of the flower-head. The appear-

430

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

18

e

ed

ance of the herbage is different ; the hybric clover ha
bright and dark foliage, and that of the elegant ia pal
and unequal ; the leaflets of the latter are also marke
with a brown band like common clover, which is not
the case with the hybrid. Another character of the
hybrid is, that in summer, when it begins to shed its
blossom, and during the autumn, the root throws out
fresh foliage, arranged like a rosette; but in the elegant
trefoil this does not occur; it is the lateral branches
which rest on the ground that supply the verdure. The
elegant trefoil is found in abundance on poor clayey
strong soils, where it grows thick and vigorous; it is
wild in France in many places, not unfrequeully in
ferruginous sand. It is more than probable that both
the species will one day form valuable additions to our
forage plants, as they appear as though they would
succeed on land unsuitable for clover, lucern, and sain-
foin.— Abstracted from the lion Jardinier.

FAVERSHAM FARMERS' CLUB.

extract from thr first annual report of
the committee.

March 8th.

The first subject brought before the club for dis-
cussion, was the best mode of planting beans. The
different methods of dibbling, dropping, and drill-
ing, together with the expenses of each, were fully
entered into; and, on their results being duly ex-
amined and compared, it was the opinion of the
meeting that drilling is the best mode to be gene-
rally followed.

The next proposition presented for consideration
was, the proper quantity of sanfoin seed to be
sown per acre, and the best manner of preparing
the land for its reception. After a lengthy debate"
it was agreed that four bushels per acre was the
right and usual proportion of seed, and that a
naked fallow was the best preparation. To this
information the general opinion was added, that
the latter part of June was the most suitable time
for sowing the seed ; and that the crop of the first
year ought to he mown for hay, in order to prevent
the falling of the seeds of the oat-grass ; and that
the feeding of the aftermath, or rowen, should
commence about the middle of October ; but such
feeding not to be continued after Christmas.
April 5th.

The question introduced for deliberation was, on
the use of nitrate of soda as manure. It was stated
that on a clover-ley tilt of wheat, the soil, a stiff
loam, having been top-dressed in the beginning of
April with nitrate of soda, the value of the pro-
duce was increased two pounds, eleven shillings,
and sixpence per acre beyond that where it had
not been applied. The ripening was not retarded,
but the grain handled somewhat colder, and the
straw was of a darker colour. Wheat so manured
was said to be more subject to blight. Notwith-
standing these partial defects, the general opinion
of the meeting was, that this top dressing might
be used with considerable advantage on light loam
or gravelly soils. And that where applied, it should
be sown at two or three different times before the
20th of April, and that the whole quantity sown
should not much exceed 1 cwt. per acre. This manure
having been applied as a top dressing to onions
a double average crop was produced.

The best method of planting potatoes, and the
most profitable sorts for cultivation, succeeded
lor debate. It was decided that the best mode of

preparing the land was, to plough it deeply, to
add about twenty cart loads of farm yard manure,
and, having ploughed it in, the potatoes should
be set in furrows, two feet apart, and at one foot
distance within each furrow, to be covered in by
hand, and the land afterwards rolled. The best
sorts, for the London market, were said to be' the
early Shaws, and the Scotch reds. Phillip's seed-
ling, or Jersey blues, were spoken of as a good
kind, of even size, and prolific. The early Shaws
should be planted about the first of April, and the
Scotch reds a fortnight later. The sets of each
should be carefully culled and cut^

May 3rd.
The relative advantages of winter sheep feeding,
being brought under the notice of the meeting, the
decision come to, after much evidence produced
in favour of feeding in the yard during that sea-
son was, as far as regards the quantity of the wool
and condition of the sheep, preferable to feeding
them on turnips in folds or on pasture. It was
stated that 20 sheep in the yard, fed on turnips
and straw fresh from the barn, increased in condi-
tion from the 1st of January to the 1st of April
56 stones 61bs., at 81bs. to the stone ; whereas the
condition of 20 sheep in the fold, fed on the same
food increased only 36' stones 61bs., the sheep in
the yard consuming one-fifth less than those in the
fold. Ewes in lamb, and tegs thrived equally well,
and the former were as prolific as ewes fed in any
other manner. The straw was, at the same time,
better and more evenly rotted than when bullocks
were kept in the yard on the same kind of food.

June 7th.

The best mode of cultivating turnips, and the
best manure to bo used, being discussed, it was
agreed that the most eligible tilth on what is gene-
rally termed turnip land, is a clover-ley wheat-
gratten ; and when manured with dung the pre-
vious year, ought to have bone dust applied, at
the rate of four sacks to the acre ; but, when not
dunged previously, London dung is to be preferred
to every other manure. When this cannot be
obtained, good farm yard dung should be used.
Poittevin's Patent Manure was also recom-
mended.

The land ought to he deeply ploughed imme-
diately after harvest, and being thoroughly cleaned
and well pulverized, the seed should be drilled
(immediately after the last ploughing) at ttbo ut
ten furrows to the rod : which operation, for
Swedes, should generally take place before Mid-
summer; and for white and red turnips, directly
after the completion of the Swede sowing. The
kinds to be preferred are the purple-topped Swedes,
the white globe, and the red round.

The comparative merits of sowing corn broad-
cast, and by drilling, coming on next, it was shown
that the drilling of corn allowed the roots of the
plants a greater facility of acquiring food for their
nourishment, and also permitted hoeing in the
spring, which is very beneficial to their growth.
That in drilling, there is n greater evenness in
the corn ; it germinates more freely, and grows
and ripens better : when, by sowing broadcast,
some portion of the seed is entirely lost, and the
extra expense of drilling is repaid by the whole of
the seed vegetating and coming to maturity. On
good and forward soils, drilling was conceded to
be the best method; but on cold, stiff, and back-
ward land, broadcast sowing was the better mode
to be pursued.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

431

ON THE USE OF GUANO, &c.

By William Horatio Potter, M.R. A.S., &c,

Agricultural and Analytical Chemist.

In addressing so numerous, respectable, and in-
telligent a class as the British agriculturists, the
author feels at once the vast importance of the
subject to which he begs to draw their attention,
and his incompetency to do justice to the task he
has undertaken ; and were it not that that very
importance furnishes him with a sufficient apology
and justification, he would in all probability have
continued silent, nor have intruded himself at all
on their notice. It would be folly, in these days,
when everything great, good, and useful, is sure of
a just appreciation, seriously to sit down with the
intention of adducing formal proof of the benefits
to be derived from a scientific and intelligent cul-
tivation of the art of agriculture. Whether we
consider these benefits as accruing to the nation or
to individuals — whether we contemplate them as
tending to raise us in the 6cale of intellect, or
merely as ministering to the physical necessities
of our population, they are felt by all— they are
acknowledged by all.

It is a trite observation, and one of current
use in the pulpit, that the admission of a truth is
far enough from ensuring its practice ; and when
we look around on our fields, and behold, in so
many sad instances, sterility and unproductiveness
dominant ; and on our large towns and cities, and
see so much valuable manure— which would soon
convert the sterility into fruitfulness, and the la-
boured and scanty crop into a plentiful one— worse
than wasted, converted into a source of annoy-
ance and pestilence, we need not travel further for
a proof of the justice of the remark, however com-
mon-place it may be.

It is to be earnestly hoped that the day is not
far distant, when we shall be willing to adopt that
economy in animal manures, practised so long and
so successfully by the Chinese. However far this
singular people may be excelled by us in the art of
depopulating kingdoms, and bombarding cities, by
the improvements in our modern system of warfare ;
however we may excel them in the art of destroying
life, it is certain, that with all our admitted scien-
tific truths, with all our claims to superior attain-
ment and enlightenment in the art of supporting
life by the judicious cultivation of the soil, and in
making the most of available means, we are very
far behind them.

Let us not, then, despise learning a lesson from
the simple, unscientific, but experimental Chinese,
to economise the sources of fertility ; and we may
then, by the superior lights that chemical science
sheds around our path, be led to splendid results
not dreamt of by the present generation. What if
every field, now barren, should be brought into
profitable cultivation, and be made to yield " food
for the sower and bread for the eater," and every
scanty crop be converted into plenteousness ? —
then, almost literally, would " the desert blossom
like the rose," and we should be fast approaching
to that desirable state, when there will be " no
crying for lack of bread in our streets."

I am unwilling to let this part of my subject
pass, esteeming it, as I do, of such paramount im-
portance, without entering a little into particulars.
So alive are the Chinese to the excellent effects
on the soil of human excrements (particularly the

liquid portion, which abounds in ammonia), that
the laws of the state forbid that any of them
should be thrown away, and reservoirs are placed
in every house, in which they are collected with
the greatest care. No other kind of manure is
used for their corn fields.

But it should here be noticed, in order to pre-
vent the idea that crops can be raised successfully
by the application of animal manure alone, irre-
spective of the inorganic ingredients contained in
the soil itself, that Sprengel has shewn that these
have a great influence, and that their nature must
be attended to in reference to the intended crop ;
but we shall refer to this matter again. In raising
these corn crops amongst the Chinese, there can
be no doubt that their soil itself is favourable, and
contains those substances, without which various
parts of the plant would never be perfectly deve-
loped. Professor Webster states—" Human urine
is, if possible, more husbanded by the Chinese
than night soil for manure ; every farm, or patch
of land for cultivation, has a tank where all sub-
stances convertible into manure are carefully de-
posited."

'■ The business of collecting urine and night
soil employs an immense number of persons, who
deposit tubs in every house in the cities for the
reception of the urine of the inmates, which ves-
sels are removed daily, with as much care as our
farmers remove their honey from the hives."

And this carefulness will not appear superfluous
when it is known that every fourteen pounds of
urine contain above half a pound of solid sub-
stances, rich in nitrogen (besides phosphates and
lactates), and that one pound contains as much of
this essential element as one pound of wheat.
But with all the care taken by the Chinese to eco-
nomise this liquid manure, it is very doubtful
whether they obtain more than one-half of its full
efficiency, for the want of acquaintance with those
scientific principles which alone can indicate the
best mode of keeping and preparation. In a
liquid so liable to spontaneous decomposition, and
evolving elements so volatile in their nature, there
must, of necessity, unless precautionary measures
are taken, arise great loss of these substances, upon
which the fertilising powers mainly depend. We
must, first of all, then, imitate these people in their
economising, and then we may go beyond them in
our more scientific modes of preparing, &c. But
it is evident that if we do not the first we cannot
do the last. A great change must take place in
our opinions and habits before this strict economy
will be universally practised by us. The minds of
men must be more extensively informed on these
very important points, and more seriously im-
pressed with the greatness of the result to be ex-
pected. Prejudice, deep-rooted and strong, must
be plucked away before the husbanding of manures
will obtain with us as with the Chinese. Great
changes are always slow, and though" in appear-
ance such revolutions are sometimes sudden, it is
only in their developement. The elements have
been long combining, and it is only when the " set
time" is come that the bud bursts into a flower,
and the chrysalis into a butterfly. In the mean-
time, the chemist must do what he can in aid of
the agriculturist, by combining, in a concentrated
and portable form, the various matters within his
reach, known to be favourable to vegetation, whe-
ther the products of art or nature ; and so to
temper them by a nice adjustment that their re-
spective qualities shall not clash, but conspire

432

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to ensure the best result. The surest way to
secure this desirable end will be (not to proceed
upon any vague and uncertain theories, not to set
off with a number of preconceived notions and
endeavour to support these by bending facts for
their accommodation, but) to sit down as humble
students to the feet of Nature, and by the study
of some fertiliser of remarkable power, produced
by her hand, attempt to imitate it according to
our means. We have only two questions to deter-
mine on this point — the fact of the fertilising
power possessed by this substance, whatever it be,
and this experience and observation teach us ;
and the nature of the component parts are shown
by analysis, and this chemistry unfolds.

Guano presents to us an object of study exactly
suited to our purpose. It is only very recently
that we have heard of this substance, and until
the last few months specimens were to be seen
only in the chemist's laboratory, or in the cabinets
of the curious.

Humboldt seems to have been the first per-
son who brought any to Europe, and the cele-
brated Klaproth, the first chemist who examined
it by analysis. Although the fertilising properties
of guano, when applied to the sandy and sterile
soils of Peru, have been known for years, yet
hitherto, arising either from the difficulty and ex-
pense of obtaining it, or from carelessness and
apathy, it is but very lately that experiments have
been made with it in this country. Those which
have been made fully bear out the accounts of its
wonderfully fertilising effects, conveyed to us by
travellers, and justify the opinion that its extended
employment will be productive of immense benefit
to the interests of agriculture.

As it must be interesting to know something of
the history and habitudes of such a remarkable
substance, and as some of the readers of this
may either never have heard of it, or at least
read any description of it, the following sketch is
added : —

The word guano is of Peruvian origin, signi-
fying manure. It seems to have been known, and
its virtues appreciated, by the Peruvians during
six or seven centuries ; without its aid nothing
could grow on their arid and parched soil— with
it, rich crops of wheat, maize, and potatoes, and
even fruit-trees, are grown to perfection.

It occurs as a deposit, of very considerable
thickness, on various small rocky islets off the
coast of Peru, ranging from the 13th to the 21st
degree of south latitude. Its origin has been a sub-
ject of fanciful speculation, but now it is certainly
known to be the excrement of a peculiar kind of
sea-fowl, which feeding on fish, and visiting these
islands in flocks dense enough to obscure the light
of the sun, have accumulated their droppings to
such an extent that seems almost iucredible.
Winterfeldt assigns a thickness of 300 yards to
some of these accumulations. In estimating the
value of guano, it is necessary to bear in mind
that there are two or three varieties, differing
much in quality and in appearance. The recent
droppings (the white variety), are by far the most
valuable, while the ancient or red variety is very
inferior, having lost much of its virtue by age and
exposure.

It seems probable, from the avidity with which
the white or recent dung is collected, almost as
soon as deposited, that very little will find its way
to Europe, and that the red or brown varieties will

be those only with which we shall have a chance
of being acquainted.

As much as about 1000 tons per annum are now
consumed by the Peruvians, a pretty good proof of
the estimation in which it is held by them. It has
at last been imported into this country, and may
be purchased at the rate of 20s. per cwt. ; but, be-
sides this high price, there is another drawback to
its utility, in its variable composition. It is true
that the quantity required per acre is compara-
tively small, and it has been found by experiments
(though these have not been multiplied or varied
to the extent that could be wished) .that from two
to four cwts. are sufficient. An account of these
experiments, for which the public are partly in-
debted to Professor Johnston, will be inserted in
the Appendix.

Winterfeldt says that land, manured with guano
in the suburbs of the city of Arequipa, produces
forty-five for one of potatoes, and thirty- five for
one of maize, where wheat manured with horse-
dung produces only eighteen.

From among the numerous analyses of guano,
1 select those of Klaproth and Johnston, and 1 do
this for a two-fold purpose — to shew its compo-
sition, and consequently what are the matters to
which it owes its fertilizing properties ; and to
point out how variable is its constitution, and how
impossible it is that experiments made with it can
be compared together.

Klaproth found in one hundred parts —

Urate of ammonia 16 parts.

Phosphate of lime 10 ,,

Oxalate of lime 12| „

Silica 4 ,,

Common salt \ „

Sand 28 „

Water, organic and combustible matter 28| ,,

Johnston made two analyses of portions taken
from the same box.

No. 1. Parts.

Water, salts of ammonia, and organic mat-
ter destroyed at red heat 23 • 5

Sulphate of soda 1-8

Common salt, with a little phosphate of
soda 30-3

Phosphate lime, with a little phosphate
magnesia and carbonate lime 44-4

100

No. 2.

Ammonia 7*0

Uric acid • 8

Water, carbonic and oxalic acids, &c 51*5

Common salt, with a little sulphate and

phosphate of soda 11*4

Phosphate of lime 29-3

100

It is to be regretted that, for the sake of com-
parison, the two last analyses were not performed
in the same way, for by them we are not enabled
to ascertain the difference in the quantity of am-
monia, which is perhaps the most important in-
gredient. Sufficient, however, may be seen, by a
comparison of the three analyses, to shew how vari-
able are the proportions of the component parts,
and consequently must be the effects on the crop.
The guano is liable to another source of variation.
It attracts the moisture of the atmosphere, and
therefore increases in weight according to the de-
gree and length of time of exposure, and the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

433

amount of humidity present in the air. This
quality is a very disagreeable accompaniment, as
by it the guano, after a certain time, becomes
sticky and refuses to deliver easily with the seed
by clogging the drill, while at the same time it di-
minishes in strength. The quantity of inert matter
too (sand, &c), amounting in some cases to forty
or fifty per cent., is a serious drawback, and will,
no doubt, be thought so by the farmer, who will
not relish paying from 8s. to 10s. per cwt. for sand
and water, and afterwards something more for
bringing it home to mingle with that of which his
fields perchance contain too much already.

A word must be said on the reason of the ex-
tremely fertilising effects of the guano. According
to the views of Liebig, and others almost equally
celebrated in the agricultural department of che-
mistry, this reason is to be found in the nitrogen it
contains, in the form of ammonia and uric acid
(which by its slow decomposition gives rise to the
formation of the first) ; and also, but secondarily to
the phosphate of lime, which furnishes many plants
with matters essential to their healthy growth.

It is an opinion asserted years back by the cele-
brated Boussingalt, that nitrogen (or ammonia) is,
of all substances, that which contributes most to the
fertility of the soil. This opin'on is also enter-
tained by Liebig, and the suffrages of scientific men
geuerally are constantly being given in support of
the same views. Bones, which are now so much
and so successfully used as manure, owe a very
great part of their good effect on land, to the slow
evolution of the ammonia produced from the decom-
position of their glutinous parts. But the specific
virtue of bones (if I may be allowed the expression)
lies in their earthy part, or phosphate of lime. It is
known that the ashes of all plants contain phosphoric
acid, lime, and often phosphate of magnesia. This
latter is contained, in a great proportion, in grain ;
hence those solid concretions of phosphate of mag-
nesia found frequently in the intestines of horses
fed much upon bran and husks. Now it is proved,
the guano does all that bones can effect, and that in
a more certain and speedy manner ; and much less
of it is required. To use the words of Professor
Johnston, its virtues seem to depend upon " its
containing a well-tempered mixture of a great num-
ber of those substances which the plant requires for
its perfect growth and developement ; and on this
admixture including a considerable portion of a sub-
stance (ammonia), which, in a remarkable degree,
hastens the growth of the young plant, as well as of
another (phosphate of lime), which is necessary to
its healthy and perfect maturity."

Notwithstanding the great advantages which the
guano presents to the agriculturist, as a most efficient
fertiliser, it has some serious drawbacks, and to
which allusion has already been made. To obviate
these defects, and to bring its use within the scope
of the most economical and the most unspeculative,
J have, for several months past, very carefully
studied the composition of guano, with the view of
forming an artificial mixture that shall very nearly
resemble the native manure, be without its disad-
vantages, and be afforded even at a lower price.
After very many experiments I have formed such a
mixture, which I can with the greatest confidence
recommend to the notice of agriculturists, and most
earnestly solicit them, not so much for the sake of
any benefit I may ultimately receive, as for their
own advantage, and consequently for that of the
nation itself (for anything affecting agriculture
affects the national interests), to make trial of it

against any other manure, such as farm-yard ma-
nure, bones, native guano, saltpetre, nitrate of soda,
urate, rape, &c, in the manner recommended by
Professor Johnston. In the artificial guano, unifor-
mity of composition may be always depended on, so
that the farmer will not be open to the disappoint-
ment and vexation arising from the use of an uncer-
tain substance, which may produce splendid results
one year, and the next be comparatively useless.

The smaller bulk of the artificial guano, and con-
sequently cheaper carriage, should be allowed to
have its full weight upon the minds of those who
reside in localities far distant from large towns and
other sources of manure. To them the saving will
be immense, and will induce them to cultivate land
which now, for want of manuring, lies barren and
unproductive. I will venture to say, and I am sure
I shall be supported in my assertion by those who
understand the matter, that there is no soil, however
sterile, whatever may be its defects of composition,
but may be greatly meliorated, if not made abso-
lutely fruitful, by following the indications of che-
mical science. It is not pretended that it is in the
power of any manure, however powerful, however
general its applicability, to effect this unaided ; the
soil itself must be examined analytically by a practi-
cal chemist, who can search for and find those sub-
stances which enter into its composition, even in
the smallest proportions ; for it occurs very often that
the fertility of a soil, in reference to certain crops,
depends entirely upon the presence of these very
substances ; neither is it necessary thus to examine
the surface alone — the sub-soil must also be analysed,
and its depth, &c, be ascertained. The next point
is, to consider what is the nature of the ashes of the
intended crop or crops, and also what substances
they impart to the soil by growing upon it. These
data being known, it is easy to find out in what
particular substances the soil in question is defi-
cient ; and in choosing a fertiliser, that must be
selected which is capable of affording the required
matters. Thus, in reference to wheat, it would be
little short of madness to attempt to raise it upon a
soil destitute of potass and silica ; or clover, on a
soil without gypsum ; these mineral substances being
absolutely necessary to the formation of some of the
essential parts of vegetables.

I cannot do better on this point than quote from
Liebig. "Give, so says the rational theory, to one
plant such substances as are necessary for its deve-
lopement, but spare those which are not requisite
for the production of other plants which require
them. Thus one plant may contain phosphate of
magnesia; a second, phosphate of lime ; a third, an
alkali combined with silicic acid ; and a fourth, an
alkali in combination with a vegetable acid.

" Upon the correct knowledge of the bases and
salts requisite for the sustenance of each plant and
of the composition of the soil upon which it grows,
depends the whole system of a rational theory of
agriculture; and that knowledge alone can explain
the process of fallow, or furnish us with the most
advantageous methods of affording to plants their
proper nourishment."

From what has been quoted, it will be evident
that nothing can indeed supersede the necessity—
if the cultivator wishes to proceed on the surest
grounds, and is therefore willing to be guided by
the light of science — of having (as has been already
said) a careful analysis made of the surface and sub-
soils of the acres he intends to till. It often happens
that when crops, the roots of which do not strike
deep, have exhausted the surface soil, there is still a

434

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

magazine of food for them beneath, which only
requires the operation of sub-soil ploughing to
render available to the plant, but whether this is
really the case or not, analysis alone can determine.
There are in various books, and those written too by
learned men, and men who wish well to the firmer,
and are therefore most willing to render him any
assistance they can, rules given by which it is, it
would seem, attempted to make " every man his own
chemist." However well intended this may be, I
cannot think it either judicious or indeed practi-
cable.

I do not think any good will result from the
farmer invading the province of the chemist, or vies
versd. Each has his appropriate field of labour, and
extensive enough, it is in both cases; and those
systems which profess to teach one individual to
become capable of doing every thing, invariably end
by teaching him to do nothing well. There is an
old and very homely proverb, " Jack of all trades
and master of none.'' All proverbs have much of
truth in them, and it is owing to this circumstance
alone that their very prolonged existence can be
accounted for. Then this scheme must be gene-
rally, at least, impracticable. To a certain limited
extent indeed it may be effectual, but when it is
considered that such substances as potash and soda
exist in soils, and these too in very small propor-
tions, and that they have not only to be detected but
separated, and their quantities determined ; and also
that some of these essential ingredients have been
overlooked in their analytical researches, even by
professional chemists (Sir H. Davy himself omitted
to detect in a soil near Tunbridge, phosphoric acid,
potash, soda, and magnesia); it is loo much to
expect that the farmer, however intelligent and
accomplished, should be equal to the task. Here,
then, the aid of the analytical chemist must be
called in, and it will certainly be found that by a
timely appeal to him much delay and false experi-
menting, as well as much expense and disappoint-
ment, will be avoided. It has been by the neglect
of such plain principles as these, that artificial ma-
nures have had some discredit cast upon them, when
their application has proved unsuccessful ; but this
result may ever be traced to want of judgment, or to
ignorance in the farmer. There is no manure that
has ever been employed, but under some circum-
stances may be useful ; and it is the province of the
chemist to point out those circumstances, or, they
being given, to indicate the appropriate manure.

The object of writers on agricultural chemistry
ought to be, not so much to make the farmer a che-
mist, as lo impress upon his mind, and to show him
by cogent reasonings and apt illustrations, the con-
nection which exists between chemistry and agri-
culture; to show him, that the latter, for its most
successful practice, is dependent upon the princi-
ples enunciated by the former ; that there exists no
sort of rivalry between them — that agriculture need
not be jealous of chemistry, for the latter is well
satisfied to act in the humble capacity of handmaid
to her, and to enrich her with her valuable services.
This she has already done with such marked benefit
to the several arts of dyeing, bleaching, brewing,
&c, &c. ; and the only return she asks is, that her
suggestions be fairly and honestly carried out into
practice.

Of the agriculturist, chemistry demands only this
act of common justice — that her allegations and
assertions he subjected to the strictest ordeal of
experiment, and it will be found in this case, as it
has been in others, that whoever haa entertained her,

and faithfully followed her advice, she has invariably
enriched, and caused him to bless the time when
they first became acquainted.

In the artificial guano the ammonia is contained
in two forms ; one favourable for immediate assimi-
lation, and the other, as it were, in magazine (or
reserve), being slowly but constantly evolved
throughout the course of several years, and in
quantity sufficient to meet the daily wants of the
growing crop. Some stress is necessary to be laid
on this latter point, because in analytically exa-
mining the artificial guano in order to determine
the quantity of ammonia it contains, a false estimate
would be arrived at, and it would be pronounced
less rich in this substance than it really is. It evi-
dently is not necessary, nor is it indeed desirable,
that the whole of the ammonia should be ready
formed, it is sufficient for the purposes of the soil
that its elements be present, disposed to form, and in
process of time actually forming it, slowly and with
regularity, according to the requirements of the
crop. It is, in fact, better that this should be so, for
all (with one or two exceptions) the salts of ammonia
are either volatile or soluble, thev may therefore be
readily dissipated by the heat of the sun, or be dis-
solved and carried away by the rains beyond the
reach of the roots of the plant.

With respect to the phosphate of lime, which it is
well known guano contains, and which indeed forms
a very important feature in its composition, it might
be thought that ground bones (which also possess a
large proportion) might be a substitute for it ; but
the experiment of Mr. Smith, of Gunton Park, is
decisive on this point, in which 200lbs. of guano
produced from one acre six quarters, two bushels,
ana one-and-a-half pecks of wheat, and C721bs. of
bone-dust only four-and-a-half quarters. There can
then be no doubt that all the good, and sometimes
even surprising, effects produced by bones, will be
far exceeded by guano, and at a lower price. A
great advantage in the artificial guano not noticed
before, is its stability when exposed to the air ; it
neither exhales ammonia nor attracts moisture, it
rather becomes drier by exposure. The best mode
of applying it to the soil, whether by delivering it
with the seed, or by scattering it thinly and evenly
over the face of the ground or otherwise; the best
time for its application, also the precise quantity re-
quired to produce a maximum result, and the sort
of crops most open to its good impressions, are
points which only careful and intelligently contrived
experiments, performed by the agriculturist himself,
can determine. The chemist has done his part when
he has formed the artificial manure, analysed the
soil and the ashes of the intended crop; — these data
being given, the intelligent farmer may himself, by
the exercise of his own good sense, without the
further assistance of the chemist, extract unerring
indications sufficient to guide his practice to a sure
and advantageous result. It is of course supposed
that he likewise diligently attends to those rules
which experience has laid down in reference to cul-
tivation, according to the peculiar circumstances of
each case.

It must be delightful to every true lover of
his country, and to every well wisher to her
prosperity, to observe amidst the universal
march of mind and intellectual improvement,
the high tone that agriculture is now taking in
this country. Correct principles, based upon un-
erring chemical laws, are becoming widely dissemin-
ated and favorably received, (and as might have been
expected, in an especial manner by the great, the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

433

noble, and the well informed.) Prejudice, tie
daughter of ignorance, is now glad to hide her face
in the holes and corners of the empire, while truth,
hand-in-liand with science, walks through the length
and breadth of the land, and looks smilingly and ap-
provingly on every endeavour, however humble, to
tiling her home a welcome guest to every man's
bosom. We cannot look around upon the numer-
ous experiments continually being made on subjects
connected with agriculture both by scientific men
and farmers ; we cannot look into books and see
such well written articles elucidating and enforcing
the principles of a rational system of husbandry,
without feeling that we are on the eve of a revival
from a state of apathy and contented ignorance, to
a deep sense of the vast importance of the art of
cultivating the soil, upon the right exercise of which
depends so much of our national prosperity and of
individual happiness. Certainly the time is not fur
distant when the sarcasm lately uttered by a noble
lord will be of still more limited application than it
now is, and the farmer will no more be reproached
that his intellect is heavy as the clay of the acres
he cultivates, but he will prove to the world by the
amount and quality of the food he rais* s for its
teeming millions, that he has emancipated himself
from the shackles hung around him in the days
that are gone by, and that he is now anxious to re-
ceive and improve all the light that science can shed
around his interesting and honorable occupation.

I feel that I have trespassed upon the indulgence
of the reader too long ; I have to offer him an apo-
logy for this. My desire has been not so much to
write anything new, as to enforce old truths, and to
draw the attention both of chemists and agricultu-
rists to the necessity of making further experi-
ments, each in his own department, of frequently
comparing notes with each other, and thus going on
in concert until chemistry can teach no more, and
agriculture shall require no more teaching. I cannot
do better, by way of conclusion, than cite the fol-
lowing passage from Liebig, with whose sentiments
I cordially agree : —

'■ I shall be happy if I succeed in attracting the
attention of men of science to subjects which so
well merit to engage their talents and energies.
Perfect agriculture is the true foundation of all trade
and industry, it is the foundation of the riches of
states — but a rational system of agriculture cannot
be formed without the application of scientific prin-
ciples ; for such a system must be oased on all ex-
act acquaintance with the means of nutrition of
vegetables, and with the influence of soils and action
of manure upon them. This knowledge we must
seek from chemistry, which teaches the mode of in-
vestigating the composition, and of studying the
characters of the different substances from which
plants derive their nourishment.

" Innumerable are the aids afforded to the means
of life, to manufacture, and to commerce, by the
truths which assiduous and active enquirers have
discovered and rendered capable of practical appli-
cation. But it is not the mere practical utility of
these truths which is of importance; their influence
upon mental culture is most beneficial ; and the
new views acquired by the knowledge of them,
enable the mind to recognize in tho phenomena of
nature, proofs of an Infinite Wisdom, for the un-
fathomable profoundity of which, language has no
expression."

APPENDIX.

Experiment of Mr. Love, of Castle farm, .

tl I have made a trial of the Guano for rape and
turnips, and in both instances, I am happy to inform
you, it answered my most sanguine expectation. I
mixed 141bs. of it in the first trial with two bushels
of ashes, and although the weather was very dry, I
could perceive a marked difference in the growth of
the plants a few days after they made their appear-
ance. Encouraged by my results, I next mixed
281bs. with 13 bushels of ashes, and applied it for tur-
nips, by sowing it on the furrow broad-cast and har-
rowing it in lightly, and as we had frequent showers
at the time, the seed soon vegetated, and the plants
grew away from those on each side and were large
enough to hoe two or three days before those on the
land I had manured in my usual way with dung and
mould. In each case I applied at the rate of 2 cwt.
per acre. The ashes I mixed with it were dry and
such as we usually obtain by burning round the
hedge-rows and borders of our fields. I have no
doubt of its being a very powerful manure, and on
very poor soils 1 think I shall put on «ne cwt. per
acre more than 1 did this summer, especially if I
could not procure ashes in sufficient quantities to
mix with it."

" Mr. Westcar, of Burnwood, Surrey, tried 7£lbs.
upon five rods of land, drilled in with barley and
clover. Upon other five rods he applied the best
farm-yard manure, at the rate of 18 loads to the acre,
and sowed on these an equal quantity of the same
seeds. The result was —

From dung, 18 loads per acre, 1 bush 3 qts.
" guano, 2 cwt. " 1 " 7 "

Being a saving of expense in the manure, with an
increase in the crop.''

"Mr. Smith, of Gunton Park, applied four
bushels (about 200lbs.) of guano, to a statute acre,
and on another equal portion of land on the same
field he applied 15 bushels (6 cwt.) of bone dust.
Both were drilled into the ground with the seed-
wheat. The guano gave 6 qrs. 2 bushels \\ peck \
the bone-dust only A\ quarters of wheat."

Experiment of Mr. Skirving, at the Walton Nurse-
ries, near Liverpool. — " Three plots of ground were
manured respectively with guano, nitrate of soda,
and farm-vard manure, and to a fourth nothing was
applied. All tho four were sown with Italian rye"
grass on the 19th of May, and all were cut on the
2nd of August last. The results were as follows —

tons. cwt. lbs.

Guano 3 cwts. per acre 14 15 26

Nitrate soda, same 14 13 37

Farm -yard manure, 20 tons per acre 13 2 96
Without manure 7 0 108

He adds, " I have tried the guano on several other
crops, in different proportions, and all prove very
much in favour of its being a most valuable manure,
and the produce from it, as in the case of farm -yard
manure, will be in proportion to the quantity laid
on — at least, as far as 8 cwt. to the acre; beyrond
that, I fear, it would be too powerful for any
crop."

Mr. George Harriott, of North Waltham, Basing-
stoke, says of guano, " It has quite given bone-dust
the go-by. From what I have seen I have every
reason to think it will form a most valuable manure
It was applied to some barley in Norfolk, in 1840,
and this year the clover on which it was sown has
produced half a ton more than any other part of the

436

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

field. This is important, as most artificial manures
do good for one season only."

Messrs. Cormack and sons, of New-cross, Dept-
ford, express themselves thus : — •' With Italian rye-
grass it has proved itself very efficacious, and on
the whole we believe it to be a very valuable
manure."

" Mr. John Crane Nott, of Hallow, Worcester-
shire, after speaking of its astonishing effects on
Hops, says, " I feel confident that if the guano can
be bought at a moderate price, it will be the most
valuable manure we ever had."

The following is (I believe), from the pen of
Professor Lindley, and is extracted from the Gar-
dener's Chronicle: —

" Of the very great value of artificial manures
r.o one can entertain a doubt ; and in our opinion it
is to them more especially that the cultivator has to
look for bringing his land to the highest possible
state of fertility.

" The absurdity of sending ships to Peru for
nitiate of soda, to the Pacific for guano, and to
Spain f'jr phosphate of lime, so long as the equiva-
lents of such substances immediately within our reach
are unexhausted, is, one would suppose, sufficiently
apparent. And yet this occurs continually in prac-
tice. We throw away our home-made materials
of Agrarian wealth and run to the Antipodes to
recover them.''

From Liebig : —

"The manner of applying the manure in Peru is
singular. Thus in Africa, where so much pepper
(capsicum baccatum) is cultivated, each plant is
manured three times : first, upon the appearance of
the roots, second, upon that of the leaves, and lastly
upon the formation of the fruits. From this it will
be observed, that the Peruvians follow the plan of
the Chinese in manuring the plant rather than the
soil. The composition of guano points out how ad-
mirably it is Jilted for a manure ; for not only does it
contain amraoniacal salts in abundance, but also
those inorganic constituents which are indifpensable
for the developement of plants.

The most recent analysis is that of Volckel, who
found it to consist of —

Urate of ammonia 9,

Oxalate of ammonia 10,6

Oxalate of lime 7,

Phosphate of ammonia 6,

Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia 2,6

Sulphate of potash 5,5

Sulphate of soda 3,8

Sal-ammoniac 4,2

Phosphate of lime m , 14,3

Clay and sand 4,7

Organic subtances not estimated,"")
containing 12 per cent, of mat- j
ter insoluble in water — soluble y 32,3
salts of iron in small quantity — |
water J

100,0

I add here three or four analyses of soils cele-
brated for their fertility, also of one or two very
sterile soils, for the purpose of comparison with
each other, and to serve as a guide to the farmer
after he has had his soil analyzed. These analyses
have been very carefully executed by Sprengel.

Soils remarkable for producing very
a long series of years.

Silica, with sand

Alumina

Oxide of iron

Peroxide of manganese

Lime, united with silica

Magnesia

Potash

Soda

Phosphoric acid

Sulphuric acid

Chlorine

Humus ('soluble in alkali )

Humus

fine bops for

grains.

95,660

1,586

1,616

240

83

80

30

220

39

a
O

a trace

80

360

100,000 grs.
*or about 14 lbs.
Fertile soil in Belgium, not manured for 12 years
together. grains.

Silica 64,517

Alumina 4,810

Oxide of iron 8,316

Peroxide of manganese 800

Carbonate of lime 9,403

Carbonate of manganese 10,361

Potash (united to silica) 100

Soda 13

Phosphoric acid 1,221

Sulphuric acid 9

Chlorine 3

Humus 447

100,000 grs.
or about 14 lbs.
A most fertile soil which has never been manured
or fallowed for 160 years ! grain?.

Silica 77,209

Alumina 8,514

Peroxide of iron 6,592

manganese 1,520

Lime
Magnesia

927
1,160
140
640
651
11
10
978
540
Nitrogenous matter 1,108

Potash (united to silica) ,

Soda

Phosphoric acid ......

Sulphuric acid

Chlorine

Humus soluble

Humus

or

Very sterile soil.

Silica..

Alumina

Oxide of iron

Peroxide of manganese
Lime. . . . "I
Magnesia. J
Potash and soda .
Phosphate of iron.
Sulphuric acid ...

Chlorine

Humus (soluble).
Humus

united to silica

•{

100,000 grs.

about 14 lbs.

grains.

95,843

600

1,800

a trace

38

6

5

198

2

6

1,000

502

100,000

* 4S7J grs. make one avoirdupoise ounce — 7000
grs., one pound.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

437

Soil of a barren field Porto Rico. grains.

Silica 70,900

Alumina 6,996

Oxide of iron 6,102

Peroxide of manganese 200

Lime 2,218

Magnesia 3,280

Potash 130

Carbonate of soda 6,536

Phosphoric acid 1,362

Sulphuric acid 149

Chlorine 67

Humus soluble 5-10

Humus 1,500

100,000
Its sterility arises from the excessive quantity of
carbonate of soda which is present.

ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVE-
MENTS.

Sir, — In your magazine of April last, (p. 283)
Iwas very much pleased with a letter by Mr. Wil-
liam Rothwell. His observations convince me that
he is a practical farmer, and they are based upon
those principles, and not theory, as many others are.
Some, for the sake of pride, wish to distinguish
themselves as talented men, by their high-flown
language (such as we farmers do not understand)
without any regard to the principles they lay
down being in accordance with true practical facts
— they merely look at plausible language as the
true mode of laying down rules for the best system
of agriculture ; and as a proof of their knowledge,
must needs introduce something of chemistry,
when, probably like myself, they know little or
nothing of it practically.

Mr. Rothwell's letter, however, would probably
be regarded by some (when he speaks about cattle)
as savouring too much of our forefathers' ideas ;
but, generally speaking, I should say would give
the farmer a true practical delineation of the rules
he should follow : and as the sensible and intelli-
gent are always disposed to lay hold of every ob-
servation that will improve their understanding,
they will do well to adhere to such information as is
given in the letter here referred to ; by so doing they
will increase their produce, and consequently their
profits — which is what we are all aiming at, or
ought to be. Others, who are fanciful and have
plenty of money to spend, can indulge in such dis-
coveries as are made by such men as I have before
alluded to.

I have myself the charge of considerable pro-
perty lying in the counties of Chester and Lancas-
ter, and cannot but admit that I find many of the
farmers negligent of their duties ; hut probably
it is not wholly owing to themselves, but rather, in
many instances, to their landlords, in not giving
that encouragement to improvement as they ought
— for indeed many gentlemen of my own personal
knowledge have estates of very considerable im-
portance, who neither know their tenants, or
even the estate itself. Under such circumstances
can their negligence be wondered at ?

It would be well if landlords could see their own
interest, which is the interest and prosperity of
their tenants ; and this can only be accomplished
but by first granting leases for twenty-one years,
with such covenants as would compel the tenants

to make improvements ; and in every instance
looking forward to this with as much anxiety as
the tenant, by affording such assistance in draining
and other permanent improvements, as would en-
able the tenant to proceed better with his other
works of husbandry, necessary under any circum-
stances. As draining is the foundation of all
agricultural improvements, it is necessary that
landlords should furnish their tenants with tiles ;
but those who do so, I should recommend them to
appoint a person to set out the drains who per-
fectly understands what he is about, and knows
the strata and the nature of the land he is going
to drain ; for there are scarcely two fields alike,
or that one system will answer for both.

I should recommend that drains, generally speak-
ing, be cut up the incline of the land, and not
across, as recommended by Mr. Rothwell ; for if
the lands are (as they ought to be) made in the
same direction, the water will get into the drains
quicker from the middle of the lands, which, if
pointed up hill, there will be more declivity for
the water to escape. As to filling the drains with
broken stones, as recommended by Mr. Smith, it
would in some instances or situations be a folly
to attempt, as the carting alone of the material
would cost considerably more than the whole ope-
ration, by using tiles. I have drained a consider-
able quantity, and find nothing cheaper or better
than tiles — particularly where theie is clay upon
the estate sufficiently strong for making them. I
have erected a kiln and sheds upon Mr. Beart's
principle, and am able to make them at 15s. 6d.
per thousand, including every expense.

I frequently see rules laid down for draining,
and the distance they should be apart. Experience,
however, has taught me that a true practical
knowledge is required of the strata of the land
you are about to drain.

Some land from its nature and properties is ca-
pable of admitting water to pass through it for a
considerable distance, consequently will not want
drains so near together — while there is land that
will not drain more than four yards. These are
matters which must be dealt with according to
circumstances ; no rule or plan can be laid down
for a general system of draining. It would be well
if farmers would pay more attention to improve-
ments, as it is the only way to ensure for them a
profitable return ; and I should urge the necessity
of landlords being constant in their exer-
tions to rouse their tenants to an active spirit of
mind, and compel them to make improvements—
as there is no doubt but twice the quantity of pro-
duce may be realized from the same land. They
should not be left without leases, and to all appear-
ance (in some instances,) without landlords, except
on the rent days ; when probably some attorney
attends in the immediate neighbourhood twice a
year, but not to devise upon the best mode of
cultivating the land, but for receiving the rents,
or such portions of it, as can be procured by such
a system of cultivation. Some landlords boast
that their tenants have existed upon their estates
from generation to generation without leases or
raising of rents. In answer to this, allow me to
ask whether this is the best landlord, or the one
who will make his tenant independent by giving
him a twenty-one year's lease, and afterwards give
him such assistance as I have before recommended,
receiving a reasonable percentage for outlay of ca-
pital ? The answer is evident to every practical man.
I am perfectly aware that there are some tenants

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

who are so stupid that they will neither be led nor
driven, and that it would be a folly for their land-
lord or any other person to attempt to turn them
out of the old beaten track ; but the sooner such
men are turned from their farms the better, with-
out any regard to the prejudice of having men to
cultivate their land whose ancestors have occupied
it being their only recommendation. Men should
be chosen who will consent to farm upon the best
principle, consistent with the locality of the dis-
trict, and drive away at once the prejudice which
ignorant men are so apt to cultivate.

It is quite incomprehensible to see most of the
farmers in Cheshire, where so much stock is kept,
with what indifference the liquid excrement of
animals is regarded. I am in the habit of visiting
many of the farm houses, and am surprised to find
that this valuable manure is not preserved in a way
it ought to be ; but I hope to see before long some
general plan adopted in preserving so valuable a
manure, and I would fain hope that hitherto the
neglect has arisen entirely from ignorance of its
value. I know one man who has for several years
applied it to his meadows without the aid of any
other manure, and the result is that they are in
a much more luxuriant condition than his neigh-
bours, and I do anticipate before long that a just
appreciation of this valuable manure will be held
out to the agricultural world in its proper estima-
tion ; and I again repeat that I am convinced from
my own practical experience, that the liquid ex-
crement of animals is infinitely better and more
valuable than the solid, if properly preserved and
applied as a fertilizer. The first thing necessary
is to procure a supply, which may be easily done
upon farms where the produce is consumed by
cattle upon the premises, by making proper drains
from the cow-houses of sufficient dimensions to
convey it to a deep cistern or tank, which ought
to be kept covered, and as free from air as possi-
ble, and there remain until decomposition takes
place. When this occurs, (which may be easily
known by the volatile smell of the ammonia) it
should be carted upon the land. It would be well
if landlords would turn their attention to this
mode of procuring so valuable a manure, by mak-
ing their tenants the necessary reservoirs, or
finding materials for them. If once adopted, it
would be found so valuable that every farmer who
studies his own interest would be found anxious
to have one. If this mode of procuring manure
became general, we should have little use for all
the new-fashioned "snuff-box'' manures which
are so much talked about. I am aware that it is
difficult to impress these matters upon men with
limited minds and means, who improve but little,
and think less ; but every landlord should show
his tenant, by his superior skill and ability, as
well as means, to improve in the system of culti-
vation, that the beaten track pursued by our fore-
fathers in bygone year9, is not the way to become
rich as things go now.

If landlords woidd generally adopt such plans as
I have recommended, the industrious husbandman
would soon have his farm in order, and have a
pride in being considered a good farmer. Flattered
by the praise of being so, he would exert himself
more and more, and thus create a general disposi-
tion for others to traverse out of the track so long
pursued to their own prejudice.

I have the honour to remain,
Sir, your most obedient servant,
May 20. T. H.

GENERAL AND UNIFORM
DRAINAGE.

Sir, — The just importance attached to the subject
of drainage, as evinced in the communications of
many of your correspondents, induces me to trouble
you with a few remarks upon the necessity of a
General Drainage Bill.

Without detailing reasons why the present period
is the most proper time to discuss the matter, and
for the legislature to grant the measure, I will state
those benefits which more immediately strike me as
sure results of a national system of uniform drain-
age ; and whilst alluding to the difficulties which
stand in the way of such a measure, I will endea-
vour to show that the objections which constitute
those difficulties, are not of sufficient moment to
restrain all efforts in the cause. It matters little
what sort of arguments, political or philanthropical,
arise upon the fact that in England there is a greater
demand for wheat than at present our lands pro-
duce. We all know that such is the case ; and I
think I may venture to state that the same unanimity
of opinion exists on the hypothesis suggested by this
certainty, viz., that if we have the power to grow a
sufficiency of wheat for our own consumption, as an
agricultural nation, it is our duty to do so.

Our power to effect this object has been already
partially demonstrated by the ascertained fact that
the growth of wheat in this country has increased,
of late years, in greater ratio than the population ;
and the means by which this has been done is the
improved and improving state of the art of culture
and implements of husbandry, and our scientific
knowledge of soils and the effects of vegetation upon
them.

But why should the country await the tardy
advantage science is gaining over prejudice to make
up a deficiency of which we are all cognisant, when
by one energetic step of the legislature the deside-
ratum would be gained 1 Liebig says, that '* a
rational system of agriculture cannot be formed
without the application of scientific principles ;"
and another very able writer says, " that science
can never safely advance until she has laid a sure
foundation upon which to build her collected facts."
Now, the allusions of both writers are each very
different from the point to which I would wish, in
contradistinction to them, to call attention, as being
really tangible ground upon which to lay the desired
foundation. With them their object is to make
theory the basis of practice, while I am of opinion
that practice would become the certain forerunner of
useful theoretical knowledge and successful expe-
riments ; for without land is rid of its superabun-
dance of water, manure remains in nearly the same
s'.ate in which it was applied, with little or no effect
upon the crops it is intended to nourish, and any
other improvement of which chemistry may be the
agent, must be imperfect so long as land is in that
state. The wheat lands of England are for the most
part composed of those lands, which if not already
drained are those which require draining ; and
therefore it i3 evident if we are to reap the greatest
benefit possible from the progress of science, our
first step should be to prepare our lands, and render
them susceptible of those improvements which
science may from time to time dictate, and by which
the deficiency we now suffer under, will, if not im-
mediately, be ultimately made up.

Were any collateral reasoning required why all
should agree upon the necessity of a General Drain-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

439

age Bill, I would allude to the possibility of a
repeal of the Corn Laws ; and without touching
the treacherous ground of politics, I would ask what
is to become of those poor wet lands which now
yield to the farmer 6ome two or three quarters of
wheat per acre, and to the landlord a rent of from
10s. to 20s. per acre per annum 1 If the answer is,
that such lands will return to their former state as
"coarse wet pastures," I will ask, will the results
likely to accrue from Sir Robert Peel's tariff enable
the farmer to pay for such lands a rent, an average
rent of 7s. an acre ? And if we make an estimate of
the gross extent of such lands, we shall find them to
amount to something like two millions of acres.

And then, as another reason why the matter should
be duly considered, I would ask, allowing that it
will be some years yet before a repeal of the Corn
Laws, should we not use the interim in providing
for the evil day? Lord Stanley has said, when
speaking of draining, that *' the man would be
thought to have conferred no trifling benefit on his
country, who should add one bushel an aero to the
quantity of wheat produced by the wheat lands of
England ; and that there were hundreds of thou-
sands of acres which, are capable, by improved culti-
vation and drainage, of producing ten or fifteen
bushels per acre more than they do."

Although his lordship stated in both cases facts
which no one will deny, and in his own allusion to
drainage prescribed a means of obtaining the benefit
desired, he was in error in alluding to any one per-
son as being sufficiently powerful to dictate any
improvement which would be generally adopted.
While bigotry and prejudice exist, such a thought is
absurd. It rests with the legislature to confer the
benefit ; to pass such a measure, framed on correct
principles and basis, as shall dictate a general drain-
age of all those lands which require draining, with-
out that arbitrary interference with private rights
which landowners and all other owners feel it diffi-
cult to bear. If we inquire into the cause of the
opposition which is manifested against a compulsory
drainage act, and the reason why we have not
already such a measure in operation, we shall find
that our legislators themselves are averse to any
such proposition, and will not entertain it.

But, in my humble opinion, it is possible to frame
a measure that shall not materially infringe upon
private rights, and yet induce a thorough and uni-
form drainage throughout the whole kingdom.

Let a commission of duly qualified men be ap-
pointed to direct the clearing of outfalls, and the
construction of main receivers along the vallies of
the country to communicate with those outfalls, and
let such body of men confine itself to this duty ;
the effect of which would be the removal of all stag-
nant waters which now congregate on the lands of a
vast many valleys, and which do such immense in-
jury to the arable lands, as was signally instanced
during the last winter. Getting rid of these waters
which stagnate on the land, will assuredly lead to
the expulsion, by private enterprise, of those waters
which would still remain stagnant immediately under
the surface of the laud, and at a very trifling ex-
pense compared to what it would be had the farmer
to find outfall throughout adjoining lands.

Then as to the expense of such an undertaking, I
am sanguine enough to believe, that if the commis-
sioners were to systematize the main drains, so as to
concentrate the water at particular spots, a use might
be made of it for agricultural and manufacturing
purposes, which would more than compensate the
expense. It is obvious from practice in various

parts of the country, that both in irrigating lower
lands and as a motive force, such water may be most
profitably used ; and it cannot be doubted that upon
a general measure of the sort proposed, some other
purposes would be originated, which cannot be con-
templated at the present moment. But as there may
be considerable doubt on this head, I will not place
greater stress upon it than recommending this branch
of hydraulic engineering to the attention of the sci-
entific, as an important and national object.

Our annual growth of wheat is less than the
demand by 1,500,000 quarters, to which must be
added as much again for seed corn, making a deficit
of 3,000,000 quarters required for food and seed,
which, taken at the average of the last fourteen years,
amounts to nearly 9,000,000/. per annum ; a loss to
this country, because it is so much gained by those
nations who, in time of war, would compel our
dependance on our own resources ; and this sum is
something to be considered when the great cost of
national drainage is mentioned as a veto to the under-
taking, as well as the fact that by a measure such as
I have presumed to propose, a present evil would
become a future good, by making a profitable use of
injurious waters.

I am, your obedient servant,

9, Gray's Inn Square. J. Bailey Denton.

MODEL FARMS IN FRANCE.

(From " A Cyclopaedia of Practical Husbandry and
Rural Affairs in general.")

BY MARTIN DOYLE.

There are in France three large model farms,
supported chiefly by contributions from individuals,
or by the zeal and liberality of a single person, as
in the instance of the school at Doville, near Nancy,
of which that eminent farmer, M. Dombasle, is
the founder and director. Grignon (founded in
182?) is the chief, having 1,100 acres of varied
soil in connection with it. Grignon is one of the
royal demesnes, and the present King, anxious to
promote the interests of agriculture, gave the
buildings and land for forty years to the society
which had been formed of many of the nobility and
great proprietors, by whom the sum of 600,000
francs was funded as a capital, in shares of 1,200
francs each. The only condition on the part of the
crown is, that at the expiration of the term the im-
provements shall be the property e>f the crown. At
this great seminary there are two classes of pupils,
as at Hohenheim. We are informed by John Eve-
lyn Denison, Esq., that the best implements from
England and Germany are put to trial at GrigDon,
and that the best systems of husbandry are followed,
under the guidance of an able professor ; theory and
practice going hand in hand.

The internal pupils pay from SOL to 601, s year
each, and the external from 81. to 20/. Diplomas
are granted after a public examination, and the
shortest course occupies two vears. The same gen-
tleman has informed the public that the three chief
veterinary schools at Alfort, Toulouse, and Lyons,
afford a course of education which lasts four years.
Botany and chemistry, as well as anatomy, arc
taught in those establishments, in which there are a
great number of pupils, who are lodged, boarded,
and instructed, for HI. a year ; and as it is intended
that they should be instructed in the points of useful
practice relating to agriculture, in order to be as

440

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

serviceable as possible in the farming districts, an
establishment of bulls and cows, sheep, pigs, and
dogs, is kept up, in order to illustrate the diseases
of these animals, and invalided horses are taken in
at a moderate rate and treated in the hospital.

" The departmental model farms, of which there
are several, and many of them insignificant, are differ-
ently managed. They are principally supported at
the expense of the department in which they are
established, after previous approval by the prefect.
We have inspected one of these useful and inex-
pensive schools, near Kennes, and ascertained pre-
cisely the details of its establishment and operation.
The farm consists of seventy-two acres of aratle
land, held by lease of fifteen years from a wealthy
proprietor, by M. Bodin, who was assisted by the
principal authorities of the department of He et Vi-
laine t) take the direction of it. M. Bodin had been
a pupil at Grignon, and subsequently managed a
small farm in a similar capacity, before he obtained
the present one, which was in 1837. The rent of
the farm is 3,500 francs (140/.), of which the de-
partment pays 2,000 francs, and the director the
remainder, with taxes and repairs, which amount to
about 500 francs more. He also supplies all capital
for improvements, and all outgoings, clears all
losses, and of course has all the profits.

There are in this school twenty pupils, paying
121. a year each ; the department in which the school
is situated pays for six, and the government pays
for the remaining fourteen, who are nominated by the
prefects of three other departments in Brittany. In
case of dismissals for misconduct, the prefects no-
minate other pupils, and they are unwilling to se-
lect youths from the towns, or any not accustomed
to field labour ; they are generally the sons of well-
conducted farmers, and at the expiration of two
years go to the aid of their parents, or as hired
stewards.

They are taught by M. Bodin, or an assistant,
the ordinary subjects suited to their employment,
and have no charge except for books, which they
must supply for themselves.

M. Bodin has a factory for implements, and dis-
poses of many of them to farmers, even in very dis-
tant localities ; he is altogether well qualified for his
important office, and has obtained a prize for a
Treatise on Agriculture, which is now about to be
enlarged in a second edition. And when practical
men are induced, with moderate assistance, to take
the responsibilities of a model farm upon themselves,
and to receive pupils for three or more years at a
reasonable rate of payment, they are the most eli-
gible class of instructors.

NEW MOWING MACHINE.

Having had to answer so many inquiries from
neighbours respecting the merits of an improved
machine for mowinglawns, I cannot help thinking
an account of it would prove interesting to many
of your readers; and it will gratify me if you will
accept the communication, as an acknowledgment
of the satisfaction and benefit I derive from the
perusal of your ably-conducted journal,

The machine in question is nothing more than
an application to the cutting of grass of an inven-
tion long in use for the shearing of velvet.
The idea of this application is still the subject of a
patent, in England, in favour of a Mr. Budding,
the inapplicability of whose machine to large spaces
had long been a subject of regret to me.

The accidental discovery that the patent had
been taken for England only, led to my em-
ploying a very ingenious mechanic in my neigh-
bourhood (Mr. Shanks, of Arbroath) to construct
the implement I first used. His success was com-
plete, and I have had the experience of a whole
season to test it. My lawn (consisting of nearly
2\ acres) was cut weekly, all last year, by one
man, aided by a small pony, in a style not to be
surpassed, if equalled, by the best scythesman.
The breadth commanded was 27 inches, and about
eight hours were expended in going over the
whole. Two men could draw the machine easily ;
but finding the horse's feet, when working (as
answers best in dry weather), left no permanent
mark on the grass, I preferred the latter : it is
guided by leading-reins. During the season no
repairs of any kind were required ; and I do not
think that even sharpening will be necessary un-
til after several years' repetition of similar work.

This success suggested a further improvement
with a view to economy ; viz., the giving the
machine weight enough to act as a roller, and, at
the same time, increasing the cutting breadth. The
new machine, which commands 42 inches (and of
which I enclose you a calotype representation, by
a novitiate in the exercise of that promising in-
vention of Mr. Talbot's), has been just tested,
and its success surpasses my expectation. The
lawn of 2\ acres is now cut, the grass swept up,
and the ground effectually rolled by my gardener,
assisted by the pony, in 2£ hours; and the ex-
ecution, particularly where there is a good sward,
leaves nothing to be desired. When the ground
is much fogged, a surface is produced very si.
milar to velvet.

Mr. Shanks has added a revolving brush, for the
purpose of better delivering into the cutters the
grasses, which are found occasionally reclining
horizontally : it works well, and enables a higher
sward to be removed at one operation ; but these
cases are, or ought to be, of unfrequent occurrence:
this apparatus is easily detached. The economy
effected may be easily estimated by any one ; I
shall not, therefore, go into the detail of its calcu-
lation : it is simply the whole expense in labour
of scything, minus the difference in interest of
capital invested in the machine, and in roller,
scythes, rakes, &c. I paid 18/. for the first machine,
and I understand the cost of the new one (were
there several to be made) would not much ex-
ceed 207. ; but for this I must refer parties to Mr.
Shanks himself, who, in the present extraordi-
narily depressed state of the machine-making
business, will, I doubt not, be but too happy to at-
tend to any orders he may be favoured with.
Looking to the accuracy of the execution, the
weight of material, &c, I consider the price as
lower than it could be done for in times of even
ordinary prosperity. I ought to mention, that
application may also be made to Mr. Ferraber, of
Stroud, Gloucestershire, the agent for Mr. Hud-
ding, and an extensive maker of machinery. He
came down here last year, and made himself ac-
quainted with the details of the machine, and has,
I believe, arranged with Mr. Shanks as regards
the English patent. I have only to conclude by
saying that if I have omitted any desirable infor-
mation regarding what I cannot help thinking
will be found a useful as well as economical im-
provement, I shall be happy to supply it through
the same medium.— IF. F. Lindsay Carnegie, Kim-
blelhmont, Arbroath.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

441

QUESTIONS UPON VARIOUS
SUBJECTS,

SUPPOSED TO BE PROPOUNDED BY A
FARMER TO ONE WHO HAS DEVOTED
HIS ATTENTION TO THE SCIENCE OF
AGRICULTURE.

(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

1. Farmer. In M. Liebig's work on agricultural
chemistry, I find it stated that clay soil is the rich-
est on account of the greater quantity of alkali
which it contains. Now, I have upon my farm
two fields both equally well drained, the one of
which is much lighter than the other, and, more-
over, the lightest is upon the exposed side of the
hill, whereas the other is situated lower, and is
sheltered by a good belt of planting ; and yet, not-
withstanding all my care, I can always trust with
greater certainty to the hillside crop, as it always
ripens more equally and even earlier than the other,
and indeed is very generally the heavier of the
two. The climate is not suitable for wheat, neither
do I grow much barley, but I always get very
fair crops of oats, turnips, and potatoes. My farm
is situated at the foot of the Pentland Hills, on
either side of the old Biggar-road. Can you in-
form me of the cause of this apparent contradiction
of the statement of M. Liebig?

Answer. Nothing is easier than to account for
the apparent anomaly presented on your farm.
You will remember that the geological structure
of the country changes completely just at the foot
of the Pentland Hills; for whereas the hills them-
selves are composed of clay-slate and porphyry,
the valley between tbem and the Lammermuirs is
occupied by the various strata of the coal forma-
tion. Now, a reference to any work on the
analysis of minerals will shew that none of the
component rocks of the coal formation are by any
means rich in alkalies ; whereas clay-slate, clink-
stone, and porphyry, all contain a considerable per
centage of these valuable materials. It therefore
follows that, in your particular instance, the dis-
advantages connected with a greater looseness of
texture are more than overbalanced by the greater
quantity of alkali in the soil.

2. Farmer. How is it that you state that large
stones are of no value to soil until they are reduced
to powder, and yet in a sandy soil of mine, con-
taining abundance of small stones to undergo the
grinding process, I found, that when I care-
fully removed the large stones I did my soil so
great an injury that I was very glad to take the
trouble to put them on the ground again 1

Answer. I have heard of several cases of this
kind, and feel satisfied that the following is the
correct explanation. Your soil is of so very loose
a texture that everything which tends to diminish
the free access of air through its interstices, and
still more which prevents the direct heat of the
sun's rays from reaching the soil, and thus in-
creasing greatly the rapidity of the evaporation of
moisture, is of great service ; so that, in this case,
tho large stones act as so many natural shades
under which the soil continues moist and in a good
state for the roots of plants ; whereas if the stones
are removed, the soil dries so rapidly that the
plants invariably become parched, except in very
wet seasons.

3. Farmer. I have a field of very stiff clay, which
is so injured by surface-water that no pasturage
can be obtained upon it; from the extreme stiff-
ness of the soil, it would require far too many
drains for the value of the land, which is naturally
very poor. What can I do with it so as to enable
me to get tolerable permanent grass, without any
great expense 1

Answer. It is not very easy to give advice in your
case, if you are nnwilling to incur the expence of
thorough-draining, but I have seen the following
plan succeed very well in a similar case. Clean
the land well in autumn, and plough it as deep as
you can ; leave it in open furrow all winter, and
in spring ridge it up as high as possible, and having
well dressed it, sow down with barley and grass
seeds, choosing those kinds which are least injured
by moisture, as, Festuea duriuseula, Alopecurus
pratensis, Holeus avenaceus, Cynosurus cristatus, Poa
triiiulis, Lolium perenne, &fc. <Sfc.

By means of the high ridges you establish a
system of surface drains, and the result is, that in
very wet seasons the crowns of the ridges bear
very good grass ; whereas if the season is dry,
your stock will always find a good mouthful in the
furrows.

4. Farmer. I have been in the habit of using
bone-dust for several years back, and was for some
time exceedingly well pleased with the results, but
of late I have found it necessary not to trust to the
bones alone, but to feed off at least half my tur-
nips with sheep ; this, again, brought my land in-
to good condition, but after a few more rotations
I perceived my barley becoming lighter, and by
no means so certain a crop as it had formerly
been, and the same gradually took place with the
other crops, and now even the turnip has begun
to fail ; and 1 find that at present no plan I can
think of will enable me to raise as good crops, by
several tons, as I obtained when bones first came
into fashion. Can you give me a good explanation
of this ?

Answer. The cause of the above phenomenon is
to be discovered by examining carefully the con-
stitution of bone manure. From the exceedingly
small quantity, as compared with farm-yard dung,
which is applied per acre, and from nearly two-
thirds being composed of various inorganic con-
stituents, it follows that this manure does not add
much organic matter to the soil, and hence acts
more in the way of a stimulus, or rather it acts,
for the most part indirectly, by calling into activity
the organic matter previously existing in the soil,
and hence the constant use of the bones deteriorates
the soil. The reason why turnips were the last
crop to fail, is because, if this plant be stimulated
into good action at first, and made to increase ra-
pidly, it draws its nourishment chiefly from the
air, and becomes in a great degree independent of
the soil. The cure for your farm is to give up
bones entirely for a few rotations, and manure
heavily with farm-yard dung. When bones are
used, it is by far the safest plan to employ them
in every second rotation only, the intermediate
one commencing with potatoes instead of turnips,
and being manured with plenty of farm-yard dung.

These may be taken as an example of a few of
the numerous questions which science is already
quite prepared to answer, and we trust that we
have been enabled to point out that science which
has in truth effected as much as it could reason-
ably be expected to have done, in so short a time,
and under such peculiar circumstances.

2a

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON LEASES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Among the many agricultural matters now
under debate, there is one which appears to be
most warmly taken up by the one side, while the
opponents most coolly sit still, and offer a passive
but effectual resistance, without troubling them-
selves to give their reasons for it. I mean the sub-
ject of Leases ; and, as I have some little land to
let out, sufficient just to entitle me to make a fuss,
I do not see why I should not have my say as well
as another.

As far as I have heard of the arguments on both
sides — though I may not be very well informed on
the subject — the proposed advantages of leases are —
First. — The improvement of the soil, by enabling the

tenant to spend money on his farm.
Secondly. — The improvement of the tenant, by get-
ting a higher stamp of man, and making him more
independent of his landlord.
Thirdly. — The improvement of the landlord, by pro-
curing for him a higher rent for his land.
That all these are excellent ends, provided the
means be unexceptionable, I am ready to admit : but
let us just see first whether these ends are certain to
he obtained by leases ; and secondly, whether tbey
may not be obtained even more conveniently without
them.

The improvement of the land is certainly a point
of the greatest possible importance. It is a national
benefit, assisting both the manufacturer and the far-
mer, by increasing the produce for the latter, and
decreasing the price for the former. And generally
speaking, the soil is not to be greatly improved with-
out spending much money iu draining, increasing
farm buildings, making good receptacles for manure,
&c, etc. Nor can the tenant be expected to do this
without good security that he will be allowed to reap
the benefit of his outlay. But does the lease quite
secure him ? Twenty-one years is a long time.
Who will say that some alteration of the currency,
some admission of corn, cows, or donkeys may not
lower the value of land in the next twenty-one
years, as much as it has been lowered in the last
twenty-one? Where, then, is the tenant's security?
His landlord may lower his rent, and ought to do so,
and probably will ; but he may say—'' My good
tenant, suppose prices had risen, and your profits
and my expenses risen in proportion, would you
have paid me one shilling more rent 1 Of course
not ; then, as you are a man of substance (for of
course I should not have granted a lease to a poor
man), you will please to expend what remains of
that substance, after putting the farm in the highest
possible condition, in paying me an exorbitant rent."
Now, this may be hard in the landlord — may be un-
wise, impolitic ; yet he has some justice, and the
tenant has certainly no security. But is this the
only case in which a leaseholder may be thrown on
his landlord's mercy 1 May not a course of unlucky
seasons — a course of ill health, or even (for though
very clever fellows, farmers are still but men) some
unlucky speculations. Expensive drains put in
which do not draw, or do blow up — corn held back till
the prices have fallen — a building put up to last
twenty-one years, which only lasts seven. Farmers,
you will say, have no business to make such mis-
takes ; yet still farmers are but men. A few such
accidents may reduce a healthy and wealthy man to
a state very unfit to hold a large farm. But all his
money is laid out ; where is his security that his

landlord will even let him off his lease, if rents
have fallen at all — still less that he will pay him
back the money expended on his land. How, with
all these casualties, can you call a lease a very good
security for the tenant ? But, secondly, leases are
to improve the tenant, to improve his condition by
making him independent ot his landlord, and by
getting a superior class of man, more enlightened,
and with larger capital. Good ! Enlightenment
and capital are excellent things, no doubt ; but still
this seems but an Irish method of improving the
condition of poor Smith, who rents my land. I may
get farmer Jones, with a larger capital and a more
enlightened mind, but I do notimprove the condition
either of Smith or Jones. However, for the general
good, and for the improvement of the condition of
the tenant, Smith must take his four-horse plough
elsewhere, and Jones must bring in his gee-ho. If
prices rise, and all goes right, Jones is now inde-
pendent : he may snap his fingers at his landlord,
vote against him, destroy his game, quarrel with the
neighbourhood, and, in short, enjoy all the blessings
of independence which he could not have under a
good landlord and without a lease. But, on the
other hand, if prices, health, crops, or speculations
fail him, I can, if I please, ruin him. So, to benefit
my tenants, I begin by turning out old John Smith,
acd end by givingnewThomas Jones an even chance
of success or ruin. Hurrah for leases !

Now for the landlord's share of the improvement,
the third grand beneficial result of leases. For
the tenant, the lease is a speculation ; he may win
or he may lose ; he may be able to bully his land-
lord, or his landlord may be able to ruin him. But
for the landlord, the lease is a game on the very re-
verse of the old and pleasant rule — " Heads I win,
tails you lose." If prices rise, the landlord must
pay a higher price for wheat, oats, hay, &c, and get
no more rent. If they fall, he must lower his rent or
ruin his tenant. If the tenant fall into difficulties,
and be unable to keep bis farm, the landlord has
both trouble and loss in getting rid of a ruined man.
If the landlord get into some scrape, he must sell
his land to a disadvantage, as being burdened with
a lease. In fact, if any one thing change in this
mutable world, the landlord must lose.

But if these objections be made to leases, can we
hit upon any other system which will give us the
same advantages without the evils 1 Let us see.
The improvement of the land, I allow, is a sine qua
non : at all risks, at all inconveniences, this grand na-
tional point must he carried, and carried too to its highest
point. Let us, however, see if we cannot carry it by
other means less inconvenient to all parties. Sup-
pose I say to my tenant — " Smith, you shall not
spend a sixpence in draining or building ; I will do
the whole, and you shall pay me seven per cent, for
my money laid out in draining, and nine per cent,
on that employed in building. If you laid out the
money, having a twenty-one years' lease, you must,
in order to repay yourself principal and interest by
the end of the time, make ten per cent. ; and there-
fore, by my proposed terms, you will pocket for
yourself one or three per cent., as the case may be.
You will be called on for no capital — you will incur
no risk. If the drains or buildings fail, it may incon-
venience, but will hardly ruin me. Had you done it at
your own cost, and it failed to any great extent, you
would be ruined, or nearly so, and probably the land
would remain undrained till your lease expired. If
you build or drain, it is your interest to do so in the
cheapest way you can, so that it will last twenty-one
years ; if I drain, it is my interest to do it so that it

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

443

sliall last my grandson 'a. life, I will put it (o any-
one : when does h man build the most substantially,
and therefore in the end the most cheaply — when
he works on his own freehold, or on laud which he
holds on a lease, even though it be on a longer
lease than twenty-one years 1 Surely you must
allow that, as far as money goes, the land may be
more effectually improved by the landlord than by
the tenant."

But some object that the landlord, not being a
practical man, will not drain so well as the tenant.
I can only say, if the landlord has not studied the
subject, he can at least procure the advice of some
one who has done so, and can thus have the opinion
of the best farmer in the county — not instead of, but
in addition to, his own tenant's knowledge of the
subject. Surely this is rather an advantage.

But, again, I am told that a good tenant will have
a large capital, and in this case will have no means of
employing it. Now, I know not how it may be in
other counties, but in my neighbourhood I seldom
find farmers complain of having too much capital.
They usually like to take farms quite as large as they
are able to stock ; most of them, I fear, even a little
larger. I am often told that some new tool, some
addition of stock, some money laid out in the pur-
chase of manure, in addition to that made on the
farm, would pay good interest, but that farmers have
seldom quite capital sufficient for it; but I very
rarely hear one complain that he has so much money
that lie does not know what to do with it. I fear
that this excess of wealth — this plethora of purse —
is even more rare than we could wish it.

But still the landlord will have the power of
turning out his tenant at six months' notice ! True ;
but let me ask what landlord would do so without
some good reason ? I suppose, of course, that the
rent is fair and reasonable : if so, the landlord will
gain nothing by a change. If, indeed, the tenant
had laid out money in improvements, the landlord
might, most unfairly, raise the rents in proportion ;
but if the landlord has improved it, the rent has, of
course, risen, and the tenant is still the better for it.
If the tenant from any cause bt-comes careless and
slovenly, or, still worse, if he turn out a quarrel-
some, litigious fellow, that is a nuisance to the neigh-
bourhood (such characters, I own, are rare among
farmers ; but still they do exist) — if, I say, he turn
out such an one, the landlord turns oitt him, and a
good thing too.

But you will say, I should of course enquire the
character of a tenant before I let a lease, so that I
should have no danger of having a bad tenant ; while,
if I am a fickle, capricious landlord, I may subject my
tenant to great inconvenience and loss by turning
him out of his farm.

First, let me answer, how can I tell that the ac-
tive, steady, good-principled young man that comes
to me to-day may not, ten years hence, be drunken,
idle, and quarrelsome ? The chances will be much
against it ; but if he continue steady, he is pretty
well as secure as if he had a lease. For the second
question, can he not enquire my character as well as
I can his 1 and suppose either of us in ten years'
time have changed, it is better for both that we
should separate than that we should be bound to
quarrel on for eleven years longer.

A farmer, indeed, whom I met some little time
ago, told me — " I would not take a farm without a
lease, because I always lay out so much in manure,
that the land would be worth much more than its
fair value for two years after I left it, and I, of
course, ought to have the benefit of it." — " True,"

said I ; " but suppose, instead of a lease, we had
an agreement that there should be three years'
notice to quit, instead of six months." — " Oh," said
he, " that would suit me better than a lease." Now
this, with a good tenant, in proportion to the con-
dition of his land, 1 would never object to ; and I
think it might perhaps obviate some of the objec-
tions.

But there is one other point on which, perhaps, I
may feel more strongly than some others ; but still it
appears to me not an unnatural feeling. If I have let
my bit of land on a twenty-one years' lease, suppose
all goes right, suppose my tenaut prospers, suppose
he improves my land and secures my rent to me ;
still do I not lose the greater part of my interest in
that land ? At present, I like to live on my own
estate, to spend my money there, to do my best for
the benefit and improvement of the neighbourhood.
But if I have let it on a lease, for the term of that
lease it ceases to be mine. My rent, it is true, is
secure ; so would it be if my money was vested in
the funds. But were the latter the case, should I
take a pleasure, think you, in living opposite to the
Stock Exchange ? My tenant will no doubt let me
walk over my own land, and so will my neighbour
who holds the next property ; but with neither the
one nor the other have I any right to interfere. I
have a clause in the lease, giving me a right to shoot
over it : for a small sum I can have the same right
over a Norfolk manor or a Scotch moor, with ten
times the sport. My rents are secure. I can do
nothing by living on my own property. Why
should I not spend my spring in London, my sum-
mer in Scotland, my autumn in Norfolk, and my
winter at Melton : My lawyer collects my rents
from Gloucestershire, 'tis true ; but till the expira-
tion of my lease, I have nothing further to do with
my land.

Now, in my own case, this may not do much harm.
I may beofbut little use in the neighbourhood, though
let me be as idle and as stupid as I may, the mere
spending my money there must do some good ; but
remember, the plan, if carried out, would apply
equally to all landlords; and if the chairman of our
agricultural society, and the chairman of our far-
mers' club, had let all their land to good tenants on
long leases, and were gone to take a trip on the
continent, I doubt the farmers of our county being
greatly benefited by the change.

I happen, indeed, myself to have a few acres of
land near London, let out upon building leases of
ninety-nine years, more or less. My agent, of
course, collects my rents, and pays the money to my
bankers — and scarcely one of my tenants have I ever
seen. Why should I? lam nothing to them, nor
they to me, beyond the payment of so much per
annum. But do I feel thus towards my Gloucester-
shire tenants. I trust I neither do, nor ever shall.

I have indeed been told that I shall soon be unable
to get a good tenant without a lease — that the far-
mers are talking the matter over, and determining
together to take no farms without leases. Well, I
for one am not afraid of it. I have seen of late a
good many strikes, 'tis true, from the tailors to the
builders of the Houses of Parliament ; but I do not
fear that our honest farmers will follow the tailors
— even though they had not seen that every strike
which has yet been made has injured the strikers far
more than any else.

Is there, then, no case in which a lease should be
granted 1 Yes ; two or three. If a landlord have
no property except his land — if that land be all
entailed or encumbered, so that he cannot raise

2 g 2

444

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

money on a part to improve the whole — and if he
does not choose to lay by any part of his income for
such a purpose, then let him by all means grant
leases, and let him not complain of any evil to which
f|is determination, under such circumstances, to spend
is whole income, may subject him. But if he has,
°r can get, any ready money, ho cannot do better
than lay it out at good interest on his own land.

But another reason may exist : a man may have
an estate in a distant county, and not be able to go
to see it, or to find an agent whom he can trust to
manage it. In such a case it may be well to grant a
lease. But, were the case mine, I would first try
whether I could not spend part of the year upon that
property, and thus spend my rents on the neigh-
bourhood from whence they were drawn ; or
secondly, whether I could not sell it, and either get
four per cent, from the funds, or three per cent, and
the pleasure of an increased estate at home. I might
not be able to do either, and in that case I would
most probably grant a lease. But for my own
tenants, who are under my own eye, whom I am con-
stantly meeting, who know me, and whom I know,
I think they will not ask me for leases ; and unless
I am shewn some better reasons than I at present
know of, I will not turn them out to make way for a
new set, merely because the latter may have larger
capital. — I remain, sir, your obedient servant,

April 27. H. C.

HAIL STORMS.

tO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — I think it a part of the duty which man
owes to man, not only to render every assistance to
avert immediate and positive injury, but to give
warning of that which may by possibility happen.
Influenced by this motive, I wish to make known
through the medium of your journal to my brother
farmers, the narrow escape I and one neighbour have
experienced from the effects of a hail storm, which,
attended with the most terrific thunder, burst over
our farms, on Monday the 25th instant. Had this
storm happened in the months of June, July, or
August, I can safely affirm that two hundred acres of
our corn would have been completely destroyed, and
not worth the harvesting ; while our neighbours,
right and left, and within the range of three-quarters
of a mile, experienced no mischief, nor did a single
hail stone fall on their lands. It was fortunate for my-
self and the neighbour alluded too, that our wheat was
not very forward, otherwise it never could have re-
covered ; as it is, I fear loss must ultimately be felt.
The stems of the earliest, which were about four or
five inches high, were completely levelled with the
ground — precisely as it would have been by the
sudden bursting of lock-hatches in a canal — and the
stems, to the extent of one-third, were bruised as if
done by a heavy roller, when drawn across wheat
too late in the season. It is certainly wonderfully
recovered, as also the barley and oats, not one blade
of which in a drill the length ;of a whole field could
be found unbruised. These latter being just up,
the reproductive powers of nature will, 1 hope and
expect, restore to their proper place ; but under
such a storm, what would have been the effects in
the months I have mentioned ?

I am neither a shareholder or agent to the new
Insurance Company, otherwise the following fact
might smell a little of the shop. A gentleman of

high standing close by me was conversing in my
presence about a fortnight since, on the subject of
insuring against hail storms ; and on my informing
him that I had insured for the two last years, seemed
to insinuate that the act exhibited a little weakness,
for which he did not give me credit. I met him this
day, when the subject of the late storm came up
(which he had witnessed, and, I believe, experi-
enced in the shape of some broken hot-house glass),
and he declared himself an insurer at this time ; an
example I should recommend most earnestly all
farmers to follow, whose " all is in the fields."
Whitchurch, Yours respectfully,

April 29, 1842. J. T. Twynam.

BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF BRAN
AS MANURE FOR TURNIPS.

Sir, — A letter appeared in the " Farmer's
Magazine" of last year giving the analysis of bran,
(the husk of wheat^ and recommending the farmers
to try it as a substitute for bones and other manures ;
and when tried as an experiment in competition
with other manures, that the result of such experi-
ment should be reported through some of the
journals for the benefit of his brother agriculturists.
With this request I am willing to comply. After
losing two crops of Swedes successively in a field
that had been drilled with ashes, 1 noticed the letters
on this subject, and determined on drilling twenty-
five strikes per acre of pollard, (the finer portion of
bran) with the turnip seed over one-half of the
field ; the result proved that when the men were
put in to hoe the turnips, they fancied the field had
been sown at twice, and at an interval of two weeks ;
so great was the difference in the early growth — a
most desirable point, as it assists their getting out of
the range of the fly: this marked and sensible dif-
ference was always apparent throughout their
growth, and at the maturity of the crop. There was
as nearly as could be estimated an increased pro-
duce of one-third more in weight of turnips per acre,
which must have arisen wholly from the pcllard, as
in all other respects the field and its treatment were
alike.

The experiment has been to my mind so conclusive
and satisfactory, that I intend drilling some quantity
this year, and shall also try it with other crops
besides turnips where the land is not in high con-
dition. It can be easily carried back by tbe farmers
when delivering corn to their respective millers,
therefore without any cost or expense of transit; it is
now selling at about 41. 10s. per ton which is cheap
for the benefit received when compared with the cost
of bones, about 101. or 12/. per ton, and other fancy
manures at 201. or 301. per ton, which makes it the
more desirable. I would not recommend so much
as six cwt. being used to an acre, but any quantity
from six cwt. to five cwt. per acre, which would be
at a cost of manure of about ll. 2s. 6d. per acre for
on increase of one-third more in produce. Should
others follow, as I have done, the recommendation
given in the letters before alluded to, it would only be
fulfilling the duty we owe one another to report the
result, more especially if it should prove favourable
as in the above instance.

I remain, your obedient servant.

William Monk.

Midhurst, Sussex, April 14,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

445

ON THE
FIXED
REIN.*

ABOLITION
BRIDLE OR

OF THE
BEARING

There is much mismanagement and consequent
misery inflicted on horses through the force and
continuance of custom, habit, and prejudice ; par-
ticularly evinced by the use of the bearing-rein.

The editor is impelled by a wish to do good,
promoted by attachment to the horse, and com-
passion for that much abused and most cruelly-
treated animal ; influenced too, as he hopes, by a
sincere desire to serve and benefit the owners. It
is his object by what he trusts will be found sound
reasoning, to bring into disrepute, and (as soon as
may be) into disuse, that tormenting part of the
harness, the fixed bridle or bearing-rein.

It is a principle in mechanics, that whenever
agent or instrument suffers the least resistance
from restraint, friction, or other wear or tear,
will do its office with the most care, with the
greatest economy of time, and with the least ex-
penditure of strength or money ; and this whether
the agent or instrument be an animal, or a ma-
chine. Hence, to ensure the full exercise of an
animal's power in the safest and most easy way to
itself, we should be careful not permanently to
disturb its natural posture. The question to be
decided is, whether or not it is most judicious and
proper to give a horse the free use of his head, or
to prevent him from having that use.

It must be admitted that whenever a horse trips
or stumbles, nature prompts him to try to save
himself, and he instantly extends his neck and
head for the purpose as a man would his arms ;
this natural effort increases the animal's danger if
his head be at all confined by the bearing-rein, be-
cause the tug which he gives with his mouth, is
communicated to the harness upon his back to
which the rein is hooked, and the effect is the same
as if a man were with both his hands to lay hold
of the collar of his coat to save himself. To render
the bearing-rein or bridle of any utility in saving
an animal from falling, it should be of great
strength and substance, and fastened behind and
above, or it will be useless.

The dorsal muscles or sinews of the hack in all
quadrupeds run longitudinally or horizontally from
the head and tail, and those extremities are main
working powers — what the arms are to a walker
or labourer, the head and tail are to the animal ;
tie a man's arms to his side, and even a gentle
push or trip will throw him down. This is the
effect produced by the bearing rein. The horse's
head being fixed, he is unable to use it as nature
intended, and therefore if he trips or slide his head
is of no use. When horses stumble, they often
break the bearing-rein, and thns getting the head
free, are enabled to save themselves. We all know
that when a horse is down, the first thing done is
to" give him his head" that he may get up. We
do not mean to say that ahorse will never stumble
if worked without a bearing rein, because we know
that they sometimes fall whilst loose in the field ;
but we assert without fear of contradiction, that
the surest way to keep ahorse on hi* legs, is at all
times to give him the free use of his head. The

* Observations on the Effect of the Fixed Bridle,
or Bearing-rein, and a few words for the English
post-horse. — Thomas, Plymouth.

more he is crippled, the more he needs his head.
The bearing-rein may probably be of some use in
"breaking* a colt," and may, perhaps, help to
" get up his head" until ho has been " taught his
paces," but afterwards it can answer no end, except
souring his temper, making him jib, deadening his
mouth, wasting his strength, hurting his wind, in-
juring his sight, lessening his speed, abridging his
services, shortening his dags, throwing him down,
and breaking his knees ,• all these, it is fearlessly
asserted, proceed daily from the use of this cruel
appendage.

When running loose, the horse's neck is usually
extended as straight as his back ; in this manner
horses would generally work. It is the natural
position, and the nearer we approach to it the
better for the animal, for he is then at ease ; and
(though little remembered) his pulmonary action,
or breathing unimpeded. It is absurd to make a
bend or an angle, (if at all acute or sharps in a
water-pipe, or hose ; so it is absurd and cruel too
to bend back out of its natural line the windpipe
of the horse by the use of the bearing-rein. In the
former case a full volume of water cannot be ob-
tained ; in the latter the free breathing of the ani-
mal (so essential to its comfort, and even to its
life) is hindered.f Denied this maybe; disproved
it cannot. The effect of restraining ahorse by the
bearing-rein, is to prevent him from getting up to
the collar. If the bit is in the least degree affected
by the bearing-rein; in other words, if it is not
entirely loose in the mouth, the horse is checked,
and besides being kept from the full free exer-
cise of his strength, he is prevented from leaning
the weight of bis body into the collar.

We are aware that many who admit that bearing
reins are not safe, use them because they like to see
a horse look well, like to see him hold his head up,
Sfc. ; but a kind and humane man would not have
such foolish desires ; the care and comfort of his
horse would be his only object. The mischievous
effects before stated are often overlooked by many
to whom the use of the bearing-rein is as natural
as the saddle or any part of the harness. The
editor has often found very kind and respectable
men, wholly ignorant of the pain and agony which
their horses have endured.

There is one infallible proof constantly to be
obtained, of the cruelty of the use of the bearing-
rein, and of its injurious effects, though we believe
very few persons are aware of it. Whenever a
horse has been worked with a tight bearing rein,
the corners of his mouth become raw, inflame,
fester, and eventually the mouth becomes enlarged on
each side; in some cases to the extent of two inches.
Even before the bit has produced these visible
effects, if the corner of the mouth, under the bit
be touched, the animal will flinch as if from hot
iron. Let this be the sign with every master and
servant.

To what are these enlargements attributable ?
what causes them ? nothing but the friction of the
bit in the efforts of the horse to get up to his work.
How dreadful to see a horse heavily laden —

* It would be well if there were more colt bend-
ers— the temper of horses are not studied by the
generality of colt breakers ; horses' tempers vary as
much as men's.

-f- It is the opinion of many emiaent veterinary
surgeons, that " roaring" and blindness are pro-
duced in carriage-horses, and waggon-horses, by the
bearing-reins.

446

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

his neck bent into a perfect curve — his mouth
open — his eyes ready to start out of their
sockets. The ignorant, though perhaps not cruelly
disposed driver, looks on with admiration to see
how " handsome" his horse appears, and imagines
that the tossing head, open mouth, and gnashing
teeth are signs of game and strength, whilst on the
contrary, they are the most unequivocal evidence
of distress and agony. Let any one test the truth
of this by loosing the bearing-rein, and he will
immediataly find the horse go faster, keep his
mouth shut, and his head in one steady horizontal
positon.* A short time since the editor stopped a
waggon to look at the mouth of the sharft horse —
he found the mouth actually cut open by the bit at
least two inches on each side : the wagoner said
" he know.d it sure, 'twas the fair wear o) their n .'"
The man was open to conviction, and upon the
cause of this dreadful'punishment being shown he
altered the rein.

The propensity to jib if not actually caused, is
much increased by the bearing-rein. In ascending
a hill the freest horse may be compelled to stop
and refuse to exert himself, knowing that he can
put no more strength till the head is loose. A
short time since, in Southampton-street, Covent-
garden, the editor of this pamphlet saw a crowd
collected looking ata scavenger's cart, fully loaded,
drawn by an immense horse. The street is a mo-
derate ascent, and the horse had stopped just below
the top of the hill : the driver turned the horse
round down the hill, then up, and with his help-
mate very humanely assisted by pushing. The
horse, without being flogged or spoken to, went on
steadily with his very heavy load to about the place
he before stopped at, and again *' gave up : " he was
sweating much, and appeared to be a game good
horse. The editor went up to the driver and
advised him to unhook the hearing-rein ; the man
said, "it's nau use, I have turned him round three
times" — the editor said, " he must be a good horse
to take to the load three times," and pressed him to
unhook therein: the man replied, "the ause '11
fall down." The editor coaxed him to try, the rein
was unhooked, and immediately the horse took the
load from the spot where he stood : the man said,
"he never saud it done afore." It is not uncom-
mon for considerate drivers to unbear their horses
at the foot of a hill, which Is a very strong proof
of the folly of using the rein at all. It has been
and may again be advanced as a plea for its reten-
tion, that a horse after having been used to the
rein will miss it, and so be liable to fall if he trips
after it is taken off. A trial will prove that this is
not the result.

It is a common opinion that when a horse trips
or stumbles, it is the rider or driver who pulls him
up, by the sudden jerk or shortening of his reins,
and prevents an actual fall; hence the moment a
horse takes a false step, the rider or driver tugs the
rein with all his might. We frequently hear it said,
" the horse was going to fall, but I pulled him up!
I kept him on his legs!" As well might a fly

* The dray horses in London exhibit the most
painful examples of the cruelty of usin°- a ti°-ht
bearing-rein. Whether at work or standing they
will be found in continual torment— tossing their
heads, or resting the weight of them on the bit, and
so drawing hack the corners of their mouths, as
nearly to split the ligatures ;— at work, iusteacl of
going on steadily, they " bob" their heads, feeling
the check at every step they take.

resting on a coach-weel boast of its kicking up a
dust ; as well might a waggoner seated on the shafts,
think to pull up a waggon which had lost its fore
wheel. Such expressions are proofs of the igno-
rance of those who make them, because when they
became aware of the fact that the horse lias stum-
bled, the danger is over — the animal has recovered
itself, and their tug is useless. To help an animal
effectually there must be "where* to stand on,"
and both an arm and a rein strong enough. A
bearing-rein is fixed to the falling horse and falls
with him — it cannot save him ; it keeps a horse
from seeing and avoiding stones and other impe-
diments, it is a hinderance not a help ; an injury,
and not a benefit. If he falls with a bearing-rein
he must break his knees, or the rein, or its hook,
or the crupper; if he trips without one, and the
driver " gives him his head," by instantly slack-
ening the reins (what few inexperienced English-
men will either do, or believe to be judicious) the
creature is set at liberty, and will probably quickly
recover himself, unless receiving, as he is almost
sure to do, many heavy lashes. It cannot be sup-
posed that a horse stumbles willingly, therefore to
punish him for it is unjust, and only adds to his
fear.

It must not, however, be inferred that all who
use the bearing-rein approve of it. Servants when
men of humanity, experience, skill, and character,
are often found to admit its folly and uselessness,
but dare not lay it aside.

It is said that the ladies powerfully obstruct the
removal of this useless and injurious instrument.
It is hoped that the few who drive and the many
who keep their own horses, will give the best and
strongest denial to this scandalous imputation, by
immediately reprobating the use of the rein.
Could their poor horses answer the questions —
Why do you continually toss your heads when
standing in harness? Why do you stretch open
your mouths, shake your heads, and gnash your
teeth ? Why do you turn your heads back towards
your sides, as if looking at the carriage ? they
would answer — all, all this is done to get relief
from the agony we are enduring by having our
heads kept erect, and our necks bent by tight bri-
dles.

To ladies the editor would appeal with earnest-
ness. His heart has ached when passing the
horses of the nobility and others at the doors of
houses in London, to see the unceasing motion of
the heads of the poor creatures, the coachman
sitting at their case, perfectly unconcerned, and
often donbtless unconscious of the agonising pain
of the muscles and sinews of the neck the horses
are enduring. No humane person could knowingly
suffer such cruelty to be practiced. It is true that
to the eyes of ignorant people, horses tortured
with the bearing-rein look " very fine," but the
true connoisseur will never be pleased at such dis-
tortions.

England, where the best horses and the best
drivers are to be found ; England (it is said) is
the only country in which that bane of the horse,
the bearing-rein, is used ! In France it is not
used, and, as the natural consequence, horses in
that country seldom fall to the ground, or so as to
hurt themselves. At the very instant a horse
stumbles the French coaehman slackens the rein,
that the horse may save himself.

* Archimedes said," Give me a place to stand on,
and I will move the world."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

447

It is sincerely hoped that the entire removal of
this punishing bridle will be speedily effected by
tbe powerful aid of veterinary surgeons, by the
owners and drivers of private carriages, noble and
gentle, at once abolishing this useless, tormenting
appendage ; by the society for the prevention of
cruelty to animals lending to this good object their
aid unitedly as a body, and individually as mem-
bers ; by giving circulation in newspapers and
periodicals to the experience of the good effects of
going without them ; by the public patronising
those vehicles in which the servants do not use
the bearing- rein ; by humane travellers feeing well
those coachmen who in this respect obey the dic-
tates of humanity, sound policy, self interest, and
common sense. The editor is aware that no good
coachman would condescend to use bearing-reins,
and persons much accustomed to travelling, if they
see the horses come out with bearing-reins, imme-
diately conclude the driver is one of the old school,
or that he is not " up to his work ;" and they are
generally right, for it will be found that he is not
able to command his horses so well as the man
who drives without them. The least reflection
will show this must be so. If the horses have
beaiing-reins they lean their heads on them, and
the coachman's reins may be seen loose and dang-
ling on the horse's backs ; if on the contrary he
drives without, he has the horses in hand always,
and guides them as he pleases. This is more
plainly the case with post-chaise drivers and
hackney coachmen, whose reins are only used oc-
casionally when they have bearing-bridles, instead
of being always tight in their hands.

The effect of bearing-reins upon coach-horses
is shewn at every stage when the horses are taken
off. If they have bearing-reins they may be seen
tossing their heads incessantly, although jaded,
panting, and enveloped in steam : surely the poor
creatures would not thus exert themselves in a
state of great fatigue, if some greater distress were
not affecting them. It is the agony of the sinews
under the neck and throat, which being restrained
so long, ache as if a man's arm were to be kept in
a painful position. Horses which have done their
stage without the bearing-reins, when taken off
stand with their heads down, breathing freely, and
in comparative comfort. How often upon changing
horses do we see the kind horse-keeper of a stupid
bearing-rein coachmen instantly unbear his horses
and thus entitle himself from the humane travel-
ler to the fee which the coachmau had forfeited.
At the time this paper is being published, the editor
has remarked that bearing-reins are more used in
Bristol by coachmen, and more cruelly tightened
by carmen, than in any other place in the west of
England ; not only by carmen plying for hire, but
by the drivers of the splendid dray-horses which
are to be seen in that city.

With regard to the poor post-horse, the heart
of a humane man must bleed to think of his
misery; his work is never done: the innkeeper
has so many pair — if there be little work, they do
it — if a great deal they do it ; and it is notorious
that thirty, forty, nay fifty miles in the day, are
not at all uncommon journeys for the post horse
to perform. The gentry of England are surely
not aware of the dreadful cruelty practised upon
post-horses. On tbe continent the work of the
horse is regulated — as many persons, so many
horses ; but in England it is the common practice
to place a pair of horses, on one of which a post-
boy (generally a stout man) rides, and makes them

draw a heavy travelling-carriage, weighing from
15 cvvt. to 17cwt. — three persons inside, a rumble
with servants, and a cart-load of luggage, and with
this load they are driven eight or nine miles per
hour, instead of three and a-half, which would be
the fair pace. Surely the humane do this without
being aware of the misery they inflict, and the
cruelty ought to be prevented by the law. Inn-
keepers are continually complaining of the enor-
mous loads their horses are obliged to draw, and
that they are unable to prevent it. A common
travelling carriage, with luggage box, imperial
and five or six individuals, is always a load for
four horses, and yet we see rich people riding in
such carriages, drawn by one horse and half of
another, for to carry the post-boy is equivalent to
half the horse's power. Surely this subject well
deserves the attention of the hamane throughout
the land, and in conjunction with the abolition of
bearing-reins, will, it is hoped, be speedily ame-
liorated.

ON URINE AS MANURE.

Sir, — I have a cistern]wherein urine of all sorts
from other smaller cisterns is collected, and where it
remains perhaps a month, or more in accumulation to
be added to uell burnt lime fresh from the kiln, and
am apprehensive the property of the urine (ammonia^,
escapes by my manner of mixing it ; which is by-
measuring a bushel of lime in its caustic state and
laying it upon the ground, where it has a pail of the
mixture poured upon it. Another bushel is also
measured and wetted, and by this time the former
bushel has another pail put to it, two men working it
as mortar for a minute or more ; when it is laid aside,
the process being completed, and another bushel put
on the ground and wetted as before. By this time
the second bushel has imbibed the pail of mixture,
and has it repeated now, and worked as the former,
when it is thrown upon the first bushel ; and so with
every successive bushel amounting to two or three
hundred bushels, which may be sown the day after.
In mixing it, the ammonia — the property desired —
is, I fear, disengaged, from the scent arising there-
from, and by repeated unsuccessful trials which I
have made as a top dressing. I shall, therefore,
feel obliged by any communication to be corrected ;
for, having with success used salt and water instead
of the above, I imagine I am in error, and from
its volatility it is absent. Carb. of ammonia (lib. to
15 pails of water, salted so as to swim an egg) I have
made use of, and have discontinued it for the same
reason ; but salt and water I have used with sur-
prising effect, mixed with lime and sowed upon oats
in the partitions only of two rows, nine inches apart,
on ridges of three feet in width ; and also upon
barley drilled in tbe same manner, but with less
effect upon wheat.

Soot and water (one pint of tbe former to a pail of
the latter) loses in my opinion its fertilizing powers
also, from the absence ofammoniam mixing them with
lime.

I may be asked why I wish to substitute urine, or
soot and water, for salt and water 1 I answer, because
salt has such destructive powers that my carts,
waggons, &c, are, as I fear farming (experimental
farming) is, upon the decline.

In the hope of receiving imformation,

I remain, sir, yours, very truly,
April 18th, 1842. Amicus.

448

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FARMING IN RUSSIA.

(from the foreign quarterly review.)

In no country perhaps is farming carried on
upon so large a scale as in the Baltic provinces of
Russia. A rye field of 500 or 600 acres, or a mea-
dow of nearly as many thousands, is nothing
uncommon. On many estates will be found forests
of thirty or forty English square miles in extent ;
herds of cows are kept to supply milk and butter
to the family at the hof ; and the horses main-
tained for luxury and labour would suffice to mount
a squadron of cavalry. A hundred hands are em-
ployed where in England or Germany a dozen
would be thought amply sufficient. The building
of a house reminds a stranger of the life and bustle
of an ant-hill. Small and great, young and old,
men and women, all are busy hammering and
tearing away, till the new tenement stands com-
plete. If a wood is to be cleared, 400 or 500 work-
men turn out at once, chopping, and sawing, and
digging at the roots. At harvest time a hundred
scythes will be seen at work in the same field,
while a hundred pair of female hands follow to
bind the sheaves, and fifty waggons at a time may
be seen wending their way homeward with the
golden ears. Hay-making proceeds on the same
wholesale principle : it would sometimes be hope-
less to attempt counting the carts that come laden
from the marshes ; but often the hay is left on the
wet ground where it was cut till the winter snows
allow it to be carried home in sledges. The ste-
wards and superintendents, in the mean time, may
be seen cantering about on horseback, and direct-
ing the operations of the little army of labourers.
Where the drivers relax in their vigilance, the la-
bourers relax in their digilence. On the spot to
which the superintendent's eyes are directed all is
bustle and exertion— everywhere else the little
swarm are preparing for renewed efforts by a tem-
porary cessation from labour. Their implements
are rude and primitive. The harrow consists of a
few young trees fastened together, with some of
the stumps of the branches remaining; yet this,
according to their own account, answers better
than any of the improved harrows which some
proprietors have attempted to introduce from
abroad. The peasants, for the most part, receive
no payment for their labour. They are ordered
together when any work is wanted to be done, and
the sticks of the drivers are used with very little
reserve, where forcible arguments are thought ne-
cessary to overcome the natural sluggishness of a
slave. The law indeed has manumitted the serf,
and if he choose to quit the estate and carry his
labour to the nearest town, his landlord has no
power to prevent him ; but the majority must re-
main on the land, where they depend so entirely
on their landlord for subsistence, that their power
has been but little curtailed by the legal change in
their condition. " To see the merciless manner
in which the stick is used in the field," says our
author," one is tempted to wonder that Heaven's
blessing should be so richly bestowed on the la-
bour." The summers are short and warm, and the
corn ripens with astonishing rapidity. The green
plant that springs in May from the soil falls in
July already before the scythe. As an infinity of
work has to be done in a short time, day and night
are occupied alike, and with little intermission,
by the husbandman. The mowing, in the opinion
of most of the Livonian agriculturists, ought al-

ways to be done at night, when the damp dew
prevents the grain from becoming loose and falling
from the ear. It were a pity indeed to lose the
beautiful summer nights of a Livonian harvest,
when the heat of day is tempered, but by no
means subdued, whilst fields resound with the
songs of the women, and work of every kind goes
on more briskly than by day. The feast of har-
vest-home is celebrated at the hof by a banquet
to which the whole population of the estate is
summoned, when brandy and beer are supplied
without reserve, and the young peasants dance
away the night to the music of fiddles and bag-
pipes. On some estates, where the population
is counted by thousands, the festival assumes the
character of a fair, and no little preparation is
wanted to satisfy the appetites of so numerous an
assemblage of hungry guests. Oxen are roasted
whole, soup and porridge are cooked in boilers of
enormous dimensions, and potatoes, herrings,
cheese, apples, &c. are heaped together in huge
piles, that each may help himself to his own
liking. The peasants delight exceedingly in these
merry-makings, at which the character of the
people may be studied by a stranger with advantage
This feast is called Talkns by the Esthonhms, and
Vakhe by the Livonians. The etymology of these
words is of ancient origin. Talk signifies a labour
undertaken, not for wages, but for a feast — some-
thing like the " frolics" that occur so frequently in
the thinly-settled parts of North America. Be-
fore the conquest by the Germans, the original
inhabitants of these provinces were in the frequent
habit of calling their neighbours together to any
labour that required an unusual number of hands,
and the workmen, when the task was over, were
rewarded for their voluntary aid by a feast and a
dance. After harvest, there commences for the
agriculturist of these northern provinces an ope-
ration unknown to the farmers of the rest of the
world. Whether owing to the dampness of the
climate or to some other local cause, it is consi-
dered necessary to secure the rye by half-roasting
it. This is done in large buildings constructed
for the purpose, with stoves sufficiently powerful
to raise the temperature to 120 or 140 degrees of
Fahrenheit. This dries the corn effectually, facili-
tates the process of thrashing, secures the grain
against the attacks of the worm, and is supposed
to give to the rye of Riga that hardness and dura-
bility to which it owes much of the favour that it
enjoys throughout the mercantile world. This
custom, which dates back to the time antecedent
to the German invasion, must cost the land-
owners of the three Baltic provinces several mil-
lions of roubles annually for fuel and for the
building and repairing of the barns in which the
corn is dried. On a few estates English thrashing
machines have been introduced — on others im-
provement has reached only to the flail, which in
most parts of England is now discarded as out of
date; but in the majority the system of thrashing
is of a much more primitive kind, the operation
being performed by a huge roller, with projecting
pegs, which is dragged over the corn by horses.
In some places the corn is thrashed out simply by
horses, as in the Scythian steppes, and in some
even by men dancing about on the corn to the ac-
companiment of a vocal chorus. To separate the
corn from the chaff, the Livonian relies wholly
upon the winds of Heaven, and when these with-
hold their aid, the work must be postponed from
day to day till they relent ; this they are seldom long

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

449

in doing, for there are few countries more amply
supplied with windy weather of every variety.
During winter half the population is occupied in
the conveyance of goods of one kind or other. Corn
and timber are taken to the towns, and firewood is
cut and carried home. In summer many of the
forests are inaccessible owing to the marshy nature
of the soil, which must be hardened by the frost
before the workmen can venture upon it. The
snow, moreover, when it bas lain a few days, and
been beaten into a smooth mass by successive
sledges, presents a railroad, constructed as it were
by the hand of nature, over which the heaviest
goods may be transported with surprising facility.
A mild winter is therefore a real calamity to all
classes. The peasant can obtain no fuel for his
stove, and the landlord unable to send his grain to
Riga, sees himself deprived of his accustomed re-
venue. The inhabitants are indeed at the mercy
of every season, and if any one fails to perform its
expected work, serious distress is the certain con-
sequence. Should June be dry, the hay harvest is
certain to fail, and the cattle will then die
by thousands of famine in the ensuing win-
ter. Should spring be unfavourable to the
barley fields, hunger and want may be looked for as
inmates of the peasant's cottage, for his bailey
porridge is his daily meal, and it is only on few es-
tates that he has as yet been taught to provide
against its absence by planting potatoes, turnips
and other esculent roots. A failure of the rye-
harvest, however, is the crowning calamity — the
lawllord is then without money, and unable to
meet his engagements, and the peasant is often re-
duced to the last stage of suffering by the absolute
want of food.

REPORT

OF THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE FARM OF
SWELLHEAD, ON THE ESTATE OF K1NG-
CAUSIE, PARISH OF MARYCULTER, AND
COUNTY OF KINCARDINE.

BY JOHN B0SVVELL, ESQ., OF K1NGCAUSIE.

[Gold Medal.]
(From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture.)

To those who are acquainted with the north of
Scotland, particularly the counties of Kincardine,
Aberdeen, and Banff, it will be unnecessary to
announce that the country in its natural state is
either bogs or stone-covered muirs ; but to those
who have not visited that part of Scotland, it
should be made known, that no ground has by
nature a more poor and steril-looking surface, or
one more seemingly unfit for the purposes of agri-
culture; and yet such as have gone from Edin-
burgh to Aberdeen by the mail-coach road during
the last twenty years, must have remarked what
skill and industry can do in effecting a change in
so unpropitious looking a subject.

The farm of Swellhead, now under report, fell
out of lease at Martinmas in the year 1834, and
was taken by the reporter into his own hand. At
this period it was in all respects of the same cha-
racter and aspect as the surrounding country, the

greater part of it having been rented on a nineteen
years lease, at £52 per annum.

This farm consists of two slopes and two flats,
the slopes being full of stones and rocks, not only
in the shape of large boulders of gneiss or granite
but also an extraordinary quantity of smaller
stones, while the two flats were deep peat bog,
from four to nine feet deep, or wet quagmire.
The farm-bui!dings consisted of a few miserable
hovels, built of dry stone, with turf gables. The
stock it could keep was generally from twelve to
fourteen beasts of all sorts — cows, calves,and oxen,
with a couple of small garrons of horses. There
were no enclosures, no shelter, not a tree or a
bush. The cattle were either prevented from de-
stroying the patches of corn by s. filbert y gibbet of a
herd boy, or shut up in a fold, the fence of which
was a crooked " rickle dyke" (here to ruminate
on their starving condition). Thus with coarse
herbage for food, the cold blast constantly blowing
upon them, and wet under foot, they seldom ar-
rived at that pitch of fatness which excludes
cattle from a prize at a show of the Highland
Society ; they seldom appear to be over-fed !

The last year of the lease, the tenant, as is usual,
made every inch into crop, which he could plough,
or rather scratch, and this crop having been
bought by the reporter, proved to be nearly fifty-
two bolls. Thus the tenant paid £1 of rent for
every boll of grain he grew, and had a large tract
of pasture as his profit ; such was the state of the
farm at Martinmas 1834.

Having got possession, the first thing was to
plan out fields, roads, and plantations (for shel'
ter) , and all this was done, not in a land-surveyor's
office, with scale and rule, but on the ground,
with an eye to the convenience as to working
the lay of the ground, and, above all, the run of
the water, so as in every case to be able to keep all
surface or running water out of the centre of
the fields. These are fourteen in number, and
vary in size from ten to twenty acres, only one
being of this latter area. Open ditches, or (as
they may properly be termed) drippers, were then
cut, some of them to remain as sunk fences (the
boundaries of the fields) to convey water from the
adjacent hills, others to be from time to time con-
verted into main drains as the improvement of
the fields progressed.

Perhaps it would have been as well to have
allowed those ditches and cuts to have remained
in operation a year or two, to allow the bogs time
to consolidate previous to attempting any agricul-
tural operation ; but the reporter being anxious to
get on, commenced on the method he had chalked
out for the improvement of the farm, which was
to abandon the main body to rushes, " sprats,"
and heath, for grass it could hardly be called, and
to commence operations regularly from one side.

By the help of the new ditches, some paling,
and some of the old " rickle dykes," it was fenced
after a fashion. The reporter next availed him-
self of the suggestion of Mr. Dickson, in the
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, and sent to
Shetland for eighteen heifers to eat the herbage ;
these had a yearling short-horn bull put with
them, and it may here be stated that they produced
very fine and very hardy cattle.

The farmer's " best end" was converted into a
bothy, while the kitchen was made into a four-
stall stable, an inclined plane having been cut
under the door and away from it, to enable the
horses (with difficulty) to go in and out.

450

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Tt may here be right to notice that, from first
to last, every operation that could with propriety
be carried on by task work, was done in the shape
of contracts. There was a resident overseer, a
ploughman to each pair of horses, a cattleman, and
six to ten stout day labourers to load the heavy
stones, and to fill earth and dung; these, with
four to eight women to pick stones, &c. were in
the reporter's pay. From forty to fifty men were
generally at work for the contractors— these were
employed in trenching, draining, and building
dikes.

The farm lay desolate for six months during
the first winter; but spring having arrived, and
contracts entered into, trenching and draining com-
menced at the highest and farthest out part of the
farm, and this was done, that not only the im-
provements might sweep clear before them, but
that all the drains might be carried on going down
hill, and also that the overplus of stones not re-
quired, might always be carted down hill ; it must
be held in mind that the improvement of the high-
est slope and the first bog were carried on simul-
taneously ; the enormous quantity of stone dug
up in the slope furnishing material not only to
fence and drain Itself, but also to fence and drain
the bog, where, of course, no stone was to be had.

It would be not only tiresome but useless to
dwell on the improvement of the muirish part of
this farm, which is now so well known all over
Scotland, but particularly in the north, where the
operations of" trenching," fencing, and draining,
is every day work. The "trenching" was always
contracted to be 16 inches deep of soil left clear
of stones, and drains were made after the Dean-
ston mode, except that they were always cut with
a common spade a little wider at the bottom than
prescribed by Mr. Smith ; but the reporter would
particularly call the attention of the society to the
improvement of the bogs, which formed by far
the most arduous part of the improvement of the
farm of Swellhead. They were in such a state of
wetness, that they could no longer be used to dig
peats from, and were covered with old " moss
pots," in which stood green stagnant water, and
were altogether so soft that it seemed folly to hope
to cart heavy stone across them.

But the rills that trickled down from the sur-
rounding hills having been confined to the sunk
fences which formed the outside of each field, and
a strong and deep main drain being run up the
middle, they very soon got somewhat firmer, the
surface water having disappeared, and some main
arteries having been made to the lowest softest
parts, the hopelessness seemed to vanish, and the
operation of carting on clay commenced. When
the word clay is used, it must not be understood
to be clay properly so called, as very little of that
earth is to be found in the locality, but it was clay
mixed with sand or gravel, such stuff as could
be procured from the sides of the fields, excavated
earth of the sunk fences.

Peat-mosses and bogs being all composed of
vegetable matter, the main improvement must
ever be coating them over with some mineral earth
or substance, which may not only give the new-
made soil tenacity, and enable it to grow all sorts
of crops, but to allow the horses and carts to be
taken across it. To enable the horses to work,
roads were constructed by spreading a thick coat
of rushes or straw on the surface of the moss, and
then tilting cart after cart of clay on the rushes,
each load enabling the horse to proceed a couple

of yards farther, till the whole rushes were
covered. The carts then were taken to the extreme
point of this road, and continued tilting the loads
from the side of the road, enabled, by each load
being spread, to advance farther and farther into
the interior of the bog. The cartage (particularly
if the weather was at all damp) made those roads
soon get bad, and the poor horses had often hard
work to get through ; but by keeping a supply of
rushes at hand, another coat was given, and a few
loads of the most gravelly clay applied, the work
proceeded. The next thing was the drains. These
were all put down through the moss, a foot or
fourteen inches into the clay, and were all lined oft'
narrower or wider at top, according to the quantity
of moss which had to be cut through. This was
perfectly ascertained by means of a probe, a rod
of iron (like very strong iron wire) 12 feet long,
one end sharp, the other end turned round, like a
large ring, to hold a man's hand. The drains re-
quired to be cut with a very great " bevel" or
"bather," as the workmen call it; hence the
necessity of knowing the number of feet of moss
to be cut through. Sometimes they were taken
down two or three feet and left to drip, the stones
being sometimes carted to the side, sometimes put
down as near as the carts could approach : the
rest of the distance tbey were conveyed in barrows
by the women, wheeled on planks. But even with
all our precautions, sometimes when the men had
got down eight or ten feet, and they were just
about to quit the drain to allow it to be filled with
stones, in a moment it would collapse, hardly
giving them time to scramble out, covered with a
sort of black stuff of the consistence of gruel. The
work had to be done over again ; many times the
bottom stuff had to be taken out in buckets by a
person standing on the brink of the drain, with a
rope attached to the handle. The cutting of the
drain finished, great care was taken to sweep all
the mud — Scottiee, " glaur" — downwards to the
main drain, which was never filled till the side
ones had been completed. This operation was
performed by a workman putting his breast to a
handle stuck in a Brobdignag heather-besom, made
to fill the widtli of the drain, pushing all before
him. As quick as possible the stones were put in,
neatly levelled, a thin heathy twrf, cut from the
neighbouring hills with a" flautcher spade," put
on the heath-side next the stones. The moss was
then replaced, and clay put on the top of all.
These drains were very severe on the horses em-
ployed to plough the ground : they were a sort of
traps, into which they went, crossing the field.
To obviate this, much clay was put on them, and
young oxen were brought in halters, and forced to
walk up and down them to bring them to bear the
horses.

The reporter has found that very stoat, what
would be called heavy, horses are much the best
to work in the bogs ; little horses always scram-
ble and get the deeper. Carts ought to be as light
as they can possibly be made, and ploughs the
same — of course very light loads ; no belly-band
should be used, and generally no breeching. The
draining being now all over, the peat pots were
filled up from the overplus of the drains by barrows,
the water having been let out of them by nicks
cut {to the nearest drain. The whole surface of
the field was made as level as possible, and re-
mained all winter, to be acted upon by the frost,
and come to a bearing.

In the year 183(5, the reporter erected a large

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

451

steading of modern farm-offices in the centre of
the farm, making use of larch-timber steeped in
lime-water, according to the plan recommended to
the reporter by Mr. Monteith, of Closeburn, the
covering being blue slate. A thrashing mill of
six-horse power was also put up ; it is driven by
water, of the best construction, the corn passing
through three pair of fanners, and being measured
up ready for market from the mill. The water-
wheel is fourteen feet diameter, the contract price
of the whole being 120/. The mill pond was cut
out of the solid ground, which gave a large supply
of clay to put on the bogs.

But it was not until the year 1839 that the im-
provements could be carried on with any sort of
energy. The first improved fields had then become
productive ; there was food for man and beast, and
houses to put them in. After the steading was
erected, the horses were increased to four pair,
and in 1839 to five pair. The reporter would re-
mark that no hired labour was used, a few yokings
to finish sowing of oats or turnips excepted ; the
whole enormous cartage of stone, clay, and earth,
as well as lime and police-dung from Aberdeen,
having been performed by his own horses.

Since the year 1839 up to the date of this report,
every portion of the farm has been gone over, i. e.
trenched where necessary, drained (generally 18
feet apart), fenced and put through a rotation,
beginning with oats. A small quantity of police-
dung was ploughed in after the stones had been
removed. Next year it was made into turnips,
with 20 bushels of bone-dust per acre ; and the
following year 10 tons of farm-yard and police-
dung mixed were laid on each acre, and it was
sown out with oats and grass-seeds. Several ex-
periments were tried as to the utility of lime, par-
ticularly on the bogs, to which were applied from
120 bushels per acre to 260 ; when it was found
the larger the quantity the greater the advantage
in all the crops, grass included. The dry or sloping
ground has not been all limed, such of it as has
been gone over got at the rate of 60 bushels per
acre.

It now only remains for the reporter to sum up
as to the present state of the farm in regard to
productiveness. Last winter there were about 60
head of cattle tied up to full turnips, the half of
them being fed for the London market ; the quan-
tity of grain was 369 quarters of oats, and 42 qrs.
of barley. There is a popular error that improved
bogs cannot be made to grow corn of good quality.
The reporter may mention, that some of the oats
grown on the improved bogs of Swellhead weighed
441bs. per bushel ; they were of the new sort
called " Scott's barley," and were sent as seed to
England. This year there are 2538 thraves of
oats ; and tbe sheaves being very large, the quan-
tity of grain ought to he considerably increased as
compared with last year. There are about 45
acres of good turnips, so that the same quantity
of cattle will be tied up as last winter, and there
is not at the present moment a wet spot or a weed
on the whole farm. The reporter conceives the
farm to be now worth 500/. per annum. The total
outlay having been, from first to last, about
5400*.

It requires to be explained, that in the 280 acres
stated as improved, is comprehended a portion of
the farm of Whitestone, which marches with the
farm of Swellhead. It fell into the hands of the
reporter at Martinmas 1839, and has been im-
proved since that period, but the number of the

fields, viz. 14, and the value of the farm, viz.
500/., refers solely to Swellhead.

Statement of Improvement on the farm of Swell-
head, as narrated in the above Report.

DRAINS.

1834.

. . . 6672 yards

1835.

... 1686 ..

1836.

. .. 7699 ..

1837.

... 5844 ..

1838.

...28710 ..

1839.

. . . 8326 . .

1840.

• • • yoo z • •

1841.

. . . 10856 . .

79,425 yurds, at from2£d. to 4d. per yard.
These drains were all filled with stone, the small
ones at the rate of a cart-load (broken) to 6£ yards
of drain; the main drains,' built of rough stone, with
sides and cover, might be a cart-load to two yards of
stone.
Open cut for water, not covered

or built 1452 yards at 8d.

Sunk fences to contain water —

1835 1631 yards, at 8d. per yard.

1836 778

1837.... 998

1839. . . . 1231 . . shod with stone at Is. per yard.
1841 723 .. at 8d. per yard.

5361 yards.
Stone-walls with stone-copes —
1835.... 452 yards.

. from7d. to 8d. per yard.

1836.

... 209

1837.

... 528

1838.

... 885

1810.

...1325

3399 yards.
Stone-walls built with lime, 461 yards.
Trenched to 16 inches deep of loose earth —
1834. ... 4\ acres.
1835.... 15
1836.. ..27
1838 25

7l£ acres at from 10/. to 15/. per acre.
Stones bored and hlasted during the 7 years, 11,871

feet, at 6§ per foot.
About 100 feet, with large jumper, of which part

were done by day's wages, when done by foot, Is.

per foot.
New roads, metalled 10 inches deep 10 feet wide,

at Is. 6d. per yard, 840 yards.

New Steading — 1836.

£ s. d.
Mason, carpenter, slater, and plasterer

work, by contract 700 0 0

Wood furnished in the rough value.. 200 0 0

Cartage of all 150 0 0

Thrashing-mill cast-iron water-wheel,

14 feet diameter, 3 pair of fanners.. 120 0 0

1170 0 0

The number of horses to perform the cartage of
stone, earth, clay, dung, and lime, with the day's
wages of the men employed to fill the carts, form
the great expense of improving this farm, which
cannot well be put down under any particular
head.

Kingcausie, Oct. 15, 1841.

452

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE FARMER.

No. 6.
On Hill or Sheep Draining.

Sir, Although your last magazine contains so

many articles and opinions on draining, that the sub-
ject might almost be considered as drained dry, I
must be°- to add one more. Your correspondent,
" Agricultor," in page 379, very properlv insinuates
that every one has bis system, which is often no sys-
tem at all ; and therefore it becomes impossible to
lay down rules that can become generally useful,
owing to the variety of soils, the difference of situ-
ations, and the vicissitudes of weather. The ob-
servations of" Agricultor" are judiciously written,
and well deserve attention. I now proceed to my
own hints, trusting they may be useful to some.

The life of a shepherd is generally considered to
be rather an easy one, and though sometimes stigma-
tized as lazy and idle, the go d shepherd is never de-
void of care; yet the sameness of his employment
may be varied with advantage to himself, and much
more so to his flock. In running after the stray
sheep and lambs to bring them back to their proper
sheep-walk, the shepherd is frequently annoyed with
the bcs and wet ground he has to cross, and those
in some places so soft, that he cannot get over, and
must go a e;reat way round ; while so doing the
sheep get a^long way off, or get into the bog, and
thus become very troublesome to get at, with a
chance of the sheep being injured, and the loss of
the shepherd's patience. A great deal of the diffi-
culties before enumerated, might be avoided by a
little lab®ur and proper management.

The first thing recommended is the forming of
sheep-drains, which are made in the following man-
ner.

On the sides of hills, or any uneven ground, make
your drains about a foot in depth, and about eigh-
teen inches wide, and the sod that is cut from the
surface placed carefully on the lowest side and bot-
tom of the drain close together, and give the drains
a gentle run towards the place into which they are
to discharge themselves. This plan may be adopted
oa any high ground, or the tops of hills, where the
surface is uneven ; but if there should be a great
discharge of water, it would be advisable to dig a
gutter in the bottom of the drain or trench, and fill
it up with loose stones before you put the sods down,
that the water may run off under the sods, thus leav-
ing the trench dry for the sheep and lambs to shel-
ter in foul weather. If the land admits the cutting
the trench wider and deeper than the prescribed di-
mensions— all the better ; it would then form a safe
and necessary shelter for the sheep in the lambing
season.

Where there is any boggy ground in a hollow,
search out the wettest part, which is always the
lowest ; there dig a pool ; by taking out the turf you
make room for the water, and thus lessen the water
in the bog. If your pool is large enough, you may
dig out a few gutters in the bog to lead the water
to the pool, and by degrees you may drain the whole
bog ; many an acre of wet useless ground has been
recovered by this practice. Another great advan-
tage resulting from making sheep drains is, when
the "round is properly drained, the sheep are not so
liabfe to the destructive diseases called the rot and
the foot-rot, both of which sheep are very subject to,
if pastured in wet or boggy ground.

In the next place, as the hills and high grounds
where sheep are generally pastured, are very bleak

and cold, it is desirable to provide as much shelter
for them and the shepherds as possible ; there is not
a shepherd on the hills but is always glad to get shel-
ter from the cold winds and storms. To obtain this
desirable object, make a bank of sods and earth, or
stones and earth, or a dry stone wall, in the form of
a cross, thus : —

with the openings to the cardinal points, thereby af-
fording shelter in three different ways, let the wind
blow from whichever point it may. The sheep will
soon find out the warmest part, and if the banks or
walls are carried out a considerable way, and made
about four or five feet high, the grass in the neigh-
bourhood will improve and increase in quantity from
the droppings of the sheep and the shelter. If this
plan, which is adopted on some of the hills in Wales,
was to become more general, our shepherds and our
sheep would soon find the benefit arising therefrom.
May, 1842. Delta.

MANURE AMONG THE CHINESE.

In arranging the various classes of the people,
the Chinese place the literati in the foremost
rank, as learning is with them the stepping-stone
to honour; but immediately after the learned the
husbandman takes the precedence of all others,
because being engaged in raising the necessaries
of life, he is abundantly more important than the
mechanic, who merely changes the forms of mat-
ter— and the merchant, who originates nothing,
and only barters and exchanges commodities for
the sake of gain. This honour put upon agricul-
tural employments is evidently the result of de-
sign, and shows that the country, being over-
stocked with inhabitants, needs cultivating to its
utmost extent, in order to provide the people with
sustenance. The industry and skill of the
Chinese, striving to produce as many of the neces-
saries of life as possible, would also argue a dense
population, ever struggling against threatening
want, and compelled to exert themselves for their
daily bread. In tropical climates, where the ground
is fertile and the population scanty, the natives find
that, by a few months' labour, they can produce
sufficient food for a whole year's consumption,
and are therefore indisposed to exert themselves
further. But in China, the inhabitants are inces-
santly employed, and every individual is obliged
to be busy in contributing his quota to the com-
mon weal. Every one in the least acquainted with
the manners of the Chinese, knows that they are
untiring in their exertions to maintain themselves
and families. In the business of agriculture they
are more particularly active, raising two crops
from the ground every year, extending their cul-
tivation in every possible direction, and bringing
the most unpromising spots into use, in order that
nothing may be lost. Their skill in effecting these
objects is not, considering their few advantages,
contemptible. They thoroughly understand the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

453

importance of varying the crops ; they know per-
fectly well the seasons and soils adapted for
certain productions ; and they are fully sensible
of the importance of manuring the ground, in
order to maintain its fertility. A stranger is struck
with this on first setting his foot on the shores of
China. Almost every individual met with in the
paths and fields is provided with a basket and rake ;
and every evening the cottager brings home a cer-
tain quantity to add to the dung heap, which is a
most important appendage to every dwelling.
Having but few sheep and cattle, they are obliged
to make the most of the stercoraceous stock of
men and swine. This is carefully collected, and
sold at so much per pound ; while whole strings
of city scavengers may be seen cheerily posting in
the country every successive morning with their
envied acquisitions; little heeding the olfactory
nerves of the less interested passengers. Every
other substance likely to answer the end is
anxiously collected, and carefully disposed so as
to provide for future exigencies ; such as decayed
animal and vegetable matter, the sweeping of
streets, the mud of canals, burnt bones, lime; and
what is not a little singular, the short stumpy hu-
man hair, shaven from millions of heads, every
ten days, is industriously gathered up, and sold for
manure throughout the empire. In the high im-
portance placed on stercoration in China, we see
an illustration of that passage in 2 Kings, vi. 25,
that when there was a great famine in Samaria,
"the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung was sold
for five pieces of silver." — Madras Almanac for
1841.

ON DRAINING.

Sir, — The observations of " Not an Upright
Drainer," in your Magazine of last month, are so
in accordance with the practice of this neighbour-
hood, that I cannot but think him right in his
opinion that cross-drains are preferable to the
" up-hill system," so ably descanted upon by your
correspondent Mr. Rothwell. One great disad-
vantage in furrow draining is, that in a wet sea-
son, when ploughing for the wheat crop, the
horses would be frequently breaking into the
drains, and where tiles had not been used, go a
great way towards blocking up the same ; but as
Mr. R. very justly observes, no system can be laid
down to suit all soils, and I think no operation in
farming has such a variety of opinions as
draining. I have used tiles in some instances (the
same having been found me bymylandlord),but am
not so positive of their being preferable to anything
else as some of your correspondents ; and I have
one brother tenant who says he would not use
them unless they were carted into the field for
him. In one instance I found, in breaking into a
drain done with tiles, that though but four years
had elapsed since they had been laid in, the cavity
was completely filled with sand. This was upon
a piece of land of a loose spongy nature, with but
little fall. This has rather prejudiced me against
their use, preferring wood or bushes with a little
furze upon the top, laying the bottom soil or
spade flat upon them : by this method, I think,
upon most of our heavy lands in Suffolk, drains (if
carefully done) will be found to stand for many
yearst

I am, Sir, yours truly,

Willingham, April 22nd, 1842, C. Gibson.

PROLIFIC BARLEY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Having seen a paragraph in the Mark Lane
Express, of the 24th February, 1840, headed " Ex-
traordinary Prolific Barley," I was induced to
make inquiries respecting it, and, if possible, to pro-
cure some of the seed.

With some difficulty I obtained two bushels,
which I drilled in rows 9 inches apart, on 1 acre
27 poles of land. It came up remarkably well, and
as a proof of its luxuriance of growth, soon covered
the ground as thickly as some American barley,
sown on the same description of soil, after the rate
of four bushels per acre.

The produce at harvest was carefully put by itself,
and when threshed yielded 11 quarters 1 gallon, of a
very superior quality. The weight of the straw was
2 tons 8 cwt. 1 quarter, and the chaff and caving
8 cwt. 2 quarters 24lbs.

In the spring of 1841, in consequence of numer-
ous applications, I spared small quantities of the
seed to a few farmers, practising agriculture on a
large scale both in this and the adjoining counties,
thinking it would then have a fair trial on a variety
of soils, and feeling interested to know the result of
any experiments that might be made in comparison
with other sorts.

In one instance it was sown with three other kinds,
and in another with five, viz.: Chevalier, Annot,
Scotch, American, and Naked Barley, and proved
itself clearly to be very superior to all, both in
quantity and quality.

It is considered (and with truth), by all who have
given it a trial, to be well worthy the attention of
agriculturists generally; possessing, as it does, such
great advantages over other varieties, as regards the
small quantity of seed requisite per acre, its supe-
rior productiveness at harvest, and the line quality of
the grain for malting purposes.

The insertion of this in the pages of your valuable
Magazine, will much oblige,

Your very obedient servant,

W. Chillingworth.

Cuddesden, near Wheatley, Oxon,
February 23rd, 1842.

INCOME TAX— FARMING
CAPITAL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

Sir,— You have very ably exposed in your journal
the unjust operation of the income tax, under schedule
C, in the funded securities, and how much more se-
verely it falls on the holders of terminable annuities than
of permanent stock. Permit me now to call jour at-
tention to its effect on the agricultural interest by the
mode of its imposition under schedule B.

Nothing can be more erroneous than the principle
upon whicb the income tax is applied to the profits in
agriculture. It is proposed to estimate these profits ge-
nerally at half the amount of rent paid by the farmer,
a scale most unequal in its operation, and by which a
much heavier amount of taxation will fall upon the
tenant of rich than of poor soils. The party who sug-
gested this plan must have been totally ignorant of the
nature of rent, oi he never could have assumed that on
every discription of land it bears the same proportion
to profits.

The rent paid in land, according to Mr. David Ri-
cardo, is the difference between the quantity of produce

454

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

obtained by the employment of the same amount of
capital and labour on soils of different degrees of fer-
tility—the last and worst land taken into cultivation,
which merely makes the ordinary return of profit on
capital, determining' the amount of rent on each superior
description. Thus, suppose there are six varieties of
land— A, B, C, D, E, and F— upon each of which an
equal amount of labour and capital is employed.

A; the most fertile, produces 200 quarters of corn.
B, the next „ 180 „ „

C „ >» I60 » »

D „ »» I40 » »

E „ » 120 „ „

F „ » 100 „ „

If the demand for corn be such that all these soils are
taken into cultivation, A will pay a rent of 100 quarters,
B of 80, C of 60, D of 40, E of 20, and F will pav no
rent, or merely a nominal one, although each of them
will make precisely the same amount of profit on capita),
and should be equally taxed. If the tenants who hold
these different descriptions of soils have a sufficient
quantity of land, so that the amount of the rent they pay
brings them within the operation of the law, it will be
seen that A will have to pay £ more than B, £ more
than C, and so on, while F, which is cultivated at no
rent, or merely a nominal one, will be entirely exempt
from tax.

Let us assume that a quantity of the first class of land
A be rented equal to the production of 2,000 quarters of
corn, and the inferior classes in relative proportion,
taking the price of corn at 60s. per quarter, the fol-
lowing will be the result : —

Qrs. Qrs. Qrs,

A produces 2,000 retains 1,000 pays rent 1,000

B „ 1,800 „ 1,000 „

C „ 1,600 „ 1,000 „

D „ 1,400 „ 1,000

E „ 1,200 „ 1,000

F „ 1,000 „ 1,000 „

Now, although the amount of labour
employed in each description of land be
the profit derived from it precisely the same, the tax
will fall in very different proportions.

£.
A will pay on 1,500 (£ his rent) 7d. in the pound
B do. 1,200 do. do.

C do. 900 do. do.

D do. 600 do. do.

E do. 800 do. do.

This clearly proves the inequality of the tax, and
were it to be permanent, its tendency would be to
diminish the rent on the better and increase it on the
poorer soils. Whether this was the object of the
minister in the plan he adopted does not appear ; it
would rather seem that he proposed it in entire igno-
rance of the mode of its operation, or the effect it might
produce. Its purpose is evidently to favour the agri-
cultural interest, as its operation will exempt a large
portion of the capital employed from any tax at all.
I am, sir, your obedient servant, S.

800
600
400
200

per qr. d£ .

..at 60s... 3,000
2,400
„ 1,800
„ 1,200

„ 600

t»

and capital
equal, and

or

£. I.

43 15
35 0
26 5
17 10
8 15

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK
LANE EXPRESS.

Sir,— I have just read in your paper of the 18th, " A
Conservative's" admirable letter, which might I think
easily open Sir R. Peel's eyes were it not that the mass
of our county members are doing all they can to keep
them shut. For my own part, my fingers are wearied
with writing, and my tongue tired of explaining and
proving to my M.P. friends, the certain ruin about to
fall upon the agricultural interest from the new mea-
sures in favour of the foreigner. One and all reply,
"There is no danger. We get all the meat now that
ever we shall get, except, perhaps 7000 head of live
cattle, which is not worth mentioning." I am sorry to
say that I am deeply engaged both in grain and grazing

farm?. From one of the latter I sell annually about
1000 three year old Cheviot wedders. Last year I sold
them for 24s. each. They would probably average 60
lbs. each off ihe hill, when sold, od. per lb.

Sir R. Peel comforts the consumer by leading him
to suppose that there will be a great reduction in the
price of meat. I say the reduction will be less than 2d.
per lb.; and my M.P. correspondents say it will only
be £d. — say it is only Id., this alone will nip 250/. off
my returns yearly. Will Peel, or any of your readers,
believe that I can lose this sum on a farm rented at 300/.
a-year, and pay wages, interest to bank on my capital
sunk in stock, and all the innumerable items unavoid-
able on a sheep farm, and have a balance over to pay
rent with ? If they do, all I can say is, that when they
come for the income tax slice, they will ask often before
it is forthcoming.

Sir, you and your readers may believe it or not as you
like, but I am no young farmer, and I assure you and
them, that the proposed tariff if passed into a law, will
as assuredly, and immediately, and utterly, bankrupt
Scotch sheep farmers as it will assuredly benefit the
foreigner. I could easily give you details of sheep
farming to prove this, but I am sick — heart sick of the
subject. Our only hope now is in the Duke of Rich-
mond. May God give him wisdom and the power to
befriend the Highland Sheep Farmer.

Rosshire, April 21.

We have always contended, and still do con-
tend, that demand will create supply wherever
there are the means of producing the article re-
quired. This rule will be as effective when ap-
plied to foreign countries, taking distance and
facility of conveyance into consideration, as it is
to one part of the United Kingdom compared with
another. The following table shows to what an ex-
tent an increased demand, and improved means of
intercourse by steam, has improved supply from
one place in Scotland : —

RETURN of Live Stock, Fresh and Cured Meat, shipped at the Port
of Aberdeen, for the period from 1st July, 1833, to 30th June,
1841, distinguishing the quantity in each year respectively.

Tons

Pickle

Pork.

o

r— 1

. to

OOMOllOMe*
O CN O —• O •-" <^0

■-^i-<"cfcfrH'c?ef{o

<£>

m

■*«
to"

No. of

Sheep

and

Lambs

o
CN

O0*

Tons
Fresh
Beef.

• • . . • CO lOOl
O CO Ol

Jt>.

No. of

Live

Cattle.

iou)coH(()incico

•*HOOCO**lO

cn m co tC us rC to to"

CO

to"

fa

03
Hi

July 1, 1833, to June 30, 1841 .
„ 1834, „ 1835 ...
„ 1835, „ 1836 ..
„ 1836, „ 1837 ..
» 1837, „ 1838 ..
„ 1838, „ 1839 ..
„ 1839, „ 1840 ..
„ 1840, „ 1841 ..

We hold that the same rule will apply to the
continental ports, and that under the proposed
law the effect will be similar.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

456

MANURES.

Under the name of Geine the American editor of
Liebig's Organic Chemistry comprehends " the
mass of nutritive matter which soils and composts
afford." ]n this sense it has a much more exten-
sive signification than humus, and may be consi-
dered equivalent to " organisahle matter," a favourite
expression of the late Mr. Knight, and to our cars
much more agreeable than geine. Concerning the
mode of preparing a solution of this geine and its
effects, we have the following information : — Boil
one hundred pounds of dry, pulverised peat with
two and a half pounds of white ash (an article im-
ported from England), containing 36 to 55 per cent,
of pure soda, or its equivalent in pearlash or potash,
in a potash kettle, with 130 gallons of water ; boil
for a few hours, let it settle, and dip off the clear
liquor for use. Add the same quantity of alkali
and water, boil and dip off as before. The dark-
coloured brown solution contains about half an
ounce per gallon of vegetable matter. It is to be
applied by watering grain crops, grass lands, or in
any other way the farmer's quick wit will point out.
In the month of June, I prepared a solution of
geine (says Mr. Nichols,) obtained, not by boiling,
but by steeping the mud as taken from the meadow
in a weak lye in tubs. The proportion was about —
peat lOOlbs., potash lib., water 50 gallons, stirred
occasionally for about a week, when the dark-
brown solution described by Dr. Dana was dipped
off and applied to some rows of corn, a portion of a
piece of starved barley, and a bed of onions sown
on land not well prepared for that crop. The crop
of barley on the portion watered was more than
double the quantity both in straw and grain to that
on other portions of the field, the soil and treatment
of which were otherwise precisely similar. In June
four rows (of the onions) were first watered with the
solution of geine. In ten days, the onions in these
rows were nearly double the size of the others. All
but six rows of the remainder were then watered.
The growth of these soon outstripped the unwatered
remainder. Eventually the whole piece was wa-
tered with the solution, excepting the ends of some
of the rows, which produced only very small onions ;
and had it not been done, Mr. Nichols believes that
not a single bushel of a good size would have been
produced. The onions when measured, making
ample allowance for the tops, which had not been
stripped off, were adjudged equal to four bushels
to the square rod, or at the rate of 640 bushels to
the acre." Dr. Dana, the author of the foregoing
extract, differs from Berzelius in his opinion that
lime and ashes act alike as converters of mould into
soluble matters which serve as food for plants. He
" considers the practice of mixing lime with peat
as the worst that can be followed, because a com-
pound is formed of little solubility, viz., geate of
lime. He recommends the ley of wood-ashes, which
gives a dark-brown solution, the alkaline proper-
ties of the lime are neutralised, and a large quan-
tity of water is absorbed." In another place we
find the following interesting statements regarding
the mode of rendering pent useful as a manure : —
" According to Dr. C.T. Jackson, a compost made
of three parts of peat and one of stable manure is
equal in value to its bulk of clean stable dung, and
is more permanent in its effects. Dr. Jackson deems
it essential that animal matters of some kind should
be mixed with the peat, to aid the decomposition

and produce the requisite gases. Lime decom-
poses the peat, neutralises the acids, and disengages
the ammonia. The peat absorbs the ammonia, and
becomes in part soluble in water. The soluble mat-
ter, according to Dr. Jackson, is the apocrenate of
ammonia ; crenate of ammonia and crenate of lime
being also dissolved. With an excess of animal
matter and lime, free carbonate of ammonia is
formed. The peat should be laid down in layers
with barn-yard manure, night soil, dead fish, or any
other animal matter, and then each layer strewed
with lime. In Dr. Jackson's report, he has pre-
sented highly valuable results from the use of this
compost, which deserves the attention of every
agriculturist. He gives the following details of the
manner in which the compost was prepared upon
the farm of Mr. Sanford, near the village of Wick-
ford, in North Kingston. ' In the corner of the
field a cleared and level spot was rolled down smooth
and hard, and the swamp muck was spread upon it,
forming a bed eight feet wide, about fifteen or twen-
ty feet long, and nine inches thick. For every
waggon-load of the muck one barrel of fish was
added, and the fish were spread on the surface of
the muck, and allowed to become putrescent. The
moment they began to decompose, he again covered
them with peat, and a renewed layer of fish was
spread and covered in the same manner. The fer-
mentation was allowed to proceed for two or three
weeks, when the compost was found to have be-
come fit for the land. To this he was advised to
add lime in the proportion of one cask to each load
of compost early in the spring, which it was sup-
posed would complete the decomposition in two or
three weeks. Such a heap should be rounded up
and covered, so as to prevent the rain washing out
the valuable salts that form in it. And in case of
the escape of much ammonia, more swamp muck
or peat should be spread upon the heap, for the pur-
pose of absorbing it.' Dr. Jackson is of opinion
that the phosphoric acid of the peat and animal
matter would convert the lime into a phosphate,
and thus approximate it very closely to bone ma-
nure. Any refuse animal matter can be of course
employed in a similar manner. ' The carcass of a
dead horse, which is often suffered to pollute the
air by its noxious] effluvia, [has been happily em-
ployed in decomposing 20 tons of peat earth, and
transforming it into the most enriching manure.'
Night soil may be composted with peat with great
advantage, sufficient lime being added to deprive it
of odour ; large quantities of ammonia are given off
and absorbed." — Gardeners' Chronicle.

EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCES OF THE
LONGEVITY OF THE HORSE.— There are at
this lime in the possession of a person residing1 not many
miles from Northampton, five horses, namely, two
mares and three geldings, of the respective ages of 38,
21,20, 20, and 17, the united ages of which therefore
are 116, and the average of ages upwards of 23. The
oldest mare, that of 38, has been in the possession of the
present owner and his family ever since the year 1813.
She had two colt foals in the respective years of 1824
and 1825, so that she was 20 years old when she had her
first foal ; the youngest gelding is one of them. Two
of the horses are worked regularly, the other three oc-
casionally, and all are in the enjoyment of excellent
health, being perfectly sound, wind, limb, and eye»
sight, except the youngest. — Northampton Heralds

456

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON AGRICULTURAL
CHEMISTRY.

(FROM THE LANCASTER GUARDIAN.)

[Continued.]

113. Light and darkness act in a manner totally
opposite one to the other upon organised matter,
animal and vegetable, living or dead. The modern
art of photogenic drawing affords a remarkable
illustration of the chemical effects of light, and has
led to the observation of a singular fact — that the
green leaves of vegetables give no image on the
Daguerrotype, the chemical rays of light being
entirely absorbed by the green leaves — an extra-
ordinary circumstance, but one " which easily
explains the enormous expenditure of chemical
power required for the decomposition of a com-
pound so stable as carbonic acid" (Dumas.) It is
only under the influence of light that vegetables
exercise their reducing or deoxidating powers —
already referred to (96, 98) — that they decompose
carbonic acid, retaining its carbon for their own
use, and returning oxygen to the atmosphere.
Plants, then, possess energetic means of reduction
which we cannot imitate (96) ; for chemists have
no method of decomposing carbonic acid at ordi-
nary temperatures.

114. In mines and other gloomy subterraneous
caverns, there is either no vegetation at all, or it is
confined to a few species of fungi, &c. The shade is
always injurious to vegetation. Green colouring
matter, the most abundantly diffused of vegetable
products, cannot be formed without the influence
of light. In the dark, vegetables are etiolated ;
they are not merely blanched, deprived of colour,
but altered in taste and form, insomuch that they
cannot be recognised, and acquire properties that
do not belong to their natural state (Deslandes).
An acute French philosopher has drawn an useful
practical distinction between nocturnal and diurnal
vegetation — the vegetation of light and the ve-
getation of the shade (Raspail Physiol. Vegetale,
1258, &c.) — observing, however, that there is no
vegetable absolutely diurnal or absolutely noctur-
nal— that the more elaborate plants are nocturnal
in their roots— diurnal in their leaves, stems, and
flowers — and the most minute and simple fungi
require light to perfect their flowers and seeds.

115. The great character of diurnal vegetation
is the green colouring matter of the leaf, and a
firmer, more fibrous or woody structure ; nocturnal
vegetables are pale, soft, and pasty. Night and
shade check the growth of the former. — daylight
that of the latter. In a warm and moist
atmosphere the advance of diurnal vegeta-
tion, and the depth of its green colour, are
proportioned to the brightness of the sun, influ-
enced by the same warmth and moisture, but
shrouded in the darkness of night, and under the
thick clouds of autumnal weather, the vegetation
of the shade is so sudden and so notorious, that
the vulgar, who transmit the results of their ex-
perience in proverbs, say of upstart men that they
spring forth like mushrooms (Raspail). The
mushroom tribe, and many minute vegetations,
such as those which cause blight, mildew, &c,
are nocturnal plants. The dry rot of dark cellars,
and various species of mouldiness derive as much
of their destructive agency from darkness as from
damp. Whilst diurnal vegetation, under the in-
fluence of light, tends to restore oxygen to the

air, it is found that mushrooms absorb oxygen,
and disengage carbonic acid gas (Phil. Mag-, Jan.
1836, p. 82.)

116. The germination of seeds proceeds best in
the dark, beneath the surface of the ground; the
seed soon establishes a diurnal vegetation in the
leaf, whilst the opposite function is performed by
the root. Skilful gardeners know the mischievous
effects resulting from injudicious burying the stems
of trees and shrubs beneath a heap of mould, and
from the opposite error of laying bare the roots.
They also know how to profit by nocturnal vege-
tation, in the blanching of celery, kale, &c. The
cabbage head is a good specimen of diurnal vege-
tation in its external green leaves that have been
exposed to the light, and the nocturnal growth of
the soft, watery, white internal portion to which
the sun's rays could not penetrate.

117. The chemical influence of light upon dead
organised matter, upon the remains of" animals
and plants mingled with the soil, has not been
much attended to. The subject is not attractive,
yet must not be passed over entirely without
notice. We will at least briefly advert to some
singular effects of light in promoting the com-
bination and combustion of certain inorganic gase-
ous matters. It has been stated already that (he
decomposition of organised substance is in reality
a sort of combustion — a combustion too, of sub-
stances in rapid progress from a solid or fluid to
a gaseous state from the organic to the inorganic
kingdom. We may also refer again to the Da-
guerrotype, as an instance of the chemical agency
of light in effecting decomposition and reduction.

118. When the water of the river Thames,
which contains no small portion of organic matter,
is put into casks, and of course excluded from the
light, it soon undergoes a kind of fermentation,
emitting a disagreeable Harrogate smell, until all
the organic matter is resolved into volatile gases
which escape into the air, and black insoluble
carbonaceous powder which subsides to the bottom
of the cask, leaving the water purified, clear, and
wholesome. If a glass decanter filled with Thames
water, or any such compound, be placed in the
sunshine, and continue exposed to the daylight,
no such change as the one above described takes
place; on the contrary, a quantity of green matter
soon forms inside the glass,and increases day by day
for a certain time, during which period the green
matter, under the influence of light, goes on purifying
the water in its peculiar manner, with this marked
difference, that the gas emitted is pure oxygen.
So that what we may term the diurnal composition
tends to purify the air — nocturnal decomposition
to vitiate and pollute it. The mixture of water
and organic matter is supposed to be the same —
the temperature the same— everything the same,
except that light is admitted in the one case and
excluded in the other.

119. The green matter of the vegetable leaf
appears to be at once a product of light and a
chemical agent, which, under the influence of
light, effects the reducing process so often men-
tioned fH3). Chemists, as is their custom, have
bestowed many names upon the green colouring
matter — chromule.chromulite, chlorophyll, chloro-
phillite, vegetable chameleon, &c, &c. So exces-
sive is the colouring power of this substance that
scarcely tea grains are reported to be contained
in the entire mass of leaves of a large tree. (Ber-
zelius, quoted by Kane, 1051.),

120. It were foreign to our purpose to discuss

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457

at length, and yet it were cruel not to mention at
all the salutary influence of light upon animals as
well as vegetables. There can be no doubt what-
ever, but light — sunshine — is essential not merely
to the maintenance and renovation of health — to
the beauty of complexion in the human species,
but even to the development of form and beauty
in the lower animals. The very tadpoles, it is said,
will live and grow in the dark, but without light
they are unable to acquire the perfection of their
nature ; they cannot become complete frogs.

121. The salutary influence of light in purify-
ing the air of the atmosphere, and in decomposing
unwholesome gaseous matters of inhabited apart-
ments will not be doubted by any one acquainted
with the rudiments of chemistry, though we can-
not adduce rigorous proof of the fact ; for we
know little of such emanations, except their effects.
It seems, however, that azote and hydrogen are
the gases most remarkably affected by light in
their compositions and decompositions. " In
mauy cases, bodies which in obscurity remain
totally without action on one another are brought
into combination by exposure to light, and the
rapidity of their action is proportional to the bril-
liancy of the light. Thus chlorine and hydrogen
mixed, remain unaltered for any period in the
dark ; if exposed to the diffuse daylight they
silently combine, but explode suddenly if a direct
ray of sunshine fall upon the mixture." — ( Kane,
277). There are some chemical experiments
for which only a few days ill summer were
found bright enough in Dublin ; others for which
the sunshine of Dublin was totally inadequate,
yet which succeeded perfectly at Paris. — IT. (>,
273.)

12V. It was time rather than air or light, that
gave rise to the sudden and remarkable effects
about to be noticed, but they belong to our subject,
and will not be misplaced here.

123. la the year 1815, the leaden coffin of King
Charles 1. was opened in the presence of the
Prince Regent, afterwards King George IV. An
account of the appearances then observed was
drawn up for publication by Sir If. Halford, ami
countersigned by his Royal Highness. We shall
only quote one paragraph. — " The left eye, in the
first moment of exposure, was open and full,
though it vanished almost immediately." The un-
fortunate Charles had not been interred quite two
hundred years. The following is a still more re-
markable instance of the effect of lime upon or-
ganic matter. " The Gonfaloniere Avolta of Cor-
neto discovered, in Tarquina, the body itself of an
Etruscan chief, though he was only permitted one
rapid glance before the appearance was miugled
with its mother earth from which it had been so
strangely kept apart for thousands of years." He
saw him crowned with gold, covered with armour,
with a shield, spears, and arrows by his side, and
extended an his stone bier. But a change soon
came over the figure — it trembled, crumbled, and
vanished away, and by the time an entrance was
effected, all that remained was the golden crown,
and a handful of dust, with some fragments of the
arms."— (Edin. Review, If xviii. 127.)

124. Soils. — The surface of the earth is covered
with a coating of soil, formed by decayed mate-
rials, partly organic, the remains of animals and
vegetables, partly inorganic, the crumbled ruins
of rocks and stones. Geologists teach us that
there must be as many varieties of soil as there
are of mineral beds below the surface. For the pur-

poses of agricultural chemistry, however, soil3 may
be conveniently divided into three classes, the «/«-
ceous, the argillaceous, and the calcareous. Sili-
ceous soils abound in silica, which is the principal
constituent of sand and flint. Argillaceous soils
abound in argil or alumina, the earth of alum, of
which pipe clay affords a specimen. Calcareous
soils contain lime, in the form of chalk, marl, &c.
(52,). Soils are termed light or heavy, gravelly,
sandy, clayey — according to their mechanical
rather than their chemical state. Iron is more
or less generally diffused among the earthy con-
stituents of the soil, conducing in some states to
its fertility, in other states acting, or supposed
to act, very injuriously. Soils containing much
iron are termed ferruginous. Peaty soils contain
an excess of carbonaceous matter in an insoluble
and unproductive state (35). The improvement
of such a soil demands, and will one day abun-
dantly reward, all the resources of chemical
science.

125. The chemical analysis of soils is neither
so easily performed as might at first sight be
imagined, nor are the results of that analysis,
when obtained with the precision of which practi-
cal chemists only are capahle, such as to afford
profitable information to the agriculturist. Those,
however, who have a turn for such researches
will find their best guides to be the unrivalled
work of the late Sir H. Davy on Agricultural
Chemistry, or the valuable lectures of Professor
Johnston, of Durham, on the same subject, now
in the course of publication in monthly numbers.

126. The fertility of a soil depends upon many
circumstances beyond the chemist's skill to dis-
cover by direct analysis — a field would afford him
the same quantity of silica, alumina, and lime at
the commencement and termination of a scourg-
ing rotation, or before and after a crop of wheat
or hay, yet the fertility of the field would be ma-
terially impaired in the interval between these
experiments — azote, carbon, alkalies, gypsum,
&c, may have been carried away, yet the chemist
would be very clever indeed who could detect the
loss. The science, however, is not to be dispa-
raged on this account ; if it cannot find what the
soil has lost, it can ascertain what the plants have
gained. Chemistry also reveals the exact consti-
tuents of the various manures applied to the soil
with a precision increasing at every advance in
the art of analysis. The discovery of Davy, that
silica or the earth of flints forms part of the stems
of wheat and other grasses, has suggested the ne-
cessity of supplying wheat lands with alkalies,
without which silica, it is thought, cannot be
brought into such a stale as to be dissolved by the
juices of the plant. In like manner, the discovery
of gypsum in some plants, of bone-earth in others,
the association of azote and the alkalies in minute
quantities, with the carbon which constitutes the
substance of all plants, (110), have indicated
practices in agriculture which must be more or
less successful as the theories upon which such
practices are based may be more or less firmly
established upon a correct observation of facts.

127. " The true constitution of the soil for the
best crop is that in which the earthy materials,
the moisture, and the manure are properly asso-
ciated, and in which the decomposable, vegotable,
and animal matter does not exceed one-fourth of
the earthy constituents" (Davy). The best pro-
portion of the earthy constituents of a good wheat
soil is one-third siliceous matter, one-third argil-

2 H

458

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

laceous.and one-third calcareous (Raspail). Some
authorities consider (he value of a soil to be much
enhance] by a large proportion of finely dicided
matter ; yet the most intractable and ungrateful
clay soils consist entirely of such material. In
short, no positive rule of excellence can be given ;
the problem to be solved in improving a soil is to
simply what is deficient, and every system of cul-
tivation has, or ought to have, this object exclu-
sively in view.

128. We will now endeavour to apply the facts
which have been hitherto detailed perhaps at a
wearisome length. We will consider in succes-
sion some means of improving the fertility of the
soil which are most usually resorted to ; and
finally inquire into some sources of benefit to the
agriculturist, whuh may be considered as yet
either untried or undecided. But it is not our
province (2) to treat every practical part of
husbandry.

129. Draining is the first step to be taken for
the amelioration of land, especially in a moist and
variable climate. So long as the roots of plants
are soaked in stagnant water, it is no more possi-
ble for them to maintain a healthy growth, than it
would be for an animal to live deprived of fresh
air. It is unnecessary to dwell on this subject.
'I' he modes of draining belong to hydraulics and
hydrostatics, not to chemistry. It would he a
good occupation for the active members of local
agricultural socitties, to make a periodical sur-
vey and report of the state of drainage throughout
their respective districts ; a few presentments of
the obstructive individuals who most pertina-
ciously keep not merely themselves biu their
neighbours in the quagmire, would very cheaply
and efficiently promote the laudable objects of such
societies.

130. Farm-yard Manure, as produced in
stables and cow-houses, consists of two pnr*ions,
— the one collected in heaps, the other draining
away by vari us channels. It is clearly as-
certained by experience, confirmed by chemical
analysis, that the liquid manure is far the mote
valuable of the two ; yet, though this fact is now
undisputed, the use of liquid manure is only ob-
taining ground by very slow degrees among even
the best informed agriculturists. It seems to be
admitted that liquid manure ought to be allowed
to ferment — to become decomposed, so that the
azutised compounds, which it abundantly furnishes,
may be converted into ammonia — the ammonia
into carbonate of ammonia, &c. Some writers,
who appear to suppose that every plant has an
entire chemical laboratory at command, recom-
mend ingenious devices for converting the car-
bonate of ammonia into a sulphate, or a muriate,
before it is applied. All that we know with cer-
tainty is barely this : — 1st. That azote exists in
the parts of plants where vegetation is most active
(110). 2. That azote exists in every kind of ma-
nure which is most efficient in promoting the
growth of plants. o. That organic matters,
whether vegetable or animal, which contain azote,
furnish salts of ammonia, when they undergo
spontaneous decomposition, or are subjected to
wtiat is called destructive distillation. 4. That
salts of ammonia, especially the carbonate and the
sulphate, are very powerful agents in fertilizing
the soil. It is a question, however, whether it is
advisable to incur much expense in converting the
carbonate even into a sulphate by chemical means;
and where undecomposed vegetable matter is

abundant, it seems more than probable that am-
monia in the state of carbonate, or even in a
caustic state, would prove much more efficient
than the sulphate or muriate. This question,
however, will be treated more conveniently when
we arrive at the subject of gypsum.

131. In the " Compte Rendu" of the Academy
of Sciences, for February 14th, 1842, is contained
an interesting letter from M. Schattermann to M.
Dumas, describing the method adopted by the
former in turning to most profit the litter of 200
artillery horses, some years under his manage-
ment. M. Sthattermann is not merely careful to
preserve the liquids of his stables, but after col-
lecting the litter in two heaps, each about four
yards high, and covering upwards of 200 square
yards of ground, he causes it to be well trodden
down by men, and frequently watered from a
pump standing in a well dug for that purpose.
The excess of water that flows through the litter,
and that which issues from the stables is mixed
with sulphate of iron, or with sulphate of lime
(gypsum), and thrown back upon the litter, for
the purpose of converting the ammonia into the
state of sulphate, and preventing the loss that
would otherwise ensue from the escape of the
volatile alkali, at the high temperature generated
by the rapid fermentation induced by the constant
moisture of the large litter heaps. M. Schaftcr-
mann is convinced that a very abundant addition
of water is required to effect the complete fermen-
tation that is requisite, and he strongly reprobates
the opposite practice, which he describes as too
frequent among his neighbours, of shaking up
horse liter to admit the air. He says, that the
liquids thus obtained, containing sulphate of am-
monia, produce, when sprinkled upon the fields,
a powerful vegetation, which may be recognised at
first sight, and that a name or a figure may be
drawn upon the grass by a watering-pan supplied
with this liquid. The heaps of litter, treated in
the manner above described, become a very rich
manure in the space of three or four months.

132, Long and Short Manure. — There exists
a considerable variety of opinion and practice on
this subject. Sir Humphrey Davy's arguments in
favour of the ultimate advantage of fresh manure
are quite conclusive where the object sought to be
attained is a good rotation of crops, and a final
amelioration of the soil. When farm-yard litter
imperfectly decomposed is ploughed into the
ground, it affords a constant though slow supply of
carbonic acid to the roots of plants so long as at-
mospheric air obtains access through the mould.
And at every successive admission of air by the
different operations that stir the soil, a fresh im-
petus is given to the progress of decomposition or
slow combustion, though the carbonaceous matter
may not be entirely consumed for several years.
When the earth of an old fence is spread upon a
field, its fertilizing effect is very remarkable.
This is owing principally to the sudden decompo-
sition of long buried woody matter, now once
more exposed to the influence of the atmosphere.
Sticks and tough roots of trees, like the remains
of kings and warriors, undergo in process of
time (122) some undescribed change, which pre-
pares them for their ultimate use — the food of
another race of plants.

i:>;}. Ploughing, Hoeing, Harrowing, Fallow-
ing, &.C., are operations of the husbandmen, by
which be reduces the soil into such a state of me-

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459

clianical division as is best suited to minister
Food to Plants.

13.5. Vegetables, as we have seen, consist only
of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, azote and ashes,
or charcoal, ashes, air, and water. (10, ll).

136. There are many questions still unsettled,
and theories to > rashly propounded as to the re-
lative importance of hose substances in the process
of vegetation, and the parts performed by each of
them. Some philosophers give to one and some
to another, perhaps an undue value ; yet 'he tacts
and observations collected and published l>y Mr.
Risi/, in tli is country (101, ike.,) and by Berthier,
Liebig, Payen, Moussingault, &c, on the continent,
are undoubtedly ot great value in demonstrating
the importance of the alkalies and of azote in the
vegetable economy- Carbon, however, as we
have frequently stated, (28, 110, &c..) is the far-
mer's bullion— the alkalies, azote, 3ic„ are to be
considered all >ys indispensably necessary, in cer-
tain but only comparatively small quantities for
obtaining hia ore, anil working his mint — the soil.
W e will take little or no trouMe to build up, or to
undermine any theory, or any new practice, but
content ourselves with inquiring into the facts
upon which those are based ; in some instances
presenting the reader with the opposite views
taken of the same subject bv eminem persons, in
the hope that his own sagacity will enable him to
winn >vv the wheat from the chad", and apply the
chaff itself to some use.

137. Having already noticed the views taken by
Davy (4b,) by Liebig, Daubeny, and Dumas, (47
to 5t>), on some points in dispute with regard to the
food of plants, and having intimated (47, 31 ), some
reasons tor considering the more recent opinions
at least doubtful, we shall abstain in future from
all controversy, and, as much as possible, from
comment, whenever the opinions of eminent au-
thors are given.

138. Those who arc conversant with the wri-
tings of Jethro 'full, will find in the recent volume
of Professor Liebig, a theory and practice founded
upon principles veryanalogous to those of th^ cele-
brated English agriculturist. Both writers enforce
the inpoi'ant influence of the atmosphere upon
the soil, and the necessity of diligent tillage with
the same disparagement of at least carbonaceous
manures.

139. *' Air, water, and the change of tempera-
ture, prepare the different species of rocks for
jielding to plants the alkalies which they contain.
A soil which has been exposed for centuries to all
the influences which effect the disintegration of
rocks, but from which the alkalies have not been
removed, will be able to afford the means of
nourishment for those vegetables which require
alkalies for its (their ?) growth for several years,
but it must gradually become exhausted, unless
those alkalies which have been removed are again
replaced; a period therefore will arrive when it
will be nece>s,iry to expose it from time to time
to further disintegration, in order to obtain a new
supply of soluble alkalies. For small as is the
quantity of alkali which plants require, it is never-
theless quite indispensable for their perfect deve-
lopment. But when one or more years hare
elapsed without any alkalies having been ex-
tracted from the soil, a new harvest may be ex-
pected.

140. " The first colonists of Virginia found a
country, the soil of which was similar to that men-
tioned above ; harvests of wheat and tobacco were

obtained for a century from one and the same field
without the aid of manure, but now whole districts
are converted into unfruitful pasture land, which
without manure produces neither wheat nor to-
bacco. From every acre of this land there were
removed, in the space of one hundred years,
l,2001bs. ot alkalies in leaves, grain, and straw ; it
became unfruitful, therefore, because it wis de-
prived of every particle ot alkali, which had be en
reduced to a soluble sta'e, and because that which
was rendered s •Inble again in the space of one
year was not sufficient to sa isf\ the demands of
the plants. Almost II the cultivated la"d in Eu-
rope is in this conditi hi : ' fallow' is the -ei m ap-
plied 'o land left at rest for further disintegration.
It i the meatest possible mistake n> suppose that
the temporary diminution c fertility in soil is
owing t'i the h'ss ot hunn s ; ii is the mere conse-
quence of the loss of the alkalies " — (Liebig's Che-
mistry of Agriculture, p 148 &c.)

14t. Sir Uh»rle* Lemon ba^ recently communi-
cated to the Kng'ish Agricultural Society the re-
sults oh-a neil by Professor Philips, in analysing
the natural soils ol some waste lands in Cornwall.
The granite soil was Jound to coyvain no potash,
though the felspar .n granite contains 1/ per cent,
of that alkali. — (?»ee Farmer's Magazine, April,
1842. p. 305.)

142. Tillage, i 1 133), the exposing of the soil to
atmospheric influences produces other effects of
a chemical nature, more easily proved and more
readily comprehended than the disintegration of
felspar or other stony rocks, for the disengage-
ment of alkalies. These are — first, the mainte-
nance of a due degree of moisture on the soil, a
well- wrought field being much less liable to injury
from rain or drought than one that has been neg-
lected. Second, in consequence of the five admis-
sion of air ami moisture, vegetable and animal
maiters beneath the surlace undergo the process
of decomposition in the most profitable manner,
so as to afford a constant supply of carbonic acid
and ammonia to the growing plants. Third, Car-
bonic acid and ammonia are absorbed more freely
by a well pulverised soil, and more freely yielded
also to the fibrous rootletts in their vicinity.
Fourth, the earthy matters of the soil itself; the
merest clays undergo some change on being ex-
posed to the air, which endues them with a virtue
before unknown. " lake of the most barren
earth you can find, pulverise it well, and expose
it abroad lor a year; incessantlyagitated.it will
become so fertile as to receive an exotic plant from
the farthest Indies, and to cause all vegetables to
prosper in the most exalted degree, and to bear
their fruit as kindly with us as in their natural
climate." " By this toil of pulverising it is found
that soil may be so strangely altered from its for-
mer nature as to render the harsh and most un-
civil clay obsequious to the husbandman, and to
bring forth roots and plants which otherwise re-
quire the lightest and hollowest mould."— (Evelyns
Discourses of Earth, quoted by Tall).

143. Of all the rubbish daily carted out ofa
town broken glass would at first sight appear the
most unpromising material for improving a soil ;
yet it is believed by Liebig (p 187) " that a time
will come when fields will be manured with a so-
lution of glass," &c, &c. Professor Liebig's rea-
soning on the way in which alkalies are supplied
by the decomposition of felspar, mica, and other
minerals supposed to be always present in clays,
cannot be comprehended by tho»e who do not

2 H 2

460

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

possess a due knowledge of geolgy and minera-
logy, but they may be exemplified with perfect
fairness if we substitute glass for volcanic rocks —
there may be profit in a chemical contemplation
of an old bottle, as illustrating the influence of
time (122, 132) and pulverisation upon the most
obdurate substances.

141. " Glass is essentially a compound of silica
with potassa or soda." " All common glass when
reduced to a fine powder is more or less acted on
by boiling water, which separates the alkali, and
its entire disintegration seems only to be pre-
vented by the insolubility of the silica. Indeed if
finely powdered flint glass be placed upon turmeric
paper and merely moistened, it powerfully reddens
the test. Glass which has long been exposed to
the weather frequently exhibits a beautiful iri-
descent appearance, and is so far decayed that it
may be scratched with the nail. Several years
ago I examined some bottles of wine which had
lain in a wet cellar near the Bank, upwards of
150 years, having been deposited there, as cir-
cumstances proved, previous to the great fire of
London, in 1666'. The glass was soft and greatly
corroded upon the surface, in consequence of the
abstraction of its alkali. The wine appeared to
have been Malaga and claret ; the latter had per-
ished, but the former wa3 still vinous.— (Brande's
Chemistry, 1038.;

145. Whether it may appear that alkalies are
or are not disengaged from rocks, 8fc, to the extent
supposed by Professor Liebig, we can entertain
no doubt of the benefit accruing from the presence
of these substances in soil. '* The decay of woody
fibre is very much accelerated by contact with al-
kalies or alkaline earths, for these enable substances
to absorb oxygen which do not possess this power
themselves." — (Liebig). We have already noticed
the effects produced by mixing an alkali with car-
bonaceous matter in the preparation of ivory black
(31), and the inferences deduced by Mr. Rigg from
his valuable experiments— (101, &c.)

146. The mutual action of glass and ammonia
has been noticed by Mr. Griffith in the Quarterly
Journal of Science (vol. xx., p. 259, and scqi)
Mr. Griffith, however, did not succeed in decom-
posing the powders of felspar, basalt, kc, &c, by
the mere action even of boiling water, and there-
upon his experiments would not lead us to antici-
pate so powerful an influence of mere time and
weather upon these minerals as Professor Liebig
assumes.

(To be continued.)

HORSES IN INDIA.-The horses are one of the
bores in India. In one of Captain Fane's evening
rides, a loose horse having frightened the ladies, he
gave his " own pugnacious gentleman" to be held by
a soldier, while he attempted to drive the other away.
The soldier let his horse go, which immediately dashed
at the loose one, attacked him, followed him to the
lines, aud was found with the other brute thrown down,
aad he standing over him. This pugnacious propensity,
to which the country horses are more or less addicted,
is one of the great drawbacks to horse exercise in
India. It often happens that one is roused from a
pleasant conversation with one's neighbour by a lion
roar from either his or your horse. A kick and a fight
follow, and if one escape having one's leg broken, it is
often at the expense of a bad fall in getting out of the
way of the combatants. An officer riding in the can-
tonments at Cawnpore was attacked by an artillery
horse, which rushed at him, knocked him and his horse

down, and killed him on the spot. Most people, on
this account, prefer Arab to the country horses, as they
are seldom troubled with that quality.— Blackwood for
April.

COMMUTATION OF TITHES.

An account of the total amount of rent-charges,
under all agreements and awards for the commuta-
tion of tithes, in the several counties of England
and Wales, which have been confirmed by the tithe
commissioners, up to the 1st January, 18-12. (Ex-
tracted from returns presented to Parliament by the
tithe commissioners) : —

RENT-CHARGES.

Under Voluntary UnderCompul-

Agreements. sory Awards.

COUNTIES. £. s. d. £. s. d.

Bedford 9,934 10 11 2,940 11 6

Berks 17,681 7 8£ 8,479 10 8

Bucks 20,63(5 11 2 4,317 10 8

Cambridge 47,584 9 2£ 7,197 17 5

Chester 30,86119 o| 1,242 8 1«

Cornwall 45,484 13 4 36,146 15 10

Cumberland 4,708 5 9>f 6,043 8 4»

Derby 13,554 7 4 2,309 0 2

Devon 86,009 10 8 40,764 19 8

Dorset 53,164 4 9 8,658 0 0

Durham 38,880 14 5f 711 6 8

Essex 155,249 12 5 19,412 9 2

Gloucester 53,765 12 1 14,396 15 11

Hereford 38,366 3 11 6,164 6 7

Herts 45,286 3 10 8,834 16 3

Hunts 7,645 15 9 1,999 7 3

Kent 115,455 10 6| 60,118 6 6\

Lancaster 41,327 9 l2% 1,242 10 0

Leicester 8,955 4 1 601 11 0

Lincoln 58,878 2 9 8,332 19 9£

Middlesex 7,455 14 3 2,453 4 3

Monmouth 11,987 2 11 3,993 7 1

Norfolk 187,260 1 1 8»- 26,670 18 101

Northampton.... 12,917 15 10.1 3,458 15 4

Northumberland. 35,510 1 11J. 5,770 12 4

Nottingham 14,892 12 8£ 4,82? 1 4

Oxford 24,623 15 5 4,489 0 5

Salop 63,628 12 10 5,216 14 9

Rutland 3,12115 6 98111 0

Somerset 106,871 1 4 22,133 16 S\

Southampton 87,525 13 1 24,793 17 6

Stafford 43,587 0 10J 4,280 14 11

Suffolk 132,266 6 3 12,56118 7\

Surrey 28,695 2 11 11,532 7 7|

Sussex 73,942 15 9 11,250 2 5

Warwick 20,447 18 10 3,657 19 5

Westmoreland .. 2,519 5 7\ 708 8 9

Wilts 79,823 10 3| 19,305- 4 6

Worcester 33,667 4 7 15,460 0 9

York 101,381 6 OJ 15,247 10 7

WALES.

Anglesea 8,132 7 0 1,029 0 0

Brecon 12,665 5 4 991 0 0

Cardigan 9,017 6 4 1,274 0 0

Carmarthen 18,848 15 9 3,106 13 6

Carnarvon 10,326 16 3 } 0 0 0

Denbigh 19,978 19 7 l,S79 0 0

Flint 17,938 3 6± 9 6 8

Glamorgan 10,377 16 8 7,149 6 10

Merioneth 6,616 5 6 986 4 0

Montgomery.... 17,820 15 10^ 1,360 0 0

Pembroke 16,08114 0 3,186 14 9

Radnor 7,448 9 11 2,467 17 0

Total.... 2,150,81113 6\ 461,530 1 01

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

461

RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS WITH WHEATS,

REPORTED IN A LETTER WHICH APPEARED IN "THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE" ron Sept. 1841.

No. I.— (See Observations page 473.)

Sown Oct. 27, 1810, in drills 9 inches apart, a'nd 4 feet long, in a
Flower Garden, Cobham, Surrey.

o-o

-

4 Corns out of smutty ears of Chidhams, done nothing to

4 Corns out. of a smutty e;ir of a bearded Spanish, simply washed

4 ,, ,, steeped in blue vitriol 1 hour

4 ,, „ ,, whitewash

4 Corns out of the one good ear of Chidhams of the third root in the brined

and limed row, t he others being smutty

4 Corns out of an ear of the second root of the smutted row, which were all good

i Corns of White Downy, smutted on one side

,, ,, on the cleft side

in the cleft onlv

at the back
at. the apex.

at the base

4 Corns of White Downy, sown inn drill with smutball powder,

•20

vitrioled

whitewashed.

4 Corns from the ear in the shrivelled Chidhams row, to which a chimney-)

sweeper was tied )

4 Corns from the ear of the transplanted Longwoods

4 ,, of the Rivitts in the urined row ,

6 Corns from a root of Chidhams also bearin rr cbimney-sweepers,done nothing to
6 „ „ ,, simply washed

21

22

-'4

25
26

30

.".1

82
S3

30
3?

38
39

40
41

42

steeped in blue vitriol 1 hour
,. whitewash

6 Corns of the White Downy, rubbed in Ured a Segelum dust, done nothing to
6 „ ,, ,, simply washed

steeped in blue vitriol 1 hour
,, whitewash ....

4 Corns of the White Downy, sown in a drill with Uredo Segetura dust ....

4 ., vitrioled

4 ,, whitewashr. I ,.

12 Corns of the White Downy sown in a drill with chimney-sweeper straw..
12 „ „ with smutty ear

6 Corns of Longwood s which had red rust on the leaves, done nothing to ..
6 „ ,, „ simply washed . .

steeped in blue vitriol 1 hour
„ whitewash

(i Corns of the Victoria which hnd red rust on them, done nothing to
6 „ „ ,, simply washed .

steeped in blue vitriol 1 hour
,, whitewash

4 Corns of the Dantzic from Sherford, Devon, smutted, sown Oct. 31
4 „ La vers from Buckland Toussaints ,,

4 „ Hickling from our own „

0 Corns of White Downy, washed in warm water, sown Nov. 80, in a drill
with clean Chidhams straw

First 4, Second 4, Third 4, Shrivelled Tun.tall, flr9t 4 worst, sown Dec. 7.

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a Much eaten by birds.
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e And root, with 5 good and 4 smutty ears,
djOn.root with the smutty ears.

e Chidhams.

f And root, with 3 good and 5 smutty eftri,
</ Doubtful, and not rubbed out.
h On root with the smutty ears,

462

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

463

OBSERVATIONS ON TABLE No. T.

1,2,3,4. No smutballs being produced, is at
least no confirmation of the idea among the common
people, that the good corns in Smutty ears are they
which yield smutty ones (lie following year.

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The results, although more
satisfactory than if no smuthalls at all hud been pro-
duced, do not yield the information hoped for, as to
how the seed of the fungus gets into the plant, or
why some corns are infected and not others, though
similarly treated.

13, 14, 15. The protection afforded by the vitriol
and whitewash against the seeds of the fungus in
the ground is shewn by the results in 13.

16, 17, 18, No chimney-sweepers appearing, is
against the idea of the seeds of that fungus passing
down the feathered stigma when the wheat is in
bloom, and so infecting the grain ; and

19, 20, 21, 22, producing none, is in faveur of the
farmer's assertion, that the chimeey-sweepers do no
other injury than what is caused by the loss of the
ears destroyed, and therefore the pulling' up the
roots bearing them would not be advisable.

23, 24, 25, 26,27,28, 29, do not confirm the idea
that they may be produced by the corn being merely
rubbed in the seed of the fungus, however effectual
Mr. Bauer's mode of inoculation might be.

30, 31, are against the idea of straw of diseased
plants reproducing it when used as manure.

32, 33, 34, 35, strengthen the idea of the here-
ditary nature of the red rust, the sort having had that
disease 1839,40,41; and the samples of both it
and of

36, 37, 38, 39, show that the steepings were no
protection. All the wheats suffered more or less
from that disease, but the Chidhams the least.

40,41,42, were sown smutted, to see if red wheats
were less easily infected than the white ones.

44. Only one coming up, and that yielding so
miserably is unaccountable, but it does not favour
Sir H. Davy's recommendation of fresh straw as a
manure.

45. Nor do the results from the shrivelled Tun-
stal, Sir J. Bankes's recommendation of sowing tail
wheat.

ON CHEESE-COLOURING.

Showing the inutility and mischief of the practice, and
advising its disuse in the dairy : addressed first to the
consumers, and then to the nuikeis of cheese.

BY GEORGF. WHITLEY, M. U. C. S.

Bixa is a genus of the Monogynia order, and
Polyandria class of plants, ranking under the 37th
order Columnifera of Linn&us ; natural order
Tiliaccse, or rather allied to the order Tiiiaceae of
Jussieu; corolla ten-pctaled ; calyx quinqueden-
ted ; capsule hispid and bivalved. It is of a
ligneous texture, grows with an upright stem to
the height of eight or ten feet, sending out many
branches with elm shaped, pointed leaves, having
long foot stalks. The flowers are produced in
loose panicles at the ends of the branches, and
are of a pale peach colour ; petals large,
with numerous bristly stamina of the same
colour in the centre. After the flowering is
past, the germens become mitre-shaped vessels,
covered outwardly with bristles, somewhat like
the hedgehog; and( when ripe) gape with two valves
each, discovering within a number of seeds, in

form very like those of the grape, of a reddish

colour. The seeds are surrounded by a re 1 waxen
pulp, from which the colouring matter of com-
merce, Annatto Orellana, is prepared.

The Bixa tree is a native of South America, hut
is now cultivated in some of the West India islands,
and may be propagated hero in a hot- house, and
kept in thestove. It bears leaves all the year, its
fruit in the spring, when it is gathered. Of this
genus there is but one species known, and which
will engage my present attention, called " Bixa
Orellana ;" it may not be altogether uninteresting,
therefore, if I attempt to trace the origin of its
name, as it may lead to the date not far distant
from the time some knowledge of the tree was first
communicated to this country. And although I can
find no direct intimation given by any preceding
writer to assist me, several other circumstances unite
to lead me to the conclusion, that the name
" Orellana" was added to it by Linnretis ; a custom
of his to distinguish the species of plants, and who
took this opportunity of doing honour to the name of
Francis Orellana, for his eminence as a traveller
in the country to which Bixa is indigenous, or as
its discoverer. About the year 1540, Francis
Orellana first traversed Amazonia, and after this,
but how soon does not appear, the river Amazon
was called Orellana. The pulp of the Bixa being
called Annatto Orellana, and by some Terra Orel-
lana, on the erroneous supposition of its being
an earthy production, it is hut a fair inference
that " Orellana" in all these instances may he ap-
plied to this Spanish officer, who very probably
about this period made known the tree to this
country, and which it appears was imported to us
by the Esrl of Portland, 150 years ago. If this be
correct, the Bixa, if not the inspissated pulp, may
have been no secret here for nearly 300 years ;
although, from information in which I can confide,
by many old persons, 1 feel convinced that, as a
dye for cheese, its use has been in some degree
general only one hundred yeais.

Annatto has, till of late years, heen chiefly
prepared by the Spaniards, hence called Spanish
Annatto, and, allowing some slight variations,
after the following manner -.--the bristly pods con-
taining the seeds and red pulp are infused in hot.
water, and stirred about; when the colouring mat-
ter has subsided, the water is poured off, and the
pulp, being sufficiently dried in the shade in shal-
low vessels, is moulded into various shapes for ex-
portation.

Many writers have spoken on the properties of
Bixa, but one or two may be sufficient proofs to
bring forward ; and the first in point of time is
Francis Hernandez, whose observations on the
productions of Spanish America was published in
1651, under the title " Nova Piantarum, Anima-
lium, &c. Hiatoria." After having described the
various names and parts of the tree' and fruit, he
says much of the uses of the wood, and of a pig-
ment, meaning of course annatto, explaining its
formation similarly to the description ju^t befoie
given; and then, as having the most reference to
the subject here to be treated, says, " It is so
tenacious, that when applied it can scarcely be
obliterated, and if mixed with mine it is indelible ;
it yields a red colour for painters, possesses a
dryness and astringency, assists iti dysentery, and
restrains the belly llux."

Miller, in his Gardening Dictionary, says little
more worthy of remark, but that it is found in
South America and several of our West India

404

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

islands ; the colouring matter is extracted from
the pulp which covers the seeds, and that it is
used by the natives medicinally, in the bloody flux
and in disorders of the kidneys.

Dr. Hooper's Medical Dictionary of 1802 says —
Orellana Terra, in Jamaica and other warm cli-
mates, is considered a useful remedy in dysentery,
and is astringent and stomachic.

Annatto is of considerable importance as an ar-
ticle of commerce, is extensively used by printers
and dyers of silk and cotton, to which it gives a
deep orange and buff colour. They use it generally
for imparting tinges to different colours, for which
purposes it has been long in use, but is, when thus
applied, of a fugitive nature.

Of how great importance is it then, that no por-
tion of a drug so much required by the arts
should be swallowed up for useless purposes, but
rather be therein retained to aid, however little, in
keeping down tbe price of apparel, for the good of
the public and encouragement of trade !

The importation of annatto entered for home
consumption, on an average of the three years
preceding 1832, was, speaking in round numbers,
57 tons; and, in the year 1840, into London, 74 tons;
into Liverpool, 160 tons; and into Bristol, 11
tons.

My informant of the Liverpool import, says, nine-
teen-twentieths of the Annatto brought there, are
consumed in printing and dyeing. And in the ab-
sence of positive information on the same point from
London, Bristol, and other places, where there are
extensive private manufactories of an adulterated
annatto, or cheese-colouring, (on which I shall treat
more largely hereafter,) who, feeling it their interest
to hold secrecy, think the inquirer highly inquisitive
and will render no account ; I say, in the failure of
this, it may be justifiable to conclude that about a
similar proportion of what is imported into all other
places, is bought up for the use of the dyers, as was
the statement from Liverpool. One-twentieth part
only, then, of genuine annatto, is turned to some other
account ; and since, as far as we know, the whole
quantity imported, resolves itself into the two dis-
tinct uses of dyeing and colouring of cheese, it must
be for tbe latter purpose. But this bears very little
proporlion to the great quantity of colouring matter
used in all the British dairies of cheese, and for the
colouring of butter, for which it is extensively con-
sumed in many places, as Yorkshire, Lancashire,
and now by some dairies on the continent. That
eminent physician, Dr. Holland, in the " Survey of
Cheshire," told us above thirty years ago, that 5 or
60001. were paid out of the pockets of the farmers
annually, for cheese-colouring in that county ; and
we know that the requirement of the same in the
county of Gloucester, from its extent of land, and
proportion made use of there, (which is about half
an ounce to each half hundred weight of cheese, be-
ing at least double the quantity of what is put into
each Cheshire cheese of equal bulk,) cannot be less
than 10 or 12,000i., two very strong cases to prove
that the amount of colouring, annatto and money, so
misspent in all places, must indeed be considerable
every year.

A question naturally aiises, whence comes the
other portion of colouring ingredient for cheese and
butter? and of what is it composed? as it cannot be
Spanish annatto, since, upon a very superficial cal-
culation, it is too apparent to need entering upon an
investigation of more exact quantities, as respects
the colouring and sums of money expended for it,
which some might have been better satisfied to have

had presented to them, and I should to have laid be-
fore them, if the secrecy before alluded to, of the
trade which compounds the deficiency, had not with-
held the necessary information. But had this been
communicated, it would have supplied no new infor-
mation beyond the mere amounts, to corroborate the
evidence already too clear to he disputed, how great
a quantity of annatto, by the disuse of it as a colour-
ing in the dairy, would be diverted into the hands
of the dyers, and tend to a reduction of its price in
the market ; and how much money, by a resolve on
the part of the whole body of farmers, to use neither
that nor colouring of any description, would be left
in their pockets, for the better purposes of laying it
out in that highly concentrated manure, bone-waste,
or other general improvement of the land ; whilst by
the same resolve, the quality, if not tbe quantity, of
both butter and cheese might be benefited.

This leads me to tbe chief object of inquiry for
which I set out, to treat on the use or necessity of
annatto, or indeed any other dye, as an ingredient of
cheese ; and I hope to prove that it is not only nei-
ther useful nor ornamental, (for well-made cheese
has its own natural tint, not surpassed by any other
artificial paints, and is like every other beauty when
unadorned, adorned the most;) but that the colour-
ings which are and ever have been in use, are an
obstacle to the process of making, and to the natural
changes required in the maturation of cheese, which
is on that account prevented arriving at the perfec-
tion it might attain, without their introduction. I
trust it will be made to appear that all the dyes now
applied in the dairy, are adulterated compositions,
and though not poisons, as far as appears by tbe re-
ceipts I have been permitted to obtain, are very
likely to render the cheese which contains thetn,
harder, in every respect deteriorated, and more un-
wholesome.

If an artificial colouring was really needful to form
good cheese, it had been well if the old custom had
been adhered to, of using the simple vegetable dyes
of turmeric, carrots, and marigolds, which would
have done but little harm to the cheese, and rendered
deception more difficult. Or had the pure Annatto
Orellana, which is another unmixed vegetable pro-
duct, been strictly retained, little worse effects
might have resulted than from the other before men-
tioned primitive colourings. But almost as soon as
annatto was introduced generally, the price became
so high as to tempt men devoid of principle, of whom
there is seldom much lack where gain is in pros-
pect, to form an artificial compound, which (through
the influence of had example, and a necessity of self-
defence in the market, speedily induced so many
others to follow the example, that now manufactur-
ers of it are established in almost every large
town.

The formula? are numerous, and of various com-
ponent parts, some containing a hit of genuine an-
natto, perhaps for conscience sake, whilst other
makers, who have no consciences at all, may have
left it out altogether, selecting other ingredients,
such as by their skill they were enabled to form the
nearest resemblance at the least possible cost to
themselves. The consumers consequently have
been, and are now paying most unreasonably for the
counterfeit, to the extent, at the present time, that
whilst the pure annatto costs little more than one
shilling a pound as the market-price, the makers of
cheese colouring are selling it at 4s. to 4s. (Id. per
pound.

The cheese factors, in maBy instances, making the
sale of colouring a branch of their trade, then make

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

465

the last turn of tbe screw upon the pockets of tbe
honest husbandman, by retailing to them a fictitious
article, which contains, generally, very little of the
true annatto, at 6"s. (3d. and 7s. per pound, and which
can be, and very probably is often, made without
any. I have specimens, which [ have gotprepared,
that are sufficiently undistinguishablc from those in
daily use. Thus, it is but too manifest, becomes
exposed one of the many oppressions quietly sub-
mitted to by the industrious agriculturists ; who, as
a body, are in general too passive through much of
the business of life ; and would, rather than bestir
themselves into an union for self-protection, go on
till doomsday in the old jog-trot way, thus "tricked
and rarely thriving." As an example of this supine-
ness, they are evidently patient dupes of the venders
of colouring ; tolerating, without enquiry, the use
of almost innumerable adulterations of it, none of
which differ in any important degree from the fol-
lowing five recipes; according to which, I have
undeniable evidence to testify that the cheese-
colourings used in Cheshire and Lancashire, and
probably all other places, are prepared, for I have
gained possession of them, though, as 1 anticipated,
with no little difficulty. The proportions in tbe re-
ceipts I have not entered, because they vary with
each manufacturer, are not essential to be known,
and most desirable to be hence discontinued in
practice.

Ream: No. 1.
Take — Old bricks, finely powdered.

Starch.

Turmeric Powder.

Spanish Annatto.

Train Oil. — Mix to form a mass.
This was probably the nature of the first counter-
feit colouring- ever made, and is of the oldest date I
have met with any form of; but the brick-dust is too
inconsistent for the present time, and most probably
not now introduced.

Recipe No. 2.
Take — Turmeric Powder.
Potash.

Spanish Annatto.
Soft Soap. — Mix, to form a mass.

Recipe, No. f>.
Take— Quick Lime.
Potash.

Spanish Annatto.
Train Oil. — Mix, to form n mass.

Recipe, No. 4.
Take— Quick Lime.
Potash.

Spanish Annatto.
Water. — Mix, to form a mass.

Recipe, No. 5.
Take— Quick Lime.
Potash.

Spanish Annatto.
Chalk, or in lieu of it, pipe-clay.
Water, or Train-oil. — Mix to form a mass.

In addition to the above, a friend of mine (on
whom I can rely) informed me be had (by analysis) de-
tected vermillion, which is a mixture of sulphur and
quicksilver, in a cheese deeply-coloured ! Admitting
the general correctness of the before statements, and
if it be true, of which also I entertain no fears of dis-
proof, that the pure annatto of South America has
never, except for a very short period on its having
been first made known to this country, been used as

a colouring for cheese ; in confirmation of which
Or. Holland in the "Survey of Cheshire," thirty-
three years ago, declared that as soon as colouring
became general in this country, a colour of an adul-
terated kind was exposed to sale in almost every
shop. Then of course we have not, nor can have,
any account handed down to us of the effects of real
annatto upon cheese during its use, neither have
we any opportunity of observing them at present. Wo
are therefore without any practical effects, and can
only be guided by theory ; and although I am of opi-
nion that most deeply-coloured substances, as reds
and scarlets, according to the general law of materia
medial, are astringents, and that all matter possess-
ing this property, if mixed with the curd and other
component parts in cheese-making, will tend more
or less to interrupt one or more of those processes
or changes through which all cheese must pass be-
fore maturation, but especially by its action upon tbe
curd or animal gluten, which it will contract, con-
dense, and harden, by that natural affinity or at-
traction which exists between gluten, gelatine,
and tannin, the principle of astringency, as is
strongly exemplified in the tanning of leather ;
to which the effects under consideration may be
said to bear considerable resemblance in their
nature, though differing in degree of power : still,
perhaps, Spanish annatto is as little to be ob-
jected to as anything that could be selected
for effect, except the primitive dyes of carrots and
marigolds before mentioned, because free from all
additions of an active chemical quality. But we are
informed it contains the property of astringency, on
the probable effects of which I have just spoken, and
upon which the medicinal powers it has been granted
to possess, by the high medical authorities, ancient
and modern, before quoted, very greatly depend in
those affections of the bowels they have admitted it
to have efficacy to relieve, and this in a great degree,
because they may be dependant on relaxation of the
fibre as their chief cause.

It follows as a more than probable consequence,
that the same astringing qualification of the Annatto
Orellana, will likewise assist to produce that tough-
ness and solidity too often met with, whilst it pre-
vents the uniform mellowness which is an invariable
condition in all dairies of high fame. 1 cannot, per-
haps, in a more suitable part than this, state that
there is another source from which this mischief
springs, which I have satisfied myself by experiment
and observation, is more frequent than is generally
thought of, and that is, the high temperature too com-
monly made the standard for putting the cheese toge-
ther. But as this belongs more strictly to a treatise
on cheese making, I will only remark here, that the
temperature of 100 degrees, fixed by some authors,
is much too high. I have tried the temperature
used by two celebrated dairy-maids in the month of
May, the weather rather cold, and found it nearly
the same in both, and at different times, that is be-
tween 72 and 75 degrees. In both these instances
the curd was formed alike, in about one hour. I
would here beg to tecommend all cheesemakers to
ascertain what is the lowest degree of heat at which
the milk in each particular dairy, by proper regula-
tion of the warmth of the kitchen, &c, can be made
to coagulate, in about the hour above stated, as wor-
thy of imitation.

The astringency would also appear to be at least
one of the agents of destruction to the tendency to
form green mould, a substance very rarely, if at all
of a true nature, met with in coloured cheese; whilst,
in that without colouring, it is the more abundant,

466

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

imparting a flavour greatly approved of by many per-
sons of refined taste. On these points I sball dwell
more particularly, when describing tbe effects of tbe
fictitious colourings. As regards tbe adulterated
cheese-dyes, which I venture to assert are now and
almost ever have been thaonly ones employed in tbe
dairy, and with which alone, therefore, in this mat-
ter, we have to do, tbore is not tbe same reason for
any doubtful observations as to their effects, as in
tbe preceding case, because they are and have been
long in use, and their practical results are still be-
fore us. They are made up of various ingredients
of a chemical nature, apt in their tendencies to de-
composition, to be changed themselves, and to form
new compounds with oiher bodies when brought in-
to contact ; and there being few articles in tbe ?h<i-
ieria medico, of more active principles there are also
very few that are not really deleterious in their ef-
fects, which could have been selected more offensive
and objectionable for the purpose intended in the
operation of cheese-making, which is a perfectly che-
mical process, and of a delicate and very interesting
kind ; and I apprehend, far more easily interrupted
in its various stages than has ever been before
observed. Whilst these facts are fresh before
the mind, probably there is no part of this humbie
and imperfect attempc where I can more properly
enter upon an examination of the component parts
of tbe recipes for the counterfeit colourings, with
such remarks as I may be able to make on the preju-
dicial effects thereby produced in the various stages
of ibe making, and upon the cheese afterwards;
therefore, on referring to the recipe, No. 1, it will
be observed to contain brick-powder, which, though
free from any very active properties, it is not im-
possible but the operation of torrefying or high de-
gree of burning, may give to it a slight degree of
astringency, an effect well known in same instances,
the consequences of which I have explained in the
observations describing the genuine annatto. Be-
sides this, its highly dried state will make it objec-
tionable on account of its absorbent and hardening
power upon the curd and cream. But surely no one
will any longer hazard the swallowing of materials,
if nothing worse, rendered by calcination so irritant
to tbe stomach. The same form also contains vege-
table gelatine or starch, which (though not soluble
by the milk at the temperature the cheese is techni-
cally said to come; and on that account, the more
likely to be suspended in the curd or animal gluten ;
and added thereto,) will, (though varying from it,
and from animal jelly, in tbe less degree of tenacity
it possesses), be apt to undergo the same changes
with them, all of them being precipitated by tannin,
and thereby forming various degrees of insoluble
substances, though the least so with vegetable gela-
tine. As this recipe, together with the astringency
suspected in the brick-powder, receives as well some
Spanish annatto, (already admitted by high authority
to bold the same principle,) these consequences may
be calculated upon, and thus even the mare simple
or less concentrated gelatine of starch will, propor-
tionally to its density, in all the stages of the cheese,
add to the cause of that toughness of the caseous
substance, and even hardness, often met with, espe-
cially in those cases where tbe farmers' wives are
permitted to cl aim the butter to raise domestic sup-
plies, a custom " more honoured itt the breach than
in the observance," whereby the old adage of" rob-
bing Peterto clothe Paul," is too often verified to
the letter. For, should they have an unreasonable
love of show and appearances, the milk will be so
often sailed over by tbe " skimmer," (thus com-

mitting a robbery of the cream and butter,) as to
tend greatly to the diminution of the quantity, and
what is worse, to the deterioration of tbe quality of
the cheese. Turmeric, another ingredient, is a slight
aromatic bitter, but hasgi\en place to more active
medicines, and deserves to be considered here only
as a dye. It is by the alkalies changed into a reddish
brown, from its own natural yellow colour, and in
this instance will have a deep tinge of red imparted
to it by the addition of the annatto. The whole is
then made up with tbe most disagreeable of ail the
ingredients, train-oil, than which no other oil could
have been selected so soon subjected to become ran-
cid from its nature and mode of preparation. Tbe
oil will, from similarity, be most attracted by the
cream, to which it will unite and communicate its
offensive odour to the cheese in every stage.

The recipe, No. 2, is composed of turmeric,
potash, Spanish annatto, and soft soap. Tbe gene-
ral results of the turmeric and annatto have just
been given, but the tinge of colour formed by the
annatto will be peculiarly marked here by the action
of the soap and potash u,)on it, and the turmeric, in
producing a very dark red. Soft soap consists of
potash, train oil, and tallow ; its potash, with that
contained herein, if it does not even attract, will be
united to tbe cream and butter in the milk and
cheese, and also to the tallow, and thus produce
more saponaceous matter ; tbe fish oil of the soap
doing- its part likewise in perfecting the ironical
name of sweet soap.

Recipes No. 3 and 4, like No. 2, hold in their
general mass potash, which, with the train oil, makes
the coarsest kind, called black soap, and will, as be-
fore, taint tbe cream and butter. The annatto, in
all these forming a part, will continue to offer tbe
power which has been by so high testimony de-
clared to it, and thus do its work in tbe spoiling
combination ; whilst tbe quick lime, which stands
boldly at the head of both these caustical doses,
comes to crown the whole ; for, when united to tbe
potash, which is here selected as a close companion
in these discordant compounds, they form materials
for one of the most active caustics used in the pro-
fession of surgery.

Recipe No. 5 (possessing the same active ingre-
dients with Nos. 3 and 4) will naturally produce the
same effects, only the keen edge of tbe caustic will
be somewhat blunted (though I fear not through
good intention) by the knavery which has put so
perfect a finish to the completion of its own charac-
ter, and

" Still rising in a climax to the last,
Surpassing all, is not to be surpass'd,"

by tbe addition of chalk and pipe-clay, as make-
weights against the too much already filched pockets
of the consumers, both of which (though of so in-
active properties chemically, and medicinally consi-
dered, as not to deserve much observation), will be
apt to dry and harden the caseous substance. He-
sides the aforementioned ill effects produced by tbe
colouring ingredients introduced into cheese, it is
more than probable, that as the rennet is a peculiar
acid, tbe alkalies contained in these several formulas
will in a degree neutralize it, and thus weaken its
power of coagulation upon the gluten or curd, by
which means that quantify of curd which ought to
be got out will not bo obtained from the milk. And
again, as the curd is soluble in strong alkalies, an-
other diminution of it may in that way be effected,
although the alkali be in a diluted state. Hence it
fellows that there will be a great loss in the amount

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

467

of cheese everywhere made, for it is well known
that alter the caseous portion is taken away, as or-
dinarily practised, there remains in solution no very
inconsiderable quantity both of it and butter in the
whey and butter-milk.

It is equally as probable that the ill scents and
flavours so often met with are produced by the
offensive nature of the oils and the action of the
chemical substances interfering with the fermenta-
tions, or those changes (at the several periods,) which
are requisite for the proper maturation of the cheese.
And may not also the power of the alkalies to unite
with the butter, in so doing, displace the butter
from its general diffusion through the curd, and
thereby allow of greater contraction, and cause
toughness of it, whilst it prevents that mellowness
which is a condition essential to all good cheese :
Such are the nature and general effects, as far as
the difficult character of tins enquiry will permit, of
as many of the compositions for the fictitious co-
louiings as I have been able to gain possession.
But I feel quite as well satisfied there are others
of no more desirable contents to be mingled with
an important article of our daily food, which the
manufacturers will not give up, but which it is very
likely may not differ in any very essential degree
from the compounds before described. All of these
have the public been thus long beguiled to swallow,
and have so patiently tolerated as a prejudice to
cheese, which, when made as it ought to be, and
fully ripened before using, I am of opinion, instead
of being itself difficult of digestion, is a promoter of
digestion ; and is not only a most substantial part
of human diet, but one of our best luxuries. There
is yet another bad effect (and that to many not the
least objectionable one), arising from the same
causes, that is, the destruction they appear (by al-
most universal admission) to work upon the green
mould, generally so called ; for it is declared with
almost one voice that the true, rich, green mould is
seldom, if ever, met with to any extent or perfec-
tion in cheese highly coloured ; a consequence not
beyond the power of at least some satisfactory ex-
planation. And it may be confirmatory evidence
here to state, that upon my lately entering a consi-
derable number of cheese-shops in a large market
town on the borders of Cheshire, and asking in what
sort of cheese green mould is most abundantly met
with, the reply was from one and all verbatim —
" Oh, sir, in the white cheese." Now the green
mould being considered by the most distinguished
explorers into the productions of nature a vegetable,
as appears to microscopic observation, of the fun-
gus tribe of plants, and of a peculiar species, called
Mueor Cusei ; and, as we know that all fungi will
veg'-tate in confined air and from fading bodies,
and as this species appears to require for its support
certain properties in the component parts of cheese,
so are we entitled to draw the conclusion that the
healthy condition of this pabulum of its life in the
cheese much tainted with colouring, has been either
prevented or destroyed in a great measure by the
active chemicals before mentioned, introduced
into the process of cheese-making. Butter appears
to be one of the stimuli or chief supports of the
IMucor Casei, for the dairy-maids say, nothing so
soon or abundantly takes on the green mould as any
waste butter, which is collected from the runnings
of cheese in the press. Then, it being admitted it
is in the well-made cheese, without colouring, that

the green mould ever grows abundantly, it is no less
worthy of observation, the same cheese usually pos-
sesses the greatest number of other excellencies ;
such as, general admixture of butter, uniform mel-
lowness and rich flavour, with fewer of the dis-
agreeables, because the various stages of cheese-
making have not suffered that interruption which
arises from the heterogeneous compound of colour-
ing. With the collection of so many recipes and
proofs before us, as to the destructive effects of
cheese-colouring, and the apparent uncertainty of
the contents of what may be introduced into other
forms of cheese-dyes, not yet brought to light, it
needs to excite no wonder that even the high character
once so deservedly attached to the cheese of Cheshire
should have been forsaking it; and this perhaps in
proportion as the colouring (as of late years) hath
been the worse adulterated ; nor can it be forseen
what injurious or even fatal consequences may fol-
low, if a stop be not soon put to the worse than use-
less practice under consideration.

And I would here, with the most friendly inten-
tions, intimate the immediate necessity of every
farmer's wife, according to the rule of* by-gone days,
being at the head of her own dairy, if the private
advantages of having good cheese, and the waning
character of the Cheshire dairy-maids are objects
worth restoring. Upon reflecting over all the circum-
stinces connected with this subject, I cannot but
express great surprise that, as it was known, at
least by some, that fictitious colourings were quickly
invented (after the first introduction of the Annatto
Orellana), so many years should have passed with-
out inquiry, or any effort made to dissuade the pub-
lic from their farther use. And much shall 1 be re-
warded if I be onlynow made instrumental in exposing
and teiminating the mischief in future to the cheese,
and the fraud committed, especially upon that very
deserving class, the husbandmen, and influencing
them to follow the advice here offered.

I consider myself fortunate in having an oppor-
tunity of offering an example worthy of imitation,
in a "very intelligent farmer, under George Wil bra-
ham, Esq., who is so convinced of colouring being
both offensive and pernicious to cheese, that he
leaves it out of what is intended for his own table.
I am also further informed, this is no solitary case.
I shall be also more compensated, if this very im-
portant article of food shall, in the result, be as
much bettered in quality as I hope and anticipate ;
and if the fame for superiority of the Cheshire
cheese over most others, which I have be< n sorry
has of late been losing its first place, shall, through my
humble endeavours, be recovered to the Cheshire
dairy-maids, a class of females at once the fair c it
bloom; a credit to their families ; the hope, and should
be, the pride of the country. In conclusion, I must
tike le;ive to remind all, and above all, the consumeis
or eaters of cheese, that little will be done without
their co-operation, by a simultaneous resolve on their
part to purchase no more cheese containing any
colouring ingredient whatever. And surely little
entreaty will be required from me when so much
evil is made to appear to arise out of its use, and no
good ; and as the slightest consideration upon the
compositions formed of so nauseating drugs as train-
oil, soft, alias, sweet soap and potash, being intro-
duced as portions of our daily sustenance, mutt
alone produce the determination to do so.

4418

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF ENGLAND.

At a Council held in Hanover Square, on Wed-
nesday, the '27th of April, present : Philip Pusey,
Esq., M.P., in the chair, David Barclay, Esq., M.P.,
Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq., Thomas William
Bramstou, Esq., M.P., French Burke, Esq., Edward
Davies Davenport, Esq.,. lames Dean, Esq., Humphrey
Gibbs, Esq., VV. Goodenousrh Hayter, Esq. ,M.P.f
Robert Henry Hurst, Esq., William Rides, Esq., M.P.,
W. Woods Page, Esq , Rev. W. L.' Rham, M.A.,
William Shaw, Esq., T. H. S. B. Estcourt Sotheron,
Esq., M.P., W. R. Crompton Stansfield, Esq., M.P.,
and Gecrge Wilbraham, Esq.

Improvement or Fresh and Salt Buiter.
Mr. William Were, residing at 44, Botolph Lane, in
the Cily, and who for upwards of thirty years has been
engaged extensively in the butter trade of London,
communicated to the Council the following suggestions
for improving the qualities of fresh and salt Butter : —

"44, Botolph lane, London, April 20, 1842.

"Solidity and firmness, I think, is of more conse-
quence than is generally allowed ; the nearer butter can
be made of the consistency of wax, the longer it will
keep its flavour ; and as it is not so easily acted upon
by the atmospheric air, it will retain le?s salt or brine,
being dive&ted more effectually of the buttermilk, con-
sequently will be less disposed to acidity.

" To accomplish this object 1 recommend salting the
cream by putting rather more fine table salt to it than
is used when applied after churning, because a part
will be left with the buttermilk ; or, use strong clean
brine, the produce of the salt generally used, and mix
with the cream or butter, the hand to be used in the
making as Utile as possible (the earlier the butter is
made and the cooler the dairy the better — the latter
should bs washed out with salt and water the first and
last thing every day). The hand relaxes the texture of
the butter; it might by a little practice be avoided al-
ogether by using wooden pats (the same as used by the
London cheesemongers) for putting into casks, or mak-
ing into shape for sale, which will press out the wey
effectually by beating. These pats must be always
(except when in the hand for use) kept in a tub of fresh
cold water, which will prevent the adhering of the butter
and keep them cool.

" The quantity of salt or brine required will in some
degree depend on the season of the year, the distance to
be sent, and time to be kept. Brine is preferable to
salt, as the butter is smoother and better flavoured.
If salt be used, it may be in the proportion of half an
ounce of fine dry table salt mixed with two drachms of
fine saltpetre, and two drachms of fine yelloiv dry Ja-
maica sugar, to every pound of butter. If the butter
be made up in lumps for the market, I would recom-,
mend that every lump be wrapped round with a piece
of calico soaked in brine made from fine dry salt, that
will carry an egg ; if the brine be weak and waiery it
may be injurious. If the butter be put into a firkin or
half-firkin, the cask should be made of white oak, ash,
sycamore, or beech (the whiter the wood and hoops the
better it pleases the eye), well seasoned by scalding out
several times with hot brine, made from pure and clean
salt. It should be well bound and made water tight,
with head and bottom g roved ; three pounds should be
allowed for f,oakage.

" If very choice butter, I would recommend a salt
cloth around the butter, also on the top and at the bot-
tom ; the cloth can be kept in its place by a hoop,
which can be removed as the cask fills : in either case
the cloths can be returned or sold to the buyer, as many
of the cheesemongers use cloth instead of paper in
sending out the butter to the consumer.

"Much observation, attention, and arrangement is
required to see and judge as to what improvement can
be effected in the make of butter ; comparative state-
ments from different dairies at different times — the tem-

perament of the milk anil cream in the different stages —
the situation and state of the dairy— the quantity and
quality of cream the milk will yield in different locali-
ties, under different management— the effects of the
use of various sorts of salt, brine, sugar, honey, or salt-
petre, mixed with the milk, the cream, or the butter —
the effect of mixing different milks together— the effect
of heal and acid applied in churning — the best sort ol
colouring, if any and what description ol food has such
effect— the effect of dry, wet, or shady pasture, also of
regular exercise for the cows — if any, and what
effect as to produc'ion of cream in proportion to the
milk given by the cows, if feeding on corn or grain, or
by adding meal in the water for drink.

" William Were."

The wooden pats recommended by Mr. Were to be
u*ed instead of the hands, in mnkiug buiter, are those
made by Mr. Allsop, and consist of a thin spatula (a
foot long by three inches broad), and a solid spoon-
shaped implement (a few inches longer), with longitu-
dinal groves on its flat inner surface, for dabbing, press-
ing, and crimping the butter ; and suggested that these
pats, when out of use, should be always kept in cold
spring-water to prevent the butter from adhering to
them.

The Council returned to Mr. Were their best thanks
for this communication.

Mr. Burke explained to the Council the importance
of a discriminating choice in the selection of the proper
kind of salt adapted to each kind of butter and cheese
to be made, attributing the superiority of the Dutch in
their dairy management in a great measure to their care
in this particular. Mr. Burke also stated that in many
parts of Holland the brine was added, not to the butter
itself, but to the cream from which it was to be obtained ;
and that he believed honey to be preferable to sugar as
an addilion for improving its quality.

Mr. David Barclay, M.P., and Mr. Fisher Hobbs,
were nominated as Members of the Deputation to the
Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Improvement So-
ciety of Ireland to be held at Cork on the 21st of July.

The Council ordered that a proof of Mr. Burke's
compilation from the Essays on " Cottage Economy
and Cookery" should be sent to each Member of the
Council for suggestions or addition?.

Mr. Garrett applied for space to exhibit at the meet-
ing at Bristol several new and important implements
which lie intended to convey to that port in a vessel
ready for that purpose.

Professor Johnstone presented a copy of his " Ele-
ments of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology ;"
intended by the author to present to the practical far-
mer a familiar outline of the topics examined, discussed,
or more fully detailed in his larger work, or "Lec-
tures," on the same subject. Mr. H. White (one of the
Honorary Secretaries) presented a copy of the Rules,
Regulations, and Premiums ol the Daresbury Farmers'
Club, established in February last in North Cheshire.

Museum.

His Grace the Duke of Richmond being unable to
attend the Councilor Committees of the Society during
the alarming indisposition of the Dowager Duchess of
Richmond, Mr. Raymond Barker presided as Vice-
Chairman at the Meeting of the House Committee,
when it was unanimously resolved, that Mr. Dean should
be requested to favour the Committee with plans, spe-
cifications, and estimates for the construction of a
Museum forlhe Society at their residence in Hanover
Square ; and that the Committee should meet again
next Wednesday for the purpose of receiving these do-
cuments, and reporting their recommendations to the
Monthly Council of that day.

The Council stands adjourned to Wednesday next,
the 4th of May.

At a Monthly Council held in Hanover Square
ou Wednesday, the 4th of May, present— Henry
Handley, Esq., President, in the chair ; Marquis of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

469

Downshire ; Earl Spencer ; Hon. H. W. Wilson ; Co-
lonel Austen ; R. \V. Baker, Esq. ; T. Raymond
Barker, Esq ; H. Blanshard, Esq. ; T. W. Bramiton,
Esq., M.P. ; F. Burke, Esq.; Colonel Clialloner ; C.
R. Colville, Esq., M.P. ; E. D. Davenport, Esq. ; J.
Dean, Esq. ; H. Gibbs, Esq.; S. Grantham, Esq.;
W. F. Hobbs, Esq. ; Sir John Johnstone, Bart., M.P, ;
G. Kimberley, Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; Sir Charles
Lemon. Bart., M.P. ; W. Miles, Esq., M.P.; W. W.
Page, Esq. ; E. W. W. Pendarves, Esq., M.P.; E.
S. Chandos Pole, Esq. ; Sir Robert Price, Bart.,
M.P. ; Alderman Purcell ; Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P. ;
F. Pym. Esq.; Rev. \V. L. Rham, M.A ; VV. Shaw,
Esq.; VV. R. C. Stansfield, Esq., M.P. ; and John
Warsop, Esq.

Finances.

Colonel Clialloner, Chairman of the Finance Com-
mittee, presented to the Council the monthly Report of
the stale of the accounts to the 30th of April, and also
gave notice that he should move at the next Monthly
Council that a temporary Collector should be employed
to get in the local subscriptions of Members residing
in London.

House Committee.

Mr. Raymond Barker, as Vice Chairman of the
House Committee, presented to the Council the Report
of the Committee, and the various plans submitled by
Mr. Dean for the arrangements of the Society's house.
The Committee was directed to hold its next meeting
on Saturday, and report finally on this subject to the
ensuing Council.

Annual Country Meeting of 1843.

The Council then proceeded to the consideration of
the town in the north-eastern district (compiling the
Counties of Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln,
Rutland, and the North Division of Northampton), at
which the Annual Country Meeting should be held in
1843 ; and the following documents, by order of the
President, were successively submitted to the conside-
ration of the Council in the order of their original pre-
sentation, in favour respectively of Leicester, Derby,
and Nottingham as the place of such Meeting : —

1. Leicester.— Letter from the Duke of Rutland, Presi-
dent of the Leicestershire Agricultural Association.
Memorial of the Committee of the same, signed by
the Hon. H. W. Wilson, Cha:rman. Coloured plan
of the Cricket ground, Railway Station, and con-
necting streets. — Letter from Sir W. Heygate, lit.,
to Mr. Woods Page. — OrTer of services on the part of
Mr. Eames, Treasurer of the Ashby-de-la Zoucli
Agricultural Society.

2. Derby. — Memorial of the nobility and gentry. —
Plan of the Town, and its connexion wiih the Kail-
way Station. — Memorial from the Mayor and Cor-
poration, with the Resolution of the Court, and a
plan of the Holmes (of 15J acres' extent), offered
free of expense, transmitted by the Town Cleik. —
Letters of consent from the owners and occupiers of
the various fields proposed as sites.— The grant of
the free use of the County Hall for the Council Din-
ner, from John Balguy, Chairman of the Bench of
Magistrates. — Letter from Mr. Leaper Newton,
Chairman of the Railway Board, offering the whole
extent of acres adjoiuing the Station. — Communica-
tion from Sir Oswald Mosley on the free grant of use
of lands, by Barton Borough, Esq., of Chetwynd
Park. Communications from E. S. Chandos Pole,
Esq., of Radbourne Hall, with the Mayor and Mr.
Barker, on the progress made in relieving the So-
ciety from every possible expence and trouble in
reference to the engagements to be entered into with
the various holders of property ; and the offer by Mr.
Pole himself of the free use of any portion of his
land (of which tlie plans were submitted) for the
trial of implements. — Specific replies on the part of
the South Derbyshire Agricultural Society, to the
queries for information, agreeably with the Cou nci's
Resolution of Dec, 8, 1841, from Mr. Bromley, their
Secretary.

3. Nottingham.— Letter from Colonel Rollc-ston, chair-
man of the Nottinghamshire Agricultural Association,
enclosing a memorial from the members, and com-
munication of the cordial co operation of the Mayor
ol Nottingham. — Letter from Mr. Falkuer, Secretary
of the Association, transmitting replies to the queries
for information, and enclosing a plan of the various
localities.— Letter from Mr. E. Wollett Wilmot,
communicating the free grant of Nottingham Park,
on the part of the Duke of Newcastle.
The Council having maturely deliberated on the va-
rious advantages possessed, in point of locality and
accommodation, by each of these towns, and decided
that either Leicester or Derby should be the town se-
lected for the occasion of the Meeting, the Hon. H.
W. Wilson on the part of Leicester, and C. R. Colvile,
Esq., M.P., and E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq. on the part
of Derby, jointly requested leave of the Council for a
week's postponement of their decision as to which of
these two places the Meeting should be held, in order
that time might be ullovved for the purpose of procuring
the further information required by the Council to ena-
ble them to decide this question.

It was then resolved, That the final consideration of
this subject would take place at the adjourned Council
to be held on the 11th of May.

Bokhara Clover.

William Taylor, Esq., F.L.S. of 314, Regent Street,
presented to the Society a bundle of Bokhara Clover
(recently cut), with a coloured engraving of the plant,
and the following account of its cultivation.

" A small packet of the Seed of the Clover in question,
which appears to be a variety of Melilotus Arborea,
was given me by Mr. Loudon in the spring of 1839. It
vegetated freely, and grew most luxuriantly up to the
latter part of September, when it was four feet high ; it
was then mown, and the stalks were manufactured
into strong and durable hemp. Horses eat the plant
with great avidity in its young state ; and to judge from
its extraordinary growth the first year, it may be fed or!
three times, namely, the middle of June, July, and
August. It stood the winter of 1839-40 well, proving
itself to be a hardy plant. On the 28th of April, 1840,
a small portion of it was cut, which was then 15
inches high ; on the 28th of May again, height I6inches;
and subsequently on the 28th of June, height 17 inches;
in August 15 inches, and in September 12 inches:
the first flowers appeared in June, and by the
middle of July it was covered with its highly
fragrant white blossom. A large portion had been left
for seed, and towards the end of September the crop
was harvested, each plant producing from 10 to 20,000
seeds, the stalks being from 12 to 13 feet in height.
From the experiments I have made with Bokhara
Clover, I should calculate that an acre would produce
from 20 to 30 tons of green herbage. The first year it
may be cut in June, July, and August, eachcutting
averaging three to five tons of green herbage. The
second year, in April, May, June, July, August, and
September, each month producing three to five tons of
herbage. If intended to be saved for seed, it must not
be cut more than three times— in April, May, and June.
The roots form a sort of manure ; and from two to
three tons of hemp. Great advantage mint be derived
from its cultivation, as it forms a valuahle green food
for all sorts of cattle at an early period of the season ;
and if cut when 15 or 20 inches high, an abundant crop
would be produced, yielding hay superior in quality
and quantity to the common herbage plants. To judge
from what has hitherto be^n seen of the Bokhara
Clover, it appears to be a valuable biennial plant, well
adapted for growth in this country ; nor is it unlikely
that it may be found to thrive on suchsoih as, by agri-
culturists, are termed clover-sick; whereby its value
would be greatly enhanced. Should it, as may reason-
ably be expected, inordinary seasons, on good soils, be
ready for cutting in the early part of Apiil, farmers
who have no grass, and but a short supply of hay, car-
rots, or turnips, would derive essential benefit from it.

470

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The Bokhara Clover being a tall, deep-rooted plant,
■with a strong stem well clothed with foliage and blos-
som, it keep- the ground in a more perfect state than
most other plants of the artificial grass kind, and con-
sequently will be more influential in ainelioratinir and
preparing soil-, for the reception of wheat crops. It is
a plant capable of being cultivated with success and
advantage on almost all heavy and dry descriptions of
land if in a tolerable state of fertili y ; and it may bo
sown froca March till June. The proportion of seed
thjt is necessary must vary according to the quality of
the land and the state of preparation to which it has
been brought ; on the licher descriptions of ^oil that
are free 'rmn weed*, 8 to infos, may be sufficient for an
acre; whsreas 14 to i5lb«. will not be too much for
those that are of Stiff quality, or which possess a less
decree of fertility. As already indicated, the crop may
either be mown for hay, cut every month as
green herbage for different sorts of bye stock,
or serve for the grazing of cattle and sheep.
The separation of the seed from the c ipsuie does not re-
quire so much labour and expeuce as the common
Clovers. It is thrashed in the same manner as trefoil,
and sent to the mill to free the seed Irom the husk.
The Bokhara Clover is likely lo answer well, and may,
in a great measure, render this country independent
of foreign Ciover-sced. On account of i s elegant
appearance, and the fragrance of its blossom, it like-
wise deserves a place in every flower- gai den."

Mr. Gilibs stated to the Council, that the plant now
known as the " Bokhara Clover" was identical
with the Trifoliutn Metitottu alba, or fa- it had been
formerly called) the Me Mot us officinalis alba, a plant
which ha<i been partially cultivated in this country for
the last twenty-five years, and the seed regularly im-
ported by Messrs. '1 homas Gibbs and Co., who had
been in the habit of recommending the growth of a
small breadth of this clover, for the purpose ot mixing it
witu hay that might have been damaged by wet wea-
ther, the fragrance of the leaf imparting lo the whole
the smell of new hay ; also for cutting and placing in
layers with oat straw, for the putpo-e of cutting into
chaff, stacks being formed of alternate layers of the
straw and clover. Mr. Gibbs staled that this clover
grew to a gigantic height, but should be cut at any
early stage, as otherwise it would be ligneous or
woody in stalk, the soil most favourable to its culti-
vation being a deep rich mould.

Mr. Taylor also presented to the Soc:ety a drawing
of the Meliiotut Cieliciim, a plant highly useful for the
feeding of cattle.

Mr. Miles, M.P., announced the election of Mr.
Hyatt, of Painswick, as a Steward of the Yaid at the
meeting at Bristol.

Mr. Manning reported the favourable progress of
the works connected with the erection of the Pavilion
and Show-yard at Bristol.

Mr. S. Solley, F.R.S., presented translation* from
the Swedish, on the subject of the foundation of the
Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, and the constitu-
tion of soils.

Mr, E. S. Chandos Pole presented the results of his
experience in the valuable dairy qualities of the old
long-horned native cows of Derbyshire.

Mr. Danson, of Liverpool, transmitted a communi-
cation ol the importance and favourable progress of
agricultural cultivation in Ireland, and also details con-
nected with the application of guano manure.

Mr. Chaston.of Walton, presented further specimens
of his new gelatinous horse and dog balls, with an
account of the improvements effected in their prepara-
tion and use.

Mr. \V. M. Chatterlcy, of Manor-farm, Havering-
atte-Bower, Romford, Essex, communicated his plan
of scientific instruction in agriculture.

Mr. Loudon presented a copy of his new work, en-
tilled " Encyclopaedia of Trees and Shrubs," adapted
for the use of nurserymen, gardeners, and foresters ;
Mr. Cuthbert W. Johnson, F.R.S., the last part of the
" Farmer's Encyclopaedia ;" Martin Doyle, the 1st part

of the new and enlarged edition of his " Encyclopaedia
of Practical Husbandry;'' and Mr. Youatt the hut
number of his *' Veterinarian.' '

The Council then adjourned till Wednesday next, the
11th of May.

At a Council held in Hanover-square, on Wednesday,
the 11th of May, present, Henry Hantlley, Esq.,
President, in the Cliair ; Marquis of Downshire ; Earl
Spencer; Lord Bridport ; Lord Poriman ; Colonel
Au-ten ; R. Bailey, Esq.; R. W. Baker, Esq. ; David
Barclay, Esq., M.P.; T. Raymond Barker, Esq.:
J. Bromley, E-q.; Edward Huller, Esq., M.P. ; R.
Burgess, Esq. ; F. Burk--, Esq.; Sir Cnailes Birrell,
Bart., M.P.; J. VV. Clnldeis, Esq, M.l'.j C. R. Col-
vill, E-q.. M.P.; E. 1). Da»etIDOrt, Esq.; J. Dean,
E«=q.; H. Cibb*, Esq.; S. Grantham, Esq.; W. F.
Hobljs, Esq. ; Sir John Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; G.
Kimberley, Esq.; J. Kinder, Esq.; T. Macaulay,
Esq.; William Miles, E-q., MP.; W. W. Pa-e, E«q. ;
E. W. W. Pendarves, Esq., M.P. ; E S.Char. os Pole,
Esq., Philip Pu*cy, Esq., M.P. ; W. Shaw, Esq.;
J. Villiers Shelley, Esq ; R. A. Slaney, E-q.; W. R.
Cromp on StanshYhl, Esq., M.P.; and John War-
sop, Esq.

Anni-al Country Meeting, 184-3.

The Council having resumed the consideration of the
que-lion of the place of the Annual Country Meeting
in the north-eastern district in 1813, finally determined
that the town of Derby should be the place of such
meeting for that year.

Earl Spencer, Mr. Gibbs, pnd Mr. Shaw, were ap-
pointed a committee to prepare the preliminary Prize-
Shtct lor next year, to be submitted, agreeably with the
bye- lavv<=, lo the members at the ensuing anniver>ary
meeting for suggestions and corrections.

Mr. Raymond Barker grave notice, that he should at
the next meeting of the Council propose that the Coun-
cil recommend the Marquis of Downshtre for ehction
as the next year's President of the Society, should he
in the meantime be able to ascertain from the noble
lord thit his present numerous engagement would
allow him to accept and undertake the duties of that
high and important office.

Mr. Childers, M. P., gave notice that he should move
at the next Monthly Council, the appointment of a
permanent Surveyor ef Works for the Country Meet-
ings.

Mr. Chandos Pole undertook, at the request of Ihe
Council, to procure for the Society an account of the
various agricultural prizes that had hitherto been offered
in the Derbyshire districts.

Mr. Pusey, M.P., informed the Council of the pro-
gress already made by the District Prize Committee in
their consideration of the future arrangement to be
adopted for promoting the agricultural improvement of
the districts in which the Annual Country Meetings
of the Society might successive!; be held.
Mekting at Bristol.

Mr. Miles. M. P., reported the appointment of Mr
Marmont as Steward of the Cattle-yard, and of Mr.
Villiers Shelly as a Steward of the Implement Depart-
ment. Mr. Manning's Jtepjrt of the favourable and
rapid progress of the works at Bristol was read.

An advertisement was ordered by the Council to be
inserted in the whole of the newspapers within the
Western District (comprising the counties of Somerset,
Dorset, Cornwall, and Devon), in which the Meeting
at Bristol would be held, announcing the date of the
Meeting and the latest time at which certificates for the
entry of Stock, &c. for the Show could be received.
Belgian Carrots.

Mr. GabeTl, of Hollyficld, near Crickhowell, S.W.,
addressed a letter to the Council requesting them to
ascertain whether the excessive use of the large while
Belgian carrot as food for horses had a tendency lo in-
duce blindness. This communication was referred to
Professor Sewett, with a request that he would favour
the Society with a report on the subject.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

471

Cretan Mllilot.

Mr. Taylor having presented 1o the Society a co-
loured drawing of the Melitotus Greticum, transmitted
the follow nig account of the plant : —

" A few scuds were sent me from the Island of
Crete, under the name of the Mehlotus Creticum,
a* a plant that would he found highly useful
for feeding cattle. The seed was sown lhe'2.)th March,
produced flower* in June, and by the middle of July it
was covered with its highly fragrant yellow blossom ;
ripened seed in A mru 't ; height of the plant 20 inches,
'the Melilotus Creticum seems to be u valuable plant,
and well calculated for growing in this country. It
seems to possess all the properties sufficient to recom-
mend it to the notice of agriculturists, particular); as
it* stalks are very succulent, and its foliage very abun-
dant; and when sown in autumn, it may be cut and
e'esred from the ground in the beginning of June
following, and die laud tallowed for wheat or spring
corn. It forms a valuable green food for cattle at an
early pciiod ol the season ; and, if cut when in lull
doner, it yields a mo-l abundant crop. It seems to be
relished by all. sorts of cattle, particularly milch cows,
in consequence of its pweet herbaceous flavour, whether
cut in a green state for food, or made into hay ; and a
plant well adapted for making into hay, on account of
its foliage, when dried, being found to impart to the
whole crop an agreeable sweet scent .similar to that ol the
sweet-scented vernal grass, or Anthoxanthum odoratiim.
From tts beautiful yellow spikes ot flowers, it will form
an elegant ornamental plant in every garden.''

Swiss Bclls.
Sir Frauds A. Mackenzie, Bart., informed the Coun-
cil that he had at length succeeded, through the agency
of his friend the celebrated geologist and writer on
fossil fishes, I'rolesior Agassiz, in obtaining possession
of a breeding slock, which for the. last 23 years, since
his first visit to Switzerland, he had been most desirous
to secure for this country ; and that four of the finest
bulU that Switzerland could produce were now on their
way to England, and would arrive to the cansi^nment
of Mr. llanhui y, banker, in Lombard street, in the
course of a few days. Sir Francis, in describing this
stock remarks—" I certainly never saw more beautiful
cattle Hun the Sv\i<s, not c-.en in Yorkshire, and they
combine both milking and fattening qualities, which is
an immense advantage; the proof of the first their
being- the cows which in Lom hardy are only
bought for making Parmesan cheese ; and I hope tiiat
the shapes of the animals now sent will to the best
judges prove that they possess the latter quality by their
perfect shapes. Professor Agassiz, not being limired in
price, procured for Sir Francis Mackenzie four of tho
tiaest and ban boniest young bulls ihat Switzerland can
produce ; and although the Professor considers the
outiay already too large in effecting this oljact, Sir
Francis expressed the conviction, he felt that he should
be rewarded il the blood was found to do good to our
English breeds, by crossing them.

Draining Tiles.
The Marquis of Downshire presented a specimen of
a cheap tile made at Weddington, near Nuneaton, in
Warwickshire, 12 inches long, and sold at. 25 shillings
per thousand. The chief recommendation of this tili is
its cheapness, and its peculiarity, the form into which
its lower edg- s are turned outwards into a loot; its
transverse section (or cross cut) resembling the outline of
the letter U inverted, thus f| : this shape, in the first
instance, allowing the tiles to be piled together more
compacily in the kiln, and when used to be capable of
having their course kept more clear for the passage of
the water. The tiie exhibited was made of very coarse
materials, and had become partially glazed on its sur-
face from the strong heat to which it appeared to have
been subjected,

Mr. Samuel S. Rogers, Secretary of the Isle of Man
Agricultural Society, expressed his willingness to
communicate an account of any important agricultural

facts which might aid the objects of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England ; Messrs. Ransome, of
Ipswich, gave notice of their intention to exhibit as
large a collection of agricultural implements at the
Meeting at Bristol as they had done at any of the pre-
vious Meetings of the Society.

Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co., of Cornhill, pre-
sented Mr. Bi°choff's new work, entitled " Compre-
lun ive History of the Woollen and Worsted Manu-
factory, and the Natural ut.d Comparative History of
Sheep from the earliest records to the present time ;"
the Statistical Society the last Part of their Journal;
the Labourer's Friend Society the last number of their
Transactions ; and Petty Vaughan, Esq., the " Farm-
er's Cabinet and American Herd-Book," published at
Philadelphia.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the
ISthof May.

ANNIVERSARY MEETING.

Monday, May 23.

Lisr of Members of the Council, elected in

THE ROOM OF THOSE WHO GO OUT BY ROTA-
TION.

David Barclay, E>q.,M. P.

Thomas Raymond Barker,

Esq.
French Buike, Esq.
Henry Hlanshard, Esq.
Hon. George Henry

Cavendish, M.P.
John Ellman, Esq.
Stephen Grantham, Esq.
George Webb Hall, Esq.
Wm. Goodencugh Ilayter,

Esq , M.P.
C. Ilillyard.Esq.
Wm. Fisher llobbs, Esq.
Sir Hungcrford Hoskyns,

Bart.

Samuel Jonas, E-q.
Georire Kimberley, Esq.
John Kinder, E>q.
Sir Charles Lemon, Bart.,

M.P.
Wm. Woods Page, Esq.
E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq.
Professor Sewell.
William Shaw, Esq.
Hon. Capiain Spencer
Charles Stokes, Esq.
Henry Stephen Thompson,

Esq.
George Wilbraham, Esq.
Colonel Thomas Wood,

M.P.

Report of the Council.
Four years only have elapsed since the foundation of
the English Agricultural Society, and two only from
the date of its incoiporation to the present, time. In
looking back upon ihe progress of its labours and the
steady prosecution of its national objects, it cannot tail
to be the source of sincere gratification to its numerous
members, and to every well-wisher of his country,
that, based on principles of the soundest policy and
most evident practical utility, this Society has suc-
ceeded in impressing on the agricultural world a just
scuse of the incalculable results which must attend the
rational application of science to agriculture, in in-
creasing I he immense capabilities of our native soil,
and in developing the hidden resources of the empire.
In that short period the Society has laid the firm toun-
dations of its future progress; and although the lull
accomplishment of its objects can only be the result of
a more extended sphere and circuit of its labours, the
influence of its example and operation has already tended
to clear aw>ay those local prejudices in farming which
from time immemorial had proved the fatal obstacles to
improvement, and has excited a candid spirit of inquiry
on every subject connected with the common good of
the country ami the individual interests of its members.
The good seed has been carefully sown, the young
plant is up and thriving, and there is every promise of
an abundant harvest to be reaped in future years.

The motto of the Society comprises in the terms of
its enunciation, the vital germ of every progressive and
stable improvement, not only in agriculiur-.il economy,
but in every other branch of national industry under
the direction and controul of the mind ; and th^ union
of practice and science constitutes accordingly the
perfection of our principles of action in every depart-
ment of good husbandry, the salutary restraints of the one
principle preventing the undue preponderance of the
other. The routine of local practice and the limited rules

472

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of cultivation unvaryinglyadopted and followed in parti-
cular districts, have at length been found not only to be
imperfect means for the attainment of the end in view,
but being confined to their own peculiar case, they have
had no general application because founded on no ge-
neral principles. While, however, these local preju-
dices have so long proved obstacles to improvement,
and are necessarily the result of the adoption of practice
only, obsolete in its date and uncorrected by intelligent
principles, the Council are most anxious at the present
moment to guard their members against the opposite
evil, of the undue and arbitrary application of mere un-
aided and theoretical science to the operations of agri-
culture. It is the natural tendency of the human mind
to run into extremes, instead of holding the just balance
of dispassionate reason in the pursuit of its inquiries.
No sooner are men convinced of one error than their
liability to fall into an opposite ene become* apparent ;
and in the case of agriculture, the prejudices of
past ages having given way before the salutary con-
viction of just principles, it has naturally resulted that
the evils of the present day ate those attendant on an
incorrect or undue appreciation of science itself, or of
science falsely so called ; practice in many instances,
instead of being enlightened or directed in its operations
by the guidance of novel and untried theories, being
only found to be disturbed in its course by the adoption
of suggestions for its improvement, derived from a
science hastily assumed to be perfect, while its very ele-
mentary truths are either distorted or imperfectly un-
derstood. To discover the recondite laws of vegetable
life, and to ascertain the effect of chemical influence,
as well as of mechanical and physical condition, in
promoting, retarding, or modifying their agency, are
among the problems of a higher science than we yet
possess, and it is the empirical assumption of fallacious
principles having the semblance only of truth,
truth which leads to so many false theories and wrong
practices, and brings disgrace and injury on the just
cause of a sound and discreet application of genuine
science. It will be the constant duty of ihe Council
to impress upon every member of the Society their
uniform and decided opinion that experiment must
ever form the indispensable basis of scientific truth,
and practice the only sure and satisfactory road to agri-
cultural improvement.

At the last General Meeting of the Society, the Coun-
cil announced to the Members their intention to apply
to Her Majesty's Chief Commissioner of Woods and
Forests for a space of ground on which to erect in Lon-
don a complete establishment for the local purposes of
the Society in the metropolis, and Viscount Duncannon
not only placed at the refusal or acceptance of the Council
a suitable space of Crown hind in the neighbourhood of
St. Martin's Lane, but Mr. Dean also favoured them
with numerous plans for the construction of the edi-
fice. These proposals received the deliberate consi-
deration of the House Committee to whom they were
referred, and the Council on receiving their report
resolved to abandon that design on the grounds of
the almost ruinous outlay of capital required for
itsaccomplishmentandthe local advantages only which
would be attained by the undertaking; while the
general interests of the society would be injured by the
financial embarrassmeut resulting from its adoption.
The Council therefore concurred in the recommendation
of the House Committee, that a suitable house should
be selected for the ordinary purposes of the Society's
official business ; in which ample accommodation could
be obtained for the Secretary's olfice, the meetings of
the Council and Committee*, nnd the General Meetings,
and in which a libiary for the reception ol works of re-
ference and the most reeent English and foreign pub-
lications on agricultural subjects could daily be con-
sulted by the members of the Society. All these
advantages, the Council have the satisfaction of stating,
have not ouly been fully attained in the present house in
which they now meet, but an opportunity has also pre-
sented itself of placing the remainder of the house not
required for the purposes of the Society at the disposal

of the Secretary, as a suitable residence for himself and
his family — an arrangement which will not only mate-
rially conduce to the satisfactory and convenient dis-
charge of his official duties, but will at the same time
be advantageous, in many point* of view, to the gene-
ral interests of the Society ; and the whole of these
desirable objects accomplished at an annual rent so
moderate as to exceed but by 30/. the yearly payment
for the hire of the apartments formerly occupied in
Cavendish-square : the rent of the whole, of the pre-
sent hou^e being 300/., and that of the fixtures 30/.,
with a liability of £0/. for tales and taxes; while the
charge on the apartments in Cavendish Square
amounted to 350/.

The Finance Committee have reported the steady
funding effected from time to time of the life-com-
positions of Governors and Members, and have an-
nounced, through the medium of the Journal, the great
advantages attending the transmission of subscriptions
from the country by means of post-office orders. They
have also presented to the Council the several Balance
Sheots of the accounts of the Society as examined and
approved by the auditors, and now laid on the table for
inspection, together with the general Ledger of ac-
counts, in which the details of the various receipts and
payments will be found eutered at length under their
proper heads, and the followiug statement of the present
amount of members ; no less than 500 new members
having been elected during the last six months ; —

Life Governors 101

Governors 211

Life Members 328

Members 5194

5834

The Journal Committee have reported that the whole
of the new part is now printed, and on the point of
publication, and the Council congratulate the members
on the valuable matter which the Journal, as their
own publication, continues to comprise within its
pages.

The Council have the gratification to find that no less
than two thousand impressions of Mr. Main's article
on Cottage Gardening, printed separately lor cheap dis-
tiibution (at a penny each copy), have been already
distributed ; and that Mr. Burke has furnished to the
Journal a compilation on " Cottage Economy and
Cookery,'' which they intend shall be also reprinted in
a similar cheap form for distribution among the cot-
tagers of the Kingdom.

The General Bristol Committee have reported the
near completion of their arrangements, and the rapid
progress aJr ady made by Mr. Manning, in the erection
ol the pavilion and show-yard, agreeably with the plans
adapted to the occasion by the favour of Sir Robert
Smirke and Mr. Uean. They have also accepted the
hnndsome offer made lo them by the Committee of Ihe
Victoria Rooms, of the whole of that large and com-
modious building during the period of the meeting, an
offer not only most acceptable in itself, as supplying
accommodation so ample for the Council dinner, and
for the various purposes in the daily transaction of the
business connected with the Council and Finance Com-
mittee, but especially desirable from the circumstance
of its immediate proximity to the Show-yard and to the
Pavilion erected within its enclosure ; and have reported
their engagement in the prepnration of a complete pro-
gramme of the meeting, which will in due time be
transmitted, by post, to each member of the Society.

'Ihe Council have decided that the Annual Country
Meeting of 1843 for the Northeastern district (com-
prising the counties of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham,
Lincoln, Rutland, and the North Division of Nor-
thampton), shall be held at the town of Derby ; where
the Council have been informed a strong desire is
already felt to receive the Society in the most honour-
able manner, and promote to the utmost extent of their
power the success of that Meeting. The interest which
has been created throughout the country by the present

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

473

mode of a division of districts, in one of which the place
of the Country Meeting will be held successively, year
after year ; and the good effects which are likely to
result in those districts from the preparation set on
foot in anticipation of the meeting, hold out a distinct
prospect of the great benefits eventually to be derived
from this prescribed arrangement in the progress of
the annual meetings throughout the country.

The Council have enacted an important bye-law for
regulating the elections at the Anniversary Meeting,
and facilitating the mode by which the Members at
large of the Society may, with the utmost freedom,
have an opportunity of recording their votes on that
occasion, in reference to the Election of thoseMembers
of the Society whom they may think fit to elect, to fill
the vacancies in the Council annually created by the
terms of the Charter, and thus be enabled, from year to
year, to make choice of such Members as in their
opinion will best discharge the impoitant duties con-
ferred upon them by that election.

The Society are deeply indebted to Her Majesty's
Office of Woods and Forests, in receiving from that
department of the government, when under the con-
trol of Viscount Duncannon, every attention in the
institution at their desire of experiments by Mr.
Griffiths, at the King William's Town Experimental
Farm in Ireland, on the comparative dairy value of
Scotch and Irish cows : and, more recently, a commu-
nication from the Earl of Lincoln, expressing his will-
ingness to direct, as the Society may suggest, a complete
analysis of the soils of the kingdom, to be undertaken
at the Museum of Economic Geology at the expense
of the Government. From Mr. Shaw Lefevre, aUo,
on the part of the Board of Trade, the Council have
received a communication, expressing an intention to
transmit to the Society a notice of any important agri-
cultural implements which may, from time to time, be
sent to that department of the government from abroad.

The Council have to record their sense of Dr. Dau-
beny's disinterested liberality in undertaking at his own
expense a journey into Spain, for the express purpose
of ascertaining the circumstances and extent, in the dis-
trict of Estramadura, of the geological formation or mi-
neral vein of phosphorite, or native phosphate of lime ;
a miueral substance which holds out the prospect of
becoming, to a certain extent, and when brought by
artificial means into a proper mechanical state, a sub-
stitute for the earthy part of bones, and probably by
judicious combination with gelaliuous matter, a substi-
tute lor bones themselves, as a manure for land.

The Council finally have the pleasure of announcing
that they have placed the Agricultural Society of New-
foundland among the number of ihe corresponding
societies ; and have taken advantage of the probable
visit to this country of Dr. Liebig, of the University
of Giessen, in the grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt,
and of Mr. Henry Colman, Commissioner for the
Agricultural Survey of the State of Massachusetts— the
former one ol the most distinguished and accomplished
of chemists of Europe, and the latter one of the best
practical writers on agricultural subjects in the United
State* of America— to enrol their names in the list of
the Honorary Members ; from all of whom the Society
have already received so much attention, and so many
solid advantages.

By order of the Council, James Hudson,

London, May 21, 1842. Secretary.

NEW MEMBERS.

The following gentlemen have been elected

members of the Society during the month.

The Right Hon. Lord Bateman, ol Kelmarsh,
Northamptonshire, and Sir John Walsh, Hart., M.P.,
of Warfield Park, Berkshire, were elected Governors.

Adams, Henry, High Street, Windsor
Armstrong, Rev. George, Clifton, Bristol
Badclyffr, Charles James, Hyde House, Blaudford,
Dorset

Baker, Robert, West Hay, Wrington, Somerset

Bales, James, 4, Alderman's Walk, City, London

Barnett, Edwin , Tarn worth House, near Bristol

Barns, Amos, Swindon, Wilts

Bates, John, Clifton, Bristol

Beynon, John, Atssar Hill, New Castle-Emlyn. S.W.

Blandford.L., Weston-Bampfylde, Sherborne, Dorset

Blomart, John, Willett House, Taunton, Somerset

Brett, Charles, Exbury House, Fawley, Southampton

Brice, R«v. H. C, Rector of St. Peter's, 5, Richmond
Hill, Biistol

Brown, John, Lower Upham Farm, Swindon, Wilt?

Brymer, John, Burgate House, Fordingbridge, Hants.

Burnell, Edward, Hanham, Gloucester

Bush, Henry, Aston Lodge, Bath

Cork, George, Riding School, Islington

Curzow, Hon. and Rev. Frederick, Mickleover, near
Derby

Daniel, Edward, Jun., Clifton, Bristol

D.ivy, James, Boradelish, near Exeter, Devon

Davy, Richard, Redruth, Cornwall

Esara, John, Sutton-upon- Trent, Newark, Notts.

Fox, Francis Kerr, M.D., Brislington, Bristol

Freeman, John, Weasenham, Rougham, Norfolk

Gibbs, William, 13, Hyde Park Street, London

Goldney, William, Clifton, Bristol

Goldney, Samuel, Clifton Hill, Bristol

Gower, Robert Frederick, 13, Nottingham Flace,
Loudon, and Glandovan, Pembrokeshire

Harding, James, Waterson, Dorchester, Dorset

Harley, Edward, Jun., Clifton, Bristol

Hobson, Edward, Syston Court, near Bristol

Hudson, Rev. George Townshend, Stiffkey, Wells,
Norfolk

Jackson, William Richard, Kemberton, Shiffnal, Salop

Jenkins, Griffith John, The Barton, Cirencester, Glou-
cestershire

Jesty, Charles, Holywell, Evershot, Dorchester, Dorset

Jordan, G. B. Jordan, Pigeonsford, New Castle-Em-
lyn, S.W.

Kelsey, Frederick James, West Lavington House,
Wilts.

Langworthy, Austen, M.D., Longwood House, So-
mersetshire

Leach, Rev. Francis George, St. Petnx, Pembroke-
shire, S. W.

Lee, Rev. Henry, Kenn, near Exeter, Devon

Mac Adam, Loudon, Clifton, Bristol

Manning, A., 8, Hertford Street, May Fair, London

Manning, Henry, 251, High Holborn, London

Martin, Frederick, Shepton-Montague, Castle Carey

Mathews, John, Chevely, Newbury, Berks.

Mayos, Thomas, Langanan, Ross, Herefordshire

Miller, Hinry, Frome, Somerset

Nevill, R. J., Llangeunoch, Carmarthen, S. W.

Palmer, Henry A., Clifton, Bristol

Palmer, Arthur Hare, Bristol

Palmer, Frederick, Bristol

Palmerston, Viscount, M.P., Carlton Terrace, London,
and Broadlands, Hants

Perrett, Richard, Downhead, Shepton-Mallet, So-
merset.

Pike, Aaron, Mitton, Tewkesbury, Glouc.

Pring, Benjamin, Maudliu Street, Biistol

Protheroe, Georsre, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, S.W.

Prower, Rev. John Mervin, Put ton, Swindon, Wilts

Ratcliff, Richard, Ingleby, near Derby

Richards, Rev. Henry, Horfield, Bristol

Roads, John, Ashmore Farm, Middle Clayden, Win-
slow, Bucks.

Kobert, Edward, King's Wood, Clotha!!, Baldock,

Herts,
Russ, Harry, Castle Carey, Somerset
Salmon, John, Berkeley Square, Bristol
Salvin, Gerard, Burn Hall, Durham
Savage, Francis, Springfield, Westbury-upon-Trym,

Bristol
Taylor, John, Berkeley Square, Bristol
Tresona, O. (president of the Farmers' Club), Probus,
Cornwall

'2 i

474

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Tripp, W,, Orchard Wyndham

Tyler, Rev. Roper Trevor, Lantrifhyd, Cowbridge,

S.W.
Tyrconnel, Earl of, Kiplin, Catterick, Yorkshire
Varrner. William, Guildford, Surrey
Ward, William Thomas, 26, Old Elvit, Durham
Wait, Charles, Clifton Wood, Bristol
Wait, William Savage, Woodborough, Bath
Ward, Richard Brickdale, Westbury-upon-Trym,

Bristol
Ward, Francis Ridout, Westbury-upoa-Trvm, Bristol
Webb, George, Mount Pleasant Farm, Middle Clay-
den, Winslow, Bucks.
Williams, Howell Jones (High Sheriff for the county

of Brecon), Coitymawr, near Brecon
Williams, James Peachy, Bridgewater, Somerset
Williams, Benjamin, Baker Street, Enfield, Middle-
sex

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

Sin, — Perhaps some of your intelligent and prac-
tical agricultural readers will favour me with the
information I seek in this letter. A few months ago
I bought about 50 acres of rich marsh land. This
land was enclosed from the sea about thirty years
ago by the formation of a canal, and since that time
the title Las not been over it, but it has been grazed
by the stock of the neighbouring farms as common
land. The land appearing to me of very superior
quality, and remarking the large number of cattle
of various descriptions grazing on it, induced me to
give a good price for it, it having been sold under
an net of Parliament for enclosing- the marsh
lands. Now what I am desirous of being infoimed
on is, as to the best mode of cultivating this land ;
and on this point the best farmers in this part are
quite disagreed. Some say — "Do not plough it up
on any account ; if you do you will never get
such grass on it again ; it will make the best pasture
and hay land, and only wants a dressing of lime and
earth to sweeten it." Others say — " you will do no
good with it until it has been ploughed and had two
or three crops of corn taken from it ; there is a great
abundance of grass, we allow, but it will not fatten
nor make sweet hay.'' I am rather puzzled between
these conflicting opinions. I bought it with the idea
of its making good hay and pasture land, being a
large consumer of the f»rmer article. I should add
that the land is a deep silt, in other places it ap-
proaches more to a clay. Most of it is very dry for
the nature of the land, and easily drained, a deep pit
running through the middle of it. I cannot but still
think that it will make me good hay ground, the her-
bage being very fine to the eye, with a good deal of
the little white clover in it; it having been grazed
for so many years, and having but few rushes in it.
I am, Sir, yours, very respectfully,

A Subschibeii of Sevekai. Years.
South Wales, Mai/ 3rd, 1842.

Sin. — In Ihia neighbourhood the land is hilly, the
rock upon which the soil rests is a clay slate, and
the soil is formed by the decomposition of the rock.

Here a compost made after the following manner
succeeds very well, if applied as a top-dressing to
pasture the preceding autumn. Get a cart-load of
lime shells and about live carts of soil, put a layer
of the soil at bottom, then a layer of the shells,
finishing with a layer of the soil, and all the lime
shells to be covered with soil ; after remaining in
that state two or three days, it is well turned over;

at the rate of about eighty bushels of lime to the
acre, put on when it i3 turned, or after then for
six or nine months. It has been found that when
lime slaked in the usual manner has lost its effect by
frequent using, this compost has produced very
great effect. I am told that if this compost is
mixed with an equal quantity of dung when the
dung is taken from the stables — that is, a layer
of dung and a layer of the compost; and if the mix-
ture, before taken out to the field, is well mixed
together, that an equal quantity will produce the
same effect as an equal quantity of all stable manure.

Heading in the second edition of " Liebig's Che-
mistry/' page 188, I find he states that lime expels
the ammonia.

Being a young farmer, I should wish for you or
some of your learned chemical friends (o state if
lime slaked with soil will have the effect of expelling
the ammonia, and the difference (if any) of lime
being slaked and confined by the soil, and lirr.e
slaked with water in the open air.

Yours, very respectfully,

R. N.

AMMONIA.

Sir, — Having seen in the April number (old
series) of the Farmer's Magazine, page 291, an ac-
count by M. Schattenmann, from long experience of
the great benefit to be derived from fixing the am-
monia in liquid manure, or converting it into sul-
phate of ammonia, by sulphate of iron, sulphate of
lime, or sulphuric acid* — this I have no doubt of ;
the only thing wanting is the proper quantity of the
sulphates to a given quantity of liquid, say 1 ,000 gal-
lons, or ten good cart loads of manure — as too great a
quantity of the sulphates would destroy instead of
producing a strong vegetation. By answering the
above I have no doubt it would confer a great bene-
fit to many who are anxious lo make the most of their
liquid manure, myself among the number; if you
could insert it in the number for June, so much the
better. I remain, Sir, vour obedient servant,

May 23, 1812. R. J.

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL
QUERIES.

ON STEAMING POTATOES.
Sin, — In reply to " Juvenis," respecting steam-
ing potatoes for cattle, the best plun to adopt is to
fix the steam-pipe at the top or side of the boiler, as
may be most convenient. 1 fixed one a short time
ago to my steam boiler at the side, aid had a leaden
tube about half an inch calibre, with a brass cock
fixed to it, so that you may put on what quantity of
steam you like. Let the steam in near the bottom
of the vessel ; you must take care also to have a hole
half an inch in diameter at the bottom, to let off the
waste water and what comes from the potatoes. Let
the vessel be open at the top at the time you let the
steam in; throw an old sack over the potatoes, and
in half an hour you will have them sufficiently done.
You may take the leaden pipe twenty or thirty feet
from the boiler, if more convenient. You can have
nothing better than a porter barrel, and by fixing
two handles you can convey the potatoes where you
may want them. Truth.

* Which of the three is the best ?

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

475

TO THf. EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE LXPRESS.

Sir, — In yours of this week, a Soutli Wales cor-
respondent says he has bought fifty acres of rich
marsh land, inclosed from the sea; the soil is a deep
silt, in some places approaching to clay ; it has been
depastured for thirty years, and has grazed large
numbers of stock ; its herbage looks fiae, and con-
tains a good deal of" the little white clover in it."
He has got two contrary advices for its management,
is puzzled which to adopt, and asks further advice.

Supposing his description correct, I am equally
puzzled to comprehend how any of the " hest far-
mers" in his neighbourhood could be serious in ad-
vising him to plough it up. If I wished to make
him ruin his field for a generation, I would give
him that advice. From its exposure to the sea air,
its present fertility must have been very slowly
acquired. In some parts the herbage may be sour ;
but where the small white clover grows, this cannot
be true ; and to plough it would only make the sour-
parts more sour in two years after they were given
to grass. The sour parts contain too little of alka-
line bases ; " two or three crops of corn'' would
quite rob them of what is already deficient. I think
the first advice which he mentions is excellent, and,
if judiciously followed, will enable him to reap the
greatest profit at the least expence of time and
money. Only he must never expect to render a
marsh on the sea -brink equal to a vale surrounded
by hills or sheltered by trees.

One can only form a general opinion of the ma-
nagement due to a field which he has never seen ;
but from the above description, I would be inclined
to lay on the parts which grow the coarser sour
grasses forty or fifty bushels of slaked Jime in pow-
der, and a moderate dressing of gypsum on the drier
parts. But as the wet parts should first be surface-
drained, the earth taken from the drains might be
mixed in lime, and used as a dressing for the lighter
soils. I have found sulphuric acid in such soils.
Slate clay ordinarily contains iron pyrites (sulphu-
ret of iron) ; this, bv exposure to air and moisture,
gives rise to tersulphate of alumina and sulphate of
iron. Such a soil would readily give sulphuric acid
to lime, gypsum would be formed, and the lime
would speedily peroxidate the iron, so that an ex-
cellent manure might be formed at little expense.
The compost should be well mixed, lightly put up,
and if possible sheltered with old thatch, or any
such substance, to keep it from being injured by
rains. It should be a year old before it is spread.

So near the sea, he might possibly have ready-
access to sleech. This, by due admixtuie with
caustic lime, would give rise to a portion of caustic
soda, and in the hands of one accustomed to chemi-
cal manipulation might also become a valuable ma-
nure for dressing the higher and drier parts of the
marsh. If he mows it often, he must often top-dress
it, and his success will depend on his skill in
varying the dressings. To say more would exceed
your limits.

The statement of R. N. is scarcely intelligible.
His inquiries are interesting, and to these I shall
briefly reply.

1. Caustic lime does expel ammonia. 2. Both
clay and carbonaceous matter, in soils, absorb am-
monia. 3. When lime is slaked in soil, it is soon
covered with a thin coaling of the carbonate, or sili-
cate, or sulphate of lime, according to the nature of
the soil in which it is slaked. In any of theso
states it is rendered effete, and acts more slowly on
organic matter. 4. Hence, lime which has been

slaked in soil, and has remained long in the heap,
may be mixed in dung with little loss of ammonia.
5. As the soil of R. N. is " formed by the decompo-
sition of clay slate," its mixture with lime will cause
the formation of gypsum, as mentioned above. The
gypsum in this compost gives its sulphuric acid to
tl e ammonia in the dung, and the non-volatile sul-
phate of ammonia is formed, while the lime speedily
combines with carbonic acid in the dung.

I have a field of the soil mentioned by R. N. I
manured it highly with dung in the fallow ; the fol-
lowing corn and hay crops were luxuriant. I had
given it no lime, and the soil, on the most careful
analysis, showed none; yet the clover of the first
year was exuberant. Sheep eat it off. The second
year grazed well, but much of the sown grasses died
out in autumn, and were succeeded by musci (fog).
The moisture in the soil now reddened litmus. On
various trials, I found the re-action due to sulphuric
acid combined with alumina. The seasons had been
unusually wet, the sulphate of ammonia and other
fertilizing salts had been washed out of the soil, the
formation of sulphuric acid was still going on, and
hence the deterioration of pasture which followed.
Moderately dry seasons and rolling promote the im-
provement of such pastures ; but frequent light
dressings of lime, to take up the acid, are needed
till the soil has acquired a coating from the decom-
position of grass roots and the droppings of cattle
sufficient to shield the natural soil from the air, and
retard the hurtful formation of sulphuric acid.

Some of these views are contrary to any I have
seen advanced, but they are founded on numerous
experiments and observations, which I may yet find
leisure to publish.

Yours, very respectfully,

P. Garden, M.A.

Clence, Dumfries- shire, May 13, 1842.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE
FOR JUNE.

To the period when we commence this article
the weather retains its character of avidity; it is
impossible, therefore, to foresee the condition of
the ground a fortnight hence. The genial shower3
of the first ten days of May (inst.) did not amount
in the whole to the rain which sometimes falls in
twenty-four hours ; yet they were very beneficial
to the texture of the earth, breaking up clods,
reaching to the depth of four inches, and conse-
quently re-invigorating plants of every description.
As to prospects, the gardens have so improved in
appearance that they are scarcely recognizable.
A month since every thing was tardy, and in ar-
rear ; now it is luxuriant and early: we believe
the middle of the present May is in advance of
the same period of 1841, nearly three weeks. Wall-
fruit is abundant, and advances rapidly. Pear
and apple trees became so many beautiful gar-
lands almost immediately after the warm weather
set in ; and judging from what we observe, and
are told, peas promise to be an abundant crop.
Of apples, we cannot yet decide. Gooseberries
and currants are well stocked, but we are sorry to
observe the ravages of the caterpillar. Straw4
berries are in abundant bloom, and some are set.
Presuming that rain wiil occur in some of the re-
maining days of May, our directions for June shall
be those which will apply to a season propitious to

2 I 2

476

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the usual operations of that mouth ; and we begin
with those which are more immediately at the com-
mand of man in the Frame department. Melons
will be swelling fast in the first suceessional pits ;
we say pits, because it is apparent that in all the
best establishments, the old dung hotbed, under a
frame and lights, is passing away, and yielding,
either to a chambered btick pit, surrounded by
dung and leaf linings, or to more economical
structures consisting of upright posts, boarded or
hurdled, so as to form a chamber, around which
the fermentating materials are heaped ; the frame
resting upon a floor of rough slabs, strong enough,
with a prop or two, to support the incumbent
pressure of the bed of earth.

Melon-plants already raised in heat, and
well rooted in largish pots (No. 32), may go at
once to the hills or ridges in plain brick pits with-
out linings, aj5 they require little or no bottom
heat. We have seen entire crops of noble fruit
grown in no other soil than half-decayed leaves
and rotten sticks, which had two seasons before
been used for hot-beds and linings : it is quite a
mistake to suppose that this plant demands a stout
loam ; what it wants, is a rich vegetable bed, firm
in texture, and naturally moist, without being
wet. Dung will not do— turfy loam will, but it
likes any vegetable earth better than hard, binding
clay.

Cucumbers prosper exceedingly in three -year- old
leaf-mould mixed with some perfectly rotten dung
eo decomposed as to approach to humus ; decayed
couch-grass roots form also an excellent loam for
them. Both these plants ought to be raised so as
to be trained on trellises, suffering the cucumbers
to hang straight down if possible. As to stopping
the plants, M. Phail argued for the necessity of
nipping back every advancing shoot at the fruit,
but other gardeners think they lose strength of
plant by this rigid stopping, and require the shoot
to run on one joint beyond the fruit. At all
events, each plant ought to be stopped twice be-
fore the fruitful laterals be permitted to protrude,
and then experience must decide. Mr. Knight
stopped very little, others pursue another and op-
posite plan.

The objects to be kept in view are:— First to
obtain strength of plant, with a quantity of large
foliage ; and then to check the leading shoots so
as to force out fruitful secondaries. Plants differ
inhabit; but it is very true that, in the cucum-
bers, after the first three checks from the seed-
leaves, when the female blossoms begin to appear,
if the tiny bud which lies close to each showing
fruit be encouraged by stopping- the main leader,
the next joint produced will exhibit another fruit,
with a tendril, and the germ of a further shoot.
Thus fertility may be promoted; but some able
growers, one of whom we conversed with three
days since, who had in 1841 produced upwards of
300 cucumbers in one box between March and
Jane, declared it as his practical opinion, that it
was far better to stop at a second joint beyond
every showing fruit, till the frame was full of
vine. As to Melons, we certainly approve of the
application of his principle, because this fruit tasks
the power of the herb very severely ; and there-
fore, a greater breadth of foliage is required to
sustain its slow advances to maturity. The cu-
cumber on the contrary is cut green, after a very
rapid course.

Pine Apples ought to bo kept in vigorous'growth.
Fatiick's pits offer the most perfect adjustment of

machinery for succession plants ; for the dung
linings pass round them on every side, protected
by brick-work in all parts. Grass mowings are
capital adjuncts to these linings (gardeners know
the fact ; amateurs ought to be made aware of
it). When these become a little inert, if the top
part be drawn from the walls toward the operator
about nine inches or a foot down, and fresh mow-
ings be laid by the hands close to the brick-work,
insinuated and pressed down between it and the
lining, and then filled to the curb of the pit, the
great heat rapidly produced will extend itself
downward, and re-excite the old lining : thus
time is economised, and a useless material made
actively serviceable.

Peach-pit, or second peach house, ought to
receive abundance of air if the fruit swells and
begins to colour. But still a moist, vaporous
atmosphere is favourable, as it produces large
peaches ; hence, great assistance will be derived
from abundant syringing about four or five o'clock,
p.m., closing the house immediately. If the mildew
appear on the leaves, it will be checked by adding
flower of sulphur to the water, through which it
can readily be disseminated by triturating the dry
sulphur with a trifle of powdered gum traga-
canth, adding water by degrees till a soft paste be
formed ; it can then be stirred into any quantity
of fluid, and forced by the syringe over and
among the foliage. This gum is cleaner, more
sweet, and less troublesome than soft soap, and
so little is required that it in no way affects the
sulphur. It will be prudent first to prune off the
diseased tips of the shoots, for though sulphur will
arrest the progress of the mildew fungus, it cannot
restore the constitution of the disfigured leaves.

The early vinery will soon be divested of its
fruit, and then the vines should be exposed pretty
freely to the atmosphere and rains.

Fruit Department of the Garden.

Remove the grub from the gooseberry and
currant bushes ; this pest is rife again, and it
multiplies by new generations till August. Hand
picking — particularly observing to remove the
leaves that are attacked by the fresh hatched
larvae — is most effectual.

Strawberries will be abundant, and very fine if
timely rain come ; remove all the strings as they
appear, unless where it is desirable to obtain new
plants.

Apple and Pear trees on walls, espaliers, and as
dwarfs, are generally fore shortened ; that is, the
laterals are cut back to induce fruitful buds at the
bases, about the last week of June. Pear trees arc
better left untouched, the fore shortening pro-
ducing a thicket of useless, troublesome seed-
shoots, all of which will require anotherregulation.
Apple trees also, if pruned so early, will push
another wood-shoot, and therefore, to simplify the
work and obviate useless labour, it is found better
practice to defer the pruning : we intend to recur
to the subject at the proper season. Peach aw'
nectarine trees should be divested of redundant
fruits : one or two on each moderate sized bearer
will suffice, and nothing tends more certainly than
too heavy a crop to debilitate the tree, and induce
that constitutional alteration in its fluids which
seems to invite the peach aphis, and produce the
disease termed " bladder blight."

Vegetable Department.
Sow Cape broccoli early for the last supply ;
transplant from the seed-beds the broccoli for

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

477

next spring. Prick out celery for a later crop,
and set in trenches some of the early, finest plants
in about a fortnight; if those plants set out in
May have taken to the soil and grow, which , by
judicious waterings may be the case, draw a little
fine earth round each of them. Sow spinach and
lettuce ; also a row or two of peas for the latest
crop. Kidney beans twice, of both kinds.

Asparagus beds ought to be kept weeded at
every cutting, and be it ever recollected, that one
shoot at least ought to be left on every crown,
otherwise blanks in the beds will form rapidly.

Earth-up each growing crop : dig, or deeply
grub with a mattock near the potato rows to loosen
the soil near the roots, and enable them to extend
horizontally. Some potatoes raise the tubers
above ground; these, therefore, must be moulded
up ; but otherwise we see no motive for the gene-
ral adoption of the practice.

Plant slips of sweet herbs, and cut mint, pepper-
mint, &c. for drying, in an airy place, not exposed
to the sun.

Flower Garden.

Most of the greenhouse plants will be abroad,
and should be duly shaded and watered, other-
wise they retrograde for a time, owing to the strong
evaporation they undergo. The scarlet gerania
look best in clumps, but are too apt to become
over luxuriant. We believe that were plants of
moderate size (either the horse-shoe, or plained
leaved, also "Mangles," and other variegated
leaved kinds), planted in large 48 or 36 size pots,
and plunged so deep as to hide the pot, the roots
would be amply supplied, yet the heads be retained
in fair compass. In setting, the distance should
be about two feet, plant from plant.

Propagate by cuttings ericas, fuchsias, agalia
Indica linum, pelargonium, and most othergreen-
house plants. Try the effect of placing one or two
of each in water, and if roots just protrude, re-
move the cutting to soil immediately. In the open
ground, lobelias, pinks, China roses, wallflowers,
&c, maybe raised by cuttings or slips.

Parterre gardening, or planting in masses, if
the sites chosen be favourable, must be deemed
one of the greatest improvements of modern flori-
culture. A lawn so arranged (never by any
means abandoning the rural shrubbery lawn of a
fine place) for the express purpose, forms an en-
chanting picture. Geraniums, phlox, heliotrope,
petunia, lobelia of several kinds, calceolarius, the
surpassing verbenas, pansies, all in well adjusted
masses — what can ecmal the effect? Then again,
Deutzia, fuchsias, of several kinds, and larger
shrubs, grouped, all add to the beauty of a place.
But one hint if followed up, where practicable,
will be found to lead to great improvement. Fresh
soil is the life of vegetation. Where therefore a
fine, velvetty loam, and plenty of some decayed
leaves, with the dung from old mushroom beds,
are at hand, the renewal of the soil of each parterre
bed annually by such means, would be very effec-
tual. The compost must in a degree vary accord-
ing to the habit of the plant ; thus lobelias, for
instance, particularly affect leaf mould : this ve-
getable substance confers intensity of verdure.
Pelargoniums like decayed manure and leaf mould
with loam. Pinks delight in calcareous road sand.
Do but renew the soil, and apply a little judgmeat,
the result of experience, and the effects will be
magical. We hope never to lose the crimson
petunia from the collections, however old in fashion
it appears; because it, above all others, never

suffers from drought; glittering under a broiling
sun, like the most brilliant foil, and diffusing the
most gentle perfume of the stock-gillyflower in the
evening.

Many annual plant* supply the place of shrubs
dismissed from the greenhouse. Among these are
the cockscomb and balsam. The former can only
be produced fine, in very high, moist, frame tem-
perature ; but when formed and developed it does
well in the drawing-room or saloon during sum-
mer. During growth, however, it requires
shading, for a whole collection is sometimes
spoiled by the sun's rays in half an hour. To
bring balsams to a large, sticky size, the plants
must be repeatedly shifted from very small to large
pots — gradation — sinking the plant lower and
lower, and nipping off the first blossom : a very
rich soil, high temperature, and mud moisture are
the essentials. Thus plants, with stems three
inches round, complete bushes, clothed with vast
flowers, are obtained.

Mr. PRICE. — The following statement appeared

in the Worcester Guardian in October last : —

" Among many admirers of Mr. Price's public
talents and private virtues, there has long been a
wish to obtain a faithful portrait of him, but the
objection he has always raised to sitting to an
artist, has hitherto prevented the execution of
such a design. On Thursday and Friday last — on
both of which days a distinguished party of
breeders, and Mr. Price's personal friends dined
at Poole House — the subject was again introduced
by the Earl of Talbot and Sir F. Lawley, and in
Mr. Price's absence ; and without consulting him
at all, a subscription, which soon amounted to a
considerable sum, was entered into for the above
purpose. Such an expression of feeling from men
of elevated rank and equally high moral station,
must be deeply gratifying to Mr. Price ; but it is a
tribute not superior to his deserts, for, joined to a
head of rich and powerful intellect, he has a heart
abounding with every estimable and noble feel-
ing— beloved and admired by all around him ; and
if such a man be not subject meet for the canvass,
we know not who is."

We are much gratified in being enabled to state
that this suggestion vvill be carried out, as an
excellent likeness of Mr. Price has been painted
by Mr. F. Tatham. Many persons having ex-
pressed a wish to be possessed of a copy, arrange-
ments have been made for engraving it, and which,
we understand, will be speedily announced.

The Seventeen Peers who voted against the second
reading of the Corn Importation Bill, were the Duke
of Buckingkam, Marquis of Clanricarete, Earls Rom-
ney, Tankerville, Stanhope, Malmesbury, and Yar-
borough ; Lords Hastings, Willoughby de Eresby,
Camoys, Beaumont, Kinnaird, Lilford, Rayleigh, Go-
dolphin, Western, and De Freyne. The minority of
five in favour of Lord Brougham's resolution for free
trade in corn, were the Marquis of Clanrlcarde, Earl
Radnor, Lords Kinnaird, Brougham, and Vivian.

478

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE, FAIRS, &c.

ANDOVER MAY FA.IR.-The quantity of Cheese
pitched was small, and it was easily disposed of at about
the following' prices :— Fine old Somerset and Cheddar,
76s. to 84s. ; second, 66s. to 74s. ; north Wilts, 50s. to
64*.; half coward, 48s. to 54s.— In the horse and catile
fair, few if any good horses could be seen, those brought
to the fair being- mostly of an inferior description. Se-
veral good cows and calves were shown ; but the trade
in this department was dull. A scarcity of cash and
the slackness of trade seemed to be a general com-
plaint.

BALLINASLOE FAIR. — The reduction in the
price of good cattle from that obtained in the past year
amounted to fully ten shillings, while the price for thin
cattle was deficient from twenty to twenty-five shillings
per head. Mr. Cahill obtained the highest price for
stock from this county, namely, 14/. 10s. for heifers ;
Messrs. Ralph and Thomas Cullinan, 13/. 10s. ; Mr. J.
Fitzgerald, 13/. 2s. 6d. ; from these prices varied down
to 7/. 10s. Hoggets were in good demand at about
36s. — Clare Journal.

BARNSLEY FAIR, May 13th.— The show of cart
horses at this fair was unusually small, and the the de-
mand not being very brisk, only middling prices could
be obtained. Saddle horses rather numerous, and a
considerable number of sales effected at fair prices.
Horned cattle met with very dull sale, probably owing
to the scarcity of grass ; milch cows were offered at a
much lower prices than for some time past, but a great
number remained unsold.

BAWTRY FAIR.— The supply of lean stock was
large, and the present market prices were obtained for
all kinds. For good fat stock there were part buyers,
although the supply was not large. Prices were from
7s. to 7*. 6d. per stone. There was an average supply
of mutton, which sold for 6d.per lb.

CAISTOR FAIR.— The quantity of sheep at tins
fair was not large, and the sale very dull at prices as
low, if not lower, than the last fortnight day. Ewes
and lambs averaged about 29s. per pair ; hog sheep
very low, 14s. to 21s. each. The quantity of horned
cattle was rather large, but the prices low, and many
were driven away unsold. The town fair was very
large, made more so by the servants leaving their places
in the morning.

CHIPPENHAM FAIR was one of the smallest
known for many years. Trade was dull, and the value
of heifers and calves rather less than at previous quo-
tations; a large number were driven away unsold.
The show of hores was small, and of iuferior qualities.
Good beef sold at from 9^. 6d. to 10s. per score ; and
heavy mutton had a dull sale at 5d. to 5id., while for
smaller wethers the demand was much brisker at fid. to
6§d. per lb. In the pig fair former prices were fully
maintained.

DRIFFIELD FAIR.-The day was remarkably
fine, the company present was large, and the stock of
beasts heavy. Sales, however, were dull, and prices
low. It was anticipated the late rains, in causing a
flush of the pastures, would have caused an improve-
ment in the prices, but it failed to do so. Fat stock
sold at 7s. 6d. per stone. Of sheep the numbers shown
was only inconsiderable.

HEREFORD MAY FAIR.-The supply of stock
on Thursday was not very huge ; steers were sought
after, but fat cattle and cows with calves could not be
sold, except at a further depreciation. Sheep and Pigs
met also with a heavy sale at reduced values. The
horse fair was crowded, and inferior animals were as
usual in full supply— far above the demand.

MAIDSTONE FAIR exhibited an excellent sup-
ply of cattle, sheep, &c. ; much more numerous indeed
than usual, but the trade was remarkably dull. Scarcely
any sales of consequence were effected. This dulness
may be attributed to the present uncertain stale of the
tariff, and other things connected therewith.

MUIR OF ORD MAY MARKET.— This market
commenced on Wednesday. About 2000 cattle were
brought forward, but. the market was but thinly attended,
and the business was to a limited extent. There were
about from 7 or 8000 sheep, but we believe there were
few sold. On Thursday the stock of cattle was notkss
than 3000, and a good deal of business was transacted,
but at reduced prices. There was not the same attend-
ance of dealers as in former years, and it may be said
generally that the value of stock has experienced a de-
preciation, as compared with the last, of from 35s. to
50s. on cattle ol 7/. and 8/. value, the wintering being
lost in almost every case, and there are instances of
sales having been made at 15^. and 20s. below the prime
cost. The average prico of Highland three years old
was from 41. 10s. to 8/. ; crosses from 6/. to 8/. ; and two
years old, from 2/. 10s. to 4/. We observed a prime lot
of Highland three years old from Barnyards, but we
believe they were not sold ; queys were from 2/. 10s. to
5/. There was a poor display of milch cows, but for
which fair prices were obtained, varying from Al. to 11/.
according to quality. There was some fine fat cattle on
the ground. A lot of stots from Beaufort fetched 13'.,
and single beasts even got 13/. 10s. The average price
would be from 7/. to 13/. 10s. Sheep has fallen since
list market in price. Hogs fetched from 7s. to 9s.,
which would but have brought from 12s. to 14s. Inst
year. We understand that 10s. was refused for one lot.
Ewes and lambs sold at from 12s. to 15s. Of the sheep
little more than the half was disposed of; there were no
fat sheep on the ground. — Ross-shire Advertiser.

NEWARK MAY FAIR was weli supplied with
hoises, beasts, and sheep ; there were 2800 sheep
penned in the new and commodious cattle market, which
is considered one of the best within many miles of the
place, but they were selling at a lower price. Beasts
met with a ready sale. Horses went off at a pretty
good price. 'J 'here was an unusual quantity of stalls in
the Market-place and streets, but the tradesmen gene-
rally complain that little money was stirring.

ROCHDALE FAIR.— There was about an average
show of catile at the market. The business done was
rather limited, and the prices about the same as last
month's fair. In the afternoon, the horse fair was held
in Cheetham Street, and a very miserable affair it was.
About a score old hack*, broken-down coachers, and
donkeys, were exhibited for inspection.

WARWICK MAY FAIR was but scantily supplied
with beef, which sold freely, but plentifully with mut-
ton, a considerable portion of which remained unsold.
The prices were, for beef, 6d. to 6£d., and for mutton,
5Jd. to fid. per lb.

YORK FAIR.— There were no fat beasts offering
for sale at this fair, but there was a good show of lean
cattle, for all descriptions of which there was a fair de-
mand at a shade lower in price. A few hog sheep and
Cheviots wethers were on sale, but there were very few
customers for them. Of horses there were a fair supply,
but mostly of the inferior kind*. Superior animals were
eagerly bought up at remunerating prices, but the other
descriptions met with very dull sale.

LARGE OX.— There is at present in the possession
of Mr. Braithwaite, of the Graham Arms Inn, Long-
town, the breeder, an ox, three years old, which stands
sixteen and a half hands high, and which bids fair if
properly fattened to rival the American mammoth ox,
" Brother Jonathan," lately exhibited in this country.
Mr. Braithwaite's ox was got by Mr. Gibbons' of
Mossband), *hort- horned bull, out of a short-homed
cow in the possession of Mr. Braithwaite.— Carlisle
Patriot.

A machine for strewing lime ha< been tried at Fleet-
wood, near Wooler, on the farm of Mr. Madditnn, of
Wandon, and found to be perfectly successful. It can
strew a double cart load of lime with great regularity in
two minutes.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

479

AG RtCULTUR AL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTU UAL REPORT There has been a great abundance of grass in the

FOR MAY. fields, upon which the stock has mostly subsisted.

It is highly gratifying for us to be enabled to with a trifling quantum of hay, &c. Turnips are

assert that the weather of the past month has been now nearly or quite exhausted. The epidemic is

io every respect seasonably fine, consequently fa- still complained of, yet its violence has considerably

vourable to vegetation in general. In some parts of abated, and no losses of serious moment have been

England, however, especially on the dry saudy soils, experienced either amongst beasts or sheep.

a sufficiency of rain had not fallen to push the wheat In our provincial districts as well as at Marie

plants sufficiently forward, in the early and middle Lane, the supplies of wheat brought forward direct

part of this period ; but this did not form a subjec't from the growers, in the different markets, have been

of complaint towards its conclusion, as some ex- somewhat on the increase, and of full average qua-

tremely cheering showers were experienced about %• Millers, however, being short ot stock, have

the 21th, as well as on several subsequent days, purchased more freely ; and the quotations nave

Much anxiety appears to be manifested by farmers advanced from 2s. to 3s. per quarter, while ?ood

and others to ascertain the actual stale of the grain clearances have been effected by the factors and

plants, and we have been at considerable pains in others. The barley trade has proved slow, yet

the endeavour to arrive at the truth in this respect, towards the close of the month prices were looking

From all that we can learn.it appears that those upwards, wilh an improved inquiry. Malt Has

produced from autumn sown seed do not exhibit that Proved a mere drug, and further declined in price,

healthy complexion, or have so many lateral shoots, Good sound oats have sold freely, other kinds

as could be desired ; but our accounts one and all heavily, at about late rates. Little has been doing

state that spring corn was never recollected to have in ei her Dea»s» Peas> or flour\ ... , ., .-

i i . a ■ • The hop bine is now attracting no little attention.

looked finer or more promising:. x '' . , „ .» , . .„ , „.„

Out-door farm labours being for the most part in In the plantations, the fly and other insects have

statu quo-zt least, such should be the case at this made their appearance m considerable numbers

season of the year-we have scarcely any observa- especially in Kent and Sussex, yet no apprehensions

tions to offer relative to them this month ; hence we appear to he entertained at present as to ultenoi

now turn our attention to barn work. Throughout consequences resulting therefrom. 1 here has been

England, both the flail and thrashing machine have already some gambling m the duty, it being backed

been actively employed, and immense supplies of all at laO.OOOt.

descriptions' of grain have been prepared for the The following is our usual monthly state men .of

various markets of consumption. Notwithstanding the supplies and prices ot fa f™^™"™ .J™

serious deficiencies are apparent in some cases, we sold in Smithfield Cattle Market 1 Je foimei have

have to state that the general yield has proved some- amounted to 12,940 beasts; 122,400 sheep and

what greater than manv growers were prepared for. lambs ; 994 calves ; and 2,860 pigs : while tl e

This so far is satisfactory; yet losses to a serious latter have ranged as follows : -B eejfrom 3a. 2d.

extent, on account of the inferiority in the quality of to 4s. 6d.; mutton, 3s. od. to 5s., the «* «g™

most of the wheat grown last year, must inevitably being for Downs tn their wool ; amb, 5s. J bd. i to 7s.

be submitted to by the agricultural body. veal, 4s. to 5s. kl. ; and pork, 4s. to 5s. per 8lbs. to

The new corn bill has been in full operation since slXi* the enal.

i .. .. v..i cc . • ■ r u .i There has been some little fluctuation both in the

our last, yet very little effect— arising from both mere uas, ueeu sumo , ,

i i ii i • i • i .i „ tsimnlv and demand in this market; but trade has

buyers and sellers having long since prepared them- supply aim uumaim m , 1VTQt„„„r„

, e i ii ii .1 r-orninlv been imnrovins:, from tne tact ot iNewgate

selves for the event— has been produced upon the certainly oeen impiovn e, „„,.«_ ,, _-fi, ,£„.,«■

> * • i i i : e i c i i inH T pndenhall bein°" scantily supplied with meat
vaue of either corn or pulse; but we feel confident, ana L-eauenuun uu,, »i. y rv
ii i -j. . i is .i -.i i. . „i kllpfl in Scotland and elsewhere, and prices we con-
had we been situated differently with regard to stock hiuea in acoiidim uuu c , Ttf-fft.ii. CnfF^ii-
, , , ■'.• 1 1 i u cidor tn lnve been firm, rrom JNortolk, ftunoik,
and demand, that a great revolution would have been siaei to u.ive ueeii im . .

accomplished in the whole trade. The improve- Esse x a nd Cambridgeshire ^^'^j*™*

ment in the averages having caused the duty on and polled ^'^TlV^tZ 1

foreiU wheat to recede to Vis. per quarter/the ceived ; from Scotland fbo«t 1.000 Scot, by steam

D»» r • - , nnrlfpK • the remainder ot tne duuock supplies

supplies of that produce taken out of bond, from the packets , tne rem*",u orazin°-

fact of many large holders anticipating even a lower being derived from distant and mo.e Diazin0

impost, have not been very large either in London A°^'EMENT and COMPARISON of the 3UP-

Liverpool, Bristol, or Hull. 1 hat the duty will fall * S|iEs ana PRICES of FAT ST0CK' exhibited

to about 8s. per quarter it is now pretty evident, ^ ^ .^ Smithfikld Cattlk Market, on

yet we conceive it will be found more advantageous Monday, May 24, 1841, and Monday, May 23, 1842.

to the interests of those having cargoes at baud to Atper 8lbs.to sinktheojfuls.

release them at once: however, we do not anticipate May 24, 1841. May 23, 1842.

anvfurthermaterialincreaseinthesuppliesunderlock. s. d. s. d. s. d. s.d.

The consideration of the tariff has been the all- Coarse fcinferiorBeasts 3 0 to 3 4.3 2 to 3 4

absorbing topic of discussion in the course of the Second quality do 3 4 3 6 .. 3 0 J »

month. °NeUr, we believe, within the memory of ^S sSS ic ill t I V. I 2 2 1

man, have such sweeping changes been promul- J™^^, sh;ep 3 4 3 8 .. 3 6 3 8

gated bv any minister as those brought forward by ge°caondf uaUtydo. .. .. 3 10 4 0 . 3 10 4 0

Sir Robert Peel. In some instances, where trade Pl.imeCoarsewoolleddo. 4 4 4 6.40 42

and commerce are concerned, the proposed altera- prime Southdown do.. 4 8 50. .44 4 6

tion of duties will, we think, be found to work bene- Lambs 5 10 6 ° •• 5 6 6 6

ficially ; but that portion of the tariff allowing the Large coarse Calves ..5 0 5 4. .46 5 0

importation of live stock at almost nominal rates, Prime small ditto 56 58. .52 54

will inevitably be productive of a positive injury to, Large Hogs. 4 0 4 6 .. 4 0 4 b

the English grazier. Neat small Porkers .. 4 8 4 10 .. 4 8 5 0

480

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

STTPPLIES.

May 24, 1841. May 23, 1842.

Beasts 2,600 2,755

Sheep and Lambi .... 24,200 27,320

Calves 130 123

Pigs 400 411

Notwithstanding the receipts of country-killed
meat up to the metropolitan markets have fallen off
considerably from all quarters, especially from
Scotland and Yorkshire, the quantities on sale have
been fully adequate to meet the wants of the dealers ;
hence the trade has not been to say brisk, but pre-
vious rates have been well supported.

SUFFOLK.

With the exception of some light showers about
the first week in the present month, we have not
had sufficient rain to lay the dust since the last
day of March ; the clover and grass consequently
is very short, and unless warm genial showers
speedily ensue there will scarcely be sufficient to
come to the scythe. The wheats, nevertheless, have
considerably improved, and are generally looking
of a healthy colour, although, as we have before
observed, they are a very thin plant, partly from
the ravages of the slug, and partly from the de-
struction of the growth of the seed by the excessive
wet and ungenial state of the land when, and for
some months after, it was planted. In the heavy
land districts in this county we learn from exten-
sive observation, enquiry, and undoubted informa-
tion, that not half the wheat is a full or good plant,
from the causes above referred to ; still we have
known a three-quarter plant produce a good aver-
age crop ; but we do not anticipate, indeed we
feel persuaded, chances for the present year are
against such expectations. Thousands and thousands
of loads of manure intended to have been carted for
wheat now remain on the heap ; nor had we suffi-
cient clear frost to cart during the winter manure
for beans, peas, or on the young clover layers.
Some of the barleys which were put in early are
looking well ; others, where more pains were taken
to get the land into better tilth by frequent scarify-
ings, harrowings, &c, &c. — and a large portion of
the barley land needed such culture, for we never
remembered the land in such a muddy state as at
the commencement of the present year — are at the
time we write ( May 23rd) very partially up, and
must yield an exceedingly uneven sample, that is,
if the remainder ever make its appearance ; there
is still a considerable portion yet unsown, either
from the cause above alluded to (want of sufficient
rain to cultivate the land,), or where the turnips
were allowed to stand for sheep feed in the spring.
Peas and Beans are generally looking well, and do
not appear at present to be suffering much for want
of rain to promote their growth; but little progress
can be made in hoeing, which is much to be re-
gretted, as many able-bodied labourers are out of
employ ; but we fear this is only the beginning of
the system of throwing the agricultural labourers
upon the rates. We sincerely hope we may be wrong
in our predictions ; at all events, we must give far-
mers credit for taking the apparent approaching agri-
cultural depression by the forelock. We know of only
here and there of a piece of mangel-wurzel planted ;
the generality of the land intended for them required
first to be turned up to dry, which was not done in
most instances until the second or third week in
April, and from the want of rain since, the land
cannot possibly be got in anything like order for

the reception of the seed. We believe it is not so
much regretted, as half the farmers are sick of
being graziers : another year or two like the pre-
sent would sicken nine-tenths, even if they could
stand their ground— a thing we very much doubt.
It is no joke to buy bullocks and keep them seven
or eight months on oil-cake, bean-meal, Swedes,
mangel and hay, beside the expence of attending,
and then sell them for the same they cost, or, if
lucky, at 10s. or 17. per head more. We know of
more than one lot, kept at an expence of 15s. per
week per head, realised only 30s. per head beyond
cost price for six months' keep ; it must be said bul-
locks are on the sliding scale. There is little doubt,
if Sir R. Peel were this summer to appeal to the
constituency, the county members would be re-
quired to give an account of their (with too many
of them^ unjust stewardship: their pretensions to
be considered in reality " farmers' friends" are, we
verily believe, humbug ; and they would find the
agricultural community know how to treat such
shallow pretenders. If we were not before con-
vinced, Peel's speech in introducing the tariff must
satisfy the most unbelieving that he is not a Con-
servative in the common acceptation of the word,
but a regular free-trader. The Whig-radicals, as
they are called, could nor would have dared to in-
troduce such a radical free-trade measure. —
May 23.

YORKSHIRE.
The month of April was unusually dry at the
commencement, the nights were frosty, and the days
almost unnaturallyjwarm, and dry windsfromtheN.E.
and E.N.E. prevailed, and gave a strong check to
the excited vegetation of the preceding month.
Towards the middle the frost abated but the warmth
still continued, and many persons were prevented
from sowingsome of their last fields, upon strougland,
and many were quite prevented from fallowing. Many
things seemed to suffer from the drought ; the
wheat looked at a stand, and the grass had disap-
peared ; while the barley and oats were exceedingly
short. A delightful rain occurred however in the
month of May (about the 5th) and the change it
has produced is perfectly astonishing. The wheats
are full of plant ; not grassy, but full and healthy :
barley looks healthy and green, but somewhat late;
the last sown has suffered some impediment by the
drought, but nothing beyond that; oats aivt some-
what stunted, but not altogether unpromising;
beans are beautiful, both in plant and appearance,
and where hoed during the dry weather are in cir-
cumstances very favourable to the prospects of the
crop. Fodder consumed with great rapidity ; pro-
videntially it was most abundant, otherwise it would
have been insufficient for the wants of the stock.
The turnips were soon expended, aud as the prices
for sheep were very low, recourse was had exten-
sively to corn and cake, and many farmers actually
gave away the whole of the winter keep, expensive
and scarce as it was this season. The only hope of re-
muneration is now from the wool, about which the op-
inions are very various ; hut one thing is pretty clear,
that the manufacturers have but very small stocks
on hand. The pastures are now beginning to grow,
but as the slock was mostly put in them before
there was anything like full bite, they are very mode-
rate. Seed pastures are also very short, being sadly
overstocked, and in many cases the sheep are not taken
from the meadow land ; a practice indeed sadly
deteriorating to the grass crop, but the stock must

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

481

live under any circumstances. Prices are advancing
a little. Beef and mutton creep slowly up. Wheat
is gradually advancing by one shilling per quarter,
and the demand is becoming more steady and ani-
mated: oats have advanced beyond all expectation,
owing probably to the extra consumption by stock ;
Beans have partaken of the same influence and rise
in price. Clearing the fallows goes on well, — May
16th,

NORFOLK.
Cold easterly winds and a piercing drought have
been the prevailing characteristics of the season
since our last report. Some show of rain with the
wind at north west, and even a few partial showers
with the barometer standing at " rain" about the
7th, appeared to indicate a more genial supply
of moisture, but in this we are disappointed. Ve-
getation has made but little progress; so little that,
together with the early depasturing of the upland
grasses, it is to be feared the hay crop cannot be
otherwise than defective in bulk. Perhaps this is
the only instance in which the want of moisture is
materially perceptible — generally speaking the
wheat looks admirably well, alhough there is a
partial failure of plant, even upon the high and
dry lands in certain districts : and a material defi-
ciency on such as were, what the farmers call
water slain, (i. e. wet and poachy without being
actually flooded) during the winter months. The
wheats put in at the spring of the year to supply
the deficiency of autumnal seeding, do not look at
all promising. Grain and pulse of every other de-
scription maintain their ground, and do not yet
suffer for want of moisture, except perhaps some
of the very last sown barleys, which it may be
presumed will scarcely vegetate at all until the
rain comes in good earnest. On the other hand
the weather has been peculiarly favourable for pre-
paring the land for the reception of mangel wurzel
seed, and for tilling the fallows intended for tur-
nips; let us hope the next crop of these produc-
tions will turn to a better account than the last. —
The season for disposing of our winter fed beasts is
nearly determined, and it is not saying too much
when we pronounce it to be one of the worst — per-
haps the very worst — the Norfolk grazier ever en-
countered. Very few beasts have realised more
than prime cost, after pajing a small per centage
for capital and attendance; the whole turnip crop,
together with a heavy expenditure for artificial
food, must be placed on the wrong side of the ac-
count. This heavy loss to the grazier is so much
profit shared between the breeders of cattle and
the consumers of meat; and with regard to the for-
mer, the prices obtained by them for lean cattle,
during the last few years, have been so entirely dis-
proportionate to their value when prepared for the
shambles, that it affords us some satisfaction to re-
mind this description of persons that the new tariff
will have the effect of putting the interests of the
breeder and grazier upon a more equitable footing.
It may be all very well to tell farmers that a few
shillings more or less in the amount of duty
upon foreign corn, will neither increase nor diminish
the supply in any material degree; on cattle breeders,
that calves will not be reared abroad because butter
and cheese are more valuable commodities — the idea
is absurd : increase the demand, and the supply is
sure to follow. Half a century ago the Dutch used
their oil-seed cake for fuel, no such thing was then
known in England either as cattle food or manure,

yet in 1840 the quantity imported amounted to
7 3,104 tons. In a few years the importation of
live cattle may have attained to a like proportion,
and we expect ere long to see Yarmouth Denes
compete with Norwich Hill for the honour of sup-
plying the Norfolk graziers with their store cattle.
It is somewhat amusing to observe how sensitive
people are as to where the shoe pinches when their
own feet are in the stocks, aud are regardless of the
wry faces which others make under a similar afflic-
tion. The corn bill, tariff", and income tax, are each
in their turn accounted corns and bunions to the one,
and corn plas'er and emollients to the other ; almost
every description of persons have carried their com-
plaints to the very ear of the Premier (farmers ex-
cepted), and even the lawyer, whose every finger is a
fish hook, has endeavoured to fish up some excep-
tions in favour of himself. The silence of the agri-
cultural body can only be accounted for upon the
principle that, as Sir Robert Peel is determined to
carry all his measures coal qui cout, it is useless to
contend with such a formidable antagonist,— May
11th.

WEST CORNWALL.

This month may be called the beginning of spring,
since the earth is now in her gayest, happiest appear-
ance ; it is her high festival of beauty and delight, and
might well be considered by eastern nations as the re-
joicing month of nature. Even in our fickle climate it
ha* been termed the " merrie" month in every age,
There is not a word in the English language which calls
up more delightful emotion than the word spring, and
there are few words which have so many appropriate
applications ; yet in all its varied uses, there is one
general meaning which it invariably carries along with
it — it always means a beginning; something of which
we cannot further trace the cause and nature, and thus
it brings us immediately to the footstool of the throne of
Him from all things spring, and shews where human
knowledge ends arid the worship of the Eternal begins ;
for man may plough and sow, but without His superin-
tending care he cannot reap. We may be excused for
making these preparatory remarks to our report at this
particular season, if indeed excuse be necessary, for the
farmer's success depends not so much on man's assist-
ance as on favourable and genial season?. The crops
of the farmer may now be considered as beginning to
prosper. The wheat crop, which for some time had an
unhealthy appearance, has now assumed a more pro-
mising aspect, and we have no reason to apprehend,
from present appearances, any remarkable failure, pro-
vided the weather until lntrvestshould prove favourable.
The live stock are no longer confined to the farm yard,
and the turnips being exhausted, they are suffered to
graze in the early pasture. And now is the season to
prepare again for this valuable crop, for well may it be
considered as the raw material from which beef is manu-
facture 1. The farmer should therefore commence car-
rying out dung from his farm yard into the fi.-lds in-
tended for his future crop, and get ready the different
artificial fertilizers, such as bone-dust, humus, urate,
&c, to be drilled in with the seed. We have been fur-
nished with the following interesting account of expe-
riments on the growth of turnips with different manures
instituted on Heligan estate last season, which are par-
ticularly valuable at this period, and which with
pleasure we submit to our readers. The field selected
for these experiments was a wheaten arish.wiih a soil
not over rich in quality, and not at all qualified to pro-
duce an abundant turnip crop, having a norll-west
aspect, and consisting of a heavy loam, retting on a
subsoil of fine grain-argillaceous schist. Having been
prepared in the usual manner, four equable acres were
selected, which were divided into haif-acres and these
were thrown into ridges, one half at 18 inches, and the
other half at 27 inches distances. The feed was iown

482

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

by means of a drill, which conveyed the manure along
with it, sowing one ridge at a time. The seed was
obtained of Mr. G. Gibbs, London. The following is
a list of the manures— No. 1. 10 tons of caff; a manure
consisting of refuse fill) and earth — in the proportion of
two loads of the former to '20 of the hitter. No. 2. Ten
tons of rich dung-. No. 3. Ten bushels of bone-dust, of
the ordinary kind, obtained from W. Strong and Co.,
Exeter. No. 4. Thirteen bushels Poittevin's patent
manure. No. 5. Ten bushels of amnioniacal compost,
a manure prepared from the hoofs and horns of animals.
No. 6. Thirteen bushels of Lance's Granulated Manure.
No. 7. Thirteen bushels of urate from the London
Manure Company. No. 8. Thirteen bushels of Clark's
dessicated compost. The seed was sown on the 8th of
June. Shortly afterwards the dry weather set in, and
continued till the 17th. After this a heavy rain followed,
which crusted the surface of the soil rather prejudicially
to the young plant. The plants from Poittevin's,
Lance's, Clarke's, urate, and dung, made their appear-
ance about the 20th of June, and were in rough leaf on
the 28th. The ammoniacal compost, caff, and bones,
followed in a few days after. But the difference in the
strength of the plants was very apparent ; those from
the last named manures having a blue and stag-
nated appearance. These came in rough leaf on
the 30th. The plants from Poittevin's, Lance's, Clarke's,
and Dung were hoed on the 15th July ; not having a
distinguishable difference. The urate and bones were
hoed on the 22nd ; and the ammoniacal manure and caff
on the 26th. From this period, the hand and horse hoe
were continually applied. 13y the iutler part of August
the bones had outstripped most of its competitors which
in the early part of the race had taken the lead. The
caff turnips improved a little during October and No-
vember; but to the great disappointment of the neigh-
bouring farmers and farm-labourers, they still lagged in
the race, as may be seen from the subjoined table of the
acreable produce weighed the 23rd of February.

His. ton. cwt qr. lb.

Caff at 27 inches 137J per statute yard. . 9 16 1 20

,. at 18 „ 134 „ .. 9 11 1 20

In favour of 27 inches ... 0 5 0 0

Dung at 27 inches 181 per statute yard. ..12 18 2 8

at 18

191

...13 12 3 12

In favour of 18 inches... 0 14 1 4

Bones at27 inches 211 perslatute yard. ..15 1 1 20

at 18

168

...12 0 0 0

In favour of 27 inches... 3 1 1 20

lbs. ton. cwt. qr. lb.

Poittevin's27 inches 1661 perstatute yd... 11 17 2 20

„ 18 „ 145f „ ...10 17 3 12

In favour of 27 inches ... 19 3 8

Ammoniacal compost 27 inches 101 lb?.. . 7 4 15
18 „ 120 lbs... 8 2 2 0

In favour of 18 inches .. 0 18 0 23

Lance's Carbon 27 inches 143 10 4 1 5

„ 18 „ 132£ 9 9 1 5

In favour of 27 inches ... 0 15 0 0

Urate 27 nches 103 per statute yard 7 7 0 15

„ 18 „ 140 ., ...10 0 0 0

In favour of 18 inches ... 2 12 3 13

Clarke's 18 inches 158^ per statute yard 11 6 12
Only i an acre with this manure was used. The
conclusion to be arrived at from the difference in the
weights which the 18 bears to the 27 inch ridges is
rather puzzling, and altogether opposed to the general
rules of farming, since the land was fairly chosen, and
no part better than the other. There was also another
singular circumstance connected with these experiments.
Immediately below the place where these turnip* were
grown— on the same fields, there were turnips were
with Green Kennel bones and boiled bones, but as they
were sown at different times, and the seed not being of
the same kind as was sowed in the above experiments,
no note was made of their weight. They were, how-
ever, a very fine crop, the turnips from the boiled bones
being much the belter of the two. It may also be con-
sidered strange that the bones should have had j,o
decided an advantage over the other fertilizers, on
a soil decidedly opposite to what is generally consi-
dered as favourable to their application, since practice
shows that the light soils are the best adapted for
bones, and the heavy soils for the other manures.
That seasons regulate the effects of manures u indis-
putable, and hence the weight of any crop cannot be
safely trusted to as a fair index of the comparative value
of the manures applied ; either of the contingencies of
an unusually wet or dry season may effect an undue
influence to the prejudice of the one manure or the ad-
vantage of the other. We have premised thus much
from a conviction that experiments however perfectly
and completely conducted, cannot be considered a sale
guide, which the farmer may uudeviatingly follow, but
may render him much valuable assistance in hi? general
observations on a crop the most critical but at the same
time the most useful on his farm.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF MAY.

Notwithstanding the immense decline in the
duty on foreign wheat when entered for home
consumption, which the new corn law has already
occasioned since our last publication, still this
circumstance has not had any influence whatever
on the average prices of home grown wheat ; on
the contrary an advance has occurred in it, and,
as the supplies for some time to come at all events
cannot be large, a still farther rise may in every
probability be anticipated. In the last week in
April, the new law reduced the duty on wheat
from 27s. 8d. to 1.'5s. per quarter, and the general
expectation now is, that before the next crop can
be brought forward into consumption, this most

trifling protection to the British wheat grower,
whilst his produce does not average 60s. per quar-
ter, will yet be more materially reduced. Accord-
ingly the gentlemen who are the large importers
of foreign wheat, do not enter their property at
the present rates of duty, but prefer holding it in
hand, in the hope of their expectations of still
lower duties being soon gratified. Indeed there
are but few of the importers who are not sanguine
enough to look for permission to enter their pro-
perty before the month of July be brought to its
close, at something like a nominal rate of duty.
Nothing but the inferior quality of the home
grown wheat which may be forwarded to market

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

483

during the next two months, can prevent a con-
siderable advance in the average prices from
eventually occurring ; and then an immense
quantity of foreign wheat and flour will be again
this season, as in the last, thrown on our markets
of consumption, about the time too when the
crop now in the fields will be brought forward
into all our great markets for sale. In this present
state of, and with these future prospects in, the
wheat trade, the farmers in the United Kingdom
can perceive nothing satisfactory, nor need they
entertain hereafter any well-founded hope of their
interests being sufficiently protected under the
low rates of duty now imposed by the law on
foreign wheat when entered for home consump-
tion. Annually, in every probability, under this
law, in the three last months of each corn season,
there will be in future large quantities of foreign
wheat introduced into our markets, on the pay-
ment of low, if not of perfectly nominal, rates of
duty ; for as the supplies of home grown wheat
are generally small during the months of May,
June, and July, the prices to be paid for by them
can easily and cheaply be so regulated, as to raise
the averages to those rates which admit foreign
wheat into consumption on the payment of scarcely
any duty. By the apparent improvement which
during these three months may in future annually
occur in the value of British grown wheat, our
farmers, unfortunately, cannot in any manner
be materially benefited ; for generally their crops
are much reduced before that period, and they
have then, consequently, but little wheat to send
to market. As the garden produce also is then in
consumption, the demand for wheat bread becomes
necessarily more circumscribed ; and speculation,
consequently, can easily afford to pay cash on
advance in the value of these limited supplies of
grain, as may raise the average wheat prices to
those rates which admit the entry of foreign
wheats at low, if not at only nominal, rates of
duty. During the progress of the present corn
bill through the legislature, and indeed long before
its introduction into the House of Commons, in
our various reviews of the actual state and future
prospects of the corn trade, we have considered
it to have been our duty repeatedly to call the
serious attention of our readers to the numerous
injuries and gross injustice which would be in-
flicted on the cultivators of our home fields, if
the minimum duty levied on foreign wheat when
entered here for home consumption, should not
be fixed at from 6s. to 7s. per quarter, and that
duty to be increased in proportion as prices might
decline in our markets. In the new corn law this
principle has been but partially attended to, and
as the maximum duty of 20s. per quarter is much
too low for effective protection, the agricultural
interest has the deepest reason to complain that
any alteration or change of principle has been
made in the corn law of 1815, as amended in
1827. innce the year 1827, under the altered law,
the progress made in agricultural improvements
has been most extensive ; and the expansion of
the home markets for manufactured goods has
been equally important to the nation's real wealth.
From the alterations, however, now made in these
laws, not one interest within the British Empire
can in any manner receive the slightest advantage.
Our liberal free trade principles, and our unneces-
sary generosity by these changes, have already
conferred, and will continue to confer, most im-
portant benefits on those foreign nations and

foreign communities in which the production of
grain is the primary object of employment for
the people. To these countries now annually, so
long as the present corn law exists, must we remit
several millions sterling for food. This money
will not be expended by the foreign growers and
proprietors of foreign provisions in the purchase
of British manufactured goods, nor in payment
for their consumption of any thing British. It
will be employed in objects far more national to
themselves, and certainly far more natural. It
will be chielly invested in the improvement of
foreign agriculture, and in the increase of foreign
manufactures. So far from adding energy to the
productive industry of the inhabitants of the
United Kingdom, the new corn bill and the new
tariff must, therefore, most materially add to the
distress at present too generally existing in this
country. They must draw out of our circulation
annually large sums ef money, and thus materially
circumscribe the means which, under the old
system, we possessed of profitably employing all
the industrious classes. To encourage our home
industry would surely be far more patriotic; to
extend proper protection to capital, taleut, and
enterprise embarked in home pursuits, would be
much more advantageous to our community at
large, than this free trade system can by any pos-
sibility ever be, even should foreign nations per-
mit hereafter reciprocity in trade, in its most
extensive signification. In Great Britain we have
still many millions of acres of excellent land in a
state of perfect nature, and producing nothing
valuable to the people, excepting a few rabbits.
Had the twenty-five millions sterling, which during
the last four years have been remitted abroad in
exchange for foreign food, been paid to our home
farmers, this large sum would have effected great
national improvements. It would have been in-
vested in converting these waste lands into corn
fields, in extending our tradingand manufacturing
interests, and in giving full and productive em-
ployment to many thousands of industrious indi-
viduals, now in a state of absolute destitution.
In theory, the new doctrines no doubt may be
plausible enough, but certainly it is not possible
to reduce them to practice; but even were it
possible to do so, we cannot comprehend the
benefits which the people in general can, by any
possibility, derive from this attempted deprecia-
tion in the value of landed property, now worth
little less than three thousand millions sterling ;
and this experiment too to be made for the more
than doubtful chance of increasing our foreign
trade with those nations who furnish us with
food of foreign growth. To injure the landed
interest, however, will be iar more hurtful to the
wages of labour generally, than is at present
comprehended by the trading and manufacturing
labourers ; because in the home m.arkets is to be
found the best consumption for all manufactured
goods. Should household bread decline from its
present price even one penny per pound, tbe wages
of labour must fall in a far greater degree, because
any violent decline in the value of the produce of
our own fields, must compel our agricultural la-
bourers to look for employment in other pur-
suits; and in this manner labourers in all the
manufacturing districts would be increased much
above the labour required to be done therein, and
the necessary consequence of increased competi-
tion would be, as it universally has been hereto-
fore, a ruinous reduction in the rates of wages.

484

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The master manufacturers, indeed, have already
given us ample proof of the object which they
have in view when they demand any reduction in
the value of agricultural produce, by the large
reductions which, even in anticipation of the
operations of the new tariff, they have already in
many instances effected in the wages of their
workmen ; many thousands of whom having
already thereby been forced to seek in the Colo-
nies that employment which is denied to them in
their fatherland. We cannot give employment,
at the same time, to foreign and to home agricul-
tural labourers. It seems to be the determination
of the British legislature, however, to give the
preference in this respect to foreign serfs, boors,
and American field labourers. Our agricultural
workmen, it would seem, do not occupy, in the
estimation of our modern legislators, that posi-
tion in society to which they are most undoubtedly
entitled ; and the unnatural state of commerce
and of manufactures is the ostensible cause of
their neglect. Because, unfortunately, much dis-
tress does prevail amongst the trading workmen
of eveiy description, it really appears to be the
object of our statesmen to reduce the interests of
agriculture in proportion, and to place the entire
population, in this respect, as nearly on an equality
as possible. This is not the best way, however, of
introducing prosperity generally to all our pro-
ductive classes. When Polish serfs and Italian
organ grinders are clothed in Manchester man-
ufactured cottons, most certainly London dustmen
may be dressed in Genoa red velvets. But the
time is far distant, indeed, when foreign field
labourers will have the pecuniary means to ex-
change their labour for British manufactured
goods. To our consumption at home, and to that
of our rich and valuable Colonies and foreign
possessions, need the manufacturing interests
alone look for renewed activity in their most im-
portant and patriotic operations, and not to any
unnatural reduction in the value of food produced
at home. The system of society which encoui ages
one interest to flourish at the expense and to the
detriment of another interest, can never long exist.
Our farmers must receive fair remuneration for
their crops, or eventually the entire community
must suffer. The last three bad crops in this
country have most perfectly established this fact.
They were not nearly large enough for the con-
sumption of the people, and the natural conse-
quence was an importation of food from foreign
nations to an immense extent. The means of the
agricultural interest to pay for manufactured goods
were thereby limited; and in this circumstance has
originated a considerable portion of the severe
distress now so justly complained of by our arti-
zans, miners, and manufacturing labourers. This
distress can alone be removed by the production
of one or two good corn crops at home ; and, in-
asfar as any accurate opinions can be formed at
this early period, there certainly exists, at the
present time, strong grounds for entertaining ex-
pectations of the crop now in the fields being an
abundant one. At present the season no doubt
is rather later than probably it ought to be, but
still the weather is on the whole propitious, and
the young plants of every denomination have
assumed the appearance of health, and generally
they are already even luxuriant. Should present
appearance, therefore, be in the result fulfilled, the
new corn bill will be placed, before another twelve
months can pass away, on its trial before the jury

of the British public. Should abundance at home
receive that degree of remuneration which its
production requires, and should wheat of foreign
growth not be brought into competition with that
of our home production, then will all classes be
benefited by a luxuriant crop, and complaint will
speedily thereafter disappear throughout the Bri-
tish Empire. The maximum wheat duty, how-
ever, of 203. per quarter is too low for the accom-
plishment of this much to be desired state of
affairs in this country ; for when our wheat crops
are large and of superior quality, it is but fair
to infer that, throughout all the wheat producing
countries from which we usually import that,
article, matters will be equally favourable ; and we
fear much indeed, therefore, that under no cir-
cumstances can the consumption of foreign wheat
be entirely superseded by that of our own growth,
so long as the present corn law is permitted to
remain in operation. The best foreign white
wheats are always worth more than 10s. per
quarter above the medium value of wheat of home
production ; and out of this difference in quality
alone, may at all events one half of even the
maximum duty be paid : and as the population of
Poland, in particular, know not the use of wheat
bread themselves, the other half of the duty can
easily be drawn from reduced prices in the foreign
ports of shipment. That this will be the case,
should the next crop of wheat be universally an
abundant one, we feel a moral conviction ; but one
advantage undoubtedly may result from it in the
year 1843— the Exchequer may profit by the
receipt of a million sterling or two, for wheat
duty, should the crop now in the ground be of
that fine description to which we are alluding ; and
this advantage, small though it be, can alone be
prevented by the circumstance of speculative pur-
chases towards the close of this corn season, being
made with the view of reducing the rates of duty
payable on entry for consumption. This law
offers certainly to open widely the door to specu-
lations on corn duties, it being at the same time
perfectly honourable and fair for the importers
of foreign grain, who risk their property and use
their judgment and talents in this department of
British commerce, to avail themselves of all
means afforded to them by the present corn law
for the promotion of their best interests. As we
have already said, however, the first abundant
wheat crop will put the new corn law on its trial,
and should its results differ from our predictions
and present expectations — should it prove of ad-
vantage generally to the community at large, or
to any particular interest in society, without injur-
ing the agricultural interest, we shall most cheer-
fully acknowledge that we have taken an erroneous
view of this radical change in our internal polity ;
but till wc have some practical experience of its
beneficent workings, our doubts respecting the
goodness of its character cannot be removed. In
entertaining these sentiments, however, we may
say that we only draw the same conclusions
which every experienced agriculturist draws
throughout the different foreign nations and com-
munities from which we import grain in times of
need, and other agricultural articles of general
consumption. From the United States of America,
for instance, our information comes down to the
middle of May, and it communicates facts of much
interest to the inhabitants of this coun
Throughout the Union, the prospects of the
coining crop were most brilliant. The season was

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

485

fully three weeks earlier than usual, and fortu-
nately, as it will turn out to be for that great and
rising agricultural republic, even the chance of a
modification in the English corn laws had induced
the laud proprietors to sow (his season a much
greater quantity of wheat than had been done in
any previous year. 1 he value of the old crop had,
consequently, at the latest dates been to a certain
degree reduced ; but a very material decline was
anticipated, should the produce of the coming
wheat crop only equal the general expectation.
Although the Americans were not entirely satisfied
with our amended corn law, still they promised
themselves a favourable market hereafter for the
surplus of their wheat crops, and they also cal-
culated on the speedy establishment of a new
description of commerce, as likely to arise out of
our new tariff of duties, from the shipment of
cured provisions for the consumption of the inha-
bitants of the United Kingdom. In New York,
and indeed in all the large towns and cities within
the American Union, beef was plentiful at about
3d. per pound for the best quality, which is infe-
rior to none, save perhaps to the best descriptions
in our Leadenhall market. The means for increas-
ing the growth of cattle in the United States are
absolutely boundless; and in a few years it may
possibly not be necessary for our farmers to pay
rent for marshes, or to grow winter food for
cattle, for preserving meat in a sound state is an
easy and cheap operation ; and no doubt it will be
attended to, and acted on, in due time by our
transatlantic brethren. Some money certainly is
requisite for these projected American improve-
ments, and Jonathan has already discovered a
most excellent plan to raise the needful in Europe
itself. He intends to contract for loans of money
in England particularly ; but knowing that his
credit at present amongst the monied interest
here is not first-rate, he proposes to guarantee
the regular payment of the dividends on these
loans, by the transfer to commissioners for this
purpose of the proceeds of an additional duty of
ten per cent, ad valorem, to be levied on all Bri-
tish goods hereafter to be imported into the
American Union. This plan no doubt may ap-
pear to be, and certainly is, very ridiculous ; but
as certainly it is not more absurd than our modern
tariff of duties, and our new corn laws are; nor
more ridiculous than are those modern doctrines
by which the healthful labours in the fields, inas-
far as consumption by the inhabitants of the Uni-
ted Kingdom is concerned, arc to be in a great
measure transferred in future from British and
Irish subjects to the serfs of Poland, to the
helps of the United States of America, and to
the boors of all Germany.

The intelligence received since our last pub-
lication from the corn exporting ports in the
Black Sea, in the Adriatic, and from all the
upper and lower ports in the Mediterranean, has
been of much the same description during last
month as our communications from America
have been. In our late reviews of the state and
prospects of the corn trade, we frequently have
had occasion to advert to the high rates at which
wheat had been purchased there with the inten-
tion of shipment to this country. In many in-
stances we stated that the prices were too high
for our markets, even should our import duty
be entirely repealed ; and we gave it as our opinion
that some alterations must occur before these ship-
ments could be rendered profitable. The latest

advices received from these quarters are in due
course of post, and all our previous predictions on
the subject of corn prices have been verified. In
all the grain markets great dulness everywhere pre-
vailed, and the value of wheat bad consequently
become, for a time, nearly nominal. No orders bad
latterly been received for shipment to any of the
corn markets without the (Jut of Gibraltar, and, ex-
cepting for the home consumption, which is always
very limited, scarcely any business had been trans-
acted. It was expected, however, that a decline in
prices would soon again revive the export trade,
and we are fully persuaded that large shipments of
wheat must yet be made to the United Kingdom
before the conclusion of the present corn season,
because the holders, at present at all events, have no
other market so profitable for the consumption of
their property ; and here it therefore must be for-
warded, either in consignments or by orders from
our merchants, unless its present proprietors should
hold it over for another year — an event not very pro-
bable in the present appearance of the wheat crop
in that quarter.

The letters respecting the state of the corn trade,
received from the various corn markets withiu the
Baltic Sea, are likewise in due course of post ; but
the information communicated by them is neither
interesting nor important. At Dantzig the stocks of
Polish wheat were daily on the increase ; but those
merchants by whom it is brought down the different
rivers from the interior, had not then submitted to
any decline in prices. The best high mixed quali-
ties could not be put on board under 56s. per quar-
ter. Such quality in Mark-lane is at present worth
about 70s. per quarter ; and, therefore, at our pre-
sent duty, the speculations made cannot pay, and a
farther decline in the duty, and improvement in the
price here, must have regulated the operations of
those who entered into these speculations. A large
quantity was, however, expected still to arrive from
the interior, and a decline in prices, most probably,
would be the consequence of these additional sup-
plies. Be this as it may, however, we shall have
large arrivals of wheat of the finest qualities during
this season from the Baltic Sea, for nowhere else
can such favourable markets be found. The intel-
ligence received from Elbing, Konigsberg, Stettin,
Rostock, and the lower ports in the Baltic generally,
is so nearly the same as that received from Dantzig,
that it is not necessary for us to make any observa-
tions respecting it ; high prices being demanded in
all of them. From the shipping ports without the
Baltic Sea, in the north of Europe, the letters gene-
rally announce a considerable degree of animation
existing in the corn trade. In Hamburg the infor-
mation of last week represents an increasing acti-
vity in the wheat trade ; large quantities daily chang-
ing hands notwithstanding the great calamity with
which that city was visited in the beginning of last
month. Prices were on the advance, and we have
perfect evidence before us therefore, from all for-
eign quarters, that the corn duties which are reduced
in this country, the foreign corn proprietor places in
his own pocket. There is not one example of the
consumers of wheat in this country receiving the
slightest benefit from the reduction of the duties
placed on foreign grain, for the protection of the
agricultural interest, and of the wages of labour
here. We have always said that prices abroad
universally advanced even more in proportion than
duties declined in this country ; and we now request
the cotton lords to show us at what lower rates their
workmen now can purchase bread in consequence

486

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the wheat duties having been reduced from 27s-
8d. per quarter to their present unproteclive. state.
The wages of manufacturing and of mining labourers
no doubt have in many instances b^en reduced ;
whilst the expensesof living have remained nearly the
same. The employment of labour generally is scarce
here, because money to a large amount has been, and
continues tobe, abstracted from thecommon wealth, in
payment for foreign food ; and, so long as this system
continues, employment must becomestill more scarce,
and the wages to be paid for it must be still farther
reduced. The whole of the foreign commercial policy
of this country is founded on false premises ; and we
trust that this truth will be discovered by our states-
men before the injury done be past remedy. A
barter trade is impossible ; and the idea that our
labourers may obta:n foreign food in exchange, is as
humiliating to our national feelings as the doctrine is
absurd. In forming and publishing these opinions,
we have not been actuated by any prejudice in fa-
vour of the agricultural interest, for our sentiments
on this important subject have their origin entirely
in the firm persuasion that fair protection to the in-
dustry of every class within the British empire, is
the sure, indeed we may truly say, the only method
for placing and maintaining the wages of (he pro-
ductive labourers on a fair level with the necessary
expences of living, without which no interest within
the United Kingdom can eventually flourish.

The operations of the maltster having some time
ago been brought to a conclusion for this season,
the Barley trade has consequently attracted, even
in a more than usually slight degree, the attention
of the public. In common times, some demand
at this period has heretofore generally existed for
the best qualities of barley on the part of the
maltsters, with a view to the commencement of
their manufacture in the following season ; but
this year circumstances are widely different in the
malting trade, and this demand has for a time, at
all events, ceased to exist. This is one of the
necessary consequences to our Barley growers,
which the extravagant reduction in the rates of
duty charged under the new corn law has already
occasioned ; for the duty in future to be levied on
foreign Carley, when entered for home consump-
tion, is no adequate protection to the home pro-
ducer of this article. The new law, immediately
after it came into operation, reduced the previous
duty of 24s. 4d. per qr. to lis., which is now the
maximum protection ; and large quantities of
foreign barley, in every probability, must be
thrown into our markets before the conclusion of
the present year. Our maltsters, consequently,
do not hold their usual stocks of bailey at this
season of the year, expecting very naturally that,
on the arrival of the foreign supplies, a material
decline from the present prices must take place.
Already, therefore, are our barley growers injured
in their property by the alteration which has
been effected in the corn laws. The barley
growers had, however, sufficient reason to com-
plain before the alteration of the corn laws.
They had previous^ a just cause to complain that
the consumption of their produce was most seri-
ously restricted by the most unnatural weight of
the duty charged on malt. Ten or even twelve
millions of quarters of barley might annually be
used by the maltsters were the duty reduced to Is.
per bushel ; and at this reduced charge more
money would he paid into the treasury by the
maltsters than has latterly been done under the
existing duty. Yearly now is the quantity of

barley converted into malt on the decline ; this
last season showing a material deficiency from the
quantity malted in the previous one, small as it
was. These heavy excise regulations, injurious as
they are to the agricultural interest, are still how-
ever in ft far higher degree unjust to the best in-
terests of the twenty-eight millions of human
beings inhabiting the United Kingdom. The con-
sumption of malt amongst the licensed brewers
has latterly been reduced under four millions of
quarters, and the great majority of the people,
therefore, must at present either be entirely de-
prived of the use of beer, or they must consume
a mixture called beer, no doubt, of a destructive
nature to the public health. The industrious
classes have likewise great reason to complain
that they are deprived of the enjoyment not only
of their favourite beverage by the malt duty, but
that they are likewise deprived of the valuable
productive employment which they would receive
from the cultivation of at least two millions of
acres of sandy soil now in an absolute state of
nature, but which would be converted into barley
fields did our heavy duties on manufactured barley,
and our at present liberal policy of transferring
field labour from her Majesty's subjects to fo-
reigners, not interpose an insuperable obstacle to
these almost indescribable benefits. Sir John
Barleycorn is some way or other hateful to mo-
dern legislators. We suspect that the popularity
of this worthy knight amongst the great mass of
his countrymen is the cause of the hostility di-
rected against him by all public characters. He
wishes for, and his whole mind is directed towards,
the increase of human happiness, but at every step
he is met by opposition to his benevolent inten-
tions. Excise officers, teetotallers, and ministers
of state are equally his enemies. If he be ill used
by the malt duty, he is much more so by the heavy
duty imposed in England on home made spirit,
amounting, as it does, to three hundred per cent,
on the raw material. In this originates the crime
of smuggling, and all their concomitant evils. By
raising the spirit duties collected in Scotland and
Ireland to 5s. per gallon, and reducing those now
charged in England to the same rate, smuggling
would cease to exist, and with it, in a certain de-
gree, would also disappear the two evils now sit-
ting on each hand of the great virtue of Temperance,
t hut patroness of the moderate enjoyment of all the
bounties of Providence. Many millions of gallons of
foreign spirits of the worst quality are, under the
present high duty sysiem, introduced into consump-
tion in England, which do not contribute one far-
thing of duty towards our public expenditure, and
in the importation of which an immense mass of
crime has its beginning, proceeding slowly, but still
surely, in corrupting vast numbers of the commu-
nity. The reduction of duty now charged on spirits
manufactured in England would remove this evil,
and would cause a demand for at least half a million
of quarters of British grain above the quantity now
in use amongst the home distillers. For the en-
couragement of smuggling also, it is natural to pre-
sume, that our rectifiers are placed under restrictions
most injurious to the interests of our legal distillers
at home; whilst Irish and Scotch whiskey, and fo-
reign and colonial spirits are permitted by the excise
into consumption at those strengths whicb suit best
the interests of the merchants and the fancies and
palates of the consumer*, not one gallon of British
rectified spirits can be legally sold until its strength
be reduced to at least seventeen under spirit proof.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

487

This state of the trade of the rectifier has notone so-
litary advantage attending it, anil therefore we may
truly say that the increase of smuggling is the only
consequence which results from it. Why any differ-
ence should be permitted to exist betwixtthe strengths
of Dutch and English gin, and betwixt those of
French and of British brandies, it is utterly impossi-
ble to conceive even one well-founded reason ; in-
deed, to liberate our rectifiers from the restrictions
at present imposed on them — to allow them to use
their science and their experience in their manufac-
turing operations to improve the quality of their
spirits in their own way, and to render them suitable
to the taste of the consumers, would eventually pro-
duce considerable national benefits. In Great Bri-
tain the brandies now manufactured are far more
wholesome than is the great proportion of those im-
ported from foreign nations, and brandies generally
can be produced equal in flavour to those imported
from the south of France. In the same manner as
home-made whiskey has already superseded Dutch
gin id our markets, so may British wholesome brandy
supersede that manufactured in France, and imported
here at a considerable national expense. This is
another most unfair attack made on that most en-
viable character, Sir John Barleycorn — whose dis-
interested conduct, it would really appear, has ex-
cited a deep settled jealousy in the breasts of our le-
gislators themselves. In consequence of the harsh
treatment, however, which he has during many years
now experienced from the government of his own
country, it has been found necessary this spring
very materially to restrict the growth of barley —
much less land than usual being this season under
this description of cultivation ; and a deficiency in
the produce may perhaps, next harvest time, teach
British statesmen that wisdom which it would
really appear nothing but sad and bitter experience
is capable of doing.

In the oat trade during the month of May great
inactivity has continued to prevail. The supplies,
chiefly from Ireland, have been quite equal to the
consumption, but the quality of the greatest propor-
tion has been of a very inferior description. Under
such circumstances it might naturally be supposed
that a few samples of really fine quality on salf would
have undergone an improvement in value ; but this
has not been the case, and the alteration in the rates
of duty charged on foreign oats when entered for
home consumption, is the cause of this effect. The
maximum dutv is now only 8s. per quarter, and as
it has been well ascertained that the stocks on hand
on the opposite coast of the continent are very large,
it is at present impossible to fix accurately the fu-
ture value of oats of the best quality in the United
Kingdom. The freights from the foreign oat market
to the east coast of Great Britain, are only Is. to
Is. 3d. per qr. ; and the prices at which they can
be purchased there, depend at present on the pro-
bable value of them when they reach our markets.
The best Dutch brew oats are at present worth 25s.
to 26s. per qr. here, and theduty is 7s. To purchase
the best qualities on the continent, therefore, on fair
terms, there is now abundance of room for profit,
even after payment of the maximum duty itself.
That the foreign proprietors desire to obtain the best
prices possible for their property in oats is very
natural ; but when they discover that their expecta-
tions are not to be obtained, they will accept of less,
and have plenty of profit afterwards. Under these
circumstances, and in this state of the oat trade,
agricultural oat operations in the United Kingdom
have at present become exceedingly difficult and

uncertain, and a partial limit will, at all events, be
placed for a time to farther agricultural improve-
ments in the production of this article ; more parti-
cularly in Ireland, where it is so necessary to the
population, and must eventually be important by its
consequences to all. Under real protection Ireland
may be rendered, we may truly say, the granary of
the United Kingdom. There the science of agricul-
ture has as yet made but little progress, occasioned
chiefly by the deficiency of capital, and a general
want of public confidence. The joint stock banks,
however, were rapidly creating the latter benefits ;
and by fair protective duties to the produce
of the fields, the agricultural improvement would have
rapidly increased. The present corn hill, how-
ever, stands in the way for a time of any further
increase in the production of grain in Ireland;
indeed, during this spring, the quantity of oats
sown there is considerably less than that of last
year, and in the present distressed state of the
inhabitants this circumstance is no inconsiderable
misfortune. From Emden, Bremen, Leer, and
from all the shipping ports on the opposite coast,
the expense of transport to all the ports of con-
sumption on the east coast of England is more than
a half less than that from Ireland, or even from
Scotland ; and the prices abroad, therefore,
under all circumstances, may always be rendered
moderate enough to enable foreign merchants to
undersell Irish oats in the London market, even
after payment of the maximum duty. Another
unfavourable circumstance arising out of the pre-
sent corn bill is the change which the consump-
tion here of foreign oats in future must occasion
in the mode of their importation. For many years
past the corn trade between Great Britain and Ire-
land encouraged a most valuable coasting trade ;
it gave profitable employment to a large amount
of shipping under the British flag, and navigated
by British seamen. The new corn law in future
however will transfer a considerable portion of
this trade to foreign flags, and the freights will be
paid to foreign seamen. No complaints have been
made respecting the high value of oats for many
years past, the increasing quantity produced in
Ireland, under all circumstances, rendering the
supplies always equal to the general consumption
in Great Britain ; and therefore no necessity what-
ever has existed for reducing the protection which
the law gave to agricultural pursuits at home, and
from which the empire at large has derived so
many important advantages, unless, as we have
already so repeatedly said, it be the object of our
legislators to increase the prosperity of foreign
agriculture at the expense of the United Kingdom,
and to change amongst the inhabitants the healthy
labours of the field for those of the factory and
the coal pit— to transfer the former to foreigners,
and to induce our people at home to adopt the
latter as their future occupation ; or to transport
themselves to our distant and uncultivated colo-
nies, where indeed they will find plenty of labour,
but it will require many years to render it produc-
tive. One thing, however, is fortunate — the
season hitherto has been propitious to the spring
crops generally. The potato crop, and indeed
everything else, has been got into the ground
under favourable circumstances. In the begin-
ning of last month, no doubt rain was required,
but this complaint was afterwards removed by the
favourable change which occurred in the weather
before the close of the month, and everything,
consequently, looked well when our present num-
ber went to press.

488

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CURRENCY PER IMP. MEASURE.

Mat 23.

Per Qr.

Per Qr.
Wheat, Essex and Kent, red . . 52 60 White 66 69 73

Irish 46 52 56 Do... 5159 62

Old, red — — Do — —

Rye, old 34 86 New 36 33

Barley, Grinding 25 26 Malting 27 30 Chevalier 30 32

Irish 23 25 Bere .20 21 24

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 56 6i Brown.. 50 54

Kingston and Ware .... 56 62 Chevalier 63 —

Oats, Yorksh. & Lincolnsh., feed 20 22 23 Potato ..23 25

Youghall and Cork black 16 18 Cork, white 17 18

Dublin 16 17 18 Westport 17 13 19

Waterford, white 16 17 Black 15 17 18

Newry 21 22

Galway 11 13 15

Scotch feud 17 20 22 Potato.. 23 26

Clonmel 20 22 Limerick 16 17 18

Londonderry 22 23 Sligo .. 16 20

Beans, Tick, new 27 32 Old 35 40

Peas, Grey 32 S3 Maple.. 31 34

White 34 35 Boilers. 84 87

Seed, Rape 36/. 40/. Irish.. 32/. 34/. per last.

Linseed, Baltic... 48 56 Odessa 60
English Red Clover.... — — per cwt.

White —

Mustard, White 15 — brown 15 16 per bush.
Tares, old .... 28 30 new 36 44 per qr.
Floub, Town-made 59 — Suffolk 47 — pr sk. of 280 lbs
Stockton and Norfolk, 45 —
FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 53 60

Hamburg 48 51

Rostock 49 52

Barley IS 20

Oats, Brew 17 19 Feed... 14 16

Beaks. 20 24

Peas 23 27

Flour, American, per brl 28 30 Baltic..

29

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending Wheat. Barley. i Oats. IRye. iBeans. Peas

April 8th ....
loth ....

22nd

29th

Mav 6th

13th ....

Aggregate av erage
of the six weeks
which regulate>
the duty

Duties payable
in London till
Wednesday next
inclusive, and at
the Outports till
the arrival of the
mail of that day
from London . .

Do. on grain frem
British posses-
sions out of
Europe

58 2

59 10

60
61
60
59

GO 0

26 2

26 11

27 3
27 7
27 4
26 3

26 11

10 0

18 11

19 2
19 3
19
19 9
19 6

19 3

7 0

2 6 2 0

33 10
82 6
32 11

31 7

32 3
31 3

32

10 6

30 11

30 9

31 6
31 8
31 9

31 0

10 6

3 0 3 0

29
30
31
S2
30
31

30 10

10 6

3 0

COMPARATIVE PRICES of GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by | AVERAGES from the cones-
the Imp. Quarter, from the ponding Gazette in the last
Gazette, of Friday last, < year, Friday, May 21st,

1841.

s. d.

Wheat ., 61 6

i Baulky 30 it

Oats 22 8

i Rye 35 3

JBeans 88 2

3 ] Peas 37 5

May 20th, 1842.

s.
. 20

d.

Barley

8
6

3

0

3

PRICES OF SEEDS.

May 23.

Linseed, English, sowing 50 55

Baltic — — crushing 46 50 pef qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 50 52

Large, foreign.... — —

Clover , English, red .. .. 65 85 white — — per cwt.

Flemish 65 85 do.. — — ,. .

New Hamburgh .. 61 81 do.. — — ]|

Old do 65 75 do.. — — >3

French 71 91 do.. - —

Hempseed, small 36 41 large.. 46 48 ' c

Coriander 10 16 old.... 16 18percw1.

Mustard, brown, new .. 10 14 white.. 9 13pr.bu.Bli,

Trefoil 16 35

Rapeseed, English new.. 36/. 40/.

Rye Grass, English 30 42 Scotch 18 40

Tares, winter — — New . . 4 5

Canary, new 72 75 tine 78 85

Carraway. old 50 52 new 48 49 52

Linseed Cakes, English.. 10/. 10s. toll/.

Do. Foreign.. 8/. to 8/. 10s.
Rapeseed Cakes 0/. 5s. to 6/. 10s.

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, May 23.
From the plantations the accounts are favourable, the
bines making good progress. The quotations remain
much the same, and in the duty there is scarcely any
speculation.

East

Mid.

Kent.

Kent.

s. s.

8. S.

Bags, 1 838

—

—

Pocks. 1838

—

—

Bags 1838

Nominal

Nominal

Pocks. 1838

Nominal

Nominal

Bags 1839

—

■ —

Pocks. 1839

80.. 90

80.. 90

Bags 1840

100.. 110

100 ..110

Pocks. 1840

100.. 110

100.. 110

Bags 1841

130 . . 150

130 . . 150

Pocks. 1841

130 . . 180

130 to 168

Weald
of Kent.

Nominal
Nominal

74 .. 90

90 .. 100
90 .. 100

110.. 130

Sussex.

Nominal
Nominal

70.. 90
90 .. 100
90 .. 100

108.. 120

Fam-
ham.

Nom.
Nom.

200 230

POTATO MARKET.

SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, May 23.

PRESENT PRICES AS SUBJOINED.

S. 8.

York Reds 80 to 10't per ton .

Scotchdo 70 85

Devons, late 80 85

Jersey and Guernsey Blues 60 65

Kent and Essex Whites 65 75

WOOL MARKET.

BRITISH.
May 23.
The slate of the trade has been very discouraging for
a lensrth of time, and at present no gleam of prosperity
streaks the dark horizon of this gloomy business. Piices
keep going down, and however low they get, no de-
mand springs up at the reduced price to excite any con-
fidence.

Down Ewes and Wethers 9£d.

Down Teggs lid.

Down Wethers Ojd.

Down Hogs 9£d.

Half-bred Hogs llfd.

Flannel Wool 8id. to lljd.

Blanket Wool 5d. to 7$d.

END OF VOLUME XVI.

I'rinted by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk- street, Strand, London.

INDEX TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.

(SFCOND SERIES.)

Abolition of the fixed bridle or
bearing rein, on the, 445

Advice to young farmers, 222

Agriculturein New Brunswick, 110

Agriculture of Cumberland, 182

Agriculture, state of, on the con-
tinent, 209

Agriculture, gases appertaining
to, 210

Agriculture, Improvements in, 43?

Answers to Agricultural queries,
65, 147, 148, 233, 394, 474

Asparagus, mode of cultivation of,
in the north of Spain, 347

Averages, names of the towns
proposed for making returns
of, 227

Ayrshire agricultural association,
375

Barley, prolifio, 453

Bailey, extraordinary prolific, 203

Barley oilc.ike, &c, on the manu-
facture and use of, 271

Barley, on the cultivation of, and
the adaptation of varieties to
different soils, 344

Bailey and oats, average prices of,
during four years, 371

Beans, varieties of sowing, cul-
ture, harvesting, 214

Belgium, the industrial state of,
197

Bradford farmers' club, 70, 153

Braintree and Booking farmers'
club, 247, 264

Bran as a manure for turnips,
beneficial effect of, 444

Brigg agricultural association, 310

Burton on Trent farmers' club, 232

Butter, good, the great point in
making, 146

Calculation of the profit and loss

of a Lincolnshire heath farm of

1100 acres, 372
Calves, on weaning and rearing,

415
Captain, a Suffolk cart stallion,

plate, 241
Cardiff farmers' club, 297
Carriages, two and four-wheeled,
k on the draught of, 96
«art stallion, Mr. Robert Bowie's,

•plate, i

Carrots, securing a crop of, 353
Cattle, sheep, and swine, cost of

breeding and feeding, 218
Cattle— the new tariff, 307
Cattle, methods of fattening, 290,

369
Cattle, food for, 133
Cattle, comparative merits of the
Durham and Devon breeds of,
31, 64
Cattle, value and merits of the

different breeds of, 26
Cheese-colouring, inutility and

mischief of, 463
Chelmsford farmers' club, 66
Chemistry, rural, 98
Chemistry, agricultural, 120, 136,

177, 188,358, 456
Cider, making and management

of, 14
Clover seeds, coloured and

bleached, 176, 208
Clover, on gayting, 186
Clover, new, 429
Corn trade, review of the, during
the months of December, 73 ;
January, 154; February, 234 ;
March, 314; April, 402; May,
482
Corn, importation of, a bill to

amend the laws for ihe, 324
Corn laws, the, and the new tariff',

308
Corn returns, by which the com-
mutation of tithes is regulated
by the commissioners for the
seven years last, 151
Corn, dibbling, on the advantages

of, 176
Cross draining v. furrow drain-
ing, 272
Crown lands, Ireland, King Wil-
liam's Town, report of the pro-
gress of the roads and land im-
provements of the, 27
Cultivation clauses of leases, 269

Dairies and dairying, 112
Debenham farmers' club, 186
Description of an improvement on

the lever turnip slicer, 416
Description of Mr. M'Kay's

thrashing machine, 220
Devon bull, bred by Mr. Quartly,

plate, 321

Devon bull calf, the property of
Mr. M. Paull, plate, 409

Draining, 277, 337,379, 453

Drainage, an inquiry into the
effects of, 17, 100

Drainage, general and uuiform,
438

Drain plough match, SO

Drain tile, Lord James Hay's, pro-
cess of making explained, 371

Drilling and hoeing, 114

Duties, table of, on the importa-
tion of corn, 334

Elk, the death of the, plate, 321
Encouragement to planters, 220
Epidemic among cuttle, report of

the Veterinary College, 92
Excitants and alteratives, on tie

use of, in the cure of rot in

sheep and other cattle, 183
Experiments with the urate of the

London Manure Company, 13 1
Experiments with wheats, results

of, 461

Facts on food and manure, 94
Farms, model, in France, 439
Farmers Clubs:—

Bradford, 70, 153

Braintree and Booking, 247,
264

Burton on Trent, 232

Cardiff, 297

Chelmsford, 66

Debenham, 186

Faversham, 430

Framlingham, 5, 10

Gloucester, 161

Great Oakley, 293

Hadleigh, 278

Ilarleston, 1, 107

lllogan, 427

Leominster, 145, 374

Maidstone. 340, 423

Probus, 207, 391

Richmondshire, 42>

Boss, 206

Rugeley, 425

South Wilts and Warminster,
418

Thonet, Isle of, 90

West Firle, 352
Witney, 129, 428
Wrentham, 86

11

INDEX.

Farmers' club at Cardiff, meeting

to establish a, 296
Farmers' insurance institution, 16,

396
Farming', what is a fair return for

capital invested in, 111
Farming in Russia, 448
Fairs, agricultural intelligence,

&c, 397, 478
Faversham farmers' club, 430
Fire, causes and prevention of,

351
Framlingham farmers' club, 5, 10

Gases appertaining to agriculture,
210

Glanders, on the exciting causes
of, 287

Gloucester farmers' club, 161

Gone away, plate, 161

Going to cover to meet the diffi-
culty, 409

Grain, comparative prices of, 79,
158, 240, 319, 407, 488

Grain, imperial weekly averages
of, 79, 159, 240, 320, 407, 488

Grain, raw and boiled, on the
comparative advantages of, as
food for farm horses, 376

Great Oakley farmers' club, 293

Guano, on the use of, 431

Guano manure, results from, 25

Gypsum as a manure, 130, 342

Hadleigh farmers' club, 278
Hailstones, insurance of crops

against loss incurred by, 444
Harleston farmers' club, 1, 107
Hay's Belton plough, 256
Hedge fences, 184, 338
Hedging and ditching, 201
Highland and agricultural society

of Scotland, third monthly meet-
ing of the, 216
Hill er sheep draining, 452
Hops, prices of, 79, 159, 240, 320,

407, 488
Horticulture, calendar of, for

January, 70 ; February, 152;

March, 227 ; April, 310 ; May,

392 ; June, 475
Horse-keeping, various methods

described 215
Horses, properties of the Suffolk

breed of, 221
Horses, training of, 392
Horse, the, extraordinary instances

of the longevity of, 455
Horses in India, 460
Huntingdonshire agricultural so-
ciety, 368

Illogan farmers' club, 427
Implements, agricultural, exempt

from toll, 153
Imports into Great Britain and

colonies, from the United

States, 176
Improvement, agricultural, 218
Income tax, the, 396, 453
Interesting veterinary operation,

226
Irrigation, 190,292
Isle of Tbaaet farmers' club, 90

Irving's new patent tile machine,

174
Italian rye-grass, on the culture

and usefulness of the, 10

Lands, the burthens on, 348

Land-draining, on, 368

Lands, light sand, on the best
manner of treating, 185

Lands, pasture, on the influence
which the manure applied to,
has on the cattle fed thereon,
119

Leases, discussion on, 1 , 172, 205,
269, 271, 442

Leases, game laws, &c, 13

Leases, on the importance of, to
the farmers, 109

Leases and church lands, the cul-
tivation clauses in, 109

Leominster farmers' club, 145,
374

Letter from Sir F. A. Mackenzie
to the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety on the amount of the prizes
for cattle, 221

Lewis, island of, description of
the cattle, &c, of the farmers
and cottars of, 343

Liebig's organic chemistry, 35

Life of the corn-growing serfs of
Russia, 117

Lime and its salts as fertilizers,
264

List of prices for stock, obtained
by Mr. Crisp, 242

Manures, hints on, 12, 95, 118,

135, 185,336,339,455
Manures, new theory, 33
Manure, on the preservation of,

69
Manures in farm yards, how to

prevent the waste of, 95
Manure, liquid, 96, 351
Manure, liquid, on saving, 115
Manures, account of experiments

made with, 134
Manure, contributions to our re-
sources in, 134, 190
Mangold Wurzel and Swedish
turnips, on the comparative
feeding properties of, 187
Manure, a new source of the best,

273
Manuring, draining, &c, review

of Mr. Smith's work, 283
Manures, preparation of, 291
Manures, prices of, 408
Manure among the Chinese, 452
Maidstone farmers' club, 340, 423
Malt, number of quarters made

during twelve months, 343
Mason on Gaylad, plate, 241
Mercury, a celebrated hunter,

description of, plate, i!l
Milwich agricultural society, 346
Model farms in France, 439
Moss, improvement of, 323
Mowing machine, new, 440

Nitrate of soda as a manure, 68
Nitrate of soda, experiments with
94

Nitrate of soda and gypsum, ex-
periments with, 255

Notices, local, statistical, and his-
torical, 291

Oats, early sowing of, 348
Observations on the management

of Whitfield example farm, 255
Ox, the ancient history of the,

122

Patents, new, 379

Pea crop, when advantageous ;

drilling preferable to dibbling ;

choice of seed ; harvesting, 202
Peating, utility of, 266
Photography, 336
Pig population, 181
Pipe and tile draining, 349
Planters, encouragement to, 220
Plough, Capt. Hay's, construction

of, 256
Plough, new patent, 124
Ploughs, experiment on the

draught of, 55
Ploughs, wheel and spring, ex-
periments upon the draught of,

409
Ploughing by steam, 146
Portable steam thrashing engine,

report of a trial of a, 56
Potatoes, prices of, 79, 159, 240,

320, 407, 488
Potatoes, mode of increasing the

growth of, 27
Potatoes and turnips, on growing,

in alternate rows, 187
Price, Mr., notice of portrait of,

477
Piobus farmer's club, 207, 391

Queries, agricultural, 65, 148,
233,311,394,474

Queries, agricultural, answers to,
65, 147, 148, 233, 394, 474

Questions upon various subjects
propounded b,y a farmer to one
who has devoted his attention
to the science of agriculture,
441.

Remarks on thorough draining

and subsoil ploughing, 370
Report of the improvement of the

farm of Swell head, 449
Reports,agricultura],72, 150, 229,

312, 398, 479
Return of live stock, fresh and

cured meat, shipped at the port

of Aberdeen, 454
Review of the corn trade, 73, 154,

234, 314, 402, 482
Reviews : —

Illustrations of the breeds of
the domestic animals of the
British islands, 63

Veterinarian, 145

Johnson's farmers' encyclopat-
dia, 145
Richmondshire farmers' club, [425
Ross farmers' club, 206
Rough notes on londed property

in the west of England, 82,

243

INDEX.

HI

Rolfe, Mr. John, presentation of
testimonial to, 356

Royal agricultural society of Eng-
land, 44, 142, 221, 300, 307,
380, 468

Rugeley farmers' club, 426

Rupture of the bladder in two
tups, 5270

Sapcote cow club, 9
Satirist, description of, plate, 16
Science, agricultural, advance-
ment of, 389
Seeds, prices of, 79, 159, 240,

320, 407, 488
Shares, prices of, 80, 160
Sheep dipping, 108
Sheep feeding, 118
Sheep, management of, in Ger-
many, 132
Shoeing horses, on, 10
Shorthorn cow, bred and fed by

Mr. R. Wright, of Spilsby,

plate, 161
Shorthorns and other breeds, com-
parative merits of, 209
Sir Thomas Fairfax, description

and pedigree of, plate, 81
Slugs, destruction of, by the use

of common salt, 24, 25
Slugs, remedy for, in wheat, 272
Smithfield cattle show, dead

weights of the animals exhibited

at the, 133
Smithfield club, award of the

prizes and medals for 1841, 40
Smithfield cattle club, remarks on

the show, 62
Soils, peat, on the improvement

of, 125

Societies, aoricuituiul :—
Ayrshire, 375
Brigg, 310
Highland, 216
Huntingdonshire, 368
Milwich, 346
Royal English, 44, 142, 221,

273, 300, 307, 380, 468
Waltham, 272

South Wilts and Warminster
farmers' club, 418

Statistics, agricultural, of the
United States, 131

Statistics and resources in refer-
ence to the corn question, ib7

Stewponey agricultural society,
rules and regulations of the,
273.

Stirling general agricultural asso-
ciation's drain plough competi-
tion, 268

Storing turnips, 24

Sturge, Messrs., review of the
corn trade of the year 1841,
204

Synopsis, chemical, foi the use of
the farmer, 210

Tariff, new, the effect of, 350, 454
Thanet, Isle of, farmers' club, 90
Thorough draining and deep

ploughing, 200
Thrashing machine, Mr. M'Kay's,

description of, 220
Tile machine, new patent, 174
Tithes, commutation of, 189, 460
Trees, on the effect upon, from

removing fallen leaves, 71
Trees, mode of planting, 364
Tups, on castrating, 271

Trenching, replies to queries on,

147
Turnips, on preparing the land

for, 64
Turnips, Swede, on storing, 64
Turnips, preparation for, 343
Turnpike roads in England and

Wales, 387.

United States, exports from the,
to Great Britain and colonies,
176

Urate of the London manure com-
pany, experiments with the, 131

Urine, as a manure, 198, 447

Wages in Derbyshire in the

fourteenth century, 26
Waggons and carts, comparative

draught of, 208
Waltham agricultural society, 272
Water, method of raising, 343
Weather of 1841, observations on

the, 267
West Firle farmers' club, 352
Wheat, cultivation of, 369
Wheat, average price of, for seven

years, 32
Wheat, comparative trials of, 180
Wheat, Hopetoun, on the, 180
Wheats, results of experiments

with, 461
Wheel and swing ploughs, 409
Whitfield example farm, speech of

Earl Ducie, 97
Witney farmers' club, 129
Witney farmers' club, 428
Wool, prices of, 79, 159, 240, 320,

408, 488
Wrentham farmers' club, 86

Printed ty J«vgh Roger sen, %l,NorfQlh Stmt, Strand L»nd«n,

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